World News

The kind of awesome, and sometimes insane, thing about press trips is that sometimes you get to do things would never otherwise get the chance to do. Like zip-lining or shark diving or, in this case, staying in really, really nice hotels. In Fiji we stayed in some pretty spectacular places. …

Total Days: 11 Total Days it Didn’t Rain: 3 (It wasn’t even rainy season, I just really need to work on this.) Amount Spent: Since we were guests of Fiji Tourism I won’t do a budget breakdown on this one. From what I’ve found it’s possible to travel Fiji as …

When people hear the word “safari,” destinations like South Africa and Kenya usually come to mind; however, Australia is home to its own opportunities for unique wildlife spotting, most notably on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island. Because of its isolation from the mainland, the fact it hasn’t been affected by introduced …

**THIS CONTEST ENDED JULY 19, 2013** People keep asking me where Mike and I are going on our honeymoon. To be honest, up until recently I hadn’t given it much thought. As sappy as it sounds, our whole lives are a honeymoon. For example, last year in Fiji we relaxed …

Whew. After more than 7 months of blog posts I am finally concluding my coverage of South America. Next week I’ll have lots of Fiji stories to share with you. But first, a look back: Colombia Colombia was the first country we visited and it remained my favorite of the …

Let’s talk about safety and travel. A lot of people have opinions on where is and isn’t safe to visit. When I decided to visit Colombia back in October I was treated to everything from wide eyed states to earnest warnings about kidnapping and drugs. I was confident in my …

What do you think of when you hear Brazil? Sparkling, sandy beaches and giant rock formations might come to mind, or an image of the giant Christ statue towering over the city of Rio de Janeiro. Maybe you think of women (and men) in tiny swimsuits and the grandiose costumes …

It’s easy to see that the best way to explore a place is if you know the language and communicate with people there. However, language learning can be a tricky task, especially for those who have never learned one before. When living in Brazil, I had one month to learn …

When I began planning my solo adventure around Northeast Brazil, everyone I knew expressed their concerns of me, a non-Brazilian, petite female, traveling alone in one of the most dangerous areas of the country. Despite being known for its drug-related violence and corruption, the Brazilian Nordeste is one of the …

Classes were wrapping up on a Friday morning in mid-September, and my Brazilian Portuguese teacher casually mentioned we wouldn’t be having class the following Thursday or Friday. Before I could bat an eyelash, I found myself perusing plane tickets, buying one from Rio to Santiago, Chile and frantically packing my …