wait where is she  blog

I went skiing in Niseko having skied only once or twice in my life and with basically zero planning. So it’s no surprise that I ended up on the bunny slope with weaving trains of six-year-olds (already more graceful than me), accidentally sent myself down a red “challenge” course, and watched my boyfriend lose both […]

When you visit Hakodate, Japan, there are so many things that you don’t want to miss: meandering through the red-brick warehouse district, taking a walking tour of the European-style churches, sipping your way through the surprisingly solid craft beer scene, visiting Fine Days Burger, and riding the gondola up to Mt. Hakodate for that famous […]

Looking for unique places to visit in Japan for nature? Known as Japan’s “Lemon Island,” Setoda is a small, charming town on the island of Ikuchijima off of Hiroshima. It’s a refreshing escape from Japan’s crowded cities, with citrus-scented breezes, seaside cycling paths, lemon groves, mom-and-pop cafes, coastal hiking, and plenty of ryokans. It’s best […]

Is Japan expensive? It’s certainly trendy (which usually comes with a price tag), but it’s no wonder why– of all the countries that I’ve visited, my first visit to Japan in caught me off guard the most. I fell in love with what once seemed like a fishy (I’m not a fish eater), tacky, and […]

Chichijima. This little island is more than just a dot on the map—it’s a place with history seared into its cliffs and jungles, where WWII ruins mingle with tropical beauty and world class scuba diving. If it sounds familiar, you might be thinking of Iwo Jima—different islands, both in the Ogasawara Archipelago over a thousand […]

The Japanese tea ceremony, known as “chanoyu” or “sado,” has profound cultural significance, embodying the essence of Japanese aesthetics, spirituality, and social etiquette. So when I visited Japan, experiencing an authentic, traditional Japanese tea ceremony in Kyoto was at the top of my very long Japan must-do list. Why? Because the tea ceremony goes way […]

I thought scuba diving with dugongs in Coron, Philippines, would be a highlight of my 8-month journey from Japan to New Zealand, traveling with just two backpacks, my scuba mask, and a list of every outdoor and wildlife adventure I’d dreamed of as a kid. As a nerdy, wildlife-obsessed undergrad studying biodiversity and conservation, I […]

Imagine you’ve just arrived in Marrakech, Morocco: you’re walking down a narrow cobblestone street dodging wayward roosters, donkey-drawn carts careening down alleyways, and men in long djellabas zipping by on mopeds between red mud buildings draped in mismatched fabric hangings. You pass hole-in-the-wall bread shops with hand-painted boulangerie signs—a reminder of Morocco’s French colonial past—and […]