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, charmingly rural town on the island of Ikuchijima off of Hiroshima. It’s a refreshing escape from Japan’s crowded cities, with its citrus-scented breezes, scenic cycling paths, lemon groves, mom-and-pop cafes, coastal hiking, ryokans, and friendly locals. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Going on your first liveaboard? I know you probably have a million questions, and what to pack for a liveaboard dive trip is probably at the top of the list! I’ve been a diver for 15 years, but went on my first liveaboard just 1 year ago. I was a little intimidated by the idea […]

When I got the itch to leave my 2-month stay in Bali to explore somewhere with a few less juice bars and volcano-screaming spiritual gurus, my curiosity nudged me toward Taiwan. It’s sometimes overlooked by tourists in Asia, and I didn’t have a plan—no Pinterest board, must eat, or must do list. But after a […]