One of the joys of traveling is sampling various street foods. Nepal, however, doesn’t offer much in that way – people either eat in their homes, or in cozy (heated) restaurants. This gentleman is the obvious exception: he has realized that there’s always room for corn. He charges us 20 US cents per cob. [...]
I’ve been fighting for years for a pale skin revolution. OK, fight may be a strong word. Mostly I forget that I care about it. Since an early detection (thank God) of melanoma when I was 19, I’ve had to avoid the sun. I haven’t minded, figuring it was better for me anyway, but having [...]
There are simple things about life in the States that I took for granted before traveling. Little things, like regular trash collection, walkable pavement, food that didn’t make me sick, and water that I could use out of the tap. Most of these things are manageable. In fact, they’re what make travel interesting (though [...]
Tradition on this trip dictates that we buy items that are either incredibly awkward to carry or that we will find hard to use once we get home. Our Kashmiri carpet, bought in Dharamsala, is an example of the latter. With pets and kids in our future, a mostly white carpet just doesn’t make sense. [...]
It’s one thing to read a good book when you’re reading for the simple pleasure of reading. It’s a very different thing to read a good book while writing your own book. I just started reading Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and, well, you can count this girl’s mind as blown (and in turn, my creative [...]
Living in Kathmandu doesn’t necessarily mean that you get to experience the mighty Himalayas. Most of the time, haze from pollution and dust obscures the view – a view that’s mostly hidden by the surrounding hills anyway. Sometimes, we forget what we have just around the corner – the biggest mountains in the world. [...]
Settling into a short-term expat life in Kathmandu gives us time to really explore. Unlike the transitory nature of backpacking – transit, find a hotel, find a restaurant, figure out sightseeing, figure out your next form of transit – settling in somewhere gave us the freedom to move at our own pace. We’re not [...]
I’ve spent a lifetime assuming that moving large objects meant using large machinery. Call me what you will, but that just seemed like good common sense. Apparently I’ve been wrong. It took our time in Nepal (or India, for that matter) to illustrate that nearly anything, and I mean anything, can be moved by [...]
This is now my fifth post about garbage removal in Kathmandu, and I agree that it’s becoming a bit repetitive. Forgive me: when you’re wading around in trash, it becomes a bit of an issue. However, as the picture of the above gentleman shows, the garbage men are back on the job from today. [...]
I received some paperwork a few weeks ago from my Dad. With tax time creeping up, it was time to face some realities (boring) and figure out how I was going to deal with taxes. I’ll spare you the details, but it involved paperwork and signatures – one from me and two from witnesses. One [...]
You may recall that we had a general strike here the other day. Well, that adventure has run its course now, and life in Kathmandu is less bizarre. However, there’s one group of disgruntled workers that haven’t gone to work in a week now. The garbage collectors. People normally drop their garbage in [...]
I don’t know how Martin does it, but he’s successfully avoided any food related illnesses while we’ve been living in Nepal. Me? Not so much. After spending a fantastic (double) Christmas in our place in Kathmandu, I woke on Boxing Day to a nasty stomach ache. The stomach ache turned into debilitating cramps, [...]
It’s the second time I’ve been able to do this in the last two days, but…Merry Christmas! And a very fine Christmas, indeed. Our day was spent relaxing and eating good food – two things we love to do. Martin also braved the tourist district to buy me this gem – a fine Nepali [...]
It’s Christmas in Sweden…a day early. The big day in Sweden is celebrated on the 24th, rather than the 25th. So, what does this mean to a California girl? Two Christmases, of course! Not doubling up on presents is a huge plus as well. If you’ve been following this blog you know just how [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
