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The Price of Being a Foreigner in Asia
By admin on July 02, 2009  |  Comments 1

The Price of Being a Foreigner in Asia

I was out with a friend today shopping for camera equipment for my upcoming trip to Mongolia. I went to a local little camera ‘stall’ near/in The Tax Department Store (I won’t even get into what a terrible name that is for a store…that could be a whole post on it’s own). I was looking [...]

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The Motorbike Diaries - Vol. 13
By admin on June 29, 2009  |  Comments 3

The Motorbike Diaries - Vol. 13

The power of the hand…
I hopped on my motorbike tonight at 8:30 PM to find out that my headlight no longer worked. It would only work when I throttled the bike up – but after I slowed down, the light went out. This created an interesting strobe effect as I drove. So much for not [...]

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Photo of the Week - June 25, 2009
By admin on June 25, 2009  |  Comments 5

Photo of the Week - June 25, 2009

Love this family shot - so typically Vietnamese it makes me smile!
Starting on July 1st the helmet law for all children goes into effect - will images of helmetless kids be extinct soon?  Doubtful!
 
You can check out my other Vietnamese transportation photos here - I’m always adding to this gallery!

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Grey's Anatomy in Vietnam
By admin on June 23, 2009  |  Comments 4

Grey’s Anatomy in Vietnam

I had been putting it off for as long as I could, but finally after 6 months I had to go visit the hospital. No, I wasn’t in an accident nor was I sick. I was required to have a physical in order to obtain a work permit in Vietnam. This wasn’t like when I [...]

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Cyclo Sunday - A Tourist In My Home
By admin on June 18, 2009  |  Comments 3

Cyclo Sunday - A Tourist In My Home

View photos from Cholon Cyclo Tour
I have been asked to produce a Saigon City guide for a travel website. At first this seemed rather simple, I’ve been living here for the past 8 months and have gotten to know the city very well. However, living in a city and visiting a city are very different [...]

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Photo of the Week - June 16, 2009

Photo of the Week - June 16, 2009

Snapped this near Cholon Market .  The kid was getting ready to strap this to his motorbike and transport it.  Let’s hope he doesn’t falter as that is a lot of bad luck!
View my complete Vietnam Photography

Reasons to Take a Career Break and Travel

Reasons to Take a Career Break and Travel

I recently contributed an article to BootsnAll Travel highlighting the “Top 10 Reasons to Take a Career Break…and Travel”. I wrote this with the help of my business partner, Michaela Potter, in order to promote our recently launced website -
 Briefcase to Backpack: America’s Career Break Headquarters
If you haven’t been to the site, then please go [...]

The Motorbike Diaries - Vol. 12

The Motorbike Diaries - Vol. 12

Mirror Mirror on the motorbike, what is your purpose; are you just there for decoration? Unfortunately after driving a motorbike in HCMC for the last 3 months, I feel as if I’m the only person here who uses my motorbike mirrors for their intended purpose; to see things behind you and in your blind spot. [...]

How to Live Out of a Suitcase

How to Live Out of a Suitcase

Check out my latest article on The Indie Travel Podcast about how to live out of a suitcase/backpack while doing long term travel.
You may wonder how on earth you can live out of a suitcase or backpack. I can’t say it’s easy, but with a few of these tips, you’ll at least make sure your [...]

Photo of the Week - June 4, 2009

Photo of the Week - June 4, 2009

Ok - so it’s not just one photo - it’s a collection of photos!  I thought I would give you more for your time!  This is a album of photos I’ve been taking over the last few months inspired by the book Bikes of Burden by Hans Kemp.  A photo book about what people carry [...]

A Little Rant About Traffic

A Little Rant About Traffic

Pecking Order
One of the disadvantages of living a solo life is that when you have one of those experiences that you just want to tell someone about – there’s normally no one around to listen. So, instead of bottling it all in, I blog; which makes me feel as if I’m telling someone the story, [...]

Travel Q&A with Ottsworld

Travel Q&A with Ottsworld

I’ve been blogging now for close to 3 years and I get questions from strangers weekly.  The questions range from
“Are you rich?”
“How can I do what you are doing”
“How did you come up with the name for your cat?”
“What did you pack?”
“At what point did you know you were going to take a career break?”
“Where [...]

Video of the Week - Commuting in Vietnam

Video of the Week - Commuting in Vietnam

You may want to pop a Dramamine before watching this video of my commute to work. I teach at a manufacturing plant outside of HCMC and have to commute an hour each way to get there. Luckily they provide the transportation else I would have been one of those people on the motorbikes that you [...]

The Motorbike Diaries - vol. 11

The Motorbike Diaries - vol. 11

What the Helllllllmet?
Whenever I get on my bike and take off into the street I always have a small wave of panic come over me. I feel like I forgot something. I feel strangely exposed; one might say naked. Then the beeping horns jolt me back into the present and I remember I don’t have a [...]

Suitcase Diet:  What you DON'T need to pack!

Suitcase Diet: What you DON’T need to pack!

I love traveling, but I hate packing. It’s really one of the most stressful things about traveling for me. Sure, this should be easy, but when you’re packing for a long trip and you will be lugging your pack around for months, efficient, smart packing all of a sudden becomes priority #1!
 
Of course I hate packing [...]