Years seem to slide in and out of my life like visits to countries; they are often too short. Plus, when you look back at them they always seem better than the actual moment. I have been busy working on some new resolutions for the year for my other website, Briefcase to Backpack. In fact, [...]

Rush Hour Start from the Beginning - Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 Resistance is Futile – Assimilation I’m not sure how it happened, but I’ve become one of them. I wear a jacket (which I’m boiling in), a mask, a poncho, ….I’m a Vietnamese motorbike driver. I’ve become used to being squeezed into small places and driving [...]

Start from the Beginning - Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 You won’t believe your eyes this week!  I’ve collected some of my recent motorbike photography that will amaze and baffle you.  After living here for a year, I’m still absolutely dumbfounded and tickled by what I see the Vietnamese strap to their motorbikes.  The motorbike culture here [...]

Start from the Beginning - Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 What’s in a Name? I’m going to state the obvious – I’m a girl. What I mean by that is I can exhibit typical girl traits at times; especially when it comes to my knowledge of cars. As long as I can remember, I’ve never really been [...]

I often wonder how many months the pollution and dust in Saigon will take off my life.  For this reason, I can’t imagine living here long term.  Hell, I imagine that living here long term is akin to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day! That may be an exageration, however no one really knows what [...]

Start from the Beginning - Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 The Great Horn Divide No matter how hard I try, I just can’t do it. I lose the mental battle every time. I tell myself to be calm, patient, understanding – but then it happens – BEEP, BEEP BEEEEEP, BEEP, BEEP; and after the 3rd time of [...]

I decided to start the process of getting my passport renewed as many countries won’t let you enter if you don’t have more than 6 months left on your passport validity. I certainly didn’t want to be turned away at the border of Mongolia! Plus, I’ve learned that working through the American consulate while you [...]

Start from the Beginning - Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 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 [...]