Living in China, I don't get get home to Florida often. In fact, before this summer, it had been a year. It's a combination of the ticket price, the desire to travel through Asia, and of course, the 15+ hour flight.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: the flight sucks. The jet lag sucks. And having people stare at you while you struggle to roll up your compression socks? That sucks too. But after doing it a few times, the flight time doesn’t seem as long, the jet lag gets a little better, and the fear of what others think goes completely out the window. Don’t believe me? I actually do walking lunges down the aisle. True story.

06 Jun

Prom tickets are for sale, yearbooks are circling the campus, and the students have traded their long pants and tennis shoes for jean shorts and sandals. It's officially the end of the school year, and I'm counting down the days until I board a plane to Florida.

As a longterm expat, and international school teacher, I look forward to summer for so many reasons. Obviously it's a chance to get in some much-needed friend time, family time, and pool time, but it's also a chance to stock up on products that are hard to find (or just ridiculously expensive) on this side of the world.

28 Apr

People often ask me to name my favorite country, or my favorite vacation. But I can't. I tell them that asking me to do this is like having me choose between ice cream and chocolate. I like both. I'm going to eat both. So instead of telling you about my top travel experience, I'm going to share my top ten thus far (while enjoying a bowl of ice cream topped with chocolate sauce).

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I recently returned from a week in Krabi, Thailand with my parents. I hadn't seen them in eight months, and we decided a reunion at the beach was just what the doctor ordered.

I was of course responsible for choosing which island we would go to, since apparently being an expat in Asia makes me an expert on all Asian countries. And while it's true that I have traveled quite a bit in the region, I've done it a little differently than my 65-year-old parents would want to (i.e. staying in non-air conditioned bungalows for $10 a night).

23 Feb

Well, it's official: I am certifiably crazy. During the last seven days I hopped on two 14-hour flights, adjusted to the 13-hour time difference not once, but twice, and now I'm back at work, teaching teenagers. But that's not all. I did all this traveling for a guy. And not just any guy, but a guy I met on Tinder, in Shanghai, six months ago, who now lives in New York.