This is the second part in my series on traveling to the Bornean jungle village of Long Pasia. Start from the beginning here. So far, my trip to the Bornean jungle village of Long Pasia had been an exhilarating and eye-opening time. From going fishing on riverboat canoes to participating…
Category: Travel
Borneo
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From Headhunting to Rice Growing
This is the second part in my series on traveling to the Bornean jungle village of Long Pasia. Start from the beginning here. My stomach growled as the warm aroma of prepared food wafted through the long house. Still, after my recent bout with cholera, I was gravely afraid to…
Borneo
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Into the Jungles of Borneo
I spent my birthday in 2020 on the bumpy road to the tiny jungle village of Long Pasia in Borneo. About a week after my life-threatening bout of cholera, I was journeying to the most remote location I had ever been to. Getting there itself was a trek. Borneo is…
Mexico
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Crossing the Southern Border without a Passport
The San Diego blue line trolley takes you straight to the Tijuana border. Once you exit the booth, luggage in hand and anticipation written on your face, you get the chance to walk across the border to a whole new country. A make-shift metal tunnel leads you on a five-minute walk…
China
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The Strange German Connection to China’s Shangdong Province
Qingdao is a beautiful coastal city in China with a unique colonial history. With over nine million inhabitants, it is the capital of the Shandong Province. A bee line from Qingdao across the Yellow Sea, and you reach South Korea. May Fourth Square, with its whirling red sculpture which represents the winds…
Travel
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Lost, Found, and Almost Scammed: Driving around Maui
I was driving in the opposite direction that I were supposed to be going. I didn’t know this at the time, blissfully ignorant of our impending doom. I was riding with a scruffy, silver-maned old man in the darkening night, listening to his ever more fanatical stories of his alternative church….
Favorites
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When the World Shrinks: Amazing Coincidences while Traveling
The world becomes smaller when you travel. I don’t mean that in the proverbial sense, where meeting new people from different countries and learning about their cultures exposes us to the idea that we are all much more similar than we could possibly imagine. This is certainly true, but I…
Indonesia
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Jakarta in the Time of Cholera
I’ve definitely encountered my share of sketchy food abroad. From clandestine dog meat in rural Guangxi to nationally famous duck blood soup in Nanjing, China can offer as many culinary feats of strength as you desire. Bar the dog meat, I have never shied away from the dingy noodle house…
Indonesia
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Bali’s Sacred Day of Silence
Bali is predominately, and dominantly, Hindu. And while all other islands in the Indonesian archipelago are majority Muslim, Bali still vehemently maintains its religious practices that date back to the 1st century A.D. Take Nyepi, the holy day which marks the new year in the Balinese calendar (March 25 in 2020)….
Indonesia
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The Easiest Language in the World to Learn?
Many people take pride in learning languages like Chinese, Arabic or Russian. These are considered some of the most difficult languages for foreign speakers to learn, and students may attempt them to challenge themselves and impress others. When I first started learning Chinese, I also was a bit motivated by…