I volunteered on a kibbutz in northern Israel one summer and spent weekends hitchhiking around the Galilee with my German friend Thomas. Mostly our drivers were friendly and happy to meet tourists. Nothing bad happened, but once an army commander told us that hitchhikers were on high alert because terrorists often target them. Continue reading

Here I am all covered up in Doha, Qatar, relaxed after arriving at my destination.

In general, getting around is Qatar is tough when you don't have your own car. The only reliable means of travel is by taxi. But don't assume you can hail one on the street, because there are no sidewalks to speak of. Continue reading

Here I am in northern Italy, where it is easy and lovely to get around by train and boat. In this photo, I am on a ferry on Lake Como in early spring. I stayed in a great hostel in Mennagio called La Primula where they provide delicious meals and pretty rooms. To be honest, I spent most of my time walking around and eating gelato in between train trips. Continue reading

I visited Jordan in January 2006 for my birthday. It was a fantastic time to go - few tourists, cool but clear weather. I picked Jordan because of my love of historical sites, the older the better. I also wanted a holiday where I would hike all day and relax over great food and wine in the evening. Amman is a very modern city, and most modern cabs have honest meters and very helpful drivers. Continue reading

My Chinese students love this quote from Mao: "You are not a man until you have climbed the Great Wall." After a year of living in China, I decided it was time, I too, "became a man." I convinced my boyfriend to skip seeing the Great Wall outside Beijing because of the noisy crowds and hawkers in favor of the quieter, less-traveled section outside Dandong in northeast China. Continue reading

In this picture, I am overlooking Esslingen, a town in Southern Germany, where I am studying for half a year as an exchange student from Finland.
Before traveling to Germany it would be good to learn some German. German people do speak good English but it's always polite to know basic expressions you need in everyday life in German. Continue reading

I've heard many times, even from the most seasoned women travelers, that they have hesitations about traveling to Egypt. Worries about sanitation, the differences of how women are viewed and the most common concern, "what should I wear!"

I had the same apprehensions before my two week trip down the Nile, but I was not going to let it keep me from experiencing the historically and culturally enriching experience that traveling to Egypt is. Continue reading

I had never ridden on a horse before and had no idea how I would make it up, but I got on the saddle and hoped for a nice ride. We hadn't even been riding for 5 minutes when one of the horses broke into a trot and all the other horses followed. Being the amateur rider that I was, I had no idea how I would manage to stay on and got even more nervous when I watched a friend get thrown off her horse, but I finally got my horse to stop. Continue reading