Most of us who have traveled solo have faced bewilderment from the less travel-savvy for that choice. "You're so brave!" is one of the few compliments I get. More often, the response is more of an interrogation, especially from certain relatives of mine.

"How are you going to get around? What if you...

Cassie, my fellow globetrotter-in-crime, posted a note on her Facebook yesterday entitled "The Official Languages of Me." As soon as I finished reading it I knew it needed to be read by more people than her facebook friends. Those of us who left comments were completely in agreement on everything she...

I've been back about a week now. Slowly I'm getting over my re-entry shock. In some ways going to Vienna was part of the re-entry process. It was a city I'd been to 3 years ago, so some places were familiar to me, including the hostel I was staying at and the Turkish restaurant around the corner....

Days on the road: 51

New countries visited: 11

Cities visited: too many to count

Countries that used to be one country: 5 (Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia - former Yugoslavia) + 3 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania - a portion of the former Soviet Union)

Fellow travelers I ran into in multiple...

Slovenia has been described as the "cutest" of the former Yugoslav republics, and I couldn't agree more. It's got a blend of Slavic and Alpine (Austrian) cultures, which makes sense. Ljubljana may be small, but at the same time it's so grand that you don't even care. It's like a super compact...

I was bummed that I couldn't go to Greece this year, but Montenegro and Croatia have been the next best thing. Montenegro's the next Croatia – the same type of cuisine, history and scenery, but without the, prices, notoriety and crowds (though they're starting to catch up). It's a newly...

I've had my first piece published last week on BNT - about choosing to travel the world despite the expectations of my family. Check it out if you haven't already done so and leave some feedback. Thanks!

Our tour leader said that Sarajevo would be the highlight of the tour, and for me it truly is. I've never been to a city quite like this before. It's got a bit of Istanbul, a bit of Vienna. I haven't been to Turkey but I have a feeling that the Turkish quarter is pretty close to what I would find...

To be honest, I haven't always dreamed of visiting the Balkans like I'd dreamed of visiting France, Spain or Australia, or still dream of visiting Argentina and Bali. All those news reports of this region back in the '90s definitely made me weary of this region, the way the Middle East would feel now....

I may have learned my lesson about springtime travel in northern/central Europe - it certainly isn't spring in California or fall in Australia. I've developed a serious cold/sore throat and lost my voice this afternoon, probably due to overexposure to the elements. Tomorrow I'll have a bit of catching...

Countries Visited: 5 (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland

Cities/towns visited: 7 (Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Majori, Vilnius, Trakai, Warsaw

Reconstructed Old Towns seen: 1 (Warsaw, rebuilt to perfection after being dessimated in World War II and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site)

Tibet...

If I were to describe the people of the Baltics with just one phrase, I would say that they are very forward-looking. Anyone who feared that these former Soviet republics would be lagging behind the rest of Europe would be in for a surprise. Of course, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are still developing...

I wound up buying a new camera to replace the one that went lame on Saturday. While it was not as much as I had initially feared, the price was still pretty steep, but it's a nice one and I'm happy that I can now take pictures! So I took the ferry to Tallinn (Linda Lines, 1.5 hours as opposed to the...

Coming into Helsinki, all I wanted was for all three of my flights to be on time and for my luggage to arrive when I did. I may have set the bar a little too low, because suddenly things I never anticipated happening are happening. In the first two days I have:

1. failed to get my wireless internet to...

After a 17-hour or so ordeal of flying and waiting in airports, I finally arrived in Helsinki yesterday evening. I actually got a Danish stamp in my passport rather than a Finnish one because that was my layover on the way here, after the one in Chicago O'Hare (a huge and confusing airport). I didn't...

and I'm both excited and nervous. It was less than 3 months ago that I was on my last trip, and next week I'll be off on my major overseas trip for this year. Spring has more or less arrived here in the Bay Area, but where I'll be going (or at least where I'm beginning my trip) it'll still feel like...

I'm actually only a little more than two weeks late in saying this - the lunar new year started on February 7 (my dad calls January 1 the "imaginary" new year). It's been pretty uneventful thus far for me, aside from my temp job ending last week, earlier than expected, and I'm going to be scrambling...

No, I wasn't the one getting married in St. Thomas (it was my cousin from Minneapolis), but I've more or less decided that if/when I get married, it will be a destination wedding just like this one.

I first heard about this wedding in the fall of 2006, and when my parents decided we were definitely going...

So I've been back from my Caribbean trip and I still haven't put up pictures or a trip report, but I promise I will soon. In the meantime, I've booked a plane ticket for Eastern Europe, where I will be traveling for most of April and May! I'll be flying into Helsinki, spend a couple of days there...

Yesterday was a busy day for my family. We had two celebrations to attend, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The first was a ginger egg party for my new "niece" and the other was my grandpa's 90th birthday. Most of you are probably wondering what a ginger egg party is, so I'll explain.
In...