Every time I sit down to write one of these, I just can’t believe another year has flown by again. Today marks my FOURTH travel-versary. That’s just CRAZINESS. I feel like each year of my travels has had a different theme. The first year was all about the excitement and seeing as many areas of the world as possible. The second year was about reconnecting with family. I gained back many family relationships that diminished over the years. My sister…
January 2018 travel re-cap: making memories in Los Angeles
Compared to the more travel-heavy past 3 months, January was pretty stationary. I don’t think I intended on staying in the U.S. for so long, but I’m really glad I stayed through January. This gave me one more month to see friends, eat good food, and create memories. Since this was my last month before going off to travel again, I made sure to see as many people and visit as many LA spots as possible. I’m happy I got to spend this…
December 2017 travel re-cap: from the snow to the desert
Yay for the last monthly recap of 2017! December turned out to be amazing. I didn’t have anything planned but it ended up being pretty action packed. One more week in New York I was scheduled to leave New York and return to LA in the very beginning of December. The day of my flight, I packed up all my stuff, stripped my bed, and prepared to say bye to Ray and Carmela. We were all feeling sad that I…
Best of 2017 in travels (and plans for 2018)
I’ll admit: I’m lazy and wasn’t gonna do a year-end recap post. But I was inspired by posts like Shikha’s and decided to write one of my own. I do think it’s nice to have these to look back on, when the memories start getting fuzzy and the years start to blend together. It’s also a good time to sit down, reflect, and think about the future. So let’s recap! Find out my overall best part of the year, best foodie destination, best…
October & November 2017 travel re-cap: back in the U.S.A.
At the beginning of October, I said bye to my family in Beijing and flew back to Los Angeles. It had been exactly two years since I’ve set foot on home soil, so I was feeling equal parts nervous and excited. What would it be like? Would I feel at home or would I feel like an outsider who no longer belonged? Would I pick up with my friends or would I be like a stranger now? http://www.instagram.com/p/BZ1MiVrFtDj/?hl=en&taken-by=slightlyastray The big…
September 2017 travel re-cap: family time in China
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but October has seriously been a whirlwind so far. And now I can’t believe it’s already the end of the month. So let’s hurry and re-cap September! August 25 – September 12: Shanghai, China September started on the happiest note with a trip to the new Shanghai Disneyland with my cousin!! September 1 is the first day of school in China. And so it’s also the first day of reduced Disneyland ticket prices….
August 2017 travel re-cap: first time in East Malaysia
Oops, I took an unintentional blogging break again… because I guess I’ve just been having too much fun. :P Now that I’m just bumming at my grandma’s again, hopefully I’ll have more time to post. Unto August’s travel re-cap! August 1 – 24: Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia I started the month with a red-eye flight to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. I debated for a long time where to go after Chengdu. I eventually settled on KK because I’ve never been…
July 2017 travel re-cap: pandas, new friends, and spicy food in Chengdu
I feel like this year has been getting better and better. Maybe I’m growing more as a solo traveler each month, or picking better places, but it seriously feels like that each month is topping the previous one. At the beginning of July, I said bye to Malaysia and flew to Chengdu! I came because Amanda was doing a study abroad program here, so I came to meet up with her. And this is an area of China I’ve been very…
June 2017 travel re-cap: sister visit to Malaysia!
June was one of the most fun months! The month kicked off with the arrival of my sister from The States. She’s been talking about coming out to visit me for forever, and I’m so glad it finally happened! With her limited 2 weeks of vacation time, I was determined to make it a great one. I planned a 2-week itinerary to hit up the best of Malaysia: from the exciting capital of KL to the foodie town of Penang…
May 2017 travel re-cap: Langkawi and Ubud
May shaped up to be another good month! I managed to hit up two places on my Southeast Asia wishlist: Langkawi and Bali. I’m actually in a bit of a hurry right now, because I’m going to pick up my sister at the airport in a couple of hours! So this will have to be a quick one. And hence the instagram inserts instead of photo edits. I will write more detailed posts later (if I ever catch up, at this point!)….