May 2011 Archives - Twenty-Something Travel

Archive for May, 2011

Is the American Dream Holding You Back?

Posted on 31. May, 2011 by Steph.

“Two weeks a year?! That’s IT?” Sigh. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been drawn into this conversation. I’ve had it with Australians, with Germans, with Brits, all staring at me in wide-eyed amazement. They’ve probably just asked me why American’s don’t travel, a common enough question in Asia where I can go [...]

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Friday Postcard: Temple of Heaven

Posted on 27. May, 2011 by Steph.

Beijing is the base for seeing some truly amazing sites from the Great Wall of China to the Forbidden City, but the Temple of Heaven just took my breath away. It’s not as grand as those other great monuments but there’s something so mystical and holy about the place, and the details make it exceptionally [...]

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Best of the Blogosphere: May 2011

Posted on 26. May, 2011 by Steph.

I stopped doing my monthly links round-up when I started traveling in September. Mostly I just didn’t have time to read as much as I used to, so I let it slide. Now that I have slightly more time on my hands, I’ve been looking around and seeing how much awesome travel writing is going [...]

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Wonderful Randomness

Posted on 24. May, 2011 by Steph.

I can’t quite find the words to describe China. As a travel writer, that’s kind of embarrassing. China is just too big, too varied and weird to be summed up in any real way. Instead, the experience of being in China is made up of hundreds of tiny, incoherent details that make up a strange and unique [...]

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How to be a BAD Tourist

Posted on 22. May, 2011 by Steph.

It’s apparently a lot easier than you’d think. Last spring when I was facing the annual DC tourist onslaught, I wrote an article about how to be a GOOD tourist, from the perspective of a local. In it I called out some of the most annoying behaviors I’ve witnessed from tourists: talking too loudly, blocking [...]

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Friday Postcard: Bangkok, Thailand

Posted on 20. May, 2011 by Steph.

The Grand Palace in Bangkok is an elaborate work of art. Every surface appears to glimmer and sparkle like a 70′s disco ball. Of all of the palaces and homes I’ve been to on this trip, nothing surpassed the Grand Palace for sheer wealth, opulence and shinyness. (Do you have a photo you’d like to [...]

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Jewels of Xi’an: The Terracotta Warriors

Posted on 19. May, 2011 by Steph.

This is the last installment (for now at least) of my series about the highlights of my temporary home town- Xi’an, China. I saved the city’s biggest attraction for last… China’s underground army. I actually visited the Terracotta Warriors during my first trip to Xi’an back in October, but I never really wrote about them. [...]

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The Next Step: Everywhere Connection

Posted on 17. May, 2011 by Steph.

I’m going home…. really soon! If you don’t happen to follow me on Twitter, you might not have heard the news. I have a plane ticket home. On June 9th I will leave China and fly to Vancouver for the Travel Blog Exchange Conference (TBEX). I’ve never been to Western Canada so I’m pretty excited [...]

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Life in a Fishbowl

Posted on 15. May, 2011 by Steph.

It’s not easy being a celebrity… also my diamond shoes are too tight and my back hurts because my wallet is so full of twenties. Seriously though, I’m starting to have more sympathy for Brad and Angelina and all of those other celebrities constantly hounded by paparazzi because now I kind of understand what it [...]

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