The decision paralysis of freedom
Freedom is sometimes a funny thing. In our former traditional lifestyle, decisions were fairly easy to make. I worked a set number of hours each week, Tigger was in school, I had X amount of vacation time, etc. When trying to make decisions about trips, it often came down to (a) sufficient time and (b) sufficient money. Simple, no? Now we have tremendous freedom. We could easily change countries tomorrow or be on another continent. We...
Travel Safety–Keeping it Real
Travel safety is a theme I see repeated often, and it appears in the vast majority of all questions I’m asked by readers. “I really want to travel, but I want to go somewhere safe.” I totally understand wanting to be safe. There are places that are definitely safer than others. When discussing safety it’s important to “keep it real.” Statistically speaking, the highest risk of accidental injuries occurs within 5 miles of one’s home....
The life of gay people in Malaysia, the female perspective
–I recently did an interview with a gay Malay Muslim male about his experience of life for gay people in Muslim Malaysia, and I wanted to share a woman’s experience as well. “Miss PLU” graciously accepted to be interviewed. I’m in my 30s and a female. The sexual orientation would be a lesbian or what the local gay community calls a “PLU” which stands for “People Like Us.” I am a Malay and a Muslim. Not active but still believe...
Letting Go
I’m thankful to all the teachers I’ve had, and continue to have, in my life. They come in all kinds of forms. Having worked a lot with youth via Scouts, Big Brothers, and through various types of parenting, I’ve learned that children are sometimes my best teachers. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy working with preteens and teens. I learn so much from their viewpoints. I’ve learned many important lessons over the years, but I think the...
15 hours in Colombo
Our journey out of Asia had us stopping in Sri Lanka for a 15-hour layover en route to Italy. That’s an incredibly long time to be in any airport. A transit visa (maximum of 2 days) is free and can be obtained online, so we decided we would escape the airport and check out Colombo. There are multiple methods available to get from the airport to the city. In doing some research, they discouraged taking the train due to an irregular...
