Africa

Monthly Recap: June/July 2018

Wow, how is it possible it’s August already? This summer is flying quickly, but so far it’s been a great one. I have, however, fallen down a bit (well, totally) on my plans to do monthly recaps of my travels and experiences in D.C. So I’ve decided to combine the months of June and July into a single post, because a) I’m lazy like that and b) July was a pretty quiet month without much travel, so it makes more sense to do a two-month recap anyway.

Here, then, are the highlights of my June and July 2018:

June/July 2018 Monthly Recap

View of a mist-covered mountain outside Nairobi

Where I Traveled: Kenya, Florida, Washington, DC.

A majestic giraffe in Kenya.

My one big trip of this two-month period was to Kenya for a work conference. I’d been before, but this time I was lucky to have a full day at the end to explore Nairobi and its surroundings. I visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where I got a quick but wonderful glimpse of baby elephants at play; the Giraffe Centre, where I got to watch these enormous, majestic creatures eat, play, and strut around in nature; and a local bead factory, where we got to see how beads and ceramics are made. It was a wonderful day, and I hope to explore more of Kenya in the future—I know I’ll be back in East Africa at some point next year!

Best Meal/Best Drink: My friends and I visited Agua 301, a Mexican restaurant and bar in DC’s Southwest waterfront area. I’d been impressed with the upscale Mexican cuisine before, and it didn’t disappoint this time: my chicken empanadas and guacamole were both great. The frozen peach sangria is pretty amazing as well, so I’m awarding it this month’s Best Drink title!

Best Cultural Experience: This is an easy one: in July, I was fortunate enough to see Hamilton at the Kennedy Center! I didn’t know too much about the show going in (I deliberately didn’t listen to the songs beforehand, so I could be blown away on performance day), and I really loved the music, the actors, and the story itself. Learning more about Alexander Hamilton’s life, as well as that pivotal era in the formation of the United States, was fascinating to a history nerd like myself–and also, in these turbulent times, a powerful reminder of all our country has been through and survived. Not to mention that Hamilton’s frenzied efforts to write, create, and live his best life in the time he had on earth are incredibly inspiring; I am already working to incorporate these lessons into my own life, up my productivity, and to try and to learn new things as often as I can.

Best Read: I read a few new books these past two months. I enjoyed Dear Madam President, by Jennifer Palmieri, a former staffer on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Part memoir of the campaign and her own life, and part suggestions/recommendations for the first female president once she’s in office, it was a quick read with some valuable insights, and made me long, more than ever, for the day when the dream of a female American president becomes a reality.

I also have been doing a lot of re-reading of favorite novels this summer, and it’s been incredibly rewarding (I love a good re-read; so many books are actually more rewarding the second—or third, or fifth—time). Two books that I devoured once again, and highly recommend to everyone, are Atonement by Ian McEwan and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood—both are brilliantly written works of historical fiction focusing on the 1930s and 1940s with fascinating female lead characters. They’re also quite heartbreaking tales, but don’t let that deter you: they’re well worth reading if you haven’t already.

Best of DC: I’d have to say Hamilton wins this category as well; I always love a visit to the Kennedy Center, and this one was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

What’s Next: August is off to a fantastic start already, and it should only get better: I’ve got a friend in town next weekend (excuse to go to all the nice DC restaurants and hang out in Georgetown!), then I’m flying to Florida to celebrate my parents’ 50^th (!) anniversary! And then in late August, my big adventure of the summer: a trip to Finland, Estonia, and St. Petersburg! I can’t wait to share more of my adventures when I return in September!

How has your summer been so far? Any exciting plans for August?

Africa, DC, Kenya, Monthly Recaps

Aug

2018

Back to Africa: Kenya, Round 2

Melissa Kaplan0

View of a mist-covered mountain outside Nairobi

I have exciting news to share: I’m going to Kenya next month! Well, I’m going for a work trip, will only be there for a week, and I’ll be working hard pretty much the entire time I’m in the country, but hey–even a brief time in Kenya is better than no time at all, am I right?

Of course!

While this will be a whirlwind working visit, I do have a free day at the end of my trip and I plan to make the most of it. I’ll be staying in a lodge outside of Nairobi, which offers some great opportunities for wildlife spotting and walks through the savanna at sunrise. Last time I was there I saw zebras and giraffes; I’m curious to see if I can repeat this feat and maybe encounter a few new animals.

Can I repeat the feat of seeing one of these guys again in Kenya?

During my last free day, I’m hoping to go into Nairobi a bit and check out a few local spots of interest: my curiosity was definitely piqued when a friend mentioned a baby elephant orphanage that is open to visitors! That’s definitely on my list of must-sees, and it would be nice to find a market to take back some souvenirs for myself and my family.

But I have only begun to dive into my trip research (meaning, actually, I haven’t begun at all, beyond putting a crowdsourcing Kenya post on Facebook…) so I am very open to ideas. Any suggestions for things to see/do/eat in Nairobi and its immediate surroundings?

I’ll be in Kenya for a week in mid-June, and will be eager to share my experiences when I get back. I’m excited to return to Africa, even briefly, and it’s a reminder of how fortunate I am not just to be able to travel, but to have a job that actually sends me to far-flung locations to see them for myself. For a wanderlust-filled traveler like myself, that’s about as good as life can get.

Have you been to Kenya? Any suggestions for things to see/do there in my free time?

Africa, Kenya

May

2018

Some Thoughts on Sh*thole Countries

Melissa Kaplan0

View of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

By now, everyone has heard that last week the President of the United States wrote off an entire continent, plus a few other places around the globe, as “sh*tholes.” Forgive the clickbait-y title, because we really need to talk about this.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a crass, ignorant man who prides himself on these qualities would make a statement like this. Nothing shocking there, really.

As distressing as the use of these words is, what concerns me even more is the fact that I can imagine many of POTUS’s supporters nodding along with his statement, thinking to themselves that all the criticism he’s receiving is unfair, because after all, “those places are sh*holes. He’s just telling the truth!” Umm-hmm.

I would venture to guess that approximately 95 percent of those same individuals have never traveled to Africa, Haiti, or any other such countries. In fact, a majority of them likely don’t possess passports and haven’t traveled outside of the U.S., or even their home states. And therein lies at least part of the problem.

I am NOT saying that lack of world travel automatically makes a person ignorant, nor that all travelers are enlightened, wonderful specimens of humanity. Neither of these things are true. And often, people who would love to travel the world can’t realistically afford to do so, through no fault of their own.

But the thing is, you can’t fully absorb what you don’t experience. You can’t really understand what life is like for people you don’t meet. And you can’t make sweeping statements about the places they call home if you don’t spend some time trying to get to know them and understand the lives they live and the challenges they face.

View of a mist-covered mountain outside Nairobi

Most of my travels have been in Europe and other similar parts of the world, but I have visited, and loved, some of those same places that were so callously derided with an offhand piece of gutter language as being worthless. I’ve met wonderful people in Uganda, marveled at the natural beauty of the plains of Kenya, sweltered in 100 degree heat in a small town in Cambodia, shopped at a market in Nairobi, and been taken to the beach by precocious, charming children in Guatemala. I’ve stepped out of my zone of the familiar a bit each time, and while I still have so, so much to learn about the world, the one thing I can state unequivocally is that it is full of good people, willing to share kindness with strangers while trying to make the best life for themselves and their families that they can.

Travel matters because it connects people. It breaks down barriers and stereotypes. It makes people and places real to us in a way that we can’t get simply by watching sensationalist reports on the nightly news, whose subtext is nearly always that everything is terrible and no one is to be trusted. But despite all its challenges, that’s truly not the world I know.

So travel as far and as wide as you can. Go someplace you’ve never been; meet people whose lives are different than yours; try to understand their story and their struggle.

And for the love of God, let’s all, at the very least, vow not to insult places we’ve never been.

Africa, Central America, Travel Musings

Jan

2018

A Note to People Who Don’t Travel

Melissa Kaplan0

As you may recall, 2017 was going to be a year of travel for me, and I started off my blogging year urging others to make it the same for them. All the reasons I gave back then about why I believe travel is so worthwhile still stand, so maybe writing another post on the topic now seems a bit repetitive.

Except that–as you will also know if you’ve read my recent posts–none of my long-anticipated travel plans for 2017 panned out, due to circumstances beyond my control. Instead, 2017 has been my year of staying still.

View of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

This was definitely not the situation I’d planned or hoped to be in this year, but it has given me lots of time to think. As I’ve been forced into the role of non-traveler for a while, I’ve realized there are certain things to be said for it. Routine can be nice. You have additional time to spend in your own (awesome) city, and hang out with friends and family. You can also save money (I’m typing this atop a brand new desk I just bought myself which could easily have covered the cost of a domestic plane ticket.)

And yet….I miss travel. I miss the excitement of planning trips, the giddy anticipation of new adventures on the horizon. I miss the thrill of being in a new country where I don’t speak the language or know how most things work and having to figure it out (often assisted mightily by the kindness of strangers).

To anyone reading this who isn’t a traveler, or doesn’t feel the need to be, I’m sure you have your reasons. But speaking as one who’s had to walk (or stay put) in your shoes for the past six months or so, I can assure you that there is a lot to be gained by seeing the world.

Here are just a few of the things I’m missing from travel right now:

Plitvice waterfalls, Croatia

Beach in Phuket, Thailand

I miss sitting in a café in Paris, starting off the day with a flaky chocolate croissant or sipping a chocolate chaud, all the while marveling that great writers like Fitzgerald and Hemingway may have sat in the very seat I’m currently occupying nearly a century ago as they worked on their masterpieces.
I miss trying to speak a new language, making an effort to blend into a new country, even when I spectacularly fail.
I miss walking inside cathedrals, mosques, and other religious sites built over the centuries that dazzle the eye and lift the spirit, like Aya Sofia, St. Peter’s, and St. Paul’s. These buildings aren’t just spectacular visual treats or religious touchstones (though they are that); they’re also tributes to the brilliance of mankind and what people can accomplish when they work together and utilize their talents for the glory of something greater than themselves.
I miss wandering through museums that hold beautiful artwork and historical artifacts that teach us more about the world, and about each civilization’s past and ongoing story. The Louvre, the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Vatican Museum, and so many others I’ve been privileged to see over the years still speak to me and call me back for return visits, over and over again.
I miss the feeling of walking on the Serengeti at sunrise, looking around in hopes of spotting giraffes and zebras, while marveling at the peaceful serenity around me. I remember wondering what my grandmother—who was born in Ireland and never traveled beyond the British Isles throughout her long life—would have thought if she had been able to see her daughter’s daughter taking a morning walk on the Kenyan plains, spotting wildlife and reflecting on the majestic beauty of the world.
I miss the natural wonders that can be found around the globe—waterfalls in Croatia; geysers, hot springs, and more waterfalls in Iceland; stunning beaches in Thailand; gorgeous Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. There are so many corners of the world where nature has created beauty well worth traveling for.
I miss meeting people who were born and raised in cultures vastly different from mine, from Cambodia to Uganda to South Africa to the Czech Republic. I miss talking with them, hearing their stories, learning from them, and sharing my own life with them. Hopefully, at the end of the day, these exchanges between individuals from different countries adds bit by bit to a greater understanding of how much we have in common, and how it benefits all of us to seek out knowledge of worlds very different from our own.
I miss gelato and pizza in Italy. Enough said.

Gulfoss waterfall, Iceland

If you haven’t traveled overseas, it may be due to factors beyond your control—money, medical issues, responsibility for children or aging parents. I get it—believe me, after this year I really do get it. But the very fact of how much I’m missing travel right now reminds me of how important it is to me, and I wanted to share a few of the reasons why in hopes that it might give someone out there the inspiration they need to take the first step towards their own adventures exploring the world. There is so much to see, and as I’ve learned this year, no time to waste in seeing it all.

So, let’s all vow to make 2018 our year of travel. I know I certainly am.

Africa, Central America, Croatia, Guatemala, Iceland, Kenya, Thailand, Travel Musings

Oct

2017

When A Perpetual Voyager Has to Stop Traveling

Melissa Kaplan0

I still remember the moment two years ago when I came up with the name for my travel blog. I was sitting in yoga class, letting my mind drift a bit in hopes of gaining some inspiration, and thinking about how for me, the whole point of travel and adventure was that it wasn’t a one-off experience but a continuous trend, a state of being. I wasn’t just a traveler, I was a voyager, if you will. An eternal voyager!

I thought the name was perfect. It acknowledged the permanence of my quest to explore as much of the world as I could. But as I reconsidered, “eternal” sounded a bit too serious, or flaky, depending on how you approached it. So instead, I went with “perpetual.” Perpetual voyager. Perpetual motion. Always moving forward, onto the next country, the next adventure, the next dream. That was me.

Until this year.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything here in months. If you know me well, you can probably guess why. This past spring I got hit by a powerful jolt of news I wasn’t expecting, regarding that most precious and important aspect of life that we all too often take for granted: my health. Having always been a robustly healthy person who worked out three times a week, walked 10,000 steps a day just to get to work, squeezed myself into coach seats for twenty-hour flights without a second thought and visited the doctor’s office once a year, it has definitely been a challenging transition and has turned my life upside down in a lot of ways.

Still, in many respects, I am fortunate. Early diagnosis caught my affliction before it went too far, and my long-term prognosis is excellent. I have amazing doctors, a supportive employer, and wonderful family and friends. Even without meaning to, this year of mostly unmitigated awfulness has shown me how fortunate I really am. Despite all that I’ve gone through over the past few months, I’m very, very grateful for that.

If all goes well, I’m hopeful that soon 2017 and all its awfulness will just be a blip on my radar screen. I’ll leave these difficult days in the past, recover physically and mentally, and get back to my real life, the one I’m supposed to be living right now—the one that involves traveling to far-flung places and having magical experiences in new cities and cultures, then coming home to write blog posts and relive the greatest hits on Instagram with a selection of my favorite photos.

But in the meantime, I’m sort of stuck. It’s the way it has to be, for now—weekly medical treatments have kept me pretty tethered to my hometown for the past few months. I haven’t been out of the country since I came home from Slovenia and Croatia a year ago. (In fact, Facebook memories helpfully reminded me today that exactly one year ago I was chasing waterfalls in Plitvice national park in Croatia…how quickly life can turn around!)

Plitvice waterfalls, Croatia

My other travel plans this year all fell by the wayside once I got my diagnosis back in May. (And if I may say so myself, these were some excellent plans). No safari in Kenya with my coworkers after our annual meeting in Nairobi in June. No dream trip to cruise Scandinavia and Russia (the one I’d been longing to make happen for close to a decade). Instead this summer was filled with doctor’s appointments, hospital visits, and a lot of time on my hands to think about the endless list of places I’d rather be.

But, there’s hope on the horizon! By the end of this year I’ll be mostly done with my course of treatment, and by winter I should be able to travel again pretty much without restriction. I already have big, big plans for the first trip I want to take in 2018…but having learned the hard way that life doesn’t always work out the way we expect it to, I want to hold off on sharing details until I actually have plane tickets in hand. Stay tuned….

And in the meantime, I want to get back to blogging. I didn’t post anything for the past few months mostly because it didn’t seem worth it—what was I going to write about? I wasn’t going anywhere interesting or doing anything beyond my work-and-medical appointment routine. But I also think that maybe, my lack of presence on my blog was also a form of denial. I didn’t want to put down in words what I was experiencing any more often than I had to. And while I still don’t want to write about the things that have kept me grounded in reality this year, I do want to begin anticipating the day when I’ll be able to take flight again. Because it’s never too early to get excited about the next adventure on the horizon—in fact, sometimes that’s all that keeps you going.

I also want to use this pause in my travels for another purpose—to reboot my blog a bit. I’ve always seen Perpetual Voyager as a hobby blog, and never wanted to make it into a full-time gig as many travel bloggers aspire to. I love travel blogs, but I already have a job and a career, and I wanted this site to remain something I do just for fun, and for myself—though of course, anyone else who chooses to is welcome to come along for the ride!

But now, I think my unplanned break from blogging has inspired me to re-dedicate myself to my blogging efforts. I want to post more frequently, write about travel in more in-depth and imaginative ways. I want to grow my audience, expand my community of readers. And you know, actually figure out the nuts and bolts of how to make a site look nice. (Looks do count, after all!)

And I do have a few small but exciting adventures coming up over the next few months close to home. I’m thrilled to have booked tickets for a Columbus Day weekend getaway to Philadelphia, a city I’ve visited before but really only scratched the surface of. I want to explore the museums, dig into the history of America’s founding days, and of course, check out the food and café scene in Philly. Only another month to go! And I’ll be sharing my impressions of the city here when I get back.

In late October I’ll be going to New York City for a work trip, which hopefully will include some time to catch up with NYC-based friends and family and try out some new restaurants (as well as make it back to the home of the world’s most magical milkshakes, obviously!)

Then in December I’ll be visiting my family in Florida for Christmas. It’s been months since I’ve seen them, though we talk every day, and I can’t wait to spend some quality in-person time with Mom and Dad, ending a difficult year on a high note.

And then, on to 2018…which, if I have my way, will be filled with nothing short of epic travel adventures.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

When my doctor and I first met to discuss my course of treatment a few months ago, I had many questions, both big and small. But one of the most pressing for me was when I’d be able to travel again. I mentioned my now-cancelled safari in Kenya, and asked if, in a year’s time, I’d be able to travel to such distant places again. I’ll never forget her words: “A year from now, you’ll go back to Kenya…and you can take me with you!”

Those words were such a relief to hear at the time, and even today, they still make me smile and give me hope. Hope that my life as a perpetual voyager will continue, and that I’ll soon be back out in the world I love so fiercely, conquering mountains and chasing waterfalls and living this glorious life to its fullest.

And until then, I’ll keep writing. Thanks for reading.

Africa, Croatia, Kenya, Russia, Slovenia

Sep

2017

How’s That Bucket List Coming? An Update on My Travels

Melissa Kaplan0

A while back, I wrote a post about my (greatly abbreviated) top ten country bucket list. It was intended to be an exploration of my travel dreams, as well as a way to prioritize the places I most want to see (since I always have more travel dreams than time or money, making a list of my top travel goals makes sense, right? I’m nothing if not organized. Seriously, to an insane degree. It’s rather scary.)

Recently I started thinking about this list and thought it would be fun to check back and see how I’m doing with my list of must-sees: how many have I made a reality, how many are trips-in-progress, and how many remain tantalizing future travel goals? I love accountability, almost as much as I love to cross things off of lists, so here goes:

Melissa’s (Updated) Bucket List

View of a mist-covered mountain outside Nairobi

10) East Africa

Done and done (and soon to be done again!) Last year I visited Kenya and Uganda for a work trip, and I’ll be going back soon to explore more of Kenya (details pending). I can’t wait to revisit this beautiful corner of the world and dig a bit deeper into what it has to offer.

9) Brazil

Still haven’t been, but it remains high on my list, especially after friends have raved about it so much lately. I would love to make this a winter (aka their summer) trip one of these years—maybe in combination with Chile, another place in South America I’m longing to see….

8) Costa Rica

I seriously thought about taking a trip there this spring, but it didn’t quite pan out. I have looked into doing a yoga retreat in Costa Rica and really want to make that happen one day (two bucket list goals achieved on one trip; I love it!)

7) India

I was literally just talking yesterday with a friend who had spent lots of time in India and loved it. It remains high on my list, but I want to visit when I can do an extended tour through the country (both north and south, hopefully) and really get to delve into its magic. This trip may not happen in the foreseeable future, but it will happen!

6) New Zealand

No details yet, but I’m making a determined effort to visit this magical land within the next year (gauntlet thrown down, now I must commit!) Seriously, few places rank higher on my must-see-asap list than NZ, and I’m very hopeful a 2018 trip is in the cards. Stay tuned!

5) Australia

Well, of course you can’t mention New Zealand without bringing up Australia, right? Because they are SO close and both look SO AMAZING, I would really love to do a trip that combines both—if I manage to carve out a month or so in my schedule that would be possible, but otherwise, I’m afraid Oz may have to wait in line behind New Zealand (I guess I should officially bump it down behind NZ on my bucket list, right?) But I’m determined to make it to Australia in the not-too-distant future as well.

4) Vietnam

SO. CLOSE. A few months ago I was booked to go back to Cambodia for a work trip, and I had added on a few vacation days in Hanoi to check out the city and visit Ha Long Bay. Unfortunately, the plug was pulled on my work trip, so Vietnam was postponed as well…for now. I still hope to make it back to Southeast Asia later this year or early next, though it’s not totally within control due to the work factors. But one thing is certain: when I return to Asia, I will get to Vietnam at last.

View of Soca river in Slovenia.

3) Slovenia

Check another one off the list—I finally made my decade-long travel dream come true and visited Slovenia last summer, and ever since I’ve been recommending that everyone drop whatever they’re doing and head over there. What a beautiful and fascinating country!

2) Bali

Oh, Bali…how you tempt and vex me. I was determined to finally make this dream trip a reality for my milestone birthday last December. But, with all the traveling I’d done that year, and the relatively limited vacation time I had to work with, I decided it made more sense to postpone until I had a chance to do it properly, ie spend a few weeks in Indonesia and really get the opportunity to soak up Bali. After all, a 20-hour plane ride is nothing to scoff at, and if you’re going all that way you need to make your time there worthwhile, right? I don’t want to give Bali short shrift when I feel it deserves so much more, so I’m holding off until I can do it right (what a dangerous notion that is, really….) Anyway, I will make Bali happen. For sure. One of these days. Sigh….

`1) Russia/China/Mongolia and the Trans-Siberian Express

Big news here: I’M FINALLY GOING TO RUSSIA!!!

No, not the Trans-Siberian Express (that will happen eventually though!) but St. Petersburg. My friend and I have booked a cruise through Scandinavia (covering Berlin, Tallin, Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen), with a full two-day stop in St. Petersburg. So after two decades of dreaming about it, I’m finally going to Russia in August—just four months away!! Cue massive excitement, guidebook purchases, and earnest efforts to finally make it through Crime and Punishment this time….

So, that’s the status of my bucket list. Two countries checked off, three more in progress, and five dreams waiting to be fulfilled in the future….I guess that’s not terrible, right? Slow and steady wins the race, and even if getting to every corner of the world my heart desires may take longer than I’d like, I have no doubt that in the end, it will be well worth it.

Do you have a bucket list? How are you doing at fulfilling your travel dreams?

Africa, Asia, Bali, Eastern/Central Europe, Kenya, Russia, Slovenia, Travel Musings, Uganda

Apr

2017

Where I’m Going in 2017 (And Why We Should All Go Somewhere New This Year)

Melissa Kaplan0

Plitvice waterfalls, Croatia

A few weeks ago, a friend posted on Facebook that she had just applied for her first passport. I smiled; it was the first piece of good news I’d read on social media in what seemed like ages. It’s not just the prospect of the new journeys and discoveries that lie ahead of her that excites me. It’s the fact that she, along with many other people, is making the decision to explore the world beyond America’s borders for the first time. And that type of exploration has never been more important.

Our world today is in the midst of a rising tide of xenophobia, bigotry, and sadly, outright hate towards those who are different from us. If we want to avoid getting swept away by this tide, we need to recognize that the source of much of these feelings is actually fear. It’s easy to be afraid of the unknown. For many people who’ve never traveled outside of their country, who’ve never met anyone from another part of the world, who’ve never spent time in a foreign land to learn about a new place, its culture and its history, it can seem that the world is a terrifying place filled with bad people who are all out to get us.

But that’s simply not true. I’ve visited 35 countries and five continents so far (often solo), and I’ve had amazing experiences and met wonderful people in every single one. And I can honestly say in all my wanderings, I’ve never had a moment when I’ve felt truly afraid.

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Bigotry thrives on ignorance. Hatred and xenophobia feed off of fear. The way to combat these demons is to throw ourselves out into the world and discover all that is has to offer, and connect with new people we never would meet otherwise whose perspective, values, and life experiences may differ from ours, but who are ultimately like us–just people doing the best they can to live a good life for themselves and their families.

The two most life-changing trips I’ve ever taken both happened last year, in Cambodia and Uganda. In Cambodia, I met people who had suffered enormously from a war my history books had barely even mentioned (and believe me, I’ve read a lot of history). In Uganda, I visited a center where refugees fleeing violence and local people confronting poverty unimaginable to most Americans were receiving food, medical treatment, and above all, hope. It’s hard to see things like this and not look at the world differently afterward. And I believe that, while travel has enormous value simply as a fun adventure and break from day-to-day life, the most rewarding trips are the ones that immerse you, however briefly, in a totally different environment, like the ones I got a chance to see in Cambodia and Uganda. An experience like this is the best antidote I know to hatred, intolerance and fear.

So, let 2017 be your year to travel and explore the world. If you’ve been thinking about getting a passport, or booking a trip somewhere new, or venturing outside your comfort zone in general, now is the perfect time. May 2017 be your Year of Travel!

Of course, it’s always my Year of Travel around here, and so I wanted to share my trip plans for the next few months…they’re still evolving, but I’ve got some great stuff lined up and I’m so excited to hit the road again. Bring it!

Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Melissa’s 2017 Travel Plans (So Far)

Cambodia and Vietnam: I visited Cambodia last year on a work trip and loved it. This year, work is sending me back again, and I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to add on a few days in Vietnam. I’m hoping to spend a weekend in Hanoi and do a cruise on Ha Long Bay; just enough time to get a taste of this fascinating country. I should be there in late March through early April, and I can’t wait!
East Africa: Another work-related trip to Kenya and Uganda, which I also visited last year. I won’t have much time to do non-work stuff on this trip, but I do hope to get in another breathtaking sunrise walk on the plains to spot some giraffes and other magnificent wildlife, at the very least.
Scandinavia and Russia: I’ve been dying to go to Russia for two decades now, and I’m determined that this is the year it will happen. I’m not sure exactly how this trip will play out though. I’m considering basing myself in Helsinki (which seems to be every travel blogger’s favorite Nordic city lately), exploring a bit of the Finnish countryside, day-tripping to Tallin in Estonia, and then finishing up with a few days in St. Petersburg. Another option is to take a Scandinavia/Russia/Baltics cruise, hitting all of these same cities and also Berlin, Stockholm, and Copenhagen (the only one I’ve been to before). I’m torn between my desire to spend more time on the ground and get to know Finland better and my love of cruises (don’t judge) plus the opportunity to see more places, with less logistical hassle, albeit at a more hurried pace. Not a bad dilemma to have though, right? This will be my big vacation trip of the year, so I want to do it right…details to come as I sort it all out.
Paris: Nothing definite yet but there’s a decent chance I may have a work meeting in Paris again this year, and if so, this time I’m definitely tacking on at least one vacation day. I can never get enough of Paris (and definitely not of Angelina’s hot chocolate!)
New Orleans: My best friend and I traveled to Portland, Oregon together last fall, and we’ve tossed around the idea of doing another fall trip to New Orleans (she’s been before, I haven’t). It’s long been near the top of my list of American cities to visit, and would fulfill one of my travel resolutions to keep exploring my own country, so I hope we can make it happen!

Do you have any exciting travel plans for the new year? Already taken an amazing trip? Share!

Africa, Asia, Cambodia, Kenya, Russia, Travel Musings, Uganda

Feb

2017

My Best Travel Moments of 2016

Melissa Kaplan0

It’s that time of year again! Time for holiday celebrations, festive lights, lots and lots of hot chocolate (not that I ever need an excuse, really), and of course, end-of-the-year roundup blog posts.

Honestly, when I look back on my travels over the past year, I’m still pretty astounded I got to see and do so much. I had travel goals and dreams at the beginning of the year, but what I actually was able to see and do and experience blew them out of the water. This was an incredible year for me, and I’m so grateful for every single new place I visited, every new adventure I embarked on, and above all, the people I met around the globe who reaffirmed my hope that, fundamentally, the world is full of good and decent men and women who just want to live the best lives that they can.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

This was the year I visited Cambodia for the first time, and was blown away by this majestic country. It’s the year I made it to East Africa, experiencing a taste of safari in Kenya and learning about the history and contemporary life of Uganda. It’s the year that finally saw me accomplish my decade-long goal of visiting Slovenia and northern Croatia for the very first time. I traveled to Portland with my best friend and had a great time in this fun, funky, donut-and-ice cream-laden city. I visited my family in England and got reacquainted with one of my all-time favorite cities, London. And oh yes, I made it back to Paris and it was every bit as delightful as I remembered.

What an amazing year. I’m so thankful I got to experience every moment of it.

View of Soca river…can you believe that water color is real?!

As December draws to a close, I thought I’d do a quick roundup of some of my favorite moments/experiences over the past twelve months. Read on for my favorites around the globe in 2016:

Best Massage: Bliss Spa, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. An hour and a half of heavenly pampering for only $30. Can’t wait to go back!
Best Hot Chocolate: Les Deux Magots, Paris. I sneaked in for an hour with a French newspaper and a chocolate chaud after a long day of work meetings, and it remains one of my favorite memories of Paris.
Best Sunrise: Across the magical vista of my lodge near Nairobi, Kenya. Watching the sun rise over East Africa at 6 am—and thinking how far I’d come to be able to experience that moment—made the early morning wake-up call totally worthwhile.
Best Meal: Paris again—Le Relais D’Entrecote. I’d remembered this fantastique steak-and-frites legend from an earlier visit but couldn’t find it on a map or in my guidebook…then I stumbled across it by pure chance while wandering around the neighborhood. Fate! And it was every bit as delicious as I remembered. That steak is reason enough to visit Paris.
Best Body of Water: As beautiful as the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia are, I have to give the edge to the Soca River in Slovenia. This ribbon of turquoise snaking through the beautiful Slovenian countryside is a marvel. I remember just sitting and staring at it during a break in my busy day-trip from Lake Bled, wishing I could gaze at it forever and never leave.
Best Museum: Also in Slovenia—the Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia in Ljubljana is a bit out of the way from the city center, but it’s very impressive and does a great job of telling the powerful, inspiring story of the country’s journey from Yugoslavia to independence to European Union membership over the past 25 years. It’s a must-see if you’re going to be in the capital.
Best Bookstore: This is an easy one (even though I got to revisit some of my favorites in London this year). I fell in love with the legendary Powell Books in Portland, Oregon when I visited this fall. SO many titles I wanted to take home, but I limited myself to three, and I still have two of them sitting on my nightstand that I can’t wait to crack open. This place is huge, diverse, and heaven for book lovers!
Best New City: While I enjoyed Phnom Penh a lot, and found Zagreb really charming, my hands-down favorite new city from the past year is Ljubljana. The capital of Slovenia is a gorgeous mélange of pastels set on a river and filled with beautiful architecture, excellent restaurants, and too many charming cafes to explore during my all-too-brief time there. I need to go back and revisit this delightful city soon—it made me so happy and I honestly didn’t want to leave!
Best New Country: Cambodia wasn’t even on my radar a year ago except in the vaguest way, but when a work trip sent me there for two weeks, I was thrilled to get a chance to check it out. It honestly was one of the most significant trips I’ve ever taken in my life. Not only is it an incredibly beautiful country with charming cities and impressive ruins to explore (hello, Angkor Wat!), it was filled with some of the kindest, most interesting people I’ve ever met, and I was inspired and humbled by how the country has worked to move forward after the horrors of its not-too-distant past. Cambodia is vibrant, fascinating, easy to explore even solo, and very affordable. It’s now one of my top country recommendations for all travelers. Cambodia, I’m so glad I got to know you a bit in 2016, and I hope to see you again soon.

What were your favorite 2016 travel experiences? What are your plans for 2017?

Africa, Asia, Cambodia, Croatia, Eastern/Central Europe, France, Kenya, London, Portland, Slovenia, Travel Musings, Uganda

Dec

2016

Kenya, and My First Safari

Melissa Kaplan0

Hello everyone! I’ve just returned from East Africa—Kenya and Uganda—and while the purpose of the trip was mostly work, it was, nonetheless, an amazing experience. I didn’t have too much time to explore this fascinating corner of the vast African continent—that just means I need to go back, right?—but one thing I did manage to squeeze into my brief vacation time? A safari!

My First Safari Experience

First of all, full disclosure: I’ve never particularly wanted to go on a safari. Yes, I know, it’s the ultimate travel bucket list item for millions of people, but it never really appealed to me. Why would I want to fly halfway around the globe to get into a jeep and spend hours driving down dusty roads in hopes of finding a lion or tiger dining on an unfortunate gazelle? I always figured it was a much better use of my travel time to visit a museum, cathedral, or café, rather than try to get back to nature in this manner.

But, when in Kenya, one can’t exactly turn down a safari opportunity, right? So a few colleagues and I took advantage of a meeting-free day to book ourselves a taxi and driver to take us to Nairobi National Park, which despite being a stone’s throw from the chaotic Kenyan capital features vast expanses of savannah full of giraffes, zebras, antelopes, and even lions—upon hearing that, I was sold!

Of course, the lions were nowhere in sight on the day we visited (apparently there are only a handful of them in the park, and it’s so big you’d be very lucky to spot one). But never mind. We piled into the taxi (which, I must say, did a very impressive job of handling the deeply rutted, kind of scary roads in the middle of the park—I haven’t been so nervous about making it out unharmed from a travel experience since my unfortunate boat ride on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala earlier this year), and hit the road, excited to spot whatever wildlife we could.

We had some good luck: several zebras and antelopes (and warthogs–which are just as unattractive as you’d imagine, but kind of endearing nonetheless–dining outside with us at the restaurant where we stopped for lunch after our three hour trek).

View of a mist-covered mountain near our hotel lodge outside Nairobi

Mostly though, what I remember is the broad, rolling expanse of the savannah, identical to the one I had walked through at sunrise the day before on the grounds of our hotel lodge. The landscape of Kenya is uniquely beautiful and arresting; it very much delivers the sensation that you are someplace different, someplace out of your experience, far from your daily routine and comfort zone. I love that feeling of stepping into a new landscape and taking my cue from its outline that I am far from home, in fact, about as far as it’s possible to be from the place I was born while remaining on the same planet. The Kenyan savannah, with its rolling expanse of grass dotted by sidewise-leaning acacia trees, its magnificent sunrises, and of course, its assortment of animals one can’t see at home outside of a zoo, delivered this feeling in spades.

But, back to the animals. In the big news of the day: we saw a giraffe! And by “saw,” I mean, we found a lone giraffe wandering around in the midst of the park, prompting our intrepid driver to ask if we wanted to get closer; we did. So, he literally drove us right up to the giraffe (so close that at one point we actually told him to stop, less he bump right into him—though given how huge he was, I doubt he would have felt much even if we had). For a few moments, we all set in perfect silence, snapping photos and gazing up at this huge giraffe just a few feet from us. If there is a textbook definition of a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I’d say that was it. And I came away from that moment with a new appreciation for the magnificence and grandeur of giraffes that I suspect will last forever.

The Verdict

So, now that I’ve done it once, would I go on a safari again? Honestly, I think the answer is yes. I feel this trip definitely increased my appreciation for the natural beauty of the landscape and wildlife in this corner of the world. I really want to go back to Africa on vacation, with no obligations to do anything but explore and enjoy myself (I’d love to see more of Kenya and Uganda, where I spent a few days, but I also really, really want to go to Tanzania). And when I do, I think a safari should be part of my experience, even if only for a day or two.

After all, there are still lions out there to spot, somewhere in the wilds of the African savannah. I’d say that’s as good a reason as any to return.

Have you been on a safari, or do you want to go? Visited Kenya? What was your experience like?

Africa, Kenya

Jul

2016

Riding the Wave to East Africa

Melissa Kaplan0

A few months ago, I was chatting with my mom one evening and reflecting how, after several rather tumultuous years, everything in my life seemed to be coming together. Work was good; family was healthy; I was feeling a newfound zest for life and, last but not least, I was getting to travel to places I’d once only dreamed of. But even as I contemplated this happy turn of events, I couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. As I confided in my mom, I always fall prey to that most human of frailties: the belief that, if things are going really well, it won’t last. What would come along to burst my happy bubble? What new threat might lurk around the corner? When would everything come crashing down around me?

I was trying to figure out how to deal with these fears in the back of my mind, to be able to enjoy my present life without being overly anxious about the future. My mom, as she always does, stepped up with some very sage advice: “Honey, just ride the wave.”

In other words, don’t look back to the past with dread or to the future with uncertainty about what it will bring. Just be here, in the moment, take it all in, and be happy.

So, I’ve been doing my best to take my mom’s advice. And now, as I set off from home again, I’m excited to announce yet another piece of good fortune this year, in the form of yet another travel adventure….

I’m going to East Africa!

Melissa’s East Africa Itinerary (with a stop on the way home…)

So, where will I be going and what will I be doing? Well, mostly working as this is a business trip, but I’m still hopeful of squeezing in some fun, travel-oriented experiences along the way…read on for details!

I leave tomorrow for Nairobi, the first stop on the trip, where I’ll be spending five days—mostly in conferences for work (which I’m excited about, as I’ll be meeting colleagues from all over the world for the first time), but I do have a full day free before I leave Kenya so I’m hoping to get to do a half-day mini-safari at a game park just outside the city. Also, on our meeting agendas, the planners have thoughtfully included an optional excursion “to see giraffes”—what’s cooler than that to kick off a workday at 6 am? The answer, obviously, is nothing!

My next stop is Uganda, where I will spend a week working, mostly in Kampala but also including a visit to the surrounding countryside. I don’t have much more detail than that yet, but I’m very excited to see even a little of this impressive-looking country (Winston Churchill once called it “The Pearl of Africa”!)

Finally, I’m wrapping up two weeks of work travel with possibly the best stopover ever: I’ll be spending three days in Paris! Again, it will mostly be meetings, but I have nearly an entire Sunday free when I arrive and, come hell or high water, I’m determined to fight off any fatigue from lack of sleep after a nine-hour night flight and get into the city to spend a little time at the Louvre (I’ve been once, but for an embarrassingly brief amount of time—I want to go back!), the Jardin des Tuilleries, and of course, the greatest draw for me in Paris: Café Angelina, home to the world’s most scrumptious hot chocolate. I’m already anticipating the happiness the visit to this chocolate shrine is going to bring me…I wish I could bring some of that divine chocolate back for every single friend, family member, and reader of this blog!

The Louvre in Paris

So, off to East Africa (and Paris) I go. And I’m pretty much leaving the experience unplanned, for things to fall into place as they may. I hope to see some wild animals in their natural habitat, discover a few hidden gems in Nairobi, and soak in the beauty of the African countryside I’ve only glimpsed in photos before. It will be quite an adventure, I’m sure…and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it and, as Mom wisely suggested, just ride the wave.

Have you been to Kenya or Uganda? Any suggestions for me? Any great recommendations for Nairobi in particular (I’m still researching!) Follow along with me on twitter (@perpetualvoyage) where I’ll try to tweet as I go, wifi permitting!

Africa, France, Kenya, Uganda

Jun

2016