Where to Travel in 2018 According to NY Times, Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, Fodor’s, AFAR, and Me

Many people get excited about the end of the year because of the holidays, the time off, the food, and seeing family and friends. Don’t get me wrong, all of that is awesome (duh), but another tradition I get excited about around this time is seeing the next year’s “where to travel” lists, the pinnacle, of course, being the NY Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2018.” Yes, I was one of the 9,000 people to apply for the job of visiting and writing about each of the 52 places over the upcoming year. I didn’t get it.

2016 Travel Year in Review

Oh, 2016. What a year it’s been. Like many of my friends (including Katie and Erin), I had an incredible year personally, and while we can’t just ignore everything that’s going on in the world and in our country, that’s not what this post is about. With all the memes showing “me at the start of 2016” and “me at the end of 2016,” my favorite, and my goal, is this one (though the video version communicates the message better):

Malaysia | A Mini-Tour of Kuala Lumpur

I was only in Kuala Lumpur for a few days and I definitely went to bed around 6 PM one of those days, but I still felt like I got a lot out of the city. The next time I go to Malaysia, I’ll explore the beaches instead, but KL is not a bad option if you’re looking for a hub to adust to your jetlag for a few days. Here’s what I’d recommend:

Malaysia | An Evening with Food Tour Malaysia

Traveling solo is hard for a few reasons – You have to figure out everything for yourself, there’s times you get lonely (even if you like being with yourself as much as I do), and you can’t try as much of the local cuisine off of someone else’s plate. Which is why, because I only had three days in Kuala Lumpur, I took a food tour with Food Tour Malaysia. Food tours are one of my favorite things to do while traveling, because you get Erin-sized samples of many varieties of food, along with the story and history of the country, if you’re on a good one.

August 2016 Recap | NJ, Malaysia, Myanmar

I’m not even sure where to begin with this month’s recap. It’s the first month that my life has changed in a ginormous way, in quite some time. As you all know by now, I left NYC and the corporate world at the end of July, to try something new. I’m still in the midst of my first big adventure in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia | Monkeying Around at the Batu Caves

I had a weird introduction to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was signed up for a “premium car” from the airport when all I asked for was a taxi. I had issues finding my hotel due to the address being completely different than what was in Google Maps and the name being completely different than what I’d booked. I searched for street food on Jalan Alor but it was a weird in-between time so not much seemed fresh. I went to a bar to help me stay awake from my jetlag and my waist was grabbed three times by a questionable man (who, I should note, was not local). I fell asleep at 6 PM until 2 AM and was wide awake for a few hours, doing research on what to do in the city. Since I’d woken up early, I thought I’d get a head start on the tourists and visit the Batu Caves, which thankfully changed my feelings about KL at first glance.