Back from my GRRRL TRAVELER beginner solo trip with lots of cool experiences to share from Thailand and what I’ve learned about being on the solo road! Everything from mastering squat toilets and cold showers while trekking in the mountains, eating bugs, drinking tiger penis soaked whiskey in Laos, smoking with Buddhist monks, practicing circle 8’s with a guesthouse owner’s motorbike so I could rent a scooter, getting lost virtually …everywhere and more. I have the promise of upcoming tips and advice for beginning GRRRL soloists like myself, the leak of a  GRRRL TRAVELER contest and challenge#2, and much much more…

Firstly, a shout out of warm Mahalos to all the friends following my fun updates on Facebook (sorry Twitterverse- you got gyped some…). Special Mahalos to those who super-caring and supportive of my first solo-solo and who went of their way to make (more…)

The gamble we take in following dreams is that we are never certain of the outcome; yet, a staid and sensible path can be just as uncertain.

Finding the GRRR to embark upon bold new adventures, which remove us from trusted and worn paths, can feel both terrifying and exhilarating. Terrifying, because we must call upon our self-belief to guide us through “the unpredictable and unknown”. Exhilarating, as we are released from our own self-created prisons and given freedom to grow towards our passions, experience new challenges or changes within ourselves and to create a lifestyle that is potentially more meaningful and extraordinary.

When our country’s recession created a drag in my career as Shooter-Producer of reality TV shows, I (more…)

Trying to learn a new language or in a rush to learn the language of the country you’ll be moving to? Here are some tips to help you with your memory technique, as well as ideas to help you optimize your speed learning process.

5 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY TECHNIQUE:

1- Practice first thing in the morning.
Did you know that the morning is the best time for learning and memorization? Your mind is fresh, alert (after you’ve had your coffee…), retentive and most permeable to suggestion.

2- Create your own immersive environment.
Dress up in your sari or beret and bombard yourself with the language in various forms- watch films, listen to radio news and music, listen to language tapes, join language groups. The more you surround yourself with a language, you become familiar with its sound and the way it’s spoken. This will help your mind’s receptivity to it- intuitively, rhythmically and tonally.

3- Employ active listening.
Listening to a language doesn’t have to be a passive sport- you can add other activities to it to optimize your lesson and make it fun. Be creative! If (more…)

Hangul Chart

Note: Apologies to readers- I’m still in the shuffle learning about my new blog site, so this post was accidentally released before my final edit. I’ve since updated it. Enjoy and thanks for reading!

This week:

Countdown to Korea,  my Self-Taught Language Lessons and an update on my Speed Learning
The countdown to my Korea launch date has officially begun so roughly put,… I’m trying to speed learn Korean. My learning obstacle?  I’m kinda vacillating between a silent freak out and a scattered panic.  A few weeks ago, I started my search for the Cinderella’s glass slipper of grammar books that would ultimately teach me Korean in the simplest (more…)

Living Language Korean

Two weeks ago:

Vegetarian Mouth to Language
It’s hard to imagine that food and learning a foreign language can feel so intimately connected, but right now it does. To learn a word is to chew into it and digest it; and when you’re a vegetarian moving abroad to a foreign country like Korea, to eat you’ll eventually need to learn to read a restaurant menu,  food ingredients or be able to ask the waitress about vegetarian options. If eating is important to you…

Which brings me to- learning survival phrases. Mastering survival phrases are great for a short-term travel band-aid and may even get you through the course of a year of living abroad. But I think- being able to read bus schedules, store/street signs and to communicate in a more modes, than mute, giggle, or grunt all help to create an easier road into expat life.  Right now, my dangling carrot for focusing on Korean literally starts at food. (more…)

GRRRLTRAVELER.COM is now live. My blog migration process was a success- Hooray & GRRR! While my old blog, TravelerDiaries will exist on Wordpress.com a bit longer, I encourage all my dear friends out there to update your links and readers.

My first camel riding adventure did not take place in Morocco, Egypt or Mongolia… it took place last year in India! Deep in the Rajasthan region where the environment is arid and hot, you can see these Quasimodo animals as native to the region as cows pulling wagons.

Two Tips for dealing with everything in “traveler-scary” from mosquitos, bed bugs, head lice, etc…