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5 Tips to Celebrating the Holidays Abroad

 


5 Tips to Celebrating the Holidays Abroad:

So how do expats and travelers recreate their own holiday traditions abroad? Here are some ideas…

 

1) Hold loose expectations

Not all countries celebrate the holidays to the extent we do in the western world and a country’s lifestyle and cultural gap may make it broader. Most of Asia, for instance, celebrates their New Year in February using the lunar calendar and Christmas is usually celebrated in countries where Christianity is present.

(more…)

Finding Home for the Holidays: Where will you Ring in the New Year?

In a few days, fireworks will light the sky and party blowers will sound in the western world- Welcome to 2011! Even travel sites are abuzz with Top 10 lists of  Hot New Years Eve Destinations (aren’t fireworks sorta the same anywhere you go?). Meanwhile a week ago, my travel clock was ticking and my small life abroad in Korea was in a conundrum over inflating costs of holiday travel and the global list of options. Panic. Oh my God, where to be on New Years Eve?

Ringing in the New Year has symbolic connotations. You can spend it partying with friends at a club, meditating in a remote temple in hidden in the mountains, playing fireworks on the beach, or in the intimate gathering of house parties and family dinners. Either way, you’re celebrating the end of an old year and saluting the new. Thus, for many of us New Year’s Eve can feel special; our plans of what, where and with whom we ring in the new year warrants a bit of planning.

Homeless for the Holidays?

 

Until now, it’s been my tradition to spend my holidays with family in either, Hawaii or Las Vegas (my family loves Las Vegas!). Despite this monotony or the fact I lived in New York City (heralded home of Times Square‘s infamous New Year’s Eve (more…)

What happens to those travel stories that you don’t write about?


Mother & Daughter and the Family Legacy of Mekong Meat.

When posting my main travel stories, I realize there are many others which get lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately, sometimes there’s just no place for them in a flow of writing. So what do you do (more…)

Haeneyo: the Last Generations of Korean Mermaids

Lee Oh Ji, a haeneyo of Seongsang ri on Jeju Island

What do the Lockness Monster, the Yeti and the Korean Mermaids of Jeju Island have in common? Well they’re all legends, with one exception- the Korean Mermaids aren’t myths, but real life people.

In visiting Jeju Island, mermaid spotting was one  of my curiosities. Being an island girl myself, my connection to the sea as one giant maternal seductress is unconsciously strong; as a little girl I’d have many mermaid dreams (more…)

Photo Essay: The Human Plows of Chandni Chowk, India

Celebrating my solo travel anniversary with India, here’s some photo faves I loved discovering.

Delhi, India. Dilapidated havelis, winding souk-like streets congested with workers, rickshaws and merchant shops which sell anything imaginable from saris to electrical appliances– Chandi Chowk is the bustling heart of a 16th century Delhi. The “chowk”, reknown as one of the oldest and (more…)

Dostana family
Written by GRRR Inspirations

How do you know when you really like a place?

This weekend I was doing my fall file cleaning and came across some India photographs that I thought I’d share. Every so often, I revisit old photographs to see if they still resonate with me the way they did when I first took them or saw them. This particular series, Dostana (meaning Friendship in Hindi) is brief and came about simply when I met some children who lived in the neighboring backstreets of Varanasi’s ghats. Not an immediate favorite of mine (reason: some have technical flaws); it took a while for me to realize why I kept wanting to come back to it, despite its flaws. I figured out later, I was drawn to the very resolute expressions on the faces of the children in them and how it conveyed the hardened lifestyle they lead.

In fact, it was two years (and a week) ago that India had accidentally turned into my crash course as a solo traveler in a developing country. Shri Varanasi was my teacher and she wasn’t easy.

October 17, 2010 4
Written by Glam Around the World

4 Tea-Inspired Tips for Weary Travelers

Raining. I waited the summer to see Boseong Tea Fields’ tea-inspired glory and what happened when I finally got there?… It rained. I rattled off some quick shots before the downpour of rain, snuck in some quality tea-bathing time (I’ll talk about it in my next blog) and came up with 4 great nokcha- inspired travel reflections, which I will list here!

September 21, 2010 7
Written by GRRR Inspirations

Finding Seoul: The Locks of Love

There’s only one word for my first visit to Seoul: Romance! Passion and devotion come in various forms; the best ones are those which lift us high, touching us with the sentiment of friendship and love. Perched atop Namsan Seoul Tower is an observation deck overlooking a breathtaking view of Seoul.

June 4, 2010 8
Buh-Bye! (my fave- Local Kine cards)
Written by GAP YEAR TRAVEL

Nomadic Chick’s Interview w/ GRRRL TRAVELER

Updates on my bon voyage to Korea, my packing, my schedule and my interview with Nomadic Chick.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
February 17, 2010 2
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