Female Solo Travel | GRRRL TRAVELER

How to travel solo in India: Interview with Chiaki Nakashima

Filed under Features Slide, GRRR Inspirations by Christine Ka'aloa on June 26, 2011 at 3:18 am {9 comments}

What does the idea of “a solo woman traveling in India” surface for you?

When I met Chiaki, we were both, waiting for the local bus to our yoga ashram. A Japanese waif of gentle yogic smiles, she challenged my notions about what it is to be a solo female traveler in India. Chiaki didn’t boast the extensive list of a world traveler, nor was she avoiding the challenges of navigating the Indian terrain in the way a native would; she was tackling India solo in calm stride.

How the hell was she doing it? (more…)

GRRRL Goes Whimpery in Her New Korean Location

Filed under Korea, Survival Issues by Christine Ka'aloa on March 2, 2010 at 3:33 pm {34 comments}

How do you take a bath in Korea? Let me tell you how I just did it. I washed over my sink and shaved my legs by propping them up on my toilet lid. Yes, a toilet lid can have more uses than just one when you’re in an efficient country like Korea…

: My Korean bathroom (sink/toilet/shower compressed in the same room) is smaller than my NYC apt bathroom

But all smart-assing aside… You haven’t heard peep from me in a while as I’ve been in an intense transition, which just hit rocky; and the “rocky” is something I’m working through. I’ll fast-forward over my escape from the draft of flu, my partial hearing loss due to airplane travel with a cold and my suspended bowel movement which had me alarmed for several days. I will blow past my initial romance phase with Korea- my wonderful EPIK orientation, experiencing Korea for the first time, the “Oh snaps, I love being here!” No- I’m gonna start my Korean blogging with my first “real” GRRRL whimper… the moment when “yours truly” turned girlie whiny and wanted to book the (more…)

Serendipity and a Single GRRRL Traveler

Filed under GRRR Inspirations, SOLO TRAVEL by Christine Ka'aloa on February 12, 2010 at 10:56 am {6 comments}

Planning an Itinerary for the first-time Solo Traveler

Filed under SOLO TRAVEL, Trip Planning by Christine Ka'aloa on November 2, 2009 at 9:56 am {one comment}

*REvised version*
by Christine Ka’aloa

Boo! It’s Halloween and the perfect time to talk about the SCARY of planning my itinerary for my entirely solo trip to Thailand.

My Pre-flight Jitters
I leave for Thailand in a day and my solo fears are now starting to sink in! I’m filled with all sorts mixed emotions and self-doubts that aim to sabotage my confidence. When friends ask me whether I’m excited about my trip, I feel numb. Frankly, I wish I did not have so much time to think about it, but I do.

Planning Woes for the Soloist

When I said earlier that my friend, Regina, does not use guidebooks when she travels, I’ll let you in on a little secret… I haven’t really either. I buy them for the “in case” I want to open them. But only until last year when I was (more…)