Solo Travel Tips | GRRRL TRAVELER

Dealing with accidents and injury in India

Filed under India, India tips & stays by Christine Ka'aloa on April 2, 2011 at 3:35 pm {7 comments}

So you have travel insurance. Awesome.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t remove the fear and stress of dealing with injuries when you get into an accident in India or abroad.

In four hours I was leaving Hampi, but I still wanted to get out to see the Monkey Temple (photos here)! Walter, a lanky 20-something Los Angeleno I’d met on the bus ride over, joined me . I wanted to rent bicycles but Walter advised the motorcycle would be the most efficient vehicle. A incentive being we’d split costs!

Had Walter driven a motorcycle before?

Sure.

Was he experienced in packing someone on?

Not quite. (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…)

A Gap Year: 10 Ways to Gain a Year (vs. Lose One!)

Filed under GAP YEAR TRAVEL by Christine Ka'aloa on January 20, 2010 at 4:03 am {6 comments}

Attention expats and weary career survivalists…

Not ready to “ditch” your career just yet? Afraid your professional contacts might dry up? Uncertain if your experiences abroad will translate into marketable assets for a CV? What is your next career move?… Undoubtedly, these questions are scary for the expat/traveler returning from spending a year+ of their life abroad. It’s freaking me out and I’ve not even left yet! But ultimately, you will be dealing with these questions upon your return. This is your gap year abroad and you have to ask yourself- Will I gain a year or lose it?

I’ve spoken to friends who have returned from expat life. Like a NASA astronaut re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, they had to deal with the gravity of transitioning back into their old lives. In doing so, they were almost always met (more…)

GRRRL TRAVELER’s Travel Challenge #2: Becoming an Expat

Filed under CHALLENGES, SOLO TRAVEL by Christine Ka'aloa on December 6, 2009 at 7:13 pm {4 comments}

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…)

Travel Tips for India

Filed under India, India tips & stays by Christine Ka'aloa on November 22, 2008 at 12:26 pm {one comment}

There are many websites and resources that will give you tips to traveling in India. Here are a few of my own additions to those lists.

WHAT TO WEAR:

Buy native clothes and wear it! While as a tourist you WILL stand out like a sore thumb, donning the local wear helps you to blend a bit more and keeps you from being a “tourist” moving target. Also, the lightweight clothing that Indian folk wear is comfortable and (more…)

Written by Christine Ka'aloa India

Lessons of a first-time Solo Traveler in India

Pros to Solo Travel: As terrifying and dangerous as it is to be “a first time solo female traveler” traveling India, there are also a great lessons I’m experiencing.