What $1 Can Do

A survey done by Lonely Planet through Facebook asked people from different countries what $1 can buy in their country. They comments are very interesting. In some countries, $1 can buy you a nice foot massage but in others it can do nothing!

Chester, England: US$1 (63 pence) gets me half a loaf of bread. As for Philippines, one of the best things you can get with $1 is a big bag of sweets to keep in your backpack, to hand out to kids. – James

Vienna: a dollar would buy you a freshly baked Kornspitz (a kind of bread roll), but wouldn’t be enough for a salty pickle from a street market or a short-distance public transport ticket. However, with the change from that Kornspitz, you can visit the museum of applied art (MAK) on a Saturday since it’s free of charge. – Dilyan

Tenerife, Canary Islands: it will get you a good cup of coffee in the capital, Santa Cruz, but in the tourist areas of the South you will be lucky if it gets you half a cup. – Linda

South India: it will give a unlimited servings of rice with rasam, sambhar, curd, papad, 1 piece sweet on a banana leaf. – Tarun

Cebu, Philippines: $1 can get 30-45 minutes of a glorious foot massage – Dexter

Nepal: you can get momo (ten units of dumpling) and a 250ml of coke. – Niraj

Croatia:  a big scoop of ice-cream. – Morana

The UK: 60 pence buys you about 3/4 litre of milk, half a litre of petrol/diesel for your car, 2 cigarettes (that’s two single ones, not a packet), 3 apples, 2 days supply of the Sun tabloid newspaper, a small portion of fries from Maccy D’s or a can of coke from my office vending machine. – Alex

Denmark: you can get a litre of milk, a ciabatta bun in the Godthaabsvej Bakery, a stamp for a postcard/letter with receiver in Denmark, a cucumber or maybe a chocolate bar. 1 dollar = 5,5 danish kroner – Sandra

Budapest: 1 scoop of ice cream/4 small apples/1 plain hamburger at McDonald’s/1 postcard/1 daily newspaper/30 minutes parking in the downtown area – Csaba

Canada: Nothing! Haha. Blame it on Canadian taxes – Ashley

Faroe Islands: a pack of chewing gum, 2 apples at the supermarket, some candy probably, hardly anything – Bjarki

Vietnam: you can buy either 1 hat, 1 or 2 magazine(s), 1 DVD, 3 pairs of flip sandals, 5 instant noodle packages or snacks, 1 meal in some cheap food courts. ALOT, rite? – Lynn

In middle Italy: a litre of cheap wine or 1kg Spaghetti or 6 bottles of mineral water and just about one tablet of Ibruprofen which you might need if you drank the cheap vino!!! – Robert

Chiang Mai: The question is, what can’t you get in Chiang Mai for US$1? Street food doesn’t usually cost more than that. I even get a cooked to order vegetarian lunch delivered to my office everyday for that price. – Sheila

Bogota, Colombia: A cup of coffee and 2 fresh baked cookies. Or an arepa with some spicy home made aji salsa! – Andrew

Seoul: one subway or bus ticket and a mask pack for your skin. – Yun

Egypt: you could buy a koshary plate which is an Egyptian dish which basically includes spaghetti, rice, lentil and fried onions on the top. Another choice would be about ten Fool (beans) sandwiches maybe even some falafel or in other parts of Cairo just a donut. – Aly

India:  ‎1USD = around 50 Indian Rupees which can get you a hearty meal of boiled rice, dal, vegetables, pickles, chutney and papads in a Kolkata ‘basa’ …and it’s usually eat as much as you want! – Priyanka

Costa Rica: you can buy one papaya, one watermelon, one pineapple… and perhaps a cup of coffee of decent quality. – Luis

Los Angeles: one hour of street parking – Christina

Paris: about 40% of an espresso at Starbucks. – Michael

Dubai: a dollar will get you a ‘Jabal Al Noor’ shawarma. – Ineke

Portugal: 1 espresso coffee. Except if you are in the airport. – Nuno

Australia: a scratchy (lottery ticket) with the chance of getting enough cash together for your next trip – Kin

If you have limited budget, your best choice is Indonesia, Thailand, and India!

A Space-saving Packing Method

I believe many of you have the same feeling with me that there are so many stuff to pack for traveling, even if it's just a weekend long. This packing method that I saw online will be super useful to travelers like me. It's called the Bundled Wrapping method. The tension invoked by this method not only saves space, but reduces the chance that your clothes will wrinkle. 

By Tom Ayzenberg

Thanks to Tom for uploading this great demo video. Hope it was a useful packing tip for travelers. 

Go on a Theme Trip

I always like to give myself a reason to travel, like picking a theme for the journey. Why does it matter? Traveling with a theme makes me want to explore the city more thoroughly. I would pay more attention on things related to my theme. It might be sounding like the procedure of doing a research paper, but I promise you it's not boring as it sounds. Take my experience for example, I wanted to learn more about ancient Chinese history, so last summer I made a trip to Xi'an (capital of many dynasties in Chinese history) and Beijing (capital of China and political center for the past seven centuries). I visited the Banpo archeology site and saw the life style of people in the beginning of civilization.

King of the Qin State

 

After that, I went to the palace of the King of the Qin State and his cemetery. The city and its architectures made me feel like I was back to his time. When I arrived in Beijing, I visited the Forbidden City, palace of kings for the last Dynasty in the Chinese history.

The Forbidden City

 

 

So plan your trip with a theme that you are interested in can really help you understand the city/country more. You will easily remember what you have seen and experienced. So I have came up with another theme that I want to explore, which is cities with best street arts.

 



       Museums and art galleries are often on travelers' top visiting list. Art reflects culture of the city. besides art galleries, street art is also an interesting form of expressing feelings and showing creativities. Looking at still life oil-on-canvases isn't for everyone. But the good news is that some of the coolest art in the world isn't locked away in stuffy art galleries or museums; there are plenty of creative paintings and murals on the sides of buildings, along fences and across public walls. Here are 5 cities with the best street art in the world.

Valparaiso, Chile

  

This city located close to the Chilean capital is famous for the colorful houses and murals, which line its steeply hilled streets. Graffiti took off in this city back in the '70s as a way to protest the Pinochet regime and was initially frowned upon but as the years progressed, the city decided to let the street art flourish. As a visitor to Valparaiso, you cannot only wander the colorful laneways, you can get your hands dirty too. The city runs tours where you can actually hit the streets and create some graffiti with the aid of local artists who help you design your own unique stencils.

 

London, England

 

 

 

London might be home to some of the most celebrated art galleries in the world, but the city is quickly making a name for itself as a street art hub as well. Parts of the city that were once rundown and off the tourist radar have now been regenerated and have become prime places to view colorful murals. East End is one of the off-the-beaten-track neighborhoods where many street artists have flocked.

 

Berlin, Germany

 

 

 Berlin is a street art lover's paradise with both historical graffiti and a thriving present-day art scene to take in. Graffiti really took off here in the '80s with those on the west side of the Berlin Wall expressing their beliefs and frustrations with the aid of spray cans. After the fall of the wall, graffiti spread throughout Berlin, and although large chunks of the wall are now gone, you can still see many murals left over from times past.

 

Melbourne, Australia

 

  

Melbourne has long been Australia's artistic capital and there's as much to see out on the streets as there is in the galleries. Graffiti got its start here in the '70s and '80s and there has always been a heavy focus on what's known as "stencil art."

In more recent years, the street art has evolved to include other techniques, including street installations, wood blocking and reverse graffiti – a method, which involves carving an image out of dirt (like you might do on a car window). Over the past decade, Melbourne has also held a number of stencil festivals where the public can watch live demonstrations, listen to debate about graffiti, take part in workshops and more.

 

Philadelphia, USA

 

Lastly, don't forget the city so close to us, Philly. The Association for Public Art estimates the city has thousands of public artworks; the Smithsonian lists more than 700. Since 1959 nearly 400 works of public art have been created as part of the city's Percent for Art program, the first such program in the U.S. Depending on my financial situation, but if I can't make it to those cities above, I can still drive down to Philly to get the feeling of good street arts!

There are many themes you can chose from, and the best way to do this is to find out what you are interested in. Like I mentioned in another blog post, How to Plan for a Interesting Vacation, it is important to go with what you enjoy doing. I love art and I want to experience different forms of art works and that's why I chose the theme of "Cities with Good Street Arts." But if you have zero interest in art, then go for something else! You can be a fan of opera and visit Italy for the experience of the best opera festival, or you may love Lord of the Rings and go to New Zealand to see the where it was filmed. Any theme can be fun! You just need to do your research before going.

Summer is only few months away, so start planning your trip for the summer now and you will have an amazing experience!

 

 

 





 

My Future Autobiography

Someone gave me this idea of writing an autobiography, but not about the life I've lived but yet to come. I thought that's a great idea! Although life aften goes out of your plans, it is important to know what you want and what your goals are. So I wrote this autobiography on my life 50 years from now. 

As Peiran continues in pursuing her Bachelor degree, she concentrated more in Advertising because she realized how influential they are in people’s lives and she aims to be an influential person. She got an internship in her senior year in BBDO, a worldwide advertising agency. There she learnt a lot of practical skills in Advertising industry and also gained more interests for this career. What was even better was that it was a paid internship. She paid off her last year’s tuition with the money she earned. It took her one more year to get a Masters degree because she was in the five-year Communication program. As much as she loved being in college, it was exciting for her to step into the second quarter of her life.

She found an Advertising Assistant job in Los Angeles. She had visited LA two years ago during Christmas break and she enjoyed living there so much, so she didn’t give a second thought for relocating. Working as an Advertising Assistant was fun, everything was pretty much the way she imagined before except for that it was a 9 to 5 office work. She hated office works ever since she had her first job in the International Admissions on campus. She once told her mom that the admissions job does no good besides letting her know that she doesn’t like office work. She left the Advertising Assistant job after one year and started her own company as an entrepreneur.

She had always had this idea about an agency that connects designers, writers, photographers and media people with different projects of companies. The agency provides a platform for them to choose the project that they are interested in doing and signs them a contract with the company. In this way, these creative people can always work on the project that they are interested in. This Media Agency was like a baby to her; she worked hard and took good care of the baby, and the baby grew very fast. After 2 years, she had 150 people signed under her agency and there were international companies that offered projects to her. By the age of 27, she was married to her significant other.

One year after, her business went worldwide and she decided to open a chain company in her home country, China. She moved to Shanghai with her family and spent another 8 years there before they all moved to France. During that time, she son was born and two years after was her daughter. They both went to a primary school in Shanghai. She started supporting missionaries in Southeast Asia because she wanted to be part of this great mission even though she couldn’t be there physically. Their relocation was because of her new company in Paris. This agency was targeting the European market. She picked up French at the age of 35. Her company developed a few more chain agencies but she did not relocate with the company.

A friend of her mom’s introduced her to this movie base in Hawaii and she thought that she would go for a visit and it was a vacation anyways. However after visiting the base, she decided to help this company in publicity. She moved to Kona, Hawaii with her husband when both of her children went to college. She advertised this movie company and its movies using the network she built in the past few decades and made this company well known. She traveled around the world with her husband and the crew for this movie; that was just an incredible way to fulfill her childhood dream!

At the age of 60, her son was mainly in charge of her companies. She and her husband became full time missionaries in India. She told her son that the companies will continue supporting missionaries. She left a notebook with her autobiography to her son and daughter to tell them how short but wonderful life is and that they need to cherish the moment they have in order to be prepared for the time to come. 

Aurora Borealis: Top 10 Viewing Places

On April 13th, it was predicted that New Jersey would had prime seat for Aurora Borealis. Me and my photographer friends got excited and decided to catch this incredible opportunity. I've always wanted to see Aurora Borealis. I've imagined seeing green and purple lights appear in the sky. I translated my imagination onto paper and created this color pencil drawing "Man at the South Pole".

 

 

We drove to Seven Lakes where it's far from the city. It was a pretty chilly night and to my surprise, any photographers were gathered there awaiting for Aurora Borealis. It was reported to be visible at 8 pm but there weren't anything in the sky until 9:30 pm. We had to head back since it was getting late. But I researched on places to see Aurora Borealis because I want to make a trip to there one day.

 

So here are the top 10 places to see it (Information found Fodor's Travel Intelligence):

1. Norway: The northern town of Tromsø teems with Aurora Borealis activity when those extended summer days are long gone. Its location above the Arctic Circle, and within the Northern Lights zone, makes it one of the top places to view shimmering green lights.
2. Sweden: The area around Abisko in Swedish Lapland is scientifically proven to be an ideal viewing spot due to a unique micro-climate. Close to Abisko National Park, the dark winter night is perfect for sky watching.
3. Finland: Head to Luosto in Northern Finland to the Aurora Chalet where, upon arrival, you’ll be handed an "Aurora Alarm" which beeps once Northern Lights appear. In the nearby town of Sodanklya, the Northern Lights Research Center relays your message via the hotel.
4. Iceland: Leave the bustling nightlife of the capital city and head out into the wide open plains of Þingvellir National Park—a UNESCO Heritage Site where the North American and Eurasian continental plates meet to cause a rift valley.
5. Alaska: Alaska’s location within "the zone" means you’re almost guaranteed to see spectacular light displays. Be sure to move further away from city lights of Fairbanks into the region’s vast wilderness areas of Denali and the Yukon Territory.
6. Canada: Areas around pristine Lake Superior in Ontario and Northern Canada’s tundra backcountry are prime viewing spots. Head to the town of Whitehorse within the Yukon Territory to best see the swirling lights.
7. Greenland: Greenland still remains a final frontier for the average traveler and from its interior ice remains optimal location, however more accessible areas south and east of Greenland provide just as good viewing opportunities.
8. Scotland: The British isles are known for stormy, foggy, and cloudy weather—far from ideal conditions for observing the sky, but on those rare occasions when thick cloud covers break momentarily during dark winter months, you’ve got a good chance of witnessing the display in parts of Scotland's north.
9. Russia: In Northern Russia, you’ve got a good chance of seeing Aurora Borealis. The Kola Peninsula’s proximity to the Northern Lights zone also makes it a key area and the town of Murmansk is a popular base . . . if you can handle the below freezing temperatures of a typical Siberian winter.
10. Denmark: North of Scotland between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic, the Faroe Island archipelago is mostly known for puffins and Viking folklore. While its stormy weather mimics that of the British Isles, visitors to this Denmark-owned province could also see the iridescent lights.

 

These places are listed in my travel list for the next 10 years. 

 

3 Affordable Places To Backpack In Summer 2013

Life is stressful and everyone needs to let go once in a while, let go of the technological devices that enslave us and bosses and professors who give us deadlines and assignments.

To get away from these commitments, people take vacations and go to hotels and exotic destinations, but the problem is that they take a heavy toll on the bank account!

But don't worry, I have a solution for it that costs less and is potentially more refreshing!

A good way to get away from the hubbub of everyday life, you should consider going backpacking to a foreign country, particularly the ones in the east. Travelling to a different country opens your eyes to a world which is very different from your own and it makes you realize that this planet is so different on the other side.

People talk different languages, eat different food and dress differently; it opens your eyes to a world of possibilities. It's an experience that often changes your outlook towards life and you once you start, you only feel like doing more!

Top 3 Affordable Places To Backpack In Summer 2013:

Counting down...

3. Sri Lanka



Sri Lanka is a island with rich cultural experience. Good food, beautiful beaches wildlife forests, abundant wildlife, mountains tea plantations and much more.
Colombo, is the major city of this country and its commercial hub.

Sri Lankans are known to be very friendly and courteous and welcoming to toursits.
 

Go to Back Pack To Sri Lanka for more info.

Approximate daily costs for Basic needs: US $10 (click here for more info)

2.Indonesia

 

 

Full of Rainforests, beaches and green seas, Indonesia offers an affordable visit to untouched paradise. The major locations one should visit are Sumatra, Lake Maninjau, Harau Valley and Tangkahan. Elephant trekking, waterfalls, snorkeling and surfing are some activities you can enjoy there.

 

For more information on Indonesia click here!

Approximate daily costs for Basic needs: $10/day (click here for more info)

1. China

 

 

 One of the emerging super powers of the world is actually a very famous backpacking destination off late. Contrasting cultures make this place very attractive to tourists from all over the world. With a history of over 5000 years, China has a lot to offer to backpackers with low costs, old buildings and bustling active cities. Major cities include Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Gaungzhou, Qingdao (where I'm from) and Hong Kong.

A blog post listing 40 reasons why you should backpack in China:
For more information on China click here
Approximate daily costs for Basic needs: $15/day (Click here for more info)

Those are my top 3, but you guys should look at India, Thailand and Vietnam for more  affordable places.

Happy Backpacking!

 

 

 

Follow Me

Nowadays, social media are becoming part of people's lives by changing ways people communicate. People no longer communicate with only who they know but also to whom they have never met. They share ideas and experiences with others through words and images and others can exchange thoughts through same ways.

Due to the characteristics of social media, a platform for free expression without the constrain of time and location, they are widely used by world travelers. A collaboration of social media and photography is Instagram. Instagram is listed as one of the most useful application for travelers because it can instantly add effects to your photos and make them look like taken by pros, and share them with your followers to update where you have been. Recently a series of pictures of a girl leading the photographer into different historical sites became popular on Intagram.

Check out more photos here. 

 

The photographer is Murad Osmann. He graduated as a civil engineer from Imperial College London, but later he started his own production company Hype Production. His girlfriend Natalia is a Russian journalist. He explained what inspired him,

The first photo happened accidentally in Barcelona when Natalia and Murad were on vacation. "Nataly was a bit annoyed that I was always taking pictures of everything, so she grabbed my hand and tried to pull me forward," he explained to The Daily Mail UK.

This group of photos brought him 50,000 followers on Instagram and many people start taking traveling pictures in the "follow me" style.

A Grasshopper's Thought

Remember my blog post "Sites Filmed in Movies and TV Shows"? In the post I talked about how liking a movie or a TV show could inspire you to visit the place where it's filmed. I found a blog post with similar idea on "Globalgrasshopper". It's called "10 Movies that'll Make You Want to Visit London".

I was attracted by this name "Globalgrasshopper"; I knew that it's not like any other travel blogs. Globalgrasshopper is run by a couple from the UK, Gray and Becky. Both Gray and Becky are obsessed with traveling and tracing their footprints with photography. Gray is a professional web and graphic designer, and also a travel photographer. And Becky enjoys writing, which made them a perfect team to run this blog. Besides them, there are other world travelers and explorers from around the world who write for Globalgrasshoppers. Such as this post, "10 Movies that'll Make You Want to Visit London", is written by Priscilla Blossom, a US travel writer.

In the post she introduced 10 old and new movies that are filmed in London. Most of them are quite well known in the world such as Mary Poppins, Notting Hill, Love Actually and Skyfall. My personal favorite of these reconmendations is Notting Hill. Regardless of the love story between an actress and a bookstore keeper, the town gives people a feeling of home, thus I want to visit there indeed. The good news is that she had included the real name of the town and also recommended a hotel to stay in. Besides that, she suggested the near-by sites that people can visit without going out of their way. Other movie locations were also introduced like this one.

I'm glad to find someone who also have a feeling about the connection between movies and traveling. Hopefully I can go on a journey like this one day! 

The Jobs that You Can Do

Will you take a job that allows you to travel all over the world? I will for sure! 

I've always wondered what job will support world traveling and today when I was on StumbleUpon, I came across an article called "45 Great Jobs You Can Do While Traveling The World And How To Get Them" and I want to share it with you guys. 45 jobs! Wow... I could only think of 3 before reading it. The jobs that are listed includes Freelance Travel Writing, Travel Blogging, Flight Attendant, Peace Corps, Interpreter, Online Poker Player, Freelance Photographer, Travel Agent, ESL Teacher and many more. My personal two favorite jobs listed are Peace Corps Volunteer and Freelance Photographer. 

The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States government. The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance; helping people outside the United States to understand American culture; and helping Americans to understand the cultures of other countries. I want to spend some time to do volunteer work at some point of my life, and it would be ideal to volunteer in a foreign country. Freelance Photographers are self employed. They first make a picture and then offer it for sale or display. 

These experiences are unique and meaningful, and I hope one of them could be achieved while having the freedom to travel. 

A Wiki Post of Haiwan Bridge

About a month ago, I came across this idea of adding information of my home town Qingdao on Wikipedia. I compared the before and after of that Wikipedia paragraph and you can click here to read it. Today I went back to the Wiki page because I was curious whether the information that I added would still be there,  and there it was!

I decided to make some more changes by adding information about the newly opened over-sea bridge in Qingdao, because it is the new record of the longest bridge over water and I'm very proud about it.

In June 30, 2011, the longest bridge over water opened in Qingdao. The bridge, Haiwan Bridge, is 26.4 miles long and connects Qingdao to an offshore island, Huangdao. It would easily cross the English Channel and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana. Haiwan Bridge is supported by more than 5,000 pillars and costs about 10 billion yuan which is about 1.5 billion dollars. The bridge was designed by the Shandong Gausu Group and the construction lasted for four years. Haiwan Bridge brought much convenience to people by supporting public buses and cutting the commute between the city of Qingdao and the sprawling suburb of Huangdao by 30 minutes. At least 10,000 workers toiled in two teams around the clock to build the bridge, which was constructed from opposite ends. ^[19]

I was actually surprised that there were no updates about the bridge in Qingdao's Wikipedia page since Wikipedia is known for its fast updates. But I'm glad to be the one to add this information. Wikipedia is a medium for people to get to know something or somewhere. Although it is not creditable for citing it as a reference, it definitely increases your knowledge. So if you want to travel to somewhere, you can wiki it up for sure!

"First Times" During Spring Break

Spring break was awesome fun. It wasn't long enough though...

I enjoyed many things during Spring break, and I had some FIRST TIME experiences that made the break memorable.

I mentioned the road trip in my previous blog posts and to be honest it was awesome! I was so excited before departing and in fact everyone was. We had two cars, 8 people totally, driven down to Virginia Beach. We drove through the whole Delaware and it was interesting to see the towns and houses and how different they are from New Jersey. We made three stops on the way and I met some interesting people there. I was ordering a Softy ice cream  from McDonald's and the guy who was taking my order asked me "For here or to go?" I replied "Any difference?" He laughed and said that he had to ask that question for every order he takes and he wasn't sure if that applies for ice cream orders also. "It's my first week" he said. Small talk like this lightens up my day.

We took Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Virginia Beach. It is a bridge that connects Virginia's Eastern Shore with the Virginia mainland at Virginia Beach near Norfolk. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel showcases the mighty surge of the Atlantic Ocean, the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay, and the soaring grace of an engineering marvel. The picture on the left was taken in the tunnel. 

During the break, I went for Mini Golf for the first time in my life and I loved it! I never thought that I would enjoy golfing because it's not competitive like track or basketball. But Mini Golf is actually really relaxing and fun. 

The last "first time" is that I saw sunrise and sunset in one day. I always loved to see sunrise and sunset, and I think that they are the prettiest stage of the sun, but I've never seen them in one day. One reason is that it's hard for me to get up that early and still be awake when the sun sets, and another reason is that I've never been in a great location that I can see both clearly. In Virginia Beach, I saw the sunrise by the ocean on the east and sun set by the bay on the west.


"First Times" is memorable. I'm glad to have these first time experiences through out my break. Of course I have also caught up with my sleep and had amazing meals. Anyways, school had started and hope you all are refreshed from the break! Have a great week!

Sites Filmed in Movies and TV Shows

Have you ever visited sites where movies or TV shows that you like were shot in? There are many reasons for me to travel as I mentioned in my previous blog posts; besides my interest in learning foreign cultures, this is another one. I believe that sites of movies and TV shows that you enjoy are meaningful to visit because knowing you are at the very spot where the scene in movie has taken place can provide you with more understanding of the movie as well as to the place. I've been wanting to visit Hokkaido, Japan ever since I saw a movie called "If You Are The One". The scenery of Hokkaido compliments the love story and made the movie well-known, and at the same time tourism in Hokkaido became popular because of this movie. 

There are many combinations of sites and movies like this. There is a "Lord of the Rings" tour in New Zealand, "Harry Potter" tour in England and "Midnight in Paris" tour in France. The video below introduces the New York City sites that "Man in Black" were filmed at. 

This video is posted by On Location Tours, the largest TV and Movie tour company in the world. The company has uploaded several videos featuring Sex and the City Hotspots, Gossip Girl Sites and Soprano Sites. I live in New Jersey and I think that it's amazing to be so close to one of the most filmed cities, New York City. A day trip to NYC visiting some famous movie sites will be a perfect weekend for me!  

Photographic Memories

Photographers express themselves through photos; photography is a way to record what they see and feel during traveling. The girl in this picture is Xiaoyun Luo, a photographer as well as a world traveler.

Luo likes to travel alone and she is known for her self portraits in those travel photos. The photos were taken in many different countries such as France, Japan, Brazil, England, Greece and Spain. 

These photos look like that they were taken by others (but obviously they are not since she travels alone), because none of them are head shots like the pictures that you get from holding a phone/camera against you. Her photos highlight backgrounds of landscapes and architectures. 

She said that the pictures were taken on a tripod with self-timer. I found this to be inspiring. I don't usually carry my tripod when I go out because I thought that it's an extra weight to carry and it takes a lot of time to set up. But the pictures do turn out much nicer than asking a random person to take photos for you. 

Photography is an Art. It captures your perspectives. It freezes time and reminds me of how I felt in a particular moment. Travel is often short and goes by quick when you enjoy yourself, but I always make it a point to take a lot of pictures so that I may relive those moments over and over again!

Fly Like a Kite

This morning I saw a friend’s status saying: 

"Here's where I've been when I was 5, 10, 15 and 20 years old: London, UK; London, UK; London, UK; New Jersey, US." 

Many people shared the post and traced their own footprint along with it. I thought that was very interesting because I realized that I was in three different countries at those ages. So here goes mine, 

"Qingdao, China; Grimsby, UK; Qingdao, China; New Jersey, US.” 

I’m imagining writing this down twenty years later… Hmm… just made me so excited about my future!

When I look at the first 20 years of my life, I cannot deny that my parents are great influences on me. They provided me with a home where I could feel free and secure, but they weren't afraid of letting me explore new things. They encouraged me to be courageous and curious towards new things, and they would always stand behind me so that I would feel protected when I stepped out. Although they made a lot of sacrifices for me, they have never given up pursuing their dreams. Unlike many Asian parents, making every effort to ensure the success of their children, my parents did not make me feel that I was the center of their life and thus I don’t feel the pressure to impress them with my achievements. I’m so thankful that they didn't stop pursuing their dream for me.

We moved to England when I was ten because my parents were admitted into a school there. Their friends told them that it was important for me to receive a stable education in China, but they trusted me and knew I could handle facing the new environment. I went to the UK with only a few English words. All three of us were students at that time and that encouraged me to learn and adapt to the English speaking environment. After one year, they finished their study and decided to move back. Friends and family said that they were silly. Apparently it was many people’s dream to immigrate to western countries, but it wasn't my parents’. I went back to Qingdao, my home town, and started catching up on coursework. That was the time when my Math and Science knowledge were laid solidly.

I realized that I’m like a kite flying in the sky, and no matter how high I fly they always hold my string tight in their hands. This gives me power to fly even higher in the sky because I have security of knowing they will never let go of my string.

Road Trip and Spring Break

Counting down the days guys… I can’t wait for Spring Break! This year’s Spring Break I’ll be able to fulfill my dream of going on a road trip, SO EXCITED! You have probably seen the movie Elizabethtown by Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Well I fell in love with the road trip scene in the end of the movie. It must be epic to see beautiful sceneries fly by the car window while listening to your favorite songs. Road trip can help releasing all the tensions from work, study and anything that stresses you.

This Spring break, I'm going to Virginia with seven other good friends. I've been there last Spring break and loved it so much. If you ask me what I will do there, I really don’t know the answer… Last time we just chilled and didn't do anything! It was a break from the busy school work we had, so we didn't want to be stressed with where to visit.So that was a real break for us! We stayed in a cozy beach house and cooked two meals a day. We tried to sleep as much as we want and eat as healthy as possible. During the day, we would walk to the beach, play volleyball, make sand castles and do some photo shooting. I think this kind of vacation is what I need right now, and with the road trip, it’s just going to be AWESOME!

Plus I need to see some sunshine after New Jersey’s long winter… 8 days to go guys!Hope you all have some amazing plans for Spring break. As long as it makes you relaxed, it doesn't matter what you do.  

How to Plan for an Interesting Vacation

I love vacations, and I don’t think anyone doesn't  But planning is very essential in making the vacation interesting to you. Let me share my planning procedure with you all!

• Choose a destination. 

     Choosing the right destination can make your trip more enjoyable and     memorable. There aren't many rules in how to choose it; you choose wherever you feel like going! For instance, I like to go to tropical places during winter because I can escape from the cold weather and wear pretty summer clothes, and also most tropical places’ winter is more comfortable than summer; summer can be unbearably hot and humid but winter is warm and dry. But this is not always the case, sometimes I feel like to go to somewhere that’s covered in snow and go for skiing and see ice sculptures. You can have millions of reasons of why you want to go somewhere, but be sure that you know that is the place you want to go.

• Do I have enough money? 

     Ask yourself this question before going. This can be a factor that you choose your destinations. Maybe you want to go for a place that’s cheap airfare. Although people say that money isn't everything, it does get on people’s nerves sometimes. You don’t want to go to a place and find out that your money can only pays half of the trip. My parents always say to me that I should never be cheap on myself when traveling. It’s hard to avoid money spending during vacation so it’s really important to plan ahead and make sure that you can afford this trip. If you are going to another country, calculate the currency and exchange some money for that.

• Find out your interests. 

     Everyone has different interests and hobbies. It would make more sense to visit somewhere that interests you. Despite that some people find museums boring, they still visits museums only because that they think they should go to museums if they visit Europe. It wouldn't be fun to visit somewhere that doesn't meet your interest, so why force yourself; after all you pay to have a good time. 

Hope these tips are useful to you. Enjoy your week guys!

Travel Tips: Right Time and Right Place

Spring break is coming up, so my friends are planning a trip to Virginia. One thing that’s not in favor to us is the price of hotel room. I can’t believe how much they raise the price during Spring break period; it’s almost twice as much as usual! We could probably save 200 dollars if we were going one month before.

Choosing the right time to travel is very important; sometimes it will lower your cost, and other times it will give you a unique experience of the culture.

A few years ago, a friend from America visited me in February. She came around the time of Chinese New Year, and that was definitely not the appropriate time to visit. During the Chinese New Year, most businesses are closed, so there isn't much to do for tourists. Since it’s the time for family gathering, people from every city want to get back home before the New Years Eve, and as a result, the train stations, airports and bus stations are packed with homesick crowds. Tickets are sold out in one second during this time, so if you travel during this time, it might delay your schedule. There isn't much going on except for the New Year customs. And to be involved in this you need to know someone local. Staying in their house and having New Year’s food would be an awesome experience, but as Benjamin Franklin said “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days”. Although we did host my friend warmly, it would be more convenient if she had visited two weeks later.

On the other hand, France, Trinidad, Brazil and many other countries have their carnivals in February, and they love to have tourists joining to the party. Mardi Gras, French for “fat Tuesday”, is a celebration before Ash Wednesday. It is not hard to tell that food plays a big role in Mardi Gras. Along with delicious food, people also wear costumes and masks to celebrate. It’s one of the biggest carnivals for many countries in Europe and South America.

It is important to do research before you make the decision of when and where to visit. Back to my Spring break planning, hopefully we can find a cheaper hotel…

A Travel Review of Hong Kong

I've been to Hong Kong several times in my life. The first time was at the age of 6 and I've been in love with this amazing city since then. Hong Kong is located on the Southeast coast of China. It was a colony of England until 1997, thus you don’t have to worry at all if you don’t know their language, in fact, Hong Kong is a bilingual city; most people speak English and public signs are also translated into English. But don’t get me wrong, Hong Kong is not a westernized city at all! You can still find old Hong Kong style streets with open market selling food, snacks, groceries and all kinds of stuff. Some of the famous local restaurants are located in those streets; they might look very old and small, but trust me, they are very good!

Food is a big thing in Hong Kong. People even go to sit-down restaurants for breakfast; they call it the “morning tea”. There are hundreds of choices for “morning tea”. One time I had 15 dishes with two of my friends for breakfast. Well the portion of each dish is nothing comparing to restaurants in America, so that people can order more and enjoy the variety of food. So take a walk outside in the morning and find some street food to eat, don’t be lazy and order breakfast to your hotel room!

If you love shopping, Hong Kong would be a paradise for you. As far as I know, some people go to Hong Kong just for shopping. It is a place where you can find both western products and eastern brands, and the prices of some products, comparing to main land China, are much cheaper.

There are so much that you can do in Hong Kong, just like you will never get bored in New York. Thus, I would definitely recommend Hong Kong as a five-star tourist city.