one minute she was sitting in her cubicle and the next...

The Goods

Tamera: Part One

Tamera: Part One

Lisbon & Colos, Portugal   All the big decisions in my adult life have been made fairly quickly.  Where to live, where to work, where to study, where to eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner…… so it’s not surprising that once I heard about […]

Baguette Back in the Garden

Baguette Back in the Garden

Roquebrunne-Cap-Martin, France   Rolling right on down the Mediterranean coast, the French Riviera was to be my next adventure.   It called to me.   Like an ancient transmission from the depths of eternity, a faint but distinct voice whispering, ‘Tayyylorrrrr, we haveee cheeseeeeee’.   […]

The Italian Job

The Italian Job

Gavi & Northern Italy   Hello and welcome back.  This is Taylor ‘tagliatelle’ Malloy, reporting to you live from Gavi, Italy.   If you just tuned in: NO I still can’t breathe, YES I’m still eating pasta twice a day, and NO you can’t have […]

Pasta Brain

Pasta Brain

Gavi, Italy   Hi.  My name is.  What?  My name is.  Who?  My name is.             Hi, I’m braindead.  Completely useless.  No functiona.   For the past two weeks, I haven’t been able to think thoughts.  Or hold ‘em in […]

Swiss Cheese & the Royal Weeding

Swiss Cheese & the Royal Weeding

Zurich & Gunten, Switzerland   Two words: CULTURE SHOCK.     no, CULTURE shock.  but i love the energy.     After living in Southeast Asia for four months, flying directly to Switzerland was jarring.  Why am I not melting?  Why are the trains on […]

The Best Exotic Slumdog Mix-Up

The Best Exotic Slumdog Mix-Up

Faridabad, India   WHAT happened to the consistency of this blog?           I’ll tell you what happened.  India happened.     we have so much to catch up on     TWO WEEKS TO GO in my (first annual) four-month Asian […]

Disaster Relief Artist

Disaster Relief Artist

Haibung, Nepal   Three full days in Kathmandu and I don’t have much to show for it…   Before my friends left town, we visited the famous Monkey Temple (only $2 to have your life threatened by a monkey!); we got full body massages (which […]

Mountain Momma, Take Me Home

Mountain Momma, Take Me Home

Kathmandu, Nepal   Spoiler Alert: all six of us successfully made it to Everest Base Camp at 17,600 feet.       cuz we’re straight up gangsters     This trip, with these people, was exactly what I (didn’t know I) needed.  Exactly what the […]

Angkor Wat is a Chicken

Angkor Wat is a Chicken

Siem Reap, Cambodia   Where does the time go??   One minute, I’m lying on a beach while five Cambodian ladies cat’s cradle my hair away……… and the next, I’m sitting in a premium lounge in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport waiting for my flight […]

Tunneling to the Beach

Tunneling to the Beach

Saigon, Vietnam & Otres Beach, Cambodia     After two weeks of chasing kids and two weeks of herding cats, I was le tired.   Thankfully, next up on the docket was a three-day sightseeing adventure, followed immediately by a to-be-determined, nothing-yet-planned, whatever-I-felt-in-the-moment ladies choice. […]

The Cat’s Pajamas

The Cat’s Pajamas

Hoi An, Vietnam   Taught never to overstay her welcome, it was time for Vietnamee Mommy to hand back her babies and hit the road.         tell her what she’s won, Diane!     To beautiful and sunny HOI AN, VIETNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!  Twelve […]

Vietnamee Mommy Does the Tet

Vietnamee Mommy Does the Tet

Hanoi & Sa Pa, Vietnam   THE TET (or Vietnamese New Year) is described as the ‘most important celebration in Vietnamese culture’.  The whole country basically shuts down for 3-14 days to allow families adequate time to prepare (and enjoy) the beginning of the lunar […]

Vietnamee Mommy

Vietnamee Mommy

Hanoi, Vietnam   What do you do if the volunteering gig you lined up for Hanoi cancels on you eight days prior to arrival?         You pour one out for the non-profit cultural exchange program (run by local college students) and you […]

Dim Sum & Dessert

Dim Sum & Dessert

Hong Kong, China   Who guessed that I’d miss my flight from Koh Samui to Hong Kong??  You, Madame, would be correct.         After successfully waking up without an alarm around 5am, hugging Lea the Warrior Princess one last time (as she […]

Tongue Thai’d

Tongue Thai’d

Koh Phangan, Thailand   And just like that, my four-week stretch in the Samma Karuna Awakening & Healing program is complete.   After cycling through the first three stages (grounding myself & reconnecting with my body, bringing to the surface anything that needed to be […]

Thai’t as a Thai’ger

Thai’t as a Thai’ger

Koh Phangan, Thailand   Sawasdee ka and WELCOME BACK to Thai island paradise where weekends are unnecessary, and hugs last for two minutes (or longer…. whatever feels right).  Apologies for the slight rain delay……. I chose an impromptu cacao ceremony, on the beach, until 4 […]