This is a humorous but important read: remember, when traveling you should do your best to leave your expectations at home. You’re in a different place and things are going to run differently. Relax, and enjoy your time at a reasonable pace and absorb the local atmosphere, and do your level best to not perpetuate the occasionally well-deserved stereotypes about American tourists. 🙂

Why is what she does so important? As Mark Twain put it: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” I think he nailed it–we can only benefit by exposing ourselves to other cultures.

She’s really inspirational–you don’t have to be wealth and privileged to enjoy a travel-centric lifestyle. It certainly makes me want to get up and go!