If you would have told me a year ago that I’d be celebrating a new year in England and that I was starting to make my living as a writer, I would have told you to get lost. If you would have told me this time last year that I’d be going to New Zealand twice in 2018, I probably would have thought it a cruel joke. If you’d have told me future Tara would spend 2018 revisiting favourite countries, getting compensated hotel stays and tours, working with brands I love, and that I’d be writing at a British-owned and Chinese-based publication, I’d have told you to get the hell out.
Read MoreSince many people are planning their travels for the new year, and because I have a lot of slower, elongated travels booked for 2019 myself, I thought I’d explain my reasoning for my travel-style preference. This post is for all of us, myself included, to remember that slow travel is full of benefits!
Read MoreWhat’s this? A personal post, that’s what. Filled with life updates.
Read MoreThe night before my birthday, right after Tavener continued the birthday-eve ice cream tradition, I had a bit of a panic attack. I felt far away from New Zealand, the place that feels most like home. I felt far away from my friends. I began to think about time and distance and changes and the fragility of life and regrets and the future and it just felt a bit...heavy?!? But then, I arrived back in Laos. I took a dip in the pool and drank a mojito. I sat in my white robe and I got ready for a dinner with friends and I just thought to myself, "You live a good life, T." Even when it's hard or chaotic."
Read MoreEveryone who voted on my latest post voted overwhelmingly for a personal diddy about China. And, it's probably about time I took a step back into personal essay territory {though only a step, guys, let's not get crazy}.
So, here we are.
Read MoreI thought it was only fair to kick off my next stint of travels by closing this chapter with one of a series of letters to {urban} China I wrote for the Nanjinger. The graphic designer looked up at me from his screen the other day and said, "When are you going to write the break-up letter in the series?"
Read MoreSilly Little Kiwi doesn't refer to the fruit, though they are delicious. It's a reference to 7 years ago when I set off on a plane to New Zealand and blogging became my way of expressing it all. It's ironic since a Kiwi bird is actually flightless and yet I find myself constantly with a boarding pass in one hand and my notebook in another. And as silly as it sounds, this silly little space is making a return. You're not surprised at all though, right?
Read More...all these years later, New Zealand is still home and these people are still the loves of my life.
Read MoreBuckle up, guys. This is one to read over coffee...or tequila. And probably when you have a lot of time.
Read MoreAs a woman who's lost track of how many countries she's been to {close to 40?! I don't know}, all of those journeys would be worthless without lessons learned from every boarding pass, right? So here is some pre-birthday knowledge from a woman who was raised moving and continues to live in a constant state of motion.
Read MoreYesterday felt like something out of the Jungle Book. A perfect Sunday filled with muddy feet and magic. I use that word a lot, aye? 'Magic.' But there is no other word I can think of in my limited vocabulary that does this place and these people and this life justice.
Read MoreEvery time I 'repeat' a place, people have questions. Why go back when you can visit somewhere new? And, I try to. At least one new place every year, more if time and money and work allows. That's the intention. But I came back to Laos this year. And here's why.
Read MoreAfter a sleepover in Surbiton, which included a bunch of videos being taken of me spotting a family of FOXES, Bailey and I headed back into the city to see Hyde Park.
Read MoreI got to show Bailey around London on her inaugural visit to the city today. She had heard of a sort of food park called Dinerama in Shoreditch, so that's where we headed towards the end of the evening for some dinner time bites
Read MoreThis post is filled with privilege. It reeks of it. And I hate that. Because I sat here typing it as the sun fell down on my Parisian AirBnB while I drank a cup of tea and I read it back to myself with only one real thought in my mind "oh my God, T...you suck!'
Read MoreI've never regretted seeing someplace twice over going someplace new because it's almost always done by me for a person/people I love {New Zealand, London, Laos, etc.}, and I knew there was so much of Berlin I still hadn't experienced. So I went back to Germany for the first time in a long time to see a family I love very much.
Read MoreI have decided to press 'publish' on a post I have been wimping out on publishing for months now. But, I'm finally hitting the button. It's time.
Read MoreI fell in love with Charleston. One might say I even thrived here. Who would have thought? Not me. I would never have guessed. Guys, I dreaded coming here. Probably because I wasn't sure leaving Laos was right or wrong.
Read MoreI've been meaning to post this for a while. Admittedly, I'm a bit afraid of what happens next. No, not backlash. I mean in terms of partnerships and collaborations.
Read MoreA journal entry about what life is looking like down the road...
Read More