Tag: culture


Bali / Family / Finances / Indonesia / Personal / Travel

In my latest video, I share practical tips for living in Bali. If it’s your first visit, you may be wondering how to obtain a visa, where to find accommodation, what medical care is available, and how to use the local currency. I cover all of this, and more. I hope after watching, you’ll understand that travel doesn’t need to be intimidating. There are people...

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Bali / Family / Indonesia / Personal / Travel

This week, Jen’s cousin is visiting us here Ubud. As we’ve been showing her around some of the sites, I thought it would be fun to share some of the highlights of Ubud, Bali with you, as well. Ubud has so much to offer to visitors. The surrounding area has incredible natural beauty. Culturally, it’s packed with temples. You can get any kind of healthy,...

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Discovering Dubai Dubai / Travel

We were excited to go to Dubai when we booked our plane tickets, but then we became quite nervous after reading things like this online. Not your typical laid back, go with the flow, type of rules there. And, since we tend to feel a bit rebellious with things like that, we hoped we wouldn’t be overly triggered and/or noncompliant. However, we didn’t encounter any...

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Sick in Kuching, Borneo Malaysia Kuching / Malaysia

We had already spent more than three months in peninsular Malaysia, but we’d heard that Malaysian Borneo was completely different.  And in some ways, it was different, with the numerous indigenous cultures that are prevalent, and being closer to many national parks. However, on our 10 day visa run there, we still found it to be distinctly Malaysian, with some of the same quirks as...

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Balinese Culture and Hinduism Bali / Travel

Bali is an island full of culture, especially in Ubud where we’re settling for at least the next year. Sometimes called “The land of a thousand temples,” Bali literally has tens of thousands of temples and shrines on the island, and most families even have their own temple within their housing complex, usually dedicated to their ancestors. With sacred offerings to the gods placed at...

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Reactions to Radical Decisions Personal / Spirituality

Since I announced recently that I left the Mormon church, I’ve received hundreds of responses from people expressing their opinions, their love and support, and their own journeys with me. The post has been viewed over 2,500 times (most of that within the first 3 days), and there’s a thread about it on my Facebook timeline over 100 comments long. Many people have told me they’ve...

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Welcome to Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur / Malaysia / Travel

We’ve been in Kuala Lumpur for almost 3 weeks now and we love it! We never thought we’d say that about a big city because we don’t like concrete jungles, smog, and places where people are too busy to talk to you. But we’ve also never been in a city like Kuala Lumpur, and it has some really great things going for it. In fact,...

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The Asian Experience Japan / Travel

I love Asia! From the moment we stepped into the ticket area for China Airlines in the Honolulu airport, I felt like we were in another country. Surrounded by short people with black hair, treated with the most respectful politeness by the staff, being apologized to repeatedly for having to wait 90 seconds to be led to a ticket counter, I felt very well taken...

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We’re Moving to Costa Rica Costa Rica

Wait! Moving?! As in “one-way ticket”? As in, “you’re not coming back?” Yep. That’s right. Are we crazy? Probably. You’re kidding, right? But… WHY?!! Well, you already know how much we enjoyed our trip to Panama. True, that was more of a vacation-mindset trip than it was a “living in another country” trip, but we still experienced our share of culture, language, and grew closer...

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