You may or may not know that I officially decided to switch from identifying as a vegetarian to a vegan on May 3 this year. And July 18 was the third anniversary of when I left for my solo, one-year, round-the-world trip. Because of this combination of events, I have been musing about the next chance I get to travel for a year and how I’d want to uphold the vegan values. For now, I want to start reviewing vegan products that I come across to help others discover what’s out there. My inaugural post will cover vegan smoked salmon from Sophie’s Kitchen.

Even though it has been almost a year since I wrapped up my round-the-world trip and settled down in Taiwan, I will recall Monday, July 18, 2016, when I started my long, solo journey across the globe with gratefulness and fondness. In honor of my trip’s second anniversary, I wanted to reflect on how life has been since I took that first momentous step.

The process towards Taiwanese citizenship continues when you are traveling to Taiwan to begin your residency. Keep reading to find out which documents you need to bring with you and what you need to do after you land.

Having the wrong debit card on you when traveling the globe can rack up stress and expenses. The last thing you need is your bank locking you out of using your card and charging you hundreds of dollars over your trip.

Part of the appeal of traveling is spontaneity, even if it’s not all good. But having the right insurance policy helps protect against emergencies that may or may not come up while you’re out there.

Happy new year from Taiwan! I’m glad that my first post on becoming a Taiwanese citizen has been helpful to some readers. This post covers my experience with an intermediate step before what I would consider the second phase because it was enough of a hassle to call out specifically.

Between the time that I wrote about birth control methods and their relative friendliness to long-term female travelers, I had gone through the painful process of identifying a medical provider in the States that would insert a Mirena IUD. And that was just the first hurdle. (By the way, if you don’t want to read about health issues related to private parts or see a photo of a removed IUD, skip this post.)

I’ve been heads down traveling around and not making the time to write while doing so. But I want to make sure that I’m delivering quality content and not just more digital garbage. For the last few months of my one year trip, please enjoy some short pieces on Instagram. Until July 13, 2017, I’ll be working on my 100 Day Project of translated sketches. We’ll see what I do with my account after that. As for blog posts, I want to sit down and dedicate my full attention to them after I end my trip so that you can get my comprehensive travel insights at their best.

You can also start reading my blog from the beginning with my 7kg limited packing list.

Sushi no Midori is a restaurant chain in Tokyo with quality seafood at an economical price. To maximize your return on investment, you can take advantage of the original location’s Monday-only all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. It costs ¥3,600 for men, ¥3,000 for women, and ¥1,500 for kids between first and sixth grade. None of the other locations offer this special, no matter what day of the week.

Sometimes Google Maps falls short when it comes to telling me how to use public transit to get from point A to point B. Other times I get frustrated because it doesn’t support biking directions in Taipei or offline maps in Morocco. Despite these annoyances, it still manages to surprise and delight me: I discovered a new (?) feature that displays cherry blossom season status and viewing locations.