It’s just before six in the morning and for the first time in the past four days it’s not raining. Much like the sparsely clouded skies above, my brain, too, seems to finally be clearing up.

Myawaddy, Myanmar

He cheat man! He cheat man! Greasy-haired screams, pointing directly at Raj. Then motioning at me, You, me no problem. You, no. He! He cheat man! Let’s get out of here now, Ashlie whispered with clinched teeth. We locked arms and stormed passed the plume of his alcohol fueled breath. A shockingly volatile screaming match ensued behind us. Raj assertively led us up and out from tent-city for the last time. Loud enough

How many times in your life will you be invited into the slums of a tent-city for tea or lunch? Even though the 500 rupiah ($6) I’d given Raj two days before was six times more than the average daily wage here in Nepal, Ashlie and I both knew there would be more monetary expectations approaching by the date’s end. We’d discussed arriving with a fat bag of rice and plump bottle of oil, but were deterred from doi

We’d been in Nepal’s bustling capital city less than 24 hours. In what has become routine upon arriving in a new city, I was up around sunrise ready to wander and explore the streets of a place that’s been a dream of mine for over a decade. Like every other SE Asian country’s capital, Kathmandu’s streets are purely chaotic. The roads are awful – resembling heavily bombed strips of

If you could ask us anything about our year (how, who, what, where, why, when, etc.) - what would you want us to share?

I was shocked. We all were shocked. Of all the scenarios, my phone popping up on Francois' iPad seemed the least likely. Though only 9 a.m., the three and half hour roller coaster ride had already taken a toll on my energy. Seeing my phone's signal light up on that map provided the shot of adrenaline that would fuel the next four hours of frustration.