The World Incorporated Travel Blog

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  • A Love Letter to My Expired Passport: Reflections on Ten Years of Travel

    A Love Letter to My Expired Passport: Reflections on Ten Years of Travel

    My new passport arrived in the mail. Those crispy pages between the shiny cover just BEG to be worn down by stamps. I picked up my old passport, cover fraying in a corner, pages a little soft from turning, and lovingly looked through the stamps and visas again, one last time. Each page, stirring memories and rousing nostalgia. Officially expired, I retired it to the filing cabinet, now to take permanent refuge among other paperwork deemed important.

    My first passport. My formal invitation to the world.

    It felt anti-climactic, retiring it to the old filing cabinet. Pushed aside. Like that emotional scene in Toy Story 2 when the girl leaves her box of toys on the side of the road. And you suddenly want to hug your childhood blankie. Cue when she loved me.

    So I suppose – out of respect or to pay homage or to honor it, I’ve written a letter to my dearly beloved expired passport, reflecting on a decade of travel and adventure, change and growth.

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  • 11 Days in Japan: A Classic Japan Itinerary to Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto

    11 Days in Japan: A Classic Japan Itinerary to Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto

    11 Day Japan Itinerary

    Planning a trip to Japan was difficult. Despite its smaller size, the amount of things to do in Japan and places to go in Japan is astounding. Reading guide books and travel blogs about Japan inspired a to do list that couldn’t ALL be accomplished in 11 days. My suggestion to anyone planning a trip to the Far East is to think about what kind of adventure you want, and plan your travels accordingly. For me, I wanted to experience classic Japan – a common tourist path encompassing some of Japan’s most familiar sites. That’s why I chose Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hakone as the trifecta for my itinerary.

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  • 5 Favorite Experiences in Hakone

    5 Favorite Experiences in Hakone

    Traveling to Hakone, Japan? Here are my FIVE favorite Hakone experiences.

    One of my favorite places during our Japan travels, Hakone is a magical mountain town tucked halfway between Tokyo and Kyoto. It’s the perfect stop for a few brief days, or even a quick Hakone day trip.

    It’s an escape from the sensory overload of Tokyo and a welcome exhale to experience Japan’s natural beauty. Hakone is a popular tourist destination, with its close proximity to Mount Fuji and natural hot spring fueled by the region’s volcanic activity.

    There are so many things to do in Hakone. Here are my favorite Hakone experiences.

    Departing the Hakone bus toward our ryokan – beginning our Hakone adventure!

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  • I fell on a crowded train in Japan and lived to tell the tale

    I fell on a crowded train in Japan and lived to tell the tale

    There’s a special kind of train etiquette in Japan.

    Be quiet. Converse minimally. Don’t chat on the phone. Set your phone to silent. Mind priority seating. Don’t smoke.

    It’s pretty simple.

    Unless you’re a klutz like me.

    What I don’t understand is that I was a dancer for 10 years. I am the product of poise and the outcome of grace. I should have excellent balance and agility. Despite this, I still tripped down the stairs at Inari Shrine. And dropped my camera while stuffing myself into a Japanese tour bus (it broke too, RIP). And FELL ON A CROWDED JAPANESE TRAIN.

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  • 5 Favorite Food Experiences in Japan

    5 Favorite Food Experiences in Japan

    If all the world’s a kitchen, Japan dishes out the most fascinating culinary experiences. 

    People may ask, what to eat in Japan? To which I respond, what NOT to eat in Japan? Japan has its own unique food culture, photogenic and share-worthy. Anytime I see a viral video about unique food, I correctly assume it originated in the Far East. From lifelike food displays to zany themed cafes to bento boxes, it’s difficult to narrow down my favorite Japanese food experiences, especially when all of Japan’s food tastes like a new adventure.   (more…)

  • Apps that Saved my A** in Japan

    Apps that Saved my A** in Japan

    Japan Travel Apps

    Phone service-free travel is liberating.

    It forces reliance on physical maps and asking locals for directions.

    It demands observation of one’s surroundings.

    It eradicates digital distraction.

    And sometimes it causes a bit of anxiety.

    Switching my phone to airplane mode in a foreign country is waving goodbye to the conveniences of GPS and the almighty Google. (more…)

  • First Impressions of Japan

    First Impressions of Japan

    Japan was a place where my general knowledge didn’t exceed beyond the stereotypes. Sure I made plenty of mistakes during this trip to Japan that could have been easily mitigated with some basic research, but my lack of research is what created the element of surprise (and a little bit of magic) in visiting this foreign land. (more…)

  • Japan Travel Tips: Mistakes to Avoid When Planning a Trip to Japan

    Of all my travels, our trip to Japan was riddled with simple travel mistakes that could have been easily avoided with proper planning and basic research. Sure, we booked our flight to Japan on a whim only months before departure, in the midst of another scheduled vacation and a job change, but no excuses… here are some mistakes I made and some Japan travel tips to travelers who are embarking to the Far East.

    PS – if you’re looking for an idea of things to do in Japan, here’s my 11 day Japan itinerary! (more…)

  • A History of New Orleans Food Tour

    A History of New Orleans Food Tour

    A History of New Orleans Food Tour

    A destination bachelorette party in New Orleans to celebrate the forthcoming wedding of my dear friend Melissa reunited some of my closest companions from college. A decade of friendship, Melissa ranks among my first friends when our mutual high school acquaintances connected us for a night of dancing after our early move-in to the freshman residence hall.

    Fast forward through years of surviving dormitories as Resident Advisors, pulling all-nighters at the Undergraduate Library (aka Club UGL), living together in Hancock House, joining Greek Life, reveling in too much fun, partaking in awkward double dates to today — a rich, layered, and delicious friendship.

    With Melissa — the stunning bride-to-be!

    In a way, this friendship likens to the food of New Orleans, with a history that is also rich and layered and delicious. Influenced by the relationships of people, place, and culture, New Orleans cuisine evolved with time and adapted as history unfolded.

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  • Denver to Dallas Road Trip

    Denver to Dallas Road Trip

    A Denver to Dallas road trip was not originally in our travel plans. But traveling for a work conference to Dallas inspired some travel creativity: what if we fly into a different city, then road trip the rest of the way to Dallas? After looking at a map, crunching the numbers, and determining the logistics, we decided to fly into Denver. I share more details of how we did this in my Desk Departure tip.

    [If you’re trying to brainstorm ideas of what to do on your Denver to Dallas road trip, scroll down to the end of the post, where I have a list of all my ideas + a map that shows where everything is in correlation to the route.]

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