Life Is Beautiful

To Bali or not to Bali

I’ve been to Bali twice over the last 3 years and I have mixed feelings about this heavily touristed exotic island. The first time I went to Bali in 2015, I had quit my job and bought a one-way ticket after seeing a picture of Tanah Lot on my computer screen in New York City on…

Getting older, Getting wiser

Leaving 41 years behind me today, I thought it’s a great time to review and reflect about my life. In the last few years, by removing myself from the western society and lifestyle, I’ve started experiencing within myself the break up of the old egoic mind patterns and the emergence of a new dimension of…

Colombia: Lost City, Kogis, and Parque Tayrona

Following a few days in the hippie village Taganga in the Santa Marta region, I decided to join the 5 day trek to discover the Lost City in the mountains of Sierra Nevada. Despite the fact that I didn’t have proper hiking shoes or a backpack, the idea seemed like the best thing to do at…

Thailand: Koh Phangan, the magical island

Koh Phangan is like the manifestation of “I want to live on a tropical island” dream hence there are hundreds of expats who have chosen this paradise island as their second home. It also sits on a quartz rock, which creates a strong connection with the moon, that is also probably the secret behind its magic 😉 While…

Northern Thailand: Pai

Pai is a tiny mountain town near Chiang Mai, which is also a hippy gathering center. Tour companies and guesthouses all over Chiang Mai arrange minivan services between Chiang Mai and Pai and the trip takes 3 nauseating but pretty scenic hours, given the 762 sharp curves along the road. We booked our tickets with Aya…

Thailand: Koh Samui and Koh Tao

Koh Samui is the biggest of the three islands located on the east coast of Golf of Thailand (Koh Tao and Koh Phangan are the other two), which I visited in several different occasions. It was my first stop in Thailand in 2015 for the 7-day Vipassana silent meditation retreat and I went there a…

Thailand, my second home!

Update: After my first blog entry below about Thailand, I continued traveling and returned back home (in New York City) at the end of an amazing 13 months. Even though I was back in the US in summer, the most fun time to be in the city, I wasn’t able to live in-between four walls…

Northern Thailand: Chiang Mai

Beautiful, modern yet authentic bohemian city in the northern part of Thailand, which is the country’s second most-visited city

Cambodia ❤

In between my trips to India and Thailand, I bought a ticket to Cambodia on a whim, which appeared to be a good option while applying and waiting for my 2-month Thai visa application. Cambodia is the first place I visited without making any prior preparations and I am glad I did it this way…

Motorcycle Diaries India Part 3: The Himalayas

This is the 3rd and last part of my 8 month journey in India which started in Delhi and extended to Rajhastan in the northwest, Goa in the southwest, Rishikesh in the northeast and finally to the Himalayas (Himachal Pradesh) in the north. From Goa up to the Himalayas In order to skip a ~40 hour…

Motorcycle Diaries India Part 2: Goa

To continue from my previous blog entry on Rajhastan (Pushkar, Jaipur, Udaipur), Delhi, and Rishikesh, here is part 2 of my India story discovering the beautiful southern paradise Goa and a bit of Karnataka. Himalayas deserve their own chapter hence I will continue with another blog entry just for the majestic northern region. We arrived in…

Motorcycle Diaries India Part 1: Delhi, Rishikesh, Rajhastan (Jaipur, Udaipur, Pushkar)

Traveling in India for a month is one thing, living in India for eight months is another. The difference is you HAVE to learn to accept if you want to keep your sanity and happiness intact during your time in this magical land. And needless to say India is the craziest place I have been to, where…

Asli in Wonderland

Author: Life Is Beautiful