by Matthew Allison | Mar 8, 2005 | Asia, Middle East
Chasing Legends: My Journey to Petra and Beyond March 2005: Jordan had been calling to me for years—its ancient ruins, biblical history, and vast mystical deserts igniting my imagination. But above all, one place stood at the heart of my wanderlust: Petra. Like many,...
by Matthew Allison | May 17, 2004 | Asia
May 2004: Ironically, it was the Vietnam War movies I grew up watching, like Platoon, Hamburger Hill, and Forrest Gump, that inspired me to visit Vietnam as one of the first countries in my quest to see the world. I wanted to learn more about the devastating war that...
by Matthew Allison | May 3, 2000 | Asia
A Backpacking Journey to Cambodia May 2000: For my second trip to Asia, following my first adventure in China, I booked a standby ticket through Mesaba Airlines, where I was working as a baggage handler in 2000. With a cheap ticket to Bangkok in hand, I set off with a...
by Matthew Allison | Dec 4, 1999 | Asia
December 1999-March 2000: For four months, I taught English to South Korean students ranging in age from preschool to high school at an English immersion school in Seoul. My school was located in suburban Illsan, and I lived in a small room rented from a Korean family...
by Matthew Allison | Aug 26, 1998 | Asia
August 1998: As part of a multi-month-long back packing trip in India, I traveled overland via bus into Western Nepal seeking adventure, the unknown and tigers. During this time Western Nepal was truly an undeveloped, remote outpost in the world and was just starting...
by Matthew Allison | Aug 12, 1998 | Asia
Summer 1998: For my first trip to Asia, I chose the Indian Himalayas to base my travels. I planned to be in India for at least 3 months, but my schedule was open. I did have to return for my Fall Quarter of college, but I figured I could survive if I missed one...
