National Philharmonic: Handel's Messiah

Music Center at Strathmore was as nice as before since I visited it years ago. I was happy to see my world traveler friend there to enjoy conversation and .a holiday concert

My Single Female World Traveling Life Style

My solo-travel world adventures began in Fall 2011, when I took a three-month leave from work and travelling Argentina/Chile/ Colombia/Ecuador/Peru to experience Latin American life style. http://southamericajt.blogspot.com/

I recently got back to Washington DC on 11/20/2012 from my 2.5 month trip to Taiwan/China/Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand/Nepal/India during September to November 2012. My trip highlights include (1) hiking for 7 days in Annapurna Sanctuary, Nepal, (2) visiting the Halong Bay near Hanoi and a virgin cave in central Vietnam; (3) experiencing cultural shocks in Delhi, India; (4) being victimized by a gem scam in Bangkok, Thailand, and (5) attending 23-yr college classmate reunion in Taipei, Taiwan. Here is my updated blog for your casual reading. http://asiajt.blogspot.com/

I continue learning the art of solo travel such as doing things safely as a single female, finding travel pals in vehicles and terminals, making local friends on the go, etc. I invest in real estate and work part-time 9 month each year to fund my trips. I used local transportation and hostels instead of taking tours, I found pals to negotiate as a group for discounts, etc., so to contain my budget to less than $1,000 USD a month including all expenses. Other people deploy strategies such as working via the internet or remotely, finding jobs abroad, etc., to realize their own overseas life style. Stop giving yourselves excuses like it is too scary, too expensive, I don’t speak the language, etc. If you reallywant to do it, you will find a way to do it. For example, after staying in South America for three months, I still speak about 20 words of Spanish. Simply google online you will find many wandering soles like me living the way we want.

Enjoy a prosperous 2013. See you around the world soon.

NSO POPS: New York Voices Concert at Kennedy Center

I enjoyed the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble New York Voices, a Santa Claus, and the charming conductor  Randall Craig Fleischer. The conductor engaged the audience to clap their ahnds and sing along some Christmas songs.

The most entertaining hike I took

I hiked these trails (White Oak/Hawksbill Summit/Cedar Run) many times as different combinations with the same tails or in conjunction with other trails. The 12-m Early Morning Day Hike contained some things unique: one hiker did a wall backflip upon a shelter along the AT near the Hawksbill Summit (the hignest point of SNP), and two hikers dived into 40 F water.

 

Little Devils Stairs and Mt Marshall - 22 miles

I took a few long hikes in 2011-2012. Most of the time hikers are too busy to take photos, including this time. It was not easy to take a long hike after traveling in Asia for 2.5 duing which only hiked once.