A hike into the Amphitheatre at South Africa’s Royal Natal National Park to see the world’s second highest waterfall seemed like a good idea—until it didn’t. With heavy mist obscuring any possibility of a view and a water-slicked, cliff-hugging ladder providing the only way in or out, Richard Kitzinger suddenly found himself face-to-face with his greatest fears.
When Holland America announced the “Oprah Experience” as one of the highlights of its cruise ship Nieuw Statendam it wasn’t exactly what passenger Cathy Meils expected when she signed on for the ship’s premier voyage.
Erin Mooz flew halfway across the world to visit her college roommate’s hometown, Shanghai, during Hairy Crab season, one of the city’s most anticipated culinary events of the year, and discovered there was more to the tradition than the delicious crustaceans.
When American expat Elyn Aviva and her husband relocated to Asturias, Spain, after seven years in Catelonia, the safety net of knowing how to do things and where to go was suddenly gone and their spirits soon matched the region’s dismal winter weather.
A lifetime of friendship on the ski slopes is a bond unlike any other for Jules Older.
For James Daffley, a Belfast city tour with a burly veteran of the troubles revealed not only a rejuvenated city coming to terms with its tumultuous history but, also, an insightful glimpse into its future.
No matter where in the world writer Bobbi Lerman travels, she has only to give herself time to sit and watch to find a story. During a trip to the Isle of Skye, it was an overheard conversation between an errant Scottish teen and her father that served as the inspiration behind this delightfully universal tale of parental love and aggravation.
For global nomad, Bhavana Gesota, the question “Where are you from?” is not an easy one to answer. Are people asking, she wonders, where she was born? Where she lives now? Or, are they asking which passport she carries? Is there a single answer to this single question? Read on…
Many of us travel in search of the different, the unusual, the exotic. But, for B.J. Stolbov, wherever he travels, he often finds himself searching for the familiar. Not the things that remind him of “back home,” but, rather, the moments of connection—to others, to nature, to himself—that each journey inspires.
When a dating website leads to a last-minute invitation to China, Tammy A. Kosco set aside her fears and said “yes'“ to a romantic adventure with a stranger. (Spoiler alert! — he was not a serial killer.)
Kristine Mietzner shares the joys and challenges of travel with a disabled adult, and points toward the truth that everyone benefits from travel.
A trekking adventure in West Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, a place where some people still hunt their food with bows and arrows, challenges preconceptions and produces unexpected insights for intrepid traveler Barbara Brown Allen.
In this travel essay, writer E.M. Panos argues the merits of vacationing in places where she doesn’t speak the language.
It’s that time of year again when we challenge YourLifeIsATrip.com writers to tell us a story in 25 words or less. This time, we asked the question: What are you doing now that you didn’t do ten years ago? From mixed martial arts to truth-telling and overcoming a lifelong fear of drowning, here’s what they had to say…
Watch the performance that transformed a flamenco naysayer into a fan in this visual video travel story by writer-photographer Paul Ross.
Staying with strangers and getting lost on a rainy November night in Venice was just part of the adventure for Natalia Marchuk.
Only weeks after her mother’s passing, Laurie Gilberg Vander Velde traveled to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, on a previously scheduled vacation. San Miguel was also the place where twenty-four years earlier her mother had sought refuge from grief and Laurie finds memories of her mother everywhere.
During a visit to Madrid, Spain, Melissa Paquette attended a flamenco show. Just as the first performance ended, a baby in the audience began to cry. Little did she know it, but the baby wouldn't be the only one in tears before the night was through.
Inspired by a visionary encounter with the goddess Elen of the Ways, author Elyn Aviva and her husband set off on a spiritual trek across Wales with little more than synchronicity, symbols, and signs to guide their way.
