Spending only two weeks in my favourite city in the world was never going to be enough.
I could wander the laneways, waterfront and mosque gardens everyday for the rest of my life and still never tire of the charming contradictions of this Ottoman city.
I dream, daily, of returning and pursuing a life there.
Until then, I look at these photos and can feel the memories I made towards future not far away.
Read MoreSa Pa, in the north of Vietnam, can be reached by a rickety overnight train from Hanoi, then a climbing drive south from Lao Cai on the the Chinese border back towards Mt Fanispan (the highest mountain in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), which lies just beyond the city. The town of Sa Pa is just a base - and a rather ugly one - from which to explore the seemingly endless rice paddies and hills that lie beyond.
Read MoreI was told no information other than to meet my guide out the front of my Airbnb at 4.30am. I set my alarm for only moments before, which saw me rushing down the stairs still pulling my tshirt over my head at 4.30m exactly. The door was locked from the inside with a key I didn't have, and I heard nothing but the whizzing and chirping of tropical, nocturnal insects and the loud snores of my host's father, drowning out soccer still blaring on the antennaed television.
Read MoreTo anyone that will listen, I will tell you that my 2015 trip to Sri Lanka changed my life. But when asked why, I am unable to find the words. All I know is that I left for Sri Lanka as one person and returned another - bolder, wiser and kinder. What I do know is that the people I met were funny, welcoming, gracious and loving. Here are the photos and stories of too few.
Read MoreTourism has rapidly increased across Myanmar since the military junta officially 'dissolved' in 2011 and instituted some semblance of democracy. However the main areas to benefit from tourism tend to be the major cities: Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Inle Lake. Previously Aung San Suu Kyi, the spiritual leader of Myanmar who spent 15 years under house arrest for her efforts to convert the country to democracy in the 1980s, condemned tourism due to the most of the money lining the pockets of the military elite. The National Democratic League, whom Aung San Suu Kyi leads, now supports tourism but they are keen to stress that it must: promote the welfare of the common people and the conservation of the environment and to acquire an insight into the cultural, political and social life of the country.
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