April 24, 2008
Blogger Noelle Tankard on the South East Asia Backpacking Trail
I've never (yet, anyway) properly done the South East Asia backpacking thing. But I've heard so much about it from British gap-year veterans, American hippies and Canadian ESL teachers that I feel as though I know it well. In fact, I used to figure I'd heard about it so many times that I had lost interest; it had become a cliche. I was thrilled to be proven wrong when I found Noelle Tankard's blogs, over at Matador Travel, from her seven-month South East Asia stint.
Noelle's an 18-year-old Los Angeles native with an eye for telling details and a way with words. Her travels so far have taken her from a vegetarian cooking school in Northern Thailand to a dash over the Burmese border, and from a dentist's chair in Chiang Mai to a slow boat ride down the Laotian Mekong. They all make great reads, whether you've been to Luang Prabang and Bangkok, you're planning a trip there, or you just want an armchair travel experience. Start from the beginning and read them all, or try some of my favourites: "Here we are now! Entertain us!", "Who are you with? Are you a journalist? Why are you here?", "Common Denominators: Soy Sauce and Chillies", and "The Slow Boat of Archetypes".
Comments (4)
WORD! I love Noelle's blogs and she absolutely deserves the shout-out. Keep it up, Noelle!
Posted by Tim Patterson | April 24, 2008 9:44 AM
Posted on April 24, 2008 09:44
Nice read. I am headed to the region in the coming months and am excited. I never determine a place to be cliche if I've never been there. Usually, after I've gone, I find it never is.
Posted by Scott | April 24, 2008 3:28 PM
Posted on April 24, 2008 15:28
Wow! She sure writes well, and she's young for such an astute vagabond. One of my favorites was "Just Remember Not to Smile"; it's surprising how honest she is, even when she's not very flattering to herself. It's fun to keep up with her progress, she's absolutely delightful.
Posted by gwen skrzat | April 25, 2008 10:26 AM
Posted on April 25, 2008 10:26
Eh, I found her comments a little boring and trite. I much preferred the guy who wrote www.yeuthanasia.blogspot.com. It falls into the hedonism aspect of it a little too much,and he's a bit self centered and whiny at points, but he's witty, un-pc, and full of shenanigans. It's nice to read a piece in that perspective that's not written by a moron.
Posted by Geej | April 28, 2008 10:50 AM
Posted on April 28, 2008 10:50