GLOBAL NOMAD// For the Independent Female Traveler

I’m a Type A personality. I like making lists. But when I get to the point where my ever-growing to-do list causes me more anxiety than sense of accomplishment, I realize it might be time to get on a plane and go far, far away. Though I don’t advocate travel as a way to run from your problems, I do believe it can serve as a much-needed wake-up call. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: iStock

A few weeks ago I thought I had discovered paradise. I was on an island, one of about 400 tiny islands that make up the semi-autonomous region of San Blas off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Here, the indigenous Kuna Yala have managed to retain control of their land and resist development, at least in the form of hotels and resorts (though there’s a few yachts floating around). To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2011 VH Media

I was flipping through a magazine the other day and came across an article about “most embarrassing travel moments.” The winner was a woman who went bungee jumping and lied about her weight to the super-hot instructor, telling him she was about 10 pounds less than she actually weighed. As a result, when she jumped, she didn’t graze the surface of the river below — she plunged in waist deep and, when she rebounded out of the water, her top was gone. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2011 VH Media

When you’re traveling solo, there will undoubtedly be moments when you doubt your decision. Like when you’re being interrogated by corrupt officials with large guns at a border crossing. Or when some guy keeps trying to grope you on a 16-hour bus ride. Or when you’re curled up on a mattress in a $1-a-night thatched-roof hut with stomach cramps and fever. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: Y a T R a @ Flickr

You step off the plane in Bangkok and you’re hit with 40 C heat and high humidity, and you have to deal with a 12-hour time change after sitting in a middle seat for half a day of your life beside someone who was snoring like a grizzly bear. And your tummy isn’t feeling so great. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2011 VH Media

One of my friends, who just returned from India, was telling me about a woman he met who only wanted to eat “American” food while she was there. During my travels, I’ve met several people who refused to eat the local food — including one girl who spent a month in Thailand and ate nothing but steamed rice because she was afraid of getting sick. (She got sick anyway.) To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: Wordridden @ Flickr

I’m escaping the noon-day heat in a little café in Taganga, a fishing village turned gringo hot spot on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Aside from organic coffee straight from the Sierra Nevada mountains, this café, like many others here, also has free Wi-Fi. And that got me thinking about how technology has changed the way we travel. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2011 VH Media

I’ve always believed the worst time to travel is when you’re running away from something. It’s an emotionally charged decision based on the fight-or-flight response. And the worst part? You’ll discover that even in the most remote places on the planet, whatever you’re running from will be right there with you, in your head. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2011 VH Media

Maybe you’ve got some vacation time to kill, or maybe the Canadian winter is making you mental and if you don’t see the sun again soon you’re going to snap. You want to go somewhere — the challenge is figuring out where. Sometimes I find the best approach is figuring out where not to go. To read the full story, click here.

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Choosing a career as a freelance writer isn’t something you do for the money. In fact, you’re essentially relegating yourself to the lower echelons of the CCRA income tax scale. So, considering this, people often ask me how I can afford to travel. Nope, I don’t have a sugar daddy, and I’m not living off an inheritance. And yep, I have a mortgage. Here’s what I did… To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2011 VH Media