Carrie Back

Meet Yaw Shen of the M'Kaan tribe. She's one of the elder ladies that has facial tattoos. Going to Mindat was the absolute highlight of my Myanmar travels. She's 94 and played the flute for us before stopping and telling us that she's old and couldn't play more. I was beyond excited to meet her. I was told that some women in their 30's are getting the facial tattoos, so hopefully it'll be a custom that is still practiced today. Every woman I saw that had them was absolutely beautiful. Thank you Myanmar for making me appreciate traveling again. ♡♡ #travelwritersbinder2020 #travelbinderfollow2020

I'll be back to Laos someday but for now I'm super stoked to see Myanmar for the first time ever. I think I will love Burma. Asia is where I am supposed to be and right where I belong. I came back to retrieve my phone (which they couldn't fix so I had to buy another). I've been traveling the last six months without a phone or Google Maps, can you imagine? I still get lost even with Google Maps to be honest but a working phone helps a little. I'm directionally challenged but somehow always find my way. To take this picture, I waited for over an hour at a phantom "bus stop" for a bus that never came. So I walked to the central bus station to find the mystery bus myself. Because Laos. Lol. At the bus station, I passed a makeshift Nail Salon set up in the parking lot where some girl was getting a pedicure in the middle of the street while waiting for a bus. Haha. Then, I ate some kind of smoked fish and rice before heading to Buddha Park. The temperature was stifling hot, so I snapped a few pictures before heading back to Vientiane. Don't wait at bus stops in Laos just go to the main bus stations instead and get yourself a pedicure, you deserve it.

#travel #traveling #femaletravelbloggers #travelbinderfollow19 #instatravel #instago #thetravelwomen #mytinyatlas #tourist #igdaily #sheisnotlost #igtravel #twbinders #wander #travelgram #igtravel #blogger #travelblog #srilanka #girlsborntotravel #visitsrilanka #srilankabeach #asia #arugambay#femaletraveler #fodorsonthego #girlstravelingasia

When thinking back on this trip, it's going to be the women I've met that have made this trip memorable. . . . #travel #traveling #femaletravelbloggers #instatravel #instago #thetravelwomen #trip #mytinyatlas #tourist #igdaily #sheisnotlost #igtravel #twbinders #wander #travelgram #igtravel #blogger #travelblog #srilanka #girlsborntotravel ella #visitsrilanka #srilankabeach #asia #ellatokandy #femaletraveler #fodorsonthego #girlstravelingasia

But this beach tho. . . . . . . .#travel #traveling #femaletravelbloggers #instatravel #instago #thetravelwomen #trip #mytinyatlas #tourist #eastsrilanka #sheisnotlost #igtravel #twbinders #wander #travelgram #igtravel #blogger #travelblog #srilanka #girlsborntotravel #beachshack #visitsrilanka #srilankabeach #asia #elephantrock #arugambay#femaletraveler #fodorsonthego #girlstravelingasia

Despite what this picture conveys, Sri Lanka has been challenging for me in more ways than one! . . . #travel #traveling #femaletravelbloggers #instatravel #instago #thetravelwomen #trip #mytinyatlas #tourist #igdaily #sheisnotlost #igtravel #pineapples #twbinders #srilankasurf #wander #travelgram #igtravel #blogger #travelblog #srilanka #girlsborntotravel #arugambaybeach #dametraveler #asia #arugambay #elephantsrock #femaletraveler #fodorsonthego #girlstravelingasia

Thank you to my tuk tuk driver for being awesome and not harassing me. On second thought, I shouldn't have to thank males for being appropriate. That should be, like basic human decency and standard code of conduct and doesn't deserve applause. Also, thank you tuk tuk man for not killing me as you drove under the influence of Arak. I didn't notice how wasted you were until I got out. Regardless of your arak driving skills, you were still my favorite driver in Sri Lanka because you were honest, didn't hit on me with the standard set of questions (which leads to more inappropriate convos on your end), didn't try to touch me (oops, I "accidently" brushed your boobs!), and didn't ask for a selfie (oops, that was your boob again! How silly of me!) Instead, you were a human doing a job and took me to my favorite homestay in the hill country like I asked you to without any incidents. Yea!! To say that I'm burned out as a solo traveler of male inappropriate behavior and questions (here, other locations, fuck my home country too) would be a giant understatement. Sometimes, I wish I had a penis so I wouldn't have to constantly be on guard or put up with this bullshit. In cultures where everything and anything can be misconstrued as an advance and where misconceptions about women run rampant, I've learned to ignore eye contact, refuse to answer shouts of hello and excuse me, publicly shame fuckwads, place my bags between me and male passengers on the bus, and to be a flaming bitch to put it mildly. While this may sound extreme to some, it sure as hell works in this country to put up boundaries between me and randos to prevent being sexually harassed. On the other hand, the women and children have been nothing but great. I've been fed entire meals by families on trains that didn't speak English. I've only had probs with rando men slowly inching their hands toward my legs in public places. Nine out of ten women I've met have told me a similar scary story that happened to them, either traveling solo or with someone. Yes, it happens everywhere (some places more than most) & yes I'm still going to visit here again, creeps won't stop me from seeing this beautiful country.

Taken at 4000 islands in Laos where I unknowingly signed up for an extreme day of kayaking. The guide described it as leisurely. It wasn't and my arms were useless wet noodles for a while afterwards.

Realized I haven't uploaded any pics from Laos. 1) Phone broke 2) I was partaking in too many beer Laos to upload anything 3) Phone still in Laos. Currently, I'm in Sri Lanka (uh, I'll get into that later.) But here's a pretty pic of a waterfall. You do NOT have to pay an entrance fee to enter here, despite of what anyone tells you. I don't have any more pics from Laos unfortunately but trust me, if you want to go its a beautiful and SOCIAL country where you can meet tons of backpackers, travelers, and locals alike then this is the country for you! Really wasn't expecting to have so much fun there. I have to go back eventually to get my phone. :)

This national park is the most interesting thing I’ve done in Thailand in a long time! Why more people don’t visit this place is beyond me. I saw all types of creatures, tarantulas, monkeys, birds that looked like toucans. This is from our morning safari ride. Now that I have wifi again, it’s back to work!

I didn’t take any pics while in Pai. I didn’t do anything too memorable since I was working on my biggest freelance project to date. So here’s some cool street art from Chiang Mai. If you like graffiti, South America has the most amazing street art of any place that I’ve ever been to! Chile especially!

Recently, when I turned in these pics for an article I wrote I was asked if I actually took them! Should I be flattered or angry? I’m not sure but maybe that means they’re better than I figured?? 🤷‍♀️ Yes, everything I post is from my camera, my iPhone, or my favorite gadget my GoPro then edited. In this pic, I wonder what this lady is saying. I like how it came out because to me the colors came out looking like a painting. Picture definitely taken by me, yours truly!!!

This lady here was selling noodle soup at the floating market, with so many ingredients set up on her boat. I had to get a view from above. She had an entire kitchen on her boat, I loved it! 😍

Woman wearing thanaka on her face. A second later, she smiled and flashed me the peace sign.

Getting to this Treehouse was the hardest trek of the day! I thought you had to pay for accommodation in order to see this place. Don’t fret, it’s like 10K to get in. Just know, it’s one of those wait in line to snap a pic places so expect that. Worth the climb? I got this picture out of it but that was rough.