Travel Missteps - Lili on the Loose

19 01, 2015

Travel Missteps: Groped in Guatemala or am I just bad at Charades?

By Lili|January 19th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2013, Antigua, camera, Central America, Charades, church, groped, Guatemala, Mayan Encounter 2013, ruins, Safety, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|0 Comments

I had an eventful first day in Antigua, Guatemala. I made chocolate, I shopped a bit, sprained an ankle, and I also had the largest scare I’ve ever had while traveling. The ruins of Santa Clara Before dinner I decided to squeeze in one last site. I was excited to see the many ruined churches of Antigua and there was one I could see from my hotel, a ruin called Convento de Santa Clara. Camera ready, I paid the Q40 to the bored man at the dark entrance. As you enter to the left the ruined church juts

5 01, 2015

Travel Missteps: La Befana

By Lili|January 5th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2006, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, Christ Child, Christmas, cookies, Epiphany, Europe, guide, Hag, Halloween, Italy, Jesus, La Befana, milk, Piazza Navona, Rome, Santa Claus, Three Kings, Three Wise Man, tour, tour group, Trafalger, travel, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, wine, Witch|0 Comments

Walking through Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy I hear the unmistakable cackling laugh of a witch! I turned towards a nearby stall and spy hundreds of flying witches hanging from the roof. Big ones, small ones. Some like an old woman, while others looked like a creepy old hag warts and all! Some even were animatronic whose eyes glowed red (and made the cackling laughter that caught my ear.) But surely this must be a mistake? For its not Halloween time, but after so soon after Christmas! I was confused but had no one to ask about this strange sight,

28 04, 2014

Travel Missteps: A Smashing Good Time

By Lili|April 28th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2003, all inclusive, birthday, cake, Central America, Holiday in Rivera Maya, local culture, Mexico, Rivera Maya, Sister Cities|0 Comments

Some travelers are against “All-Inclusives” since the best part of going to a foreign country is to experience the local culture first hand and that’s nearly impossible to do behind the secluded walls of the resort. But even in this type of setting, sometimes you are surprised and can experience the local culture in unexpected ways. At least, that is how we now look at my mother’s birthday while staying in an All Inclusive resort in Rivera Maya, Mexico in 2003. A relaxing beach in Mexico. It was a relaxing trip. Full of hanging out at the beach,

14 04, 2014

Travel Missteps: The art of Dim Sum

By Lili|April 14th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2008, California, Dim Sum, food, Good Food, Good Food in San Francisco, North America, San Francisco, USA|0 Comments

San Francisco is known for its food culture and one type of dining is truly unique: Dim Sum. Dim Sum is a type of Chinese food style, where bite sized portions of foods come to you already cooked and you choose what you want to order. It is fun and a different type of experience to eating. And if you aren’t sure what is going on, you are certainly up for some surprises. We had Dim Sum twice. The first time was in a fancy restaurant that my sister and I happened upon. We at were the only people there

17 03, 2014

Travel Missteps: Left Over Right

By Lili|March 17th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2004, 7/11, Asia, exchange program, Japan, kimono, left, local culture, naked, prank, right, shopping, silk, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, souvenir, spirits, Tokyo, translation, yukata|0 Comments

In 2004, I was spending a few weeks in Japan as a cultural ambassador with my town's Sister Cities delegation of two chaperones and 9 other students. Beyond experiencing the sites of Tokyo for a few days, we all wanted to get some souvenir shopping done before we headed to the smaller, non-touristy town which was our sister city. I had read in a guide book that a store in Tokyo called "Oriental Bazaar" had a great selection of many typical Japanese souvenirs at cheaper prices. So I guided the group there. It was perfect, they had so many great

3 03, 2014

Travel Missteps: Celebrity Interruption

By Lili|March 3rd, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2012, celebrity, coffee, crowds, North America, North Pacific Coast 2012, Pike Place Market, Seattle, The Campaign, USA, Washington, Will Ferrell, work, Zach Galifianakis|0 Comments

Sometimes your travel plans are foiled by crowds. And sometimes your travel plans are foiled by…Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. On a nice July day in 2012 I was in Seattle for a business trip. After my coworker and I settled into our hotel we decided to do a little site-seeing while we got lunch before our first meeting. We headed down to Pike Place Market. After we had lunch, we noticed there were a lot of people…and more people streaming in. It became hard to shop and move about the market, and the sellers at first had no idea

17 02, 2014

Travel Missteps: Lost in Translation

By Lili|February 17th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, birthday, call, change, door, euro, Europe, fear, first trip abroad 2002, France, French, knocking, lost in translation, money, paranoid, Paris, phone, pizza, translation|0 Comments

Watching painters in Paris made me want to join them. Today is my birthday! And 12 years ago, I was spending my 16th birthday in Paris, France. After a long day of exploring the city and visiting museums we were just too tired to head out again. And so we decided to put my high school French to the test, to order pizza by phone. I thought I was pretty well prepared, but when I called I first asked if anyone there spoke English...just in case I could make it easier. They asked me to repeat the question,

3 02, 2014

Travel Missteps: Round and Round We Go

By Lili|February 3rd, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Bath, bed and breakfest, bus, druid tree, England, Europe, hop on and off bus, ley line, London, roman, roman baths, royal crescent, travel, UK, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, United Kingdom|0 Comments

In 2002, my family and I went on our second overseas trip. This time backpacking it through England and Scotland. We had utilized the hop on and off again buses frequently throughout our trip. In London it helped to orientate us, and we learned a lot of the history. When we arrived early to Bath our bed and breakfast wouldn't let us in yet. So with all of our luggage we bought a day’s ticket for the hop on and off again bus. It was the slow season, so no one else was aboard, so we put our luggage on

20 01, 2014

Travel Missteps: In the Dark of the Night

By Lili|January 20th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2013, airport, Belize, Caye Caulker, Central America, dark, driving, finish line, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, golf cart, group, island, lost, Mayan Encounter 2013, ocean, race, racing, runway, tour, tour group|0 Comments

"Now stay here, turn off your engines, and be quite! I'm going to see if the coast is clear." "Can we get arrested for this?" "No, not likely. This isn't the states. Possibly a bribe, that's all." We waited quietly in the dark while we watched one of the golf carts slowly make its way onto the unlit runway. Its little front lights getting dimmer as it blended into the darkness. Minutes went by but it seemed like an eternity to my excited and frightened mind. Then the golf cart came back. Our guide motioned for us to come over

6 01, 2014

Travel Missteps: Una blosa con hielo, por favor?

By Lili|January 6th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2013, ankle, Antigua, Central America, cobblestones, Costa Rica, Costa Rica Adventure 2012, duck tape, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, group, Guatemala, ice, injured, injury, Mayan Encounter 2013, soda, spanish, sprain, tour, tour group, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|0 Comments

Getting injured can be one of the worst things that can happen to you on a trip. For me, it is becoming a standard fact of travel. After spraining my ankle and then nearly fracturing my nose in Costa Rica, I decided to be extra prepared on my next trip. So I brought a thorough first aid kit and 2 ankle braces (so I could swap them out and not wear one every day). I thought I was prepared, little did I know I was wrong. On my second day of exploring Antigua, Guatemala I sprained my right ankle just