Erika Bisbocci
Erika is an avid traveler and explorer of over ninety countries on six different continents. Since 2011, she has spent time studying Arabic in the Middle East, teaching English in Namibia and working as a flight attendant for a major US airline. When not traveling overseas, she loves exploring her own backyard in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
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Visiting the Temples of Borobudur and Prambanan
Though Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country on Earth, the archipelago nation has a deeply-rooted, multi-religious history. It is a place where minarets share space with Buddha-clad temples and richly-decorated Hindu shrines. Indonesia’s rich religious heritage is particularly apparent in the cultural capital of Yogyakarta (also known as Jogja), where the iconic temples of Borobudur and Prambanan rise from the bottle-green hills of central Java. THE YOGYAKARTA TEMPLES Bali may be the land of 1,000 temples, but Yogyakarta is arguably home to Indonesia’s most impressive religious monuments. Dozens…
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Top Singapore Attractions and Highlights
Organized, efficient and squeaky clean, Singapore is a small island nation that packs a lot of punch into its neat and tidy borders. In a country where littering, jaywalking and forgetting to flush the toilet can incur hefty fines, the sense of cleanliness and discipline is palpable. Yet, despite its order, Singapore is not sanitized or sterile. Instead, it is colorful and vibrant and culturally diverse. Singapore’s world-class attractions and architecture give the city a feeling of being both forward-thinking and modern, yet also deeply rooted in its multi-layered history. …
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Things to Do in St Lucia on a Budget
With its volcanic mountain peaks and lush, forested interior, St Lucia looks like an island uprooted from the South Pacific and plopped down in the Caribbean. Like the Caribbean island of Saba, St Lucia is more renowned for its rugged, volcanic interior than for its ring of sandy beaches. The island’s dramatic twin peaks, the Pitons, tower more than 700 meters above the sea, sheltering dense, flower-speckled rainforest, bubbling mud baths tan-colored beaches and quaint, laid back fishing villages. THINGS TO DO IN ST LUCIA ON A BUDGET Exploring St…
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Exploring Tumon Bay in Guam
This past March, I had the opportunity to visit Guam on a layover. I knew next to nothing about the island’s history and culture before visiting, and even less about what there was to do there. But I was curious about Guam ever since my vacation to neighboring Palau, so I was thrilled when I was able to pick up an eight-day work trip around Asia that included a short pitstop in the tiny US territory. Omitted from our history books and given such little mention that some Americans don’t even know…
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One Day in Shanghai
This past March, I spent one day in Shanghai as part of a work trip that took me to China, Japan and Guam over the span of a week. Trips to Shanghai are difficult to come by for junior flight attendants like me, so I made sure to visit as many sites as possible during my short stay and take advantage of my mini work-sponsored vacation as best I could. With a population of over 23 million, Shanghai is the world’s seventh largest metropolis and one of Asia’s leading economic and financial hubs. Yet, despite its global prominence, Shanghai is a challenging destination to…
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Visiting Iguazu Falls: Brazil and Argentina
Iguazu Falls is one of the planet’s most awe-inspiring natural wonders. Situated in the heart of a verdant rainforest and featuring hundreds of cascades, the falls are global treasure and one of the top places to visit in South America. Visiting Iguazu Falls is a jaw-dropping visceral experience. It is a sensory overload—engaging, in equal measure, all five of the senses. I traveled to Iguazu Falls as part of a backpacking trip to Patagonia and Buenos Aires. Visiting Iguazu Falls was never part of the original plan. I had originally hoped…
