“GT” Culture

Here are all the “GT” Travel posts that focus on the people or cul­ture of a des­tin­a­tion more than its nat­ur­al envir­on­ment. Posts that explore the cul­ture and nature of a place evenly appear both here and in “GT” Nature.

If sweet treats make you weak, beware these strong women in Siem Reap

June 30, 2021

Trainee concentrates at the Bayon Pastry School Coffee Shop in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Hid­den in a maze of small side roads, behind flowers and palms, it may not be the easi­est place to find but it is well worth it. The little oas­is is a lovely spot for a gen­er­ous break­fast, brunch, sweet indul­gence, or even an after­noon chilling in a relax­ing ambi­ence.  I vis­it the Bay­on Pastry School […]

Read More If sweet treats make you weak, beware these strong women in Siem Reap

Drop a beat when you eat in Ho Chi Minh City


Skip a beat when you eat at Mai Sen Bistro, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Once known as the Pearl of the Far East, Ho Chi Minh City — Sai­gon — is a bust­ling met­ro­pol­is. With its crazy traffic and dizzy­ing energy, the eco­nom­ic heart of Viet­nam is a place like no oth­er.  If I had to describe in three words the city that raised me, one would be ‘food’. With humble street stalls, fine dining, […]

Read More Drop a beat when you eat in Ho Chi Minh City

Immersed in the Amazon

June 16, 2021

Manati Lodge on the Rio Negro, Brazil. Pic (cc) Angelo Sciacca.

Exper­i­en­tial tour­ism allows people to act­ively and mean­ing­fully engage with a place’s his­tory, people, cul­ture, food, and envir­on­ment.  I recently jour­neyed to the Brazili­an Amazon and exper­i­enced three days immersed in the envir­on­ment and cul­ture with the help of Wel­ling­ton, my inter­pret­ive guide.  I hope this blog post inspires oth­ers to take sim­il­ar exper­i­en­tial jour­neys. I […]

Read More Immersed in the Amazon

Old stories, new memories in Valjevo, Serbia

May 26, 2021

A 3:2 crop of a panoramic image of Valjevo, Serbia featuring the Balkans' second largest Orthodox temple. Photo (c) Dimitrije Tanasković https://www.instagram.com/dimitrijetanaskovic/

“Why did­n’t you ever tell me that?” I shrieked. “Well, you nev­er asked,” my grandma replied. I am unsure wheth­er there was an echo of rep­rim­and or remorse. Maybe I ima­gined it. Still, the accom­pa­ny­ing smile hin­ted that she had been wait­ing for this moment. I loved both my grand­par­ents with all my heart. They […]

Read More Old stories, new memories in Valjevo, Serbia

Sierra Leone changed my life

May 19, 2021

Waterfront view Freetown, Sierra Leone. (c) Meghan L Muldoon

Sierra Leone changed my life. It was 2011. My friend Su was work­ing in Free­town. Christina, Heath­er, and I decided to vis­it her in Novem­ber of that year.  Novem­ber is the worst month to live in Van­couver. Being pretty broke at the time, we took a bus down to the air­port in Seattle — flights are cheap­er in the […]

Read More Sierra Leone changed my life

Off-peak Tanzania: Go for wildlife, go again for people

May 14, 2021

Datoga tribeswomen of Tanzania and the fourth bride

When you think of Tan­zania, massive ele­phants, beau­ti­ful lions, and migrat­ing herds of zebra and wilde­beest usu­ally come to mind. And with good reas­on. This coun­try has some of the most incred­ible wild­life on the plan­et. From the Ser­en­geti to the Ngoron­goro Crater, there are so many stun­ning land­scapes in which to wit­ness these impressive […]

Read More Off-peak Tanzania: Go for wildlife, go again for people