This trip wasn’t about sightseeing. While China has many spectacular sights, sounds, and tastes, I was here to help feed, medicate and clean up after over one hundred dogs saved from the meat trade and currently being housed at a safe house.

One of the major reasons tourists flock to Central and South America is to get a glimpse of the many ancient Mayan ruin sites. If you have mobility issues, getting around mainland Belize to explore its Maya Ruin sites can be difficult, but not impossible. Find out how you can enjoy these wonderful structures in person.

I love Belize. A lot. But it’s the one country that’s tried to kill me on more than one occasion. Still, its blood lust has not diminished my love for the place and its people. In retrospect, I may bear a tiny bit of culpability in these near-death experiences, so please let me regale you with a few cautionary tales.

f you’re wanting to explore Central America, one of the best starting points is the country of Belize. With 900 Maya temple sites, the second largest coral reef on earth, the only jaguar reserve in the world, and 450 beautiful islands called Cayes (pronounced keys), Belize is a breathtaking paradise.

Beijing was my first solo trip abroad. It took a lot to overcome my fear of traveling alone, but life is too short to sit back waiting for other people to buy a ticket to your dreams. Get out there and live! The reward is worth fighting through the discomfort.

even though I had been living with considerable pain for a decade, I tried not to talk about it. I didn't want coworkers, boyfriends, friends or even strangers thinking I was weak, whiny, or otherwise sick. I kept thinking that if only doctors could figure out what I had, they could cure it, and I could move on to enjoying my success and traveling the world. But faced with the new found knowledge that what I had didn't have a cure, and that it could actually get exponentially worse, I made the choice to really buckle down and see as much of the world as possible before my health seriously deteriorated.

My travel adventures began six years ago in Beijing, China. Now how does a chronically ill, broke, introvert with social anxiety and no experience traveling end up alone in Beijing, China? I'm glad you asked. Groupon, silly. For $999, I purchased an 8-day tour package to Beijing with flight, hotel, meals, and excursions included. In all honesty, it wasn't that I had some burning desire to see China in particular. I simply wanted to visit every country in the world, and China seemed like as good a place as any to begin.