Phuket was wild. During my Thailand trip, I traveled from Bangkok to Chiang Mia to Phuket and then back to Bangkok. However, Phuket was definitely the wildest. We stayed in a hotel really close to Patong Beach, which is the center of nightlife. Imagine Bourbon Street in NOLA but even more extra. If you want to be in the middle of everything, stay near Patong Beach. If you want more relaxation, stay on another part of the island. No matter where you stay, take a boat trip out to Phi Phi islands. I went on a larger boat, but I would recommend shopping around and finding a private tour of the Phi Phi islands. You'll probably get better photos and you won't be as restricted as you tour the islands. Whatever you decide to do, Phi Phi island touring is a highlight of the Phuket experience. For night life, I would recommend Illuzion Phuket. It's a huge, lively club with decent music and dancers.

I went to Morocco with a group of friends. We flew into Marrakesh and stayed in at this airbnb. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20054881?eal_exp=1547497099&eal_sig=891f13ccb991e30ae64d44cd0b1411c095b0c02b8fde506f49beaff0f09d43b4&eal_uid=230820789&euid=5f9f1a62-fd02-3ece-085e-4c1a975aca48&guests=1&adults=1 Our hosts at the airbnb played a big role in our activities for the trip, as they provided a driver for us to move around the country pretty seamlessly. They also paid to have the host provide a cook for dinner the first night. On the way to the airbnb (which was pretty far from the city center), we stopped at a grocery store to stock up at the house with snack, drinks, etc. Day 1: City tour which included 1) Majorelle Gardens (really beautiful, vibrant blues). You'll get some excellent shots there. 2) Medina Market - a maze of local markets, get ready to souvenir shop and take in all the hustle and bustle and culture 3) A lot of random shops that the driver was connected to I'm assuming (pharmacy, pottery, etc) Day 2: Day trip to Atlas Mountains (went to a beautiful restaurant with amazing view on the way up the mountain). Hiked the mountain with a guide that could speak English, saw waterfalls, etc. After leaving the mountain, we went to some spot in the desert and rode camels for an hour as the sun was setting. A really beautiful experience and we got some epic group caravan picture. Day 3: Our Airbnb hosts provided a Moroccan Cooking Workshop at the house. Our instructor was super nice and we got to experience a little more of the culture by making our own meals in the popular tagines. After the cooking class and eating, our driver took us out to the desert and we met up with a Quad Biking shop. We biked for a few hours until the sun set. I keep mentioning the sunsets because they were just really stunning in Morocco. Day 4: We had our driver take us to Casablanca for a few days. Honestly, it's a lot cheaper to take the train and it's pretty scenic, so I would also recommend that option. We took the train to return to Marrakesh. Casablanca has a modern, more urban feel. We stayed at Le Casablanca Hotel, which was really nice. We had dinner there the first night. We were a lively crew, so we ended up in a karaoke situation with the singer at the hotel restaurant/bar. We went to a hookah spot right down the street from the hotel. Day 5: We visited the Hasan II Mosque - really beautiful. We also relaxed, walked around the city, and explored. We went to a nice rooftop bar called Sky 28 that had a beautiful view of Casablanca. We ate dinner at Le Marley. We ended the night at this dope Afrobeats club called BAO. The people and the DJ were live. You will definitely have a great time on a Saturday night. We made friends and didn't end the night until 4am. Day 6: We check out of our hotel and took a taxi to the train station to return to Marrakesh. Once in Marrakesh, our next Airbnb host provided a driver to pick us up from the station. We stopped to get food, and then went back to the medina market to buy some last minute souvenirs. Overall, it was a great trip! All of the people were really nice. It helps if you know French, as a lot of the people speak Arabic or French, but I was able to stumble through conversations with Spanglish as well.

Had a great experience in Belize! Went with a great group of friends (3 guys, 3 ladies). Our group decided to stay at the Nature Resort in Bermudian Landing https://www.natureresortbelize.com/ for the first two days of the trip. The Nature Resort was nearly a 30 minute drive from the Belize City airport. It featured cabanas, coconut trees, and good ole fashioned peace. It is owned by Roy, who carries on the legacy from his parents. DAY 1: Our group craved adventure, so we decided to start the trip in the jungle. Throughout the day, we casually explored the Nature Resort and surrounding rural community. Later we met local Lloyd, who welcomed us to his lush backyard to wrestle coconuts from trees, chop them with machetes, and eat blackberries and guavas, while enjoying the sunset. What a way to start the trip, right? We ended the night back at the Nature Resort, where we enjoyed delicious Belizean cuisine prepared by the Nature Resort’s manager, Marcelina. DAY 2: Early in the morning, we were guided on a nature tour of the surrounding jungle by Russell, where we learned about the the moving, sweet mimosa plant and the medicinal uses of plants throughout environment. During the tour, the black howler monkeys graced us with their presence. The Nature Resort is in the heart of what’s locally known as the Community Baboon Sanctuary and is home to many black howler monkeys. After the jungle tour, we rented a car from AQ rental and drove about an hour away to Altun Ha to see ancient Mayan ruins! Once there, we were greeted by Frederick who offered to guide us through the ruins. I cannot overstate the value of Frederick’s guidance. With his stories of Mayan traditions, Frederick brought the ruins to life, transporting us back in time to visualize the ancient civilization. Fun Fact: The acoustics surrounding the Altun Ha temples were stunning. For example, you could stand in the middle of the temple courtyard and hear someone speaking at a normal volume from the top of one of the temples, nearly a football field away. After leaving Altun Ha, we drove to Belize City to eat dinner. On our way back to the Nature Resort, we saw the most unusual site - dozens of crabs crossing the street. Unfortunately, the street was quite busy, and many of the crabs did not survive. It was brutal. Again, we ended the night at the Nature Resort, playing an intense game of Heads Up on the balcony of our cabanas. DAY 3: Road trip day! We decided to keep our AQ rental car and use it to drive from Northern Belize to Southern Belize. We planned to spend the rest of the trip in Placencia, a beautiful little beach town on the tip of a peninsula in the southern part of Belize. However, along the way, we wanted to make several stops! 1st Stop - Belize National Zoo, where we saw local wildlife, including pumas, jaguars, and toucans. 2nd Stop - St. Herman’s Cave, where we hiked around the trails of the 575 acres of forest and eventually arrived to St. Herman’s cave mouth to explore 200 yards into the cave unguided 3rd Stop - Blue Hole, where we swam in the sapphire-colored pool that forms at the end of the river flowing through St. Herman’s cave After about 3 hours of driving and many adventures along the way, we finally arrived in Placencia around nightfall and checked into our AirBnB, a beautiful home located in the heart of the town - one or two blocks from both the beach and the best bars and restaurants. Not to mention, our AirBnB hosts were nothing short of amazing. More on them later! DAYS 4 & 5: After running around Northern Belize and finally making it to Placencia, we were ready to RELAX. We spent the next two days chilling, eating, walking around the town, and most importantly, hanging out on the beach! Highlights: Barefoot Bar and Brewed Awakenings - If I could’ve packed up these two places and brought them back to D.C. with me, I would have. When I tell you I went to both establishments at least once a day, I am not kidding. DAY 6: Wednesday was a big day. Our AirBnB hosts had helped us find a scuba diving instructor to show us the ropes before guiding us through the Caribbean Sea. After a routine morning trip to Brewed Awakenings (previously mentioned:) ), we met up with our instructor for an equipment fitting and proceeded to take a fifty minute boat trip off the coast of Placencia and into the deep blue. We ended up drifting closer to the most beautiful tiny island I’ve ever seen in my life - Silk Caye. We honestly couldn’t help but take at least 10 minutes to marvel at the beauty. After taking in the views, it was time to learn how to use our scuba diving equipment. After getting comfortable with breathing underwater, we started to swim away from the shallow waters surrounding the island in order to explore more of the colorful plants and fish in the deeper parts of the sea. For our first session, we spent about 25 minutes diving and then we swam back to the Silk Caye to eat lunch. After lunch, we all got back in the boat and took a trip to the middle of the ocean to do a deep sea dive along the Belize Barrier Reef, the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere. I cannot tell you how excited and terrified I was to fall backward off that boat into the middle of the ocean. Once we were underwater, we sank down slowly and saw the breathtaking barrier reef and its inhabitants, including eels and all kinds of fish. We explored the reef for about 40 minutes. After the second dive, we traveled a bit further on the boat to snorkel with turtles and sharks while the sun set over the water. On the fifty minute boat ride back to Placencia, I couldn’t help but reminisce in amazement that I had seen so much of the ocean without dying. To be honest, I’m still amazed. We ended the night eating street food after dancing at local bar - Street Feet. Highlight: Silk Caye - Most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. DAY 7: The day was lit. Plain and simple. Thursday September 21, 2017 was Independence Day in Belize and we were expecting to experience the local Placencia Carnival parade. However, our AirBnB hosts, who owned the clothing boutique Secret Treasures had made extra costumes and invited us to join them and actually be in the parade. She did not have to ask us twice. We got dressed with feathers and all, joined the rest of the Secret Treasures crew, and got in the truck blasting Soca music before arriving at the top of the peninsula where the parade began. From there, we smiled for the newspaper photo, joined the procession, and began the miles long dance to the tip of the peninsula. It was a beautiful day with few clouds in the sky, so it got uncomfortably hot at times, but our group was prepared with plenty of water to drink and throw on each other! Pure joy. Highlight: Carnival, duh. At the end of the parade, an older woman approached us and said she was an expat (I’m assuming from the U.S., based on her accent) and drunkenly exclaimed how much she enjoyed us in the parade. Little did she know, that we were also American. When we saw our AirBnB hosts later that night, they said we were officially Belizean. That made our day. Black Belizeans seemed to love that Black Americans were visiting their country. DAY 8: Walk around Placencia, chill on the beach, buy souvenirs DAY 9: We woke up early in the morning to catch the sunrise at Hopkins Beach before continue North toward Belize City airport to catch our flights back to the states. Basically, this trip gave me so much joy that is has renewed my wanderlust and inspired me to share that feeling with whoever will accept it. I hope you accept it and decide to go live your best life. It’s your turn!