Planning my Philippines trip was harder than planning any other trip I’ve been on. Part of it is because there are so many incredible options -- and part of it is because there’s no clear “good” or “best” or “right” set of places to go. Not to mention the long ferries, flights, and bus rides required to get anywhere. (Islands are complicated like that.)

To make your planning a little bit easier, I offer this advice:

I don’t think of myself as an especially good person (unlike White Savior Barbie, I’ve never traveled to help anyone but myself) -- but I try to do the right thing.

So imagine my surprise and disappointment when, over mango shakes in Malapascua, a fellow traveler told me, “I refuse to go to Oslob. It’s unethical."

Last week, the Stanford Daily posted about new women-focused weightlifting hours in one of Stanford's many gyms. This week, a triggered little boy filed a filed a Title IX complaint to the U.S. Department of Education; a gender discrimination complaint to California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which enforces the Unruh Act; and an Act of Intolerance report through Stanford’s Student Affairs office.

Terry Goodkind, bestselling author of the Sword of Truth series, just published a new book, Shroud of Eternity... And last week, he publicly dissed the cover art, calling it "laughably bad," and launching a free book sweepstakes for reader input.

The outdoors is getting crowded -- trails I used to love now require permits. Parks that used to be quiet now require overflow parking.

But that doesn't mean you need to travel far from San Francisco to see herds of elk and other wildlife in their natural habitat... and maybe even escape some of the crowds.

I just returned from the most wonderful little weekend in Calistoga -- despite the October 2017 wildfires, I saw zero scorched earth. Instead, I saw.... mustard flowers!

Looking for a fun, special project or date idea for Valentine's Day? 

Here's a suggestion: do some bokeh photography during a city lights walk!

I recently finished an amazing liveaboard dive trip to the Similan Islands in Thailand. It was epic, with zero crowds (scuba tourism was down about 30-50% that year) and lots of astounding wildlife.

​Including this incredible eel attack I witnessed during a night dive.

Before #MeToo. Before DeVos and the Education Department formally rescinded Obama-era guidance on how colleges handle sexual assaults. Before trump's oddly hypocritical tweet about due process...

There was Laura Kipnis and her amazing 2017 book, Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus.

I have a confession: One time, I wore a cocktail dress to a black tie wedding. 
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I felt like I had a reasonable excuse, though. It was a destination wedding, and I'd spent the two weeks before the wedding beach camping, surfing, scuba diving, and traveling around Mexico.​ No way I was doing that with an evening dress in my backpack.