While traveling in Malaysia this year, I met the most amazing woman. Vivacious, brilliant, and adventurous, this girl and I kayaked several miles of open sea in search of fish species we'd never seen before. We lay on the beach all night, watching the stars and eating watermelon infused with duty-free vodka. We trekked the python- and cobra-filled jungle in search of the elusive Penis Plant. 

"All disease," some antivaxxing dumbass who, apparently, is writing a book about his amazing perspective and incredible life experiences, "comes from a toxic mindset and bad lifestyle choices."

"Right," I replied. "And the woman who runs marathons and does yoga every day and eats kale who still gets cancer...?"

"There is something wrong in her mind. Maybe she has a bad marriage or something."

I hate stereotypes about women as much as anyone else... but here's one that's actually true:

Almost everyone who participates in teen travel tours, service trips, and summer abroad programs​... is a girl.

"Expats are expats for a reason," I recently wrote in one of my original songs, "And there's a reason I travel alone."

I won't get into the reason expats are expats (but I will say that it's not racist to call expats expats and immigrants immigrants -- it's not about skin color, but passports). But here's the main reason I travel alone: I basically  designed my life around being able to travel several months a year, and most people have not.

People often say it's brave and rare for a woman to travel alone, but, empirically, it's really not.

I mean, if I can skate to a party in a dress and heels at an age I'm not willing to admit, can't your kids propel their own skateboards? 

From: Candytopia on Facebook

A "critic" who writes for the New York Times was recently paid to attend several (five?) ​Instagramable  museums, factories and mansions. In her own words, "They nearly broke me."

And that made my heart break a little... for her.

October is the best month. It's a time to get excited about pumpkin spice lattes, leggings, leaves... and, of course, scary movies! (If you're not stoked about those things, I feel bad for you.)

So today, I wanted to share some cool facts about Wes Craven's 1984 classic horror film, Nightmare on Elm Street.

Something major happens on the first day of October (and, sometimes, the first day of September) every year:

The menu at your favorite coffee shop changes. Just a little. But it is a very big deal.

"I'm not a tourist, I'm a traveler!" I've heard this countless times during my travels. If I'm being honest, I've probably said it myself at some point.

But with age comes wisdom. I've changed my tune. I am perfectly happy to be a shameless tourist.

​Here's why.

Guys. While driving around Palo Alto this week, I saw FOURTEEN naked ladies!

It was glorious.