For Chowhound. February 2018.  You know you are in the South when you hear men and women screaming “what’ll ya have, what’ll ya have?” as they move you down quickly through the line. If you don’t respond quickly, you’ll be sent back to the line. Sounds like a high school cafeteria? This fast food restaurant […]

For Chowhound. February 2018.  An American girl travels to Italy, meets a charming Italian man, gets married, and together they live happily ever after. It sounds like a cliché love story, right? Well, it happened in January 2009 when Meredith Hall, a resident of Atlanta, met Luigi D’Arienzo (who goes by Gigi) during a milonga […]

For Khabar Magazine print edition. February 2018. Warm humid air, the smell of roasting curry leaves, voices sounding singsong Malayalam, coconut trees as far as I can see—I had arrived in Kerala, also known as God’s Own Country. As soon as I landed at Kochi International Airport, I felt like I was no longer in […]

For Cuisine Noir Magazine. February 2018.  Kenya has some of the best-preserved wildlife and to see it with your own eyes is a dream come true. As I drove in a rustic jeep through the vast expanse of the Masai Mara watching, herds of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and prides of lions walk past me, it […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away. February 2018. Abu Dhabi is the capital and second-largest city in the United Arab Emirates. Known primarily as an opulent business hub in the Middle East, this barren desert-turned-metropolis is not all about over-the-top hotels, gold suks, and designer shopping malls. With some of the world’s best museums, heritage sites, and […]

For Chowhound. January 2018.  Khaled and Ruwaida had a deep-rooted life back in Damascus, Syria. They owned two apartments and a few electronic shops. Khaled worked, while Ruwaida took care of their two kids. But political unrest forced them to leave their home country and walk across to Jordan, where they lived as refugees for four […]

For Cuisine Noir Magazine. January 2018.  I arrived in Dar es Salaam with Grace Odogbili, a Nigerian-American chef and caterer from Brooklyn. Having worked with New York’s top restaurants and caterers, Odogbili started her own business, Dining With Grace, in 2010 to offer people a chance to savor regional cuisines of the African diaspora. She teaches nutritional […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away. January 2018.  Are you desperately in need of some sunny beaches, dancing in the streets, and meeting some of the friendliest people on earth? Is seeing the largest carnival in the world on your bucket list but the high travel costs scaring you off? Follow these essential tips so that you […]

For Cuisine Noir magazine. Spring 2017 print edition. Israel is a country built by immigrants and a melting pot of cultures, languages and traditions. It has a diverse population concentrated in a small area. Just walking through the food markets, one can see an array of influences from Mediterranean, North African, Middle Eastern and Asian […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away Blog. December 2017.  The lush state of Kerala, located in the southern peninsula of India, is touted as “God’s own Country.” With such a bold tourism slogan, you can expect the bar to be set pretty high. Well, Kerala does not disappoint. It’s filled with pristine beaches, houseboats floating in clear […]

For Creative Loafing Atlanta. December 2017.  Seewai Sayavong welcomes me into a 12,000-square-foot Victorian mansion overlooking 15th street. “Tennessee Williams has lived here!” she says. Upon further research, I find that no one is quite sure whether this factoid is true or not, but the building, often referred to as “the castle,” was indeed a […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away Blog. November 2017.  Ready to explore the enormous continent of Africa but don’t know where to start? There are 54 countries in Africa, offering amazing opportunities to immerse in the culture, as well as view nature and wildlife. Most travelers flock to South Africa, not realizing it is farther, more expensive, […]

For Creative Loafing Atlanta. October 2017. “Refugee cookies!” a 10-year old Syrian boy screamed from the front porch of an Oakhurst home. The shortbread style cookies, known in the Middle East as mamool and flavored with orange blossom, dates and pistachios, were an instant hit. In less than three hours, the entire batch sold: 45 […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away. October 2017 When I told my husband we were going to spend 12 days in Ireland, he was confused. That’s a long time to be drinking Guinness, hanging out in pubs, and partying in Dublin, he thought. In fact, most visitors to Ireland end up spending a majority of their time […]

For Cuisine Noir magazine. October 2017. Eight ways to travel safer, cheaper and make a difference. Wish you could travel more? Perhaps a limited budget and time is holding you back. Or maybe you are waiting for a friend or spouse to accompany you on your journey. Travel is an important part of our lives, […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away. September 2017.  If you’ve been to Japan, you’ve probably been overwhelmed by enormous crowds walking through streets filled with skyscrapers and glistening neon lights, mechanical sounds of pachinko slots, and colorful plates of weird looking creatures passing around on conveyor sushi belts. Stepping out of Tokyo, you may have visited majestic […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away Blog. August 2017. While most people know of Georgia, the peach state in the southern US, very few are aware of Georgia, the former Soviet republic that’s tucked between Europe and Asia. The country is one of the oldest in the world, and has a rich culture that has managed to […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away blog. July 2017.  When you think of visiting Japan, the images that probably come to mind most are the leaning skyscrapers, glistening neon lights, and busy road crossings of Tokyo is like any other major city in the world. But head out of the county’s most famous city and you’ll find well-preserved monuments against […]

For Creative Loafing Atlanta. July 2017. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows wrap around a sleek interior of red and black. Waves of natural wood cover the entire ceiling. A lone painting of Atlanta’s skyline adorns one of the walls. Designed under the Japanese minimalist principal of Ma, the space is uncluttered, the lines clean. This is CO, […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away blog. June 2017.  There’s something childishly fulfilling about staying up in a treehouse. This summer, if you want to feel a bit nostalgic and re-ignite some of those emotions (but you just can’t part with a few luxuries), you’ll be happy to know there are decadent modern treehouses just for you. But […]

For Khabar Magazine print edition. June 2017.  Kaala Pani is such a storied place in the narrative of India’s independence struggle. Visiting that infamous jail was a humbling experience. The iconic pagodas of Myanmar, on the other hand, inspired awe. Growing up in northern India, I did not have much of a chance to explore […]

For Global Atlanta. May 2017.  Why are millions of people from all over the world — including some from Atlanta — traveling to a small town near the capital of Brazil in search of personal and physical healing? To find out, I flew to Brasilia, having extended my stay in the country after a week […]

For CheapOAir Miles Away blog. May 2017. This Eastern European country has been popular among tourists because of its magnificent national parks, long coastline along the Adriatic Sea, and enchanting islands frequented by sailboats and yachts. But Croatia also has many small towns that offer natural beauty, authentic culture and local cuisine. Here are some […]

For Creative Loafing Atlanta. April 2017. Into Atlanta’s ever-widening ring of regional and modern Indian restaurants steps Jai Ho Indian Kitchen and Bar. Located in the former Madre + Mason spot in Morningside, the restaurant’s name means “let there be victory” in Hindi, perhaps in hopes that it will fare better than its locational predecessors. […]