Travel Betty

As noted in my open letter to Benjamin Weisman, I suffer from panic attacks. They started back when I was in grad school, but they weren’t too bad then. Usually they occurred while I was driving and I’d just roll down the window or turn on the AC to feel something moving around me and [...]

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Another week, another gazing over at Travel Boyfriend through blurry tears to see a similar reflection staring back. Yes, yes, I know, get over Anthony Bourdain, Travel Betty.
Well, it’s hard.
He started his television career off so irascibly, but has mellowed through the past three seasons like a fine cheese. There’s depth to him. Yes, he’s [...]

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Thanks to Ishtar, (my favorite Swede living in Niger) for featuring another Travel Betty post in the 3rd edition of her blog carnival, Beautiful Africa. This time was my book review about badass pilot/author, Beryl Markham. Last time she featured my post on Siwa, Egypt. I feel truly honored.
If you’ve got your own positive associations [...]

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One thing I like to do on long trips is bring along a really overpoweringly-scented body wash and shampoo combo to use for the duration. It’s not that I’m hard of smelling. I just like my product to do its job. Then when I get home and I’m feeling nostalgic for the place, I can [...]

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Ease yourself into a seat on the terrace of the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, Egypt (as famous for its views as its relation to Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile). Musicians seranade you as feluccas drift lazily by and the sun slips down behind Saharan sands.
Orbitz: Don’t you deserve a little TLC when you travel?

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As a non-guest, it may cost you an entrance fee of 85LE, but you’ve traveled all the way up the Nile to get to Aswan and you’re a doorway away from the terrace made famous in Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. Are you really going to balk at the cost? Plus, you can unruffled [...]

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Looking for an aural experience to transport you back to the land of time before time?
Travel Betty’s Egyptian Soundtrack
Here’s my iTunes iMix of traditional Egyptian music, Nubian music, music I listened to while in Egypt, music Travel Boyfriend and I joked about on our trip and funky electronic and dance music with an Egyptian theme. [...]

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We came upon this gentleman playing his rababa for us outside the temple of Medinet Habu in Luxor, Egypt. Go ahead and enjoy half a minute of his musical stylings. You just might feel compelled to give him some baksheesh.
Orbitz: Don’t you deserve a little TLC when you travel?

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Even though I don’t consider myself a religious person, I am fascinated by the history and origins of different religions. Therefore, I was quite excited to catch a glimpse of the Burning Bush. But after squeezing with 1,000 other people both entering and exiting through a single door best suited for a Keebler elf, [...]

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The Story of our Climb as Told to my Mother via Email Sent Wednesday April 26, 2007:

Yesterday we climbed Mt. Sinai. If you’ll note, the word ‘mountain’ precedes ‘Sinai’ which means that you are correct in assuming that Travel Boyfriend and I are both completely exhausted today as well as certifiably insane.
Our Bedouin guide was [...]

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