Expatria · Florida · Marriage · Music · Prague · Repatria · Third Culture Kids · Trauma · Travel

Panorama: How to Plant Roots in the Sand

“The thunder and lightning crash so hard around my home it knocks paintings from the wall and tchotchkes to the floor. A wall of rain smashes down so thick I can’t see the road just metres from my front door, nor the community pool out back. I wait for the inevitable sound of sirens that follow these epic peals of skyscape fury — the majority of my town’s residents are elderly retirees; someone once had a heart attack from the noise. As the wind wails, altering the direction of the wall of water this way and that, I imagine this is what it feels like to be in a meteor storm in outer space, frightened and alone. I wait for the power to cut out as it would in Asia, but it never does. This is America, after all. And while I might have experienced ferocious typhoons in Thailand and savage monsoons in Sri Lanka, all those storms combined pale when compared to Florida’s minor tropical furies. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to these terrifying and magnificent displays of nature.” For Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel, December 2016.

Expatria · Third Culture Kids · Travel · Wear Your Voice Magazine

India’s First Transgender News Anchor Brings Visibility to Country’s Trans and Hijra Folks

“Incredible India, in all its marvelous contradictions, has surprised us all by hiring its first transgender news anchor, Padmini Prakash. Prakash has been leading a daily primetime news program on India state Tamil Nadu’s Lotus TV since August 15.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, November 2016.

Culture · Expatria · Guest Posts · Marriage · Spain · Travel · Wear Your Voice Magazine · Women

Why I Almost Chose an Arranged Marriage

“For as long as I can remember, I wanted to get married. A huge part of this desire was most certainly Disney movies and romantic comedies, where a dorky bookworm like me takes off her glasses, becomes beautiful, and weds the hunk everyone else covets. Another part was that getting married felt like an escape from my own dysfunctional family, where I’d be whisked far away and have a chance to build a new life with someone who actually loved and respected me.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, August 2016.

Death · Empath · Expatria · Florida · Health · Huffington Post · Repatria · Spirituality · Trauma · Zuzu Huffington

Happiness Is a Choice, and So Is Love

Ultimately, we’re not passive recipients of love or happiness. In so many ways we’re taught to sit back and wait for love, wait for happiness, wait for satisfaction to find us when that’s not how it works at all. We ourselves are the active participants in the promotion or prevention of our own lives.” My 27th article for HuffPost, published in Feb 2016.