How to Help Nepal Earthquake Relief Efforts

Patan Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Kathmandu, was heavily damaged.

LATEST UPDATE: Tuesday, 4/28 at 7:30pm ET

I updated the details on how to give to Next Generation Nepal.

LATEST UPDATE: Monday, 4/27 at 6:30pm ET

There have been more after-shocks today, so people have been sheltering in tents. Funds are needed immediately for supplies.

LATEST UPDATE: Sunday, 4/26 at 10:30pm ET

I heard from the director of Hands for Help Nepal, and he confirmed that there are no operational banks, ATMs or money exchange offices, so, as I explain below, it’s best to give to NGOs already equipped to accept and process donations.

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I was so sad to wake up this morning to the heartbreaking stories and images coming out of Nepal in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. The beautiful country and its people are very close to my heart – I lived for a summer in Pokhara during graduate school, volunteering with Hands for Help Nepal, an NGO based in Kathmandu.

Memories of Nepal: Part 2 – In and Around Pokhara

Pokhara’s peaceful Phewa Lake

This is the second post in a series where I’ll be sharing my photos and memories of my time in Nepal.

Following orientation in Kathmandu, Badri accompanied me on the scariest bus ride of my life on the treacherous Prithvi Highway 200 km west to Pokhara, the country’s second-largest city, where I spent the remainder of the summer.

Dispatch from Nepal: Interview with Beau Miller of Aythos

This is Beau with Dolma Lama, who was killed with her family in the initial shock of the earthquake. This was taken in Gangyul, just this past December.

Beau Miller is executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based NGO Aythos, which was the first relief organizations to reach some of the devastated villages of the Sindhupalchok District. He arrived in Nepal on April 30, and took time to email with me this week.

What prompted your first trip to Nepal?

I first went to Nepal in 2008 to teach English for five months. Prior to that, I was a brewer in Colorado, and I left to try to understand a little bit more of the world.

This is now my seventh trip. Nepal is the kind of place that never leaves you, even if you don’t understand why that is. It’s just a very special place, despite a lot of the issues it has. It’s the kind of place I find my thoughts drifting back to, and whenever I see a photo or hear somebody talk about it, I immediately have the urge to go back. 

Memories of Nepal: Part 1 – My First Days in Kathmandu

Hands for Help Nepal headquarters

It was one week ago today that disaster struck the beautiful country of Nepal. I spent a summer volunteering there with Hands for Help Nepal way back in 2003, a whole year before “Thefacebook” came to be in Mark Zuckerburg’s dorm room. Since my photos of that special time in my life have just been sitting in a weighty scrapbook on my living room shelf and have never seen the light of day on social media, I thought I’d start sharing a few of the digital files that I do have to shine a little light on the Nepal that I got to know and love. (Needless to say, the photo quality is not the best, as these images were taken on film – remember film? – and then converted.)

12 Top Apps for Travel in 2015

Last weekend was my first time attending the New York Travel Festival (aka NY Trav Fest for those of us in the know). In it’s third year, the conference brought together a mix of industry professionals, travel writers and bloggers, and just every-day folks who like to travel. It was a jam-packed two days, and as common with conferences, most of the sessions were a blur.

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Brianne Miers

Jetsetter Problems is posting 100 Jetsetter Confessions for #the100dayproject on Instagram, and I got to be number 15! I was asked to answer the question, “What are your favorite parts about leading ‘a traveling life’? What are your least favorite parts?” and submit a photo to go along with my story. Fun!

Backyard Tourist: Sampling Spirits at GrandTen Distilling

Set back off a main thoroughfare that runs through the industrial edge of Boston’s “Southie” neighborhood, tucked between a Crossfit and a boxing gym, GrandTen Distlling isn’t the easiest place to find, even if you know it’s there. And once you find it, it doesn’t look open, which is what happened when my dad and I showed up this afternoon.

One of My Favorite Days in India: Visiting Pallikarni Government Secondary High School

One of my favorite days in India was spent visiting Pallikaranai Government Secondary High School in Chennai to see how the local Round Table India chapter (Madras Midtown Round Table 42) is building shiny, new classrooms for kids, thanks in part to donations from Rickshaw Challenge participants.

Check out my post for The Rickshaw Times blog: The Rickshaw Challenge and Round Table India Team Up to Transform Schools.

Backyard Tourist: Exploring Boston’s North End

my touring companions

As an adult, I’ve lived in some pretty cool cities – Boulder, DC and now, Boston – vacation destinations for many. As such, my friends and family have always assumed that I’ve spent all of my free time skiing in Colorado, exploring museums in DC and wandering the Freedom Trail here in Boston. Not quite. I like to say that no matter where you live, you still need to do your laundry and get your oil changed.

Check out my ‘grams!

It brightened a cold and dreary day to find out that three of my Instgram photos from India were selected for this bright and beautiful Matador Network photo gallery: 29 Instagrams that show how vibrant the world really is. (It’s actually very hard NOT to take colorful photos in India, so I had a significant advantage.)