

San Francisco, California
There was more than a little panic the day my awesome travel companion and I were scheduled to depart. Thoughts like "What the heck was I thinking?" and "Why didn't I just decide to go to Europe like everyone else?" flew through my head as I struggled to cram all my necessities into one 40-litre pack. It did not help that our flight was delayed by seven hours and we would be getting into Dubai at three in the morning. Luckily, we had the foresight to buy travel d...