Derek Freal, Author at The HoliDaze

FriFotos: Finding Solitude In The Bogor Botanical Gardens, Indonesia

Sometimes the hustle and bustle of city life gets to be too much and you just need to escape. That’s ...

After five years of on-and-off, back-and-forth travel in southeast Asia I have finally arrived in Vietnam, the Land of the ...

Life out of a backpack, always on the move, well it can get tough — especially being alone in one ...

The sheer number of travel blogs on the web has exploded over the last couple of years and it has ...

When asked to choose between beaches or mountains I invariably opt for higher altitude. Don’t get me wrong, beaches can ...

When visiting the Batanes island chain in the far northern reaches of the Philippines, one island in particular stands out: ...

Batan Island is the central island in the Philippines northernmost province, Batanes, and is dominated by Mount Iraya, an active ...

Twelve hours ago I arrived in Hanoi for the start of my three months in Vietnam looking for a change ...

Just as 2013 went far from expected, so too is the start of my 2014. After six weeks in Jakarta ...

During 2013 I finally made it to Thailand for the first time. As far back as 2008 while thinking about ...

Food? I like food! Especially strange, unique and obscure foods. There is not a single type of cuisine I don’t ...