Travel has been and continues to be a lifelong passion of mine. Over the fifteen years that I've worked as a makeup artist and hair stylist in film and television production, I’ve had many opportunities to develop a travel style that works no matter where I am in the world.

With great insight, author Kwei Quartey brings the children of Accra's streets to life in his latest book, Children of the Street. If you're like me, you haven't read a lot of fiction about or from Ghana. I'm not sure whether it was from a lack of authors that have been translated, or that the literature isn't accessible to me, but I had no idea what I was missing. Kwei Quartey, a doctor and intercultural author that delves deeply into Ghanaian culture in his books, is the real deal.

Sir Edmund Hillary is never really out of mind in Nepal's Khumbu district. By far the greatest tourism draw is Mount Everest, which is forever linked to the names of its first summiters, Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

Kathmandu: What's Not to Like?

      Boy, this place sure has gone down the crapper. When I first came in 1974...

One of the best ways to use the internet for travel is to explore and research where you're going - it also provides a great deal of inspiration! One of the best sites I've seen for inspiration is Voyage.tv. They've got incredible videos and focus on several locations. My favorites are the videos with a food slant - markets, restaurants, and more. We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with Ariane Marder of Voyage.tv, for a behind the scenes look att the site. Here's what she had to say...

"In ancient Athens, female hairstyle was a distinctive symbol of status worn by women of high social rank and affluence when they appeared in public settings such as religious festivals."

I've got an extraordinary project to share with you today. Books of Hope is a program where schools in the U.S. can work to create books for their sister school in Uganda. There's nothing like a book to change a life - and Books of Hope is changing many, many lives.