Barbara Weibel

After 36 miserable years in corporate life, I walked away from my successful career to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography

Magazines

Cultural Travel - Like A Local
By Barbara Weibel

Flips

Stonehenge
The Most Overrated Tourist Attractions, According To Travel Experts - TravelAwaits
travelawaits.com - Alaina Strollo
Paris. Rome. New York City. Bangkok. We can all think of world-famous travel destinations that get all the hype, but are they really worth a visit? To …
1 day ago
Dachau
PHOTO: A Sobering Visit to Dachau Concentration Camp near Munich, Germany
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
We humans are fascinated by disasters. We find it impossible to look away from a car wreck. When a disaster of enormous consequence occurs, our first …
5 days ago
Disneyland
PHOTO: Neuschwanstein Castle – The Inspiration Behind Disney’s Famous Castle
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
There is no mistaking the resemblance between Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland in California. …
September 5
Culture
Follow the Ancient Amber Road
smithsonianmag.com - Jennifer Billock
Since about 3000 BCE, amber found its way out of the Baltic Coast region to greater Europe and beyond, carried by traders and travelers along a …
August 28
West Berlin
PHOTO: Oberbaum Bridge across the River Spree in Berlin, Germany
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
The city of Berlin is a dichotomy. It’s not particularly pretty, but I venture to say there are few cities more interesting than Berlin. It is filled …
August 28
Tibet
A Photo Journey Through Tibet: Lhasa to the Nepal Border
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my Tibet travel experiences as much as I have enjoyed writing about them. After my last story about how to travel …
August 21
Tibet
An Epic Overland Journey from Lhasa, Tibet, to Kathmandu, Nepal
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
I’d given up on ever traveling overland from Nepal to Tibet. Three times I had tried and failed. The first tour I booked in Kathmandu, a number of …
August 13
Expat stories: Barbara Weibel
oddurbanthings.com - Expat life
I’m 67, but the only time I feel that age is when I look in the mirror. Barbara Weibel is a full-time traveler and expat that – after 36 years of jobs …
August 9
Celebrity Travel Addicts: Barbara Weibel of Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel - David's Been Here
davidsbeenhere.com - By: Brandon Moore on August 3, 2019 0
In this edition of Celebrity Travel Addicts, we speak with Barbara Weibel, a former real estate agent who now manages Hole in the Donut Cultural …
August 5
Tibet
PHOTO: Auspicious Buddhist Symbols on the Roof of Phuntsoling Monastery in Tibet
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
On day seven of my overland journey through Tibet, we turned off the main highway and followed a narrow lane to the remote Phuntsoling Monastery. …
August 3
Is Group Tour Travel Worth The Money? -
travelawaits.com - Traneah Ford
Picture setting off on a self-guided adventure with the ability to get up and go as you please. You’ll journey to places you’ve learned about during …
August 3
REAL ID Act
TSA Check: Does Your Driver's License Have a Star On It?
Forbes - Suzanne Rowan Kelleher
Beginning in October 2020, only REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses will get past the TSA checkpoint. Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg Take a quick look at your driver’s license. Does it have a
August 2
Tibet
PHOTO: Gyantse Dzong, an Ancient Tibetan Fortress in Southern Tibet
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
For nearly 800 years, the walls of Gyantse Dzong (Gyantse Fortress) have scrabbled down a barren outcropping of stone just outside the town of …
July 31
Tibet
PHOTO: Sunset Illuminates Mount Everest in Tibet
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
From the moment I booked my Overland Tibet Tour, I worried how I would handle the high altitude of the Tibetan Plateau. I begin to suffer from Acute …
July 27
6 of the best private hot spring onsens in Japan to soak your troubles away
scmp.com - Debbie Oakes
The Japanese have a long steamy history of getting up to their necks in hot water. And travellers have long followed suit. Surely there is nothing …
July 26
Bhutan
In Bhutan, Wellness Awaits—Even If You’re Bad at Yoga
AFAR Media - Ryan Knighton
About an hour and a quarter from Paro is Thimphu, the kingdom’s capital, home to approximately 100,000 people and no traffic lights. Cows and stray …
July 25
Tibet
PHOTO: Women in Traditional Tibetan Clothing at Sakya Monastery in Tibet
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
The women pictured above are arriving at Sakya Monastery in the small village of Sakya, Tibet. As is customary, they wear their hair in long braids, …
July 24
Tibet
Video of Tibetan Monastic Debate - Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
They lunged, red robes flying and prayer beads swinging. They clapped hands loudly in the faces of their partners. Forefingers shook in front of …
July 22
Muscat, Oman – Why I Hated It and Will Never Go Back
holeinthedonut.com
Last fall, I met an Omani man at my guest house in Delhi, India. When he learned I was a travel writer, he began to gush about Oman. “You must go! It …
July 20
Vista from Geu La Pass in Tibet - Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
I take great pride in saying that I have personally taken almost every photo that is featured in this blog. Though it’s uncommon for me to include …
July 18
The Weird, Wonderful Critters of Tibet
holeinthedonut.com
One of my most indelible memories from India is of cows wandering the streets with impunity, protected by their holy status. Likewise, in Pokhara, …
July 15
PHOTO: Shakyamuni Buddha Statue at Pelkor Chode Monastery in Gyantse, Tibet
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
I didn’t notice him at first. But as my eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the Assembly Hall at Pelkor Chode Monastery, I caught a movement. A …
July 14
Birch Trees of Russia
holeinthedonut.com
Freezing rain splashed off the massive stone walls of Belozersky Monastery, pelted my face, and trickled down my neck. I pulled my hood closer and …
July 13
Traditional Foods in Ecuador and Peru
holeinthedonut.com
This entry is part 11 of 12 in the series Peru As a vegetarian, the traditional foods in Ecuador and Peru presented a challenge, as they focus heavily …
July 6
PHOTO: Shop in Old Lhasa Offers an Eclectic Mix of Merchandise
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
Never one to follow the crowds, I wandered away from busy Barkhor Square in Lhasa, Tibet. I had completed an obligatory Kora (clockwise circuit) of …
July 4
'The nation's sweetheart': Thailand falls in love with orphaned baby dugong
The Guardian - Jamie Fullerton in Bangkok
Marium, who is five months’ old, was rescued off Thailand’s southern Krabi province after she was separated from her mother She eats sea grass, drinks milk from a rubber glove, snuggles up to passing and
July 3
PHOTO: Yamdrok Lake, Jewel of the High Tibetan Plateau
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
Tibetans believe that lakes are the abodes of protective deities and therefore invested with special spiritual powers. Yamdrok Lake, located …
June 30
Budva, Montenegro, Disappointing in Every Way
holeinthedonut.com
My introduction to Budva, Montenegro was anything but auspicious. I chatted with the owner of my guest house as she checked me in, explaining that …
June 22
Buddhism
PHOTO: Smudge on the Nose of a Tibetan Child is a Form of Protection
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
All across Tibet, I spied kids with black marks on their noses, like this young boy at Sera Monastery in Lhasa. Our guide explained that in Tibetan …
June 20
PHOTO: Climbing to the Top of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet – What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger
holeinthedonut.com - Barbara Weibel
I’d seen it in pictures, of course. The magnificent Potala Palace, rising vertically from its perch atop Red Mountain in the Tibetan capital city of …
June 17

Likes