HI Joella Polaroid

Welcome to Paper Crane Stories – thanks for stopping by! I’m a Brit living in California, married to an American and always planning our next adventure. I’m a serial expat (I’ve lived in 5 countries) who loves to travel, eat, create and write. Read more on my about page.


Check Out Our Latest Blog Posts!

Packing List for Burma

When I was preparing for our Myanmar (Burma) trip, I was really unsure about the…

Cultural Weekends in Beijing: Art, Literature and Trucks full of cups

It’s funny the things that seem normal when you’ve been in Beijing for even just…

Perfect Winter Days in Beijing

The skies have been blue in Beijing for almost the whole week. I can hardly…

A Vineyard in Myanmar?

A vineyard is probably not the first thing you would think of when you plan…

Blue Skies and Hotpot: Feeling cheery after smogpocalypse

Waiting for the hot pot to start bubbling, my new pollution mask, cute beer bottles,…

Life on the Water at Inle Lake

“Do not take photos of women showering” the sign clearly stated in large letters (with…

An Unexpected Moment of Calm in Busy Beijing

I remember a time, a long time ago, when we could see the sun in…

Biking in Beautiful Bagan

Cycling down the dusty road in the early morning light, I looked up and was…

My Beijing Pollution Truth

We’ve all seen the images on TV and in the news. Grey skies thick with…

Mandalay to Bagan by Boat

We had been in Burma for less than 12 hours but we were up at…

The Road to Mandalay

Not really a road to Mandalay from Beijing, but a flight. And there was snow,…

Coming up: Myanmar, Thailand, China, Summer plans, VPNs and WordPress

So, as I only just got round to starting this blog after 6 months in…