About Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones left a career in nursing and lived on the beaches of Goa, India for the five years. Now she lives in Mexico where she gives advice on the 40+ countries she’s visited in the last 10 years. She’s the author of two India travel e-books: Guide to India and Insider’s Guide to Goa. Her blog, Hippie in Heels, like its name, is a contradiction combining off-beat adventurous places with glamorous and bespoke travel. Hippie in Heels has been featured in ELLE, Marie Claire, Grazia, and Cosmopolitan magazines. She’s a writer for Bravo TV.

This is India! 114

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

Eco-Friendly Travel Products You Will Love

A lot of nice readers have emailed asking for tips on how to travel green and although I am not totally education on this matter, there are some products I use because I know they either won't harm the environment or because they save on plastic. I thought I'd share my favorite eco-friendly travel products

How to do International Drive Orlando in Two Days

Never heard of International Drive Orlando? Neither had I! International Drive is an 11 mile stretch of highway outside of downtown Orlando that has a fair share on things on offer for those vacationing in Orlando, like the anti-mall I recently wrote about. While there is a lot on International Drive for kids, it's definitely

Luxury Guide to Riga

Welcome to Backpacker's Boutique. Every Sunday, this spot will feature a new travel blogger. Some weeks it will be a really fun interview about packing, fashion, and fitness so you can snoop inside their bags & lives a little bit and other weeks it'll be a detailed luxury guide to a city the featured blogger/expat knows very well. E-mail me if

This is India! 113

Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

Should You Visit Sea World?

If someone had asked this before the documentary [easyazon_link identifier="B00G4I1CLS" locale="US" tag="Hipinhee-20"]Black Fish[/easyazon_link], people would answer sure, why not? But after the scathing expose, many boycotted Sea World indefinitely. I saw the documentary and was very upset after, as was pretty much everyone. Sea World responded calling it propaganda and listing what they argued were inaccuracies.

Discovering Artegon Marketplace, the “anti-mall”

I recently went on a trip with Visit Florida and saw on our itinerary that while in Orlando we would be visiting Artegon Marketplace. At first I just skimmed past it thinking it must be their biggest mall and didn't think it would be something unique I would write about- yet, now here I am writing

If I Could Only Give You 10 Travel Tips, These Would Be It

I took my first big trip to Europe when I was 20. Now I’m 27 and have traveled to more places than I ever would have imagined (over 30 countries). I write about all the places I travel to and give tips along the way, but this article is going to share my top ten