I’m quickly rushing through this to provide a small update before we head out tomorrow morning to hike the Camino Del Norte, mainly because the sooner I finish the sooner we can pack up this netbook for safekeeping (also known as exposing it to the whims of the Spanish postal system). Since any belongings we […]
In Roam: The 9 Greatest Trips on Earth, I finally give my definitive answer to the question “What is your favourite place?” In fact, I have written up an entire list of the best trips we have ever done, all of which can be experienced in two weeks or less. Stories and anecdotes, of course, but also […]
Well, it’s that time of year again. The summer has flown by, as it always seems to, and we find ourselves packing up our bins and getting to work on our annual carpet vacuuming. It’s been a great summer, as usual, with plenty of time spent up at Waskesiu, plenty of sports and, for me, […]
I guess to be truly accurate this wasn’t really just my second road trip ever. There have been many others over the years, from car camping in Banff to a frigid January drive down to Mexico to a group excursion to Delisle for licorice. Or maybe I dreamt that one. Either way, though, this most […]
February was all about being happy to be back, then sick for a while, then making up for lost time drinking, hiking and playing soccer. March was party month, with birthday celebrations coming fast and furious surrounding our first Atitlán Decathlon. Which brings us to April. For us it is a time for winding down, […]
March at Pasaj-Cap was a month of birthday parties, of celebrations of semi-notable occurrences (i.e. a hummingbird nest) and of organized excursions almost exclusively limited to hikes or meals or, when everything really came together, hikes followed by meals. March also saw a lot of rum drank. You know what they say, “in like a […]
It has been just over a month now since we made it back to our home away from home on Lago de Atitlán in the Guatemalan highlands. Now, I’m not going to pretend it’s been an earth-shattering month full of bucket list adventures and wild shenanigans. Because that’s not really what this place is about […]
Eventually the countdown reached zero and it was time to make our move south. Thanks to the reasonable yet still occasionally irritating rules that limit non-visa visitors to a mere 90 days in Guatemala we had, as you know, been cooling our heels in southern Mexico just waiting for our moment. That moment being exactly […]
Two weeks to kill until Guatemala 8.0. Feel like trying three different beaches and a central plaza? You bet. So, let’s say, Zipolite, Mazunte, Puerto Angel and finish up in Crucecita. What about San Augustinillo? Nope, don’t be ridiculous. In the end, our short stays in each of the first four gave us an excellent […]
The following material contains nudity, homosexuality, masturbation and hammocks. Some images may be considered offensive or hilarious. Reader discretion is advised. Two travellers stand alone by the side of the road in southern Mexico, looking vaguely lost and a fair bit dishevelled. Baking under the hot sun, they gaze around uncertainly, slowly considering how exactly […]
Down to Huatulco for that grand old Canadian tradition – “The Gluttonous 1-Week Winter All-Inclusive”. A solid week of fun in the sun, guaranteed to feature too much food, too much booze, too much sun and too much the absolutely perfect amount of time with the kids. Mom’s treat, and an amazing week had by […]
Bringing you all the news and noteworthy happenings from the plains of Saskatchewan to the Pacific coast of Mexico… Holiday update Family forgoes peace and goodwill to man, opts for drunken gambling Martensville, SK – In a bold new initiative, the Johnston family decided against traditional holiday season activities of feeding the poor and door-to-door […]
What an absolutely enjoyable two weeks we spent together. Why, thank you, random tourist, I’m glad you enjoyed us. Please, call me Dean. I’d rather not. Well, up to you, but I hope you don’t mind if I call you Praha, now that we’ve gotten to know each other and all. Do you speak Czech? […]
As so often happens, our travel plans ended up barely recognizable from the original theme. In this case, what started out as an idea to settle into 2 or 3 long stays in Central Europe slowly morphed into something slightly more hectic, involving many more days spent finding, riding and memorizing directions to and from […]
Budapest, the Big Bood. Actually, as far as I can tell no one calls it that. Not sure why, it seems like a perfect fit. Anyway, after the comfortably moderate temperatures and timeworn beauty of Sicily we were ready for our first foray into Central Europe. Or is it South-Central Europe? The Eastern part of […]
Phase Two of our Sicilian expedition started in a small parking lot at the port of Trapani where we rented a tiny Citroen to get us around the island. Sicily could easily be considered either large or small depending on what you choose for comparison. Versus some of the tiny Cyclades in Greece, which can […]
Well, hello, Italy. It’s a pleasure to see you again. Although there are those out there who would say Sicily isn’t really Italy, or if it is, it’s a weird second cousin floating around way down there in the Mediterranean, far closer to Africa than Rome. Full of mafia, couscous and a convoluted historical mix […]
Last time I covered all the different villages around Atitlán and discussed the pros and cons of making each your home base during a lake stay (i.e. rowdy trivia contests vs. full moon chanting sessions). Now, children, our topic is “hey, you’re here, now what?” You’ve got yourself a cheap room with a view of […]
A week in the popular Yucatan beach city of Playa del Carmen to bridge the gap between the rustic travel of Cuba and our localized lake life in Guatemala. No particular plan, no specific ambitions, just relax in the vicinity of the beach, get caught up on internet stuff and eat a prolific amount of […]
“Weeelll…that doesn’t really make sense”. A phrase uttered a shocking number of times throughout our 3 weeks in Cuba, in a lot of different variations from amused to bemused to disbelieving to barely contained frustration. Welcome to Sort-Of Communism in the 21st Century. Of course, I’m sure it will be mainly these unexpected oddities and […]
Since we know at least 4 people who should be arriving imminently, here are some tips for those looking to visit Myanmar: You can buy sim cards with data in the airport for less than $US 10 and considering how often the internet cut out on us during our time in Myanmar, having a […]
The Kingdom of Happiness. Or so they claim. A bold proclamation, and one that certainly caught my full attention. Being inherently confrontational, and often uncontrollably contradictory, at some vaguely remembered point in time a few years back while reading some random – and I seem to recall rather bland – magazine article, in Wanderlust, I […]
When we got up it was cold and snowing. We thought the snow was kind of funny, but mostly because we were leaving. If we wanted to do other stuff I don’t think it would have been so funny. It’s not really my business but I think if Mongolia wanted more tourists they should try […]
We scrambled frantically up the final few steps, my feet sinking deep into the sand and being sucked inexorably – and frustratingly – backward, the feeling much like in a dream where your feet feel unreasonably heavy and no matter how hard you try you can’t quite make enough progress to pull away from whatever […]
Ubud is known far and wide as both the cultural heart of Bali and the most reliable producer of frighteningly large penis key chains (most vendors also sell comically large penis bottle openers, but that’s a whole different discussion). Penestanan, on the other hand, is merely a sleepy little suburb of its much more brazenly […]
With Camino planning season upon us again a lot of people are starting to get interested in all the little details they need to know before they set out sometime this summer. Since we always get a lot of questions from prospective pilgrims, we decided to put together a bit of an advice cheat sheet. […]
