Personal

“If your house was on fire and you only had time to grab one thing, what would it be?” “MY PASSPORT!” My coworker takes a pause in her family-feud style questionnaire to laugh at my outburst. It seems like a joke but it’s honestly the first thing that came to mind. Funnily, I actually keep…

Where are the kindest people in the world? It’s a popular question, and something everyone seems to have an answer to. But when I spoke of my plans to visit Myanmar the kindness of the people kept coming up. In fact, many told me that the Burmese were the nicest people they had ever met.…

I scanned the buildings across from me as I walked down Bulevar Revolucije in Mostar. This street, only 22 years earlier, had been the front-line. The buildings I was looking at were remnants of war. Like so many other houses and apartments here, the walls were riddled with bullet holes. But unlike so much of…

2015 has been another year for the books. The first half was a struggle both to save and to stay sane. Having not travelled outside of Canada since September 2014, and not travelling outside of North America since April 2014, I was going stir crazy. But with an epic adventure on the horizon I knew I…

There’s a lot of controversy lately about us girls who travel. Some people tell you to date us while others warn you away. I’m not going to do either, it’s your choice whether you want to date her or not. But what you can’t always choose is whether or not you fall in love with…

Myanmar had been on my radar for over a year. I knew when I made my plans to come to Southeast Asia I HAD to visit, and although things were a bit up in the air with the election, and my original plan of 12 days was cut to 7, I made sure to make…

After nearly a month in Thailand, I went through a bit of culture shock in Singapore. No one called after me asking if I wanted a massage, a taxi, or a tuktuk. There were no chickens or stray dogs in the streets. And, amazingly; I could flush toilet paper and drink tap water. I’m not…

After my (too short) visit to Koh Tao, it was time to hit up the west coast and do some diving in the Andaman sea. Friends in the area warned me that Phi Phi was insane at the time, so I skipped over the famous “Beach” island and headed to the lower-key Koh Lanta for…

It’s no secret. Ask me what I miss the most when I travel and I’ll tell you hands down, no questions asked, I miss my dog more than anything. The first 3 years of travel I had a beautiful GSP named Kya who was my baby. I got her when I was 14 and desperately…

When you think about Croatia, the first city to come to mind is probably Dubrovnik. At least it was for me, and I couldn’t wait to get to this famous city. With it’s towering walls, and impressive history, I was more than a little excited to finally see Dubrovnik in real life. On paper, it was…

I have no problems eating alone at a restaurant. I do it often enough that it no longer phases me. I’ve learned to grab a seat at the bar and chat to the staff, or sit a small table in the corner with a book or magazine. When I don’t have those I’m happy to…

I’d like to start this story by saying that I did not purchase a mini vibrator for personal use. Whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you (seriously though, it was NOT for me!). In fact, I didn’t want to purchase it at all but was forced to by (ready for…

For anyone that’s been following along, you know by now that public transportation and I are not the best of friends. I have a nasty habit missing (or taking the wrong) busses and trains. And let’s not forget planes. I’ve missed a couple of those too. Needless to say, I’ve tried to be a little…

Tallinn had been on my ‘must visit’ list for years. A random place? Probably. Especially considering most people I spoke to at home had never heard of it. But, after hearing about the Baltic city from my uncle in the military, I was pretty set on seeing it for myself. Mainly because he told me…

As another year comes to a close its fun to look back and reflect on the good (and the bad!) that came with 2014. Like every other year, I had my fair share of both during my adventures, but thankfully most of the bad have turned into funny stories rather than all around nightmares. And…

My day started out rough before I even opened my eyes. Whether I woke up on my own, or my pounding head did the work for me I didn’t know. What I did know is that last night was coming to bite me in the butt and I clearly had way too many vodka shots.…

I spent two and a half days in Belfast as part of my 2 week Christmas market extravaganza before I went home in 2011. It definitely had a different vibe than the cities I’ve been to in the Republic of Ireland, but I liked Belfast’s gritty exterior: the bullet holes in the buildings, intimidating street…

We shivered on the dock as we waited for them to let us on board, standing as close as we could to the thin chain that separated us in the wet weather outside from the, presumably, warmer and much drier interior of the boat. Typical of the Scottish Highlands, we had experienced every season at…