Tag: Travel Narratives

Dear Fellow Travellers and Expats: You are NOT More Special or Better or Smarter Than Your Average Bear
July 15, 2015

Dear Fellow Travellers and Expats: You are NOT More Special or Better or Smarter Than Your Average Bear

  I’ll admit that I’ve been up since 4am almost every morning this week, woken by a wide-eyed toddler towering over me in the early morning half light, adamantly making the ASL sign for water, food, ball, whatever in my face, and am coping with …

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Let’s Just Leave the Country Again, Shall We?
November 15, 2013

Let’s Just Leave the Country Again, Shall We?

Yesterday we went luggage shopping, for proper hard-shell wheelie bags, the kind that grown-ups buy. The kind that cost more than, say, free. It’s not that I don’t own any luggage. I do. I own all the bags and suitcases that people all over the …

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A Totally Impractical Guide to a Sudden Jaunt to Liuzhou, Guangxi
December 17, 2012

A Totally Impractical Guide to a Sudden Jaunt to Liuzhou, Guangxi

Over the past decade or two, I’ve become quite adept at rolling with the punches. Most of my jobs have called for finely tuned improvisational skills and I’ve had plenty of opportunities to hone them. The other night, I dreamed that I was told I …

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Sometimes… Sometimes I just HATE travel: Notes on, er, just that (with cute cat pics!)
August 11, 2012

Sometimes… Sometimes I just HATE travel: Notes on, er, just that (with cute cat pics!)

Note: this one is long. If you’re not up for a long one, I’ve added cute cat photos from Morocco. Enjoy. Sitting in a pleasant little organic cafe at Charles de Gaulle airport, with a lovely mini bottle of quite decent white wine and a …

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Hello, Dalian! A Totally Impractical Guide to That City up by Korea
November 3, 2011

Hello, Dalian! A Totally Impractical Guide to That City up by Korea

And by impractical, I really mean it this time. I have absolutely no information that might be of use to you here, unless you get sent up for work at the very last minute, as I did, and need to know where you can get …

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How Not to Travel in China During the October National Holiday
October 2, 2011

How Not to Travel in China During the October National Holiday

For about a month, our conversations went something like this: “How about Thailand? If we fly in to Phuket, we could catch a ferry to X and go diving for 3 days…” “No, no- what about the decompression time after and before the flight? I’m …

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Kandy Esala Perahera: What the World Needs Now is More Dancing Elephants Lit Up Like Christmas Trees. Really.
August 6, 2011

Kandy Esala Perahera: What the World Needs Now is More Dancing Elephants Lit Up Like Christmas Trees. Really.

  So we are back in rainy Kandy, smack dab in the middle of the Esala Perahera festival. I don’t have my guide book with me to remind me what exactly it’s about.  You can Google it then lambaste me for being a lazy traveler.  …

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Kandy: Whoa, I Think I May Have Entered a Parallel Universe By Mistake
July 25, 2011

Kandy: Whoa, I Think I May Have Entered a Parallel Universe By Mistake

I was going to title this post Kandy Says, but I doubt anyone would get (or favourably appreciate) the Velvet Underground reference.  But you know what? I have no clue what Kandy is saying. Seriously. This town is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped …

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Not a Top 10 List: My 7 Favourite Posts
July 14, 2011

Not a Top 10 List: My 7 Favourite Posts

  It’s a funny thing about going home again after a relatively long absence (a year and a half this time), even if it’s only for three weeks: Everything is just so normal and calm and sane and utterly non-extraordinary that I really don’t have …

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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #12: Mohana Rajakumar of A Day in Doha
May 17, 2011

A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #12: Mohana Rajakumar of A Day in Doha

Welcome to the twelfth edition of my expat interview series. I’m delighted to see how well it has been chugging along, picking up speed and steam and passengers along the way. This instalment brings us to the tiny finger-tip nation of Qatar. I passed through …

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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #10: Marie Szamborski of Shantiwallah
April 24, 2011

A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #10: Marie Szamborski of Shantiwallah

Welcome to the esteemed tenth expat interview in my series of a bazillion.  After a brief hiatus from interviews with human expats last week (hello Hector Lakemonster!) I’d like to introduce you to someone who has been with me (and this blog) since it was …

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A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #8: Heather of 2Summers
April 13, 2011

A Totally Impractical Expat Interview #8: Heather of 2Summers

Welcome to the 8th instalment in my expat interview series. Today you will meet the lovely and interesting Heather, who is in Jo’burg, South Africa. It has been an interesting ride so far, both for myself and for the interviewees and casual bystanders, it seems. …

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