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Trev, Mar, Matt, Syd and C.C.
We are a Canadian family of 5 that loves to travel. The kids were 3, 5 and 7 years old when we spent 5 weeks in Vietnam. Since then, we have continued to travel throughout North America and tried to get away for a big trip every second year. Together, we have been able to experience this wonderful world of ours in places like Eastern Canada, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Italy, the Caribbean and Costa Rica. Alternate years have been spent exploring the beauty of the Pacific Northwest where we live, along with the Grand Canyon, the Bowron Lakes and West Coast Trail. Thank you for joining us on our journey and we welcome comments and feedback. This summer, we are heading to Laos and Cambodia finishing up with a week on the beach in Thailand. The adventures continue and we have found that this is a great way to preserve our memories. Cheers.Born to Explore
Travel Blog Posts
August 11th 2011
Final installment of video and blog. It has been an amazing time. Thanks for joining us!! http://www.youtube.com/user/MattSeanConnor#p/a/u/0/6eYuXc1-SIY The journey from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Koh Chang, Thailand was meant to be an 8 hour journey including a 4 hour bus ride, an hour at the border, another 2 hours on a mini bus and then the ferry. Reality was that it was a 13-hour, scorching hot, mystery tour and ended up with us barely catching the last ferry to Koh Chang and then being overcharged by the taxi drivers on the other end because we were their last ride into town (and we really didn’t have an option by then). The long story is that the first big bus (fairly comfortable) stopped every hour for 20 minutes so that people had to get off and buy ... read more
August 4th 2011
The video version of this blog appears at the following link thanks to Matt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxfy9FYnlcQ&feature=channel_video_title Up early, we boarded the bus for Siem Reap at 7:30am and settled in for our 6 hour bus ride. The countryside in Cambodia is much like the Canadian Prairies only replace the wheat fields with rice paddies. It is flat, flat and more flat (another stark contrast to Laos). The bus ride was fairly uneventful and we are getting good at passing the time listening to our latest playlists and watching the kilometers unfold. As with many of our larger city stops, arriving at a new destination is always met with an onslaught of people wanting to take you somewhere (or anywhere for that matter). Siem Reap has an interesting system as certain Tuk Tuk drivers pay a premium ($30 ... read more
July 31st 2011
The video version of this blog c/o Matt is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuDXHo9QaYA&feature=related (warning: a bit graphic) We really enjoyed our few days in Vientianne. We were also definitely excited to be flying to Phnom Penh as opposed to the long bus ride that would have otherwise been necessary. Transitions are always interesting as we are 5 people often trying to squish into the vehicles with seating capacities of 4 and our ever increasing luggage also plays a role. Saying goodbye to Laos, we had an easy short flight and landed in Phnom Penh, immediately noticing the difference in pace between Cambodia and Laos. Phnom Penh is a large city and it would take us a few days to get our bearings. The streets however, had been named and structured by the French during their “control” of ... read more
July 28th 2011
Again, we suggest you check out Matt's video in conjunction with the blog as it captures things that words cannot. Just cut and paste! Take note how different the water is in his "borrowed" clips. http://www.youtube.com/user/MattSeanConnor#p/a/u/0/z-li1Fbi_eA Leaving the incredible town of Luang Prabang (after 12 days there) and the phenomenal hotel of Luang Say Residence will not be easy. The family is however ready to hit the road in search of new adventures. What they were NOT ready for was the mode of transport to our next destination. We ended up taking a 7 hour bus (called a VIP bus that is simply a great way to lure in tourists) ride down to Vang Vieng. When we got on, they handed each one of us a “baby wipe” type of package for cleaning your hands and ... read more
July 19th 2011
The video version that accompanies this blog can be found at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zrGJNvKduE&feature=channel_video_title) Thanks Matt!!! Although it was hard to leave the comforts of Luang Prabang, we felt the Lao adventure had to include a bit of venturing into the hills, to visit some of the smaller villages. We had left our big packs at our hotel and just carried our day packs, (so as not to repeat our heavy pack mistakes from Costa Rica). For all of you who know of our adventures on that trek ( and I am sure you are all shaking your heads in disbelief that we signed up voluntarily for one again so soon!!), we were a bit apprehensive as to the distances and times we were facing, and didn’t want to take any chances of being overburdened. Our guide, Tuy, ... read more
July 17th 2011
For the youtube generation, Matt has captured our experience in two short videos. Paste from below. #1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEbR39mEFQ0 #2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvvZe7fmg7k After a fantastic beginning to our trip in Bangkok, we were excited to arrive in our first substantive place where we would lay roots (or as much as one does) for the better part of a week or so. We have 6 nights booked at Lotus Villa in Luang Prabang but our subsequent 6 nights are up in the air. Sydney has done the research for this Asian gem, so we all know that there will be much to do and see. The core of most traveling advice does encourage you however that the essence of Luang Prabang is not found in activity but more in simply “being”. We are looking forward to testing this theory. ... read more
July 10th 2011
For any of you who do not have the time or energy to read through the blogs, the kids have made a short photo/video which gives an amazing feeling of really doing this journey with us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJlYc-ulb9k For the rest of you, read on…. After months of planning, researching, booking, shopping, and packing, the Connor’s finally headed towards the airport with only 13 bags in tow!! Not to worry, many were our carry-ons. We enjoyed what has become a customary last meal with family at the Fairmont Hotel at the airport, had last cuddles with our dog Keisha, and at 10:30pm, began our long wait for our 2:45am flight to depart. The kids look back and say that they enjoyed the time at the airport. Dad wasn’t so sure. Barely able to keep our eyes open, ... read more
August 21st 2009
Final installment so you won't be getting anymore email reminders out there. We will be quiet for another year LOL. I don’t think any of us were completely prepared for what greeted us at the Rome train station. Walking down the platform, the immensity of Roma Termini is incredible taking on much more of an airport feeling than a train station. To be completely accurate, it is more like Vancouver International meets Metrotown and Canada Line. You walk and walk and walk to get anywhere. We bought our Roma passes (a definite must for those visiting Rome: http://www.romapass.it/?l=en) and needed to make a phone call to Carlos to let him know we were in town. This is one of the downsides of staying in an apartment: you need to make arrangements for someone to meet you. ... read more
August 19th 2009
This is a late entry that is meant to capture our time in Florence. We had to cut our Florence and Rome entries in half as they were too long together so be forewarned. Complaints can be forwarded to the to the owners of this website (not us). Mikayla from Ca Venier got up early to get us breakie so that we could catch the vaporetto at 7:45am (she was awesome). A quick trip back to Venice from Murano, we then hopped on a short train that took us to the main Venice train station. NOTE: For those who are going to be traveling by train in this area, something to note is that you want to be prepared for which train station you are traveling from as most big cities have at least 2 stations. ... read more
August 17th 2009
Another 6am wake-up as we left our time on Veli Losinj. We needed to catch a 9:00am ferry to the mainland and had a windy 1 ½ hour drive back up the island of Cres. Encountered a long line up at the ferry terminal but did manage to make it on. We resisted driving back up the coast to see the views as our minds have been filled with a couple of things: how much is it going to cost for the car damage (it is Saturday morning and Hertz closes at noon)? Will we be able to find accommodation? How are we going to get to our ferry the next morning by 7am and return the car? We ended up arriving in Pula by 11am and found the Hertz rental guy in the Histria hotel. ... read more
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