Once the standard questions have been answered and you've already rehashed the more obscure points of travel, there are a brave, some say foolish, few that like to raise one of the taboo topics of travel discussions. I think I, may be one of those people. Our dive boat was designed for 25 divers and being 1 of the 9 going out, I was again surprised that we ended up with less than half the ships compliment. We had boarded the bus which takes you down the pier to the boats and of the 40 people on board, 12 sets of [View Full Entry]

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Up early. Have a cold. Damn air conditioning. I truly believe we should have a fan room even though it feels oooohhhh so good to walk into a nice cool room after being out in the heat all day. With the temperature hitting 33 degrees each day, a few minutes of bliss can change a great day to an even better day. The trade off though is the running nose and wicked cold I usually catch. If it weren't for mosquitoes, I would have the windows wide open. Ugh. If Candace finds out I'm using all of her precious toilet paper [View Full Entry]

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Phuket Early Morning Having a touch of jet lag is never fun. Thankfully after a few hours of tossing and turning it was 4 A.M., thank-you trusty travel clock for your one an only time to be accurate, and what better time to get up and check out Karon Plaza before heading out on a dive trip. One hot shower later, I let myself out of the still locked guesthouse and made my way passed a pack of soi-dogs. Funny how they all looked like dingos. Must be the gene all dogs in Thailand revert back to after all that inter-breeding. [View Full Entry]

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Bangkok This morning we woke to the pre-arranged wake up call we had requested with the front desk at Thong Ta Resort. Being less than 10 minutes from the airport, we were able to enjoy the breakfast that was included down in the garden restaurant. Aside from the very firm, board like beds, we seemed to luck out in finding this place. If I hadn't fallen asleep so quickly, I would have liked to check out the Johnnie Walker Rock Bar at the end of the street last night. Breakfast was the typical "American" breakfast of ham loaf (no bacon or [View Full Entry]

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Our flight out of Winnipeg was quite ordinary. Thanks to my Dad, we arrived at YWG only to have to wait in one of the longest lines I have ever seen at the Winnipeg Airport. Over 300 people, waiting to go through security in Winnipeg. It appears that everyone had flights leaving at 8:00. The start of the Friday 13th curse. With the line seeming to move backwards at times, what better way to pass our time then people watch. And where better than in a stress inducing line up. I love putting a story to everyone I see and we [View Full Entry]

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With only hours to go before we leave "Friendly Manitoba", the weather has turned from the normal minus 20 to 30 degrees to plus 1 degrees and the usual snow fall has turned into a constant drizzle of rain. Well today it changed back to snow and our departure seems once again to be aptly timed. Of course we had the minus 40 degree weather to contend with in January but this foray into South East Asia during the slushy sleety changes in weather is still very welcome. The kids, teary eyed, left with their grandparents, our Chihuahuas in tow as [View Full Entry]

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We are one month away from leaving and we have lots of decisions to make however we have agreed on 3 focal points. Our first stop after Bangkok will be the (in)famous Phuket . I always said I did not want to go to Phuket because of the "package" tourist market that is predominantly catered to there. Not that we are backpacking snobs, and feel our trips more "real" as we support locals by spending local or anything like that. Its about not needing all the excess to relax. A lot can be said for simplicity. I don't expect everyone [View Full Entry]

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It seems that a whole lot of time has slipped away and before we knew it, December had rolled around. A lot of things had happened since we last traveled but we vowed to take another trip this coming year as we both had so much fun traveling together last year. Of course the unimaginable seemed to come up with every week that dragged past. I injured myself while trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, Candace's migraines seemed to intensify and any extra money we seemed to save was paid out for repairs on our cars. Each week, we saw life [View Full Entry]

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Patience is a virtue! Muscle pain gone! Pinched nerves gone! South East Asia will have to put up with me after all. Thanks to an over zealous massage therapist and some good ole stretching I think my pulled hamstrings are back to almost normal. For awhile, we were worried that this injury, that lasted two months, would never heal. We were both surprised when I woke up one morning to find most of the pain had disappeared. I owe a lot of it to Naproxin and Extra strength liquid gel Advils. With the focus back on the trip, Candace and I [View Full Entry]

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The worst thing that could happen has happened. Our trip back to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos could be in jeopardy. About a month and 1/2 ago, I injured myself while working out. It seemed minor at the time and I continued to work out. Well the injury got worse and I am now almost unable to walk most days. I started out by going to the chiropractor as I thought I put my back out. After several visits, I found that this was doing nothing. I then started massage therapy. This offered partial relief but the pain came back the next [View Full Entry]

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