A Short Stop in the Bay Area My return to California for the first time following my move back to Canada has proved an interestingly enlightening experience. I have to admit that I've had a difficult time in letting go of California, and the life I was living here during my time as a teacher. I arrived with excitement, full of exuberance and nostalgia, but that sense has faded quickly like the marine fog under the hot afternoon sun. I can't really explain why, but I feel the same way now as when I returned to Calgary in July. I was [View Full Entry]

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Big Mamma, Con-men, Crab Shrapnel, and a Birthday to Remember Bangkok: Soi Cowboy I've been to Bangkok before, but had never managed, or cared enough to make the trip to Soi Cowboy, the lady-boy / stripper district that in many ways defines Bangkok. I told Darren though that I wasn't making an decisions about his only night in Bangkok, but being Canadian, he also didn't want to have to make decisions about his only night in Bangkok. But his friend Grant suggested Soi Cowboy, then Peter and Feyette, the couple we met en route suggested it as well. So we went. [View Full Entry]

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Phnom Penh: My Favourite City in SE ASia I'd heard great things about Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, and wanted badly to make a stop here in the former capital of the Khmer Empire, and the "Pearl" of French Indochina. It didn't take much convincing to get Darren to agree, after he'd heard a few good things himself. It's a fantastic city, dirty as any in the region, but full of so many charming people, wide boulevards, sprawling public spaces, with beautiful temples and monuments throughout. It didn't take long for me to decide that this city was an easy favourite, taking [View Full Entry]

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Hue and the DMZ: Where the History Is Hue is the historic center of Vietnam, and not altogether to far from the geographic one. At its heart lies the imperial city, built in honor of the long line of kings that ruled in the region. The walls are imposing and the scope of the old city looms large, but it's not particularly old by most of the world's standards. It was built in the 19th century. That said, it is still an impressive site that give the impression of an ancient pedigree. We really wanted to see more, but it was [View Full Entry]

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Hanoi-ing Hanoi is a fascinating city full of excitement and moving at the frenetic pace of a town on the move. It's both wonderful and full of annoyances at the same time. The streets are abuzz with constant motion, and you may cross the street amid a flood of scooters wherever you want, so long as you keep a predictable pace; switch it up and you're street paste. On the one hand you get to see amazing things like the man we saw peeing on a city electrical wire - we took a wide berth around him as we walked past. [View Full Entry]

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Semporna Riding in a bus for the first time in SE Asia provides one with wisdom they don't soon forget. Fortunately I have ridden in one before, and I didn't forget. What you find very quickly is that despite the fact that the weather is balmy outside, the temperature in the bus will eventually become Antarctic on the inside of the bus. Dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, you will find that dying of hypothermia near the equator isn't as ironic as it first sounds. So I prepared myself, putting pantlegs on, and dawning my towel as a blanket, and praying [View Full Entry]

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Welcome to Brunei. It's a wealthy country, owned for all intents and purposes by the Sultan, who is one of the richest men in the world. It's standard of living is relatively high for the region and a good deal has been put into the Bandar Seri Begawan's cleanliness and architecture to ensure a pristine look about it. Brunei and its people are welcoming and friendly, trying hard to ensure you have a good time, a place to stay, and good food to eat. A tour guide, we met just as we were leaving the city was telling us that the [View Full Entry]

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My travel day has been a long one, three in fact, if you add in the international dateline. Dan was kind enough to drop me at the airport today and was all set. As I stood in line, I lazily looked at my watch, which read March 20th. This was problematic you see because I was supposed to fly out of San Francisco on the 19th. A looming sense of panic began to settle in as I recognized the perilous mistake that had been made. I was so sure I was supposed to leave on Wednesday. Maybe I had calculated wrong. [View Full Entry]

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It's been nearly six months since I've made an entry, mostly because I haven't much traveled anywhere. But I've been thinking lately that Calgary is still quite an interesting place to be for would-be travelers, especially ones looking for jobs in this labour-starved market of an oil-slick boomtown. I love Calgary. It's my home, I'm biased, but there's great things about the town, which I shall get to in a moment. I do have to complain that Calgary is terribly spread out. As the largest city by area in North America, it is the poster child for what a town affected [View Full Entry]

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I'm a bit late in sending this off to you, but then again, given the server failure that happened with Travelblog, I'm fairly certain there was a reason in the universe that I couldn't quite muster up the necessary desire to type this blog up. It is in fact the last blog of my 13 month journey, and perhaps it has more to do with my unwillingness to admit that it has come to a close. But with all good things, they eventually give way to other chapters that hold new adventure and that creative spark we call life. Farewell America, [View Full Entry]

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