I had thought my travel writing was complete for this trip, but it seems my heart still lingers in Asia. Even though we recently completed the journey back to Regina, Canada, it still has more it wants to share. We discovered this twinkling electric fantasyland strolling around our neighbourhood on our last night in Bangkok earlier this week, before bracing ourselves for a wildly fun tuk-tuk ride to the King’s Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in all its golden sparkling glory. The evening before we had enjoyed a long and wonderful foot massage on the street, while listening to an incredibly talented musician next to us who absolutely nailed a number of Freddie Mercury tunes with his impressive vocal range and stellar guitar playing. Who takes on Freddie Mercury? Who takes on Queen ... read more

For many years, we had an aquarium in our home. I recall spending whatever free time I had at the end of the work day with my face glued to the glass, mesmerized by the aquatic ecosystem I was watching. However basic, it was always calming to loose myself in that water world. So when I find myself now, twenty metres below the ocean surface, buoyantly floating amidst schools of thousands of fish; hovering over an enormous sleeping turtle; captivated by a gigantic manta ray or an angelic spotted eagle ray passing by - at all times awestruck by the brilliant colour and extensive diversity of the coral reef, and the equally vast array of marine life sustained within the reef ecosystem - I again experience a deep sense of calm, along with a profound sense ... read more

Although Bali may well be known to many visitors for its vibrant bar scene (Kuta), its impressive surf destination (Ulawatu), its diving (Ahmed, Tulamben, Nusa Penida), its famous terraced rice paddies (Tegalalang), its majestic volcano (Mount Agung), its volcano trekking (Mount Batur), or its incredible natural beauty everywhere, the essence of Bali, for us, is the spirit of its people - which we believe truly makes it the magical place it is. And there is no day that features this spirit more prevalently than Nyepe Day, the Day of Silence, which marks the beginning of the Bali Hindu New Year following the Balinese lunar (Saka) calendar. It is our understanding that the Balinese prioritize balance in everything, and that it is the responsibility of people to balance the energies of evil spirits, good spirits, and the ... read more

There is only one regret I carry with our global travel lifestyle of the past decade: we cannot maintain an animal family member. Simply no pets allowed. We have considered it, but it is not viable when we are out of the country travelling five months of the year. I have had animal friends all of my life. Cats, rabbits, iguanas, turtles, fish, and dogs. Several dogs. Together, Stan and I had a wonderful black lab named Sam, who was part of our family long before our children arrived. We adopted him at four years of age, and he remained with us until he was sixteen. A short while later, we introduced two miniature schnauzers - Magic and Tuxedo - to our family, which now also included our two children. Our schnauzers each lived to be ... read more

We were certainly warned prior to our arrival that Koh Phangan was incredibly busy this year. This proved to be true. There were far more vehicles on the roads, far more scooters, and the vacancy rates were generally maxed out, so that during our time there about 97% of the island’s accommodation facilities were fully booked. Almost all of the tourists were from eastern and western European countries, or other countries whose inhabitants were attempting to escape the realities of war and political unrest at home. I cannot say I blame them, as I would likely make the same choice. Thankfully, I have never had to walk in those shoes. The busy-ness was never a deterrent for us. After three years of too much quarantine and too much solitude behind cold walls, we completely welcomed this ... read more