What we most appreciate about living in Ubud is best summarized in all the little things we experience daily. The early morning rooster wake up calls, followed by the daily sing song “Selamat Pagi / Good Morning“ greeting of the hotel staff as they arrive with our hot water thermos. Early morning laps in the pool. Morning yoga practice overlooking the rice paddies and coconut palm trees. Laughter over breakfast with hotel staff and guests. Jumping on the motorbike and going, well, anywhere, because the freedom of the ride is always more important than the destination. The not infrequent complete halting of traffic on a main street for five or ten minutes to allow for a ceremonial procession of Balinese fully dressed in ceremonial garb, women bearing fruit baskets on their heads, men marching along playing ... read more

It‘s Not Always Easy Getting To Where You’re Going . . . I have alluded to the fact that travel is a commitment fueled by passion: by a desire to experience; to discover; to learn; to grow. I have also mentioned several times in various blog entries that travel is not always easy, as evidenced again by our recent excursion to Labuan Bajo, on the Indonesian island province of Flores. Our journey begins at 7 a.m. on the island of Gili Trawangan, Lombok. Our scheduled itinerary will have us being transported by water taxi for fifteen minutes to mainland Lombok, where we will pick up another taxi that will deliver us to the airport in Mataram an hour and a half later. From there, we will fly to Denpasar, Bali, where we will pick up another ... read more

It was Stan’s birthday yesterday, February 8th. He is seventy one years young. He has just completed a month long 150 hour intensive yoga course, and is about to do another scuba refresher course to prepare for the somewhat challenging dive excursions we are undertaking next week in Komodo Marine Park in Flores, Indonesia. He is seventy one years young. I am very proud of him. I am fortunate to have been able to share his birthdays with him since he was twenty six years old, and excited to continue our lifelong adventures together. His birthday tributes began on February 7th, one day early. We were still in Kuta, Bali, enjoying a sunset dinner overlooking the beach with his sister Annie, who had just completed a forty hour global trek across the planet, to celebrate the ... read more

We have been here before, at this particular Castle Mountain overflow campsite, many times. It is our favourite hangout destination in the Rockies, although we have certainly ventured to other areas in Alberta and British Columbia over the decades. We have travelled to the mountains before children, with children, and now return, full circle, just the two of us again. We have cycled through the mountains, climbing the daunting Roger's Pass not once, but twice. We have motorbiked from Saskatchewan through the Rockies to the west coast; we have hiked Banff’s Sulphur Mountain at least a dozen times, as well as taken on the far more ominous challenge of hiking Castle Mountain. We have canoed the mountain lakes and attempted to kayak the swift flowing streams :) We have not been short on adventures. But the ... read more

Given that our flight back from Denpasar Bali to Canada typically involves around thirty hours of being in transit, we have begun the practice of breaking up the long haul flight with a stopover en route home, generally determined by where the overseas carrier stops. When flying with Cathay Pacific Airlines, we took the opportunity one year to explore Hong Kong for a couple of days. Very worthwhile - both for breaking up the flight and lessening the effects of jet lag - but also because it enabled us to experience the culture of another international cosmopolitan city. This year we flew EVA Airlines, based out of Taipei, Taiwan, and finally got to visit this interesting city. Unfortunately Stan picked up a bit of sinus congestion from the five hour flight to Taipei from Denpasar, so ... read more