TravelBlog » The Open Road

The Open Road - Kris and Dennie

Previously: Moved to England to Teach High School English- Gave up, quit and left for round the world trip. Traveled through the Middle East, SE Asia, Australia, NZ, and Fiji prior to arriving back home to Canada. Spent the next school year trying desperately to be the cool substitute teacher who tells stories of wild adventures and remembers what it was like to be a teenager... Failed miserably.

Currently- Living and working in Valencia Spain with my girlfriend Dennie, and teaching highschool drama. Fast losing my hearing as a result of the volume students in Spain constantly speak.

Coming up- a fast approaching beach season, and the prospect of summer.

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Joined on: June 29th 2005
Last Login: July 22nd 2008

Blog Entries: 60
Photos: 412
Recommends 15

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by The-Open-Road, order by Date newest first.

By The Open Road
July 14th 2008

There and Back Again

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris

The Sacrecour
with Leonie in the Bottom right. Montemarte, Paris.

When I was 17 I went to Europe on a graduating school trip. Our parents reluctantly signed permission slips allowing us to enjoy a glass of wine with our meals, knowing this likely would result in binge drinking with our teachers, and sent us off for two weeks of touring from Paris to the Pyrenees. Everything about Europe was so new to us, and the oddities found on the menus of French KFC restaurants fascinated us more than the monuments, châteaux’s and ancient cobbled streets. The strongest memories I have of this trip are typical of the 17 year old mind. [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
May 31st 2008

A couple close calls

Europe » Spain » Catalonia

Rafting

This trip in many ways mirrors one of our other great weekend trips taken this year. It was in the Pyrenees, we drove there in a rented Peugot, and once again we were lucky enough to be along for the ride on another great trip fully planned by our friends Nadine and Aaron. They are trip-planning wizards and nice enough to welcome last minute tag alongs. So when Nadine planned an adventure trip to the small town of Sort next to the Noguera Pallaresa river for Aaron's 30th birhtday, we were glad to join. Once again we left straight from work [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
May 7th 2008

Rain drops on Roses

Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Interlaken

Swiss road sign

Switzerland is a bit of a postcard. So perfect do things work, so idyllic are their rolling green hills and dramatic snow capped mountains, and so friendly are their chubby blonde children that one begins to believe that all is not well in the land of clocks and chocolate. Just as no one suspects the butterfly, the Swiss have managed to slip under every ones radar undetected, slowly stockpiling massive amounts of multi use ergonomic knives and breeding an army of massive St. Bernard’s. Upon first meeting with a Swiss person one would hardly think these lovely people capable of such [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
April 15th 2008

The Balkan Giants and their bad techno music

Europe » Montenegro » Kotor » Kotor

Me and kim
rambling in Kotor

Leonardo Di Caprio is lost on the backpacker trail in Bangkok when he hears word of a magical Beach located off the Southern coast of Thailand. Like most backpackers without a plan would, he follows this secret advice and is justly rewarded for his search. And though he narrowly escapes death, gets chased by a shark, is exiled from the hippy commune and is driven mad, it makes for a good story. Such were our hopes when we heard word of beautiful fjord and medieval town located 3 hours bus journey away from Dubrovnik in the newly established Republic of [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
April 1st 2008

The best laid plans

Europe » Croatia » Dalmatia » Dubrovnik

Kim and I
in Dubrovnik

There was a time when I was happy to touch down in a country with only a pack full of dirty clothes, a box full of wine, a smile and a willingness to sleep on the street. I would trust in the kindness of strangers and usually find myself in cheap, substandard accommodation. This style of travelling generally made for good stories, as it led to nights in mud huts, brothels and scary guesthouses; it also managed to get me onto a hijacked bus, get beat up in a bar in Singapore’s little India and be felt up by a Christian [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
March 29th 2008

Las Fallas

Europe » Spain » Valencian Community » Valencia

calle sueca

The EU is looked to world wide as a leader on a variety of fronts; progressive social policies, environmental laws, cutting edge technology, and economic efficiency. However the reality of living in Europe can be quite different. While Spain is certainly notorious for carefree attitudes, and refusals to abandon old ways in favour of tradition, one wonders how this country can exist and thrive within the European community. Sometimes the examples are charming; an entire soccer stadium of 50,000 smoking and eating jamon bocadillos, a donkey pulling a cart through the orange groves of La Huerta outside of the city, stores [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
February 20th 2008

Andorran road trip

Europe » Andorra

bad food, good view
Taking a break from skiing and snowboarding to eat overpriced microwaved pizza.

Our experience in Spain up to this point had been wonderful and we had been on some great trips both in the country and outside of it, but there was one great North American tradition that we were beginning to miss - the road trip. So we paired up with experienced roadtrippers Nadine and Aaron, rented a car, and set our sights on the snow capped peaks of Andorra. If you aren’t familiar with the country of Andorra (as I wasn’t prior to the planning of this trip), it is a tiny country stuffed between France and Spain, atop the Pyrenees, [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
January 5th 2008

Pepe Does Europe

Europe » Portugal

Middle Aged and in love...

I nervously chewed my fingernails at the Valencia Airport, hoping my parents would make all of their connecting flights. I might lie and tell you that I had total faith in my parents ability to travel independantly, but my badly chewed nails are evidence for the fact that my faith had wavered. Me of little faith, they arrived unscathed and ready to take Europe by storm. Expecting them to be jet lagged and ready for bed, my dad shocked me with his desire to check out Valencia's night life. My dads fearlessness to explore and talk to Spanish people in English [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
December 16th 2007

Damn you Maniken Piss!

Europe » Belgium » Brussels-Capital Region » Brussels

Shoes on a powerline
no trip is complete without a viewing of shoes on a powerline.

Another Ryan Air holiday bound to be plagued with certain uncomfortable elements; and yet, in the balance between comfort and cost we happily opt for the cheaper and more dangerous route. After enduring the ominously error free flight and bus ride, we arrived in a chilly Brussels, properly decoded another confusing metro system and met our couch surfer host. Belgium is a symbol of internationalism. They are the capital for the EU's parliament, NATO, and many other global governing entities. They have long had an active role to play in peace keeping, and their former African colonies of Congo and Rwanda [View Full Entry]

By The Open Road
December 9th 2007

Pizzica in the land of pizza

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Bologna

Looking down from the Torre Asinelli

Every now and then a person finds themselves in the right place at the right time whilst travelling and a unique experience happens. One such memorable night came together for Kris and I while we were in Bologna. The trip up to that point had been a success. We had climbed towers, drank cheap cold red wine, and followed Bologna's porticoed streets up in the hills to see the church and the view. Unfortunately this blog is a bit overdue (2 months, acually) and I have forgotten the names of some of the sights. We also took a train to Venice [View Full Entry]