Sign In
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. Lived and worked in Valencia Spain with my girlfriend (Now wife!) Dennie for 2 years, and taught highschool drama. After a year teaching Grade 7/8 at a community school, I now teach highschool history and drama. Dennie is now officially a Learning Resource Teacher. Hurray for adult jobs!The Open Road
Currently: Back in Canada; Friends, Family, A Mortgage and a job don't sound half bad right about now.
Coming up: Saskatchewan Summer festivals, and back country camping!
Travel Blog Posts
Vida Pura!
Published: April 10th 2012Central America Caribbean » Dominican Republic » La Romana » Bayahibe
February 29th 2012
Though the shutters were drawn and our room was dark, there could be no doubt that it was early morning, as a cacophony of roosters competed for air time in a deafening chorus outside of our apartment. I opened my eyes, and took a second to remember where I was. I quietly rolled out of bed so as not to wake Dennie, threw on a shirt and some sandals, and snuck out into the streets of the village. The town was bathed in a golden light. A boisterous women in the small square down the street from our place began to prepare the batter at her empanada stand, just as an older man rolled a wheel burrow of oranges and pineapples towards her. Stray dogs sprawled out on the interlocking brick that paved the square, enjoying ... read more
Goin to the Chapel...
Published: August 26th 2010North America » Canada » Ontario » Niagara-On-The-Lake
August 1st 2010
Getting married likely deserves an entry of it's own. After all, the journey of a life together, is likely the most epic trip, barring child rearing, that one takes in life. However, for the purposes of brevity and in holding true to the central character of travel blog.org this entry will focus mainly on the events that took place following the festivities. Once the quilts were folded up and put into storage, and the bicycles stuffed hastily into our shed, after the hangovers had faded, and the dancing shoes peeled off our sore and sweaty feet. Once the presents had been opened and the cake eaten, we began a journey East that would take us to Toronto, Montreal, Quebec city, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and New York City. The itinerary was ambitious and ... read more
January 15th 2010
Independent travel is often much more expensive than following the masses into all inclusive hotels. Our dream vacation was to rent a hut on the beaches of Sayalita where we would spend the days surfing and the nights revelling with vegetarian locals. However, after an extensive search, it became apparent that given flight prices, such a trip was not within our budget. However, as the minus 40 weather raged on in Regina, the allure of affordable last minute package holidays became more and more attractive. And so, we hopped on a plane and headed for the massive strip of destructive development known as Nuevo Vallarta. If this blog had readers, I would expect angry letters in droves resulting from our decision to stay at an all inclusive. And while I agree with the fact that all ... read more
October 20th 2009
Travel is a gift all too often taken for granted. As members of the Western middle class, we have the social mobility to move in and out of new countries and cultures seamlessly, sometimes roughing it and living on spaghetti and tomato sauce for weeks on end. We are able to do so with knowledge that the social safety net of our background will usually prevent us from any real harm. Upon return home, we have faith that well paying jobs will be there, paying for our next escape. While owning a car and having a mortgage are often vilified by more progressive members of the travelling community; planes, trains, automobiles and the indulgence of travel are justified in the name of broadening horizons. There is a dualism that exists within this community. Generally a left ... read more
Live your life and forget your age
Published: September 3rd 2009North America » Canada » Saskatchewan » Regina
September 2nd 2009
There have been many travels since my last blog; Berlin, Andorra, the Pyranees, Alicante, Albarracin, Majorca, Picos de Europa, Bilbao, Asturias and Teruel. We travelled a great deal of the country overland by car, as the realisation came to us that our time here was coming to an end and we had spent too much of our free time and money travelling abroad. Spain needed some attention, and finally with a basic understaniding of the language we could travel with ease, and get off the beaten track... The usual bevvy of sumertime fun awaited us in Canada, and our routine combination of music festivals, camping, weddings, and parties, all went down with great success. But as the end of summer approached, the frenetic pace of constant travel has slowed, and Spain already feels like a distant ... read more
Goats are Boys and Sheep are Girls...
Published: January 4th 2009Africa » Morocco » Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz » Marrakech
January 4th 2009
It had been some time since I had entered into the East. Here, everything is different. Though I knew this prior to arrival, The Medina of Marrakech was more exciting, chaotic, and stressful than anywhere I had been before. I had experienced souq culture in Dubai and Muscat, but here it seemed the pressure to buy at all times of the day would not let up. We walked from our hotel on our first evening in Morocco past the old city walls and towards the Djem Al Feena, a huge open square that acts as a stage for a bevy of street performers, buskers, story tellers, sooth sayers, musicians, snake charmers, and tarot card readers. Large crowds of Moroccan men formed circles around each act, and each time we approached one group, someone would step forward ... read more
January 3rd 2009
Oh, Christmas holidays. I was very much looking forward to having my mother and aunt come to visit Kris and I, both because I miss my far-away family and because I was looking forward to showing them around Spain. My mission was to show them a good time and not stretch any of our budgets too far. I thought I had done a good job. And then I got the e-mail from my uncle: "You're mother's flight has been delayed. They will now be getting to minneapolis tonight and leave sunday afternoon. They want you to try to reschedule the connecting flight for some time later the next day.They have tried phoning you but can't get you for some reason." It was a stressful hour of checking flights, phoning airlines and, trying to add credit to ... read more
Living on the edge: Battles with Adrenaline Addiction
Published: September 29th 2008Europe » Spain » Valencian Community » Sagunto
September 24th 2008
Adrenaline addiction has yet to have a global advertising campaign against it. In fact quite the opposite; ski resorts, adventure sport companies, even energy drink and high octane breakfast cereals have glorified this serious disease into something to be craved and desired. I too, as an unwary consumer, bought into the madness and purchased the occasional Red Bull and various sporting goods. Last year my opinion of adrenaline began to change. Maybe something clicked while accompanying Dennie off a mountain in Switzerland, or watching her volunteer to be the first one to jump down a waterfall in the Pyrenees, but each time we would do anything the least bit dangerous or thrilling, I would notice a distinct and immediate change in Dennie. It was always most evident in the eyes, pupils dilated, her gaze dancing rapidly ... read more
To Play Cards Again
Published: September 24th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » England » North Yorkshire » Knaresborough
September 24th 2008
When I lived in Northern England circumstances transformed me into a bit of a social chameleon. Thrown together into a 6 bedroom house with 5 other outcasts had me wearing button up shirts and nice shoes to bars that played bad Britpop, or attending Drum and Bass shows in seedy warehouses. These experiences, in combination to my daily exposure to British Teenagers clouded my impression of the country, and left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. True, I did manage to find enough cool places to warrant another return, but my deep seeded prejudices remained. Enter Couch Surfing… This time with a few connections from like minded locals, I could suddenly see the potential of living here once again. The food tasted better, the people seemed friendlier, and even the bad ... read more
Where my Music's Playing
Published: September 24th 2008North America » Canada » Saskatchewan » Regina
September 24th 2008
It's always dangerous to write about experiences that occurred almost two months ago. With the passage of time comes a natural romantisization. The nostalgic part of my brain has already added a soundtrack and cut out the down time. But my warm feelings of Saskatchewan in summer never change. Dennie and I touched down in Regina tired and excited in early July with high expectations of weddings, bbq’s, family dinners, backyard parties, music festivals and camping trips. Another year brought change; relationships came and went, friends moved away and others returned, babies turned into toddlers, and failing football clubs transformed into Grey Cup Champions. Still, the sun brought with it an eruption of good vibes found only in such places as this. In the way that John Steinbeck writes about the stink of Cannery Row with ... read more
Tot: 0.146s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 25; qc: 64; dbt: 0.0366s; 1; s:apollo w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 6.5mb
© 2013 TravelBlog.org & Bloggers