Nick Kembel
nickkembel
I an a nomad of Canadian origin that has been exploring the various corners of the world over the better part of the last 10 years. My education is in Anthropology and Religious Studies, with a focus on Buddhism and Asian culture. I wrote my thesis on the independence movement in Tibet, and immediately upon completion of it I journeyed directly to Tibet to have one of my most emotional travel experiences to date.
I have taught English in Thailand, Korea, China, and for the last 3 years, Taiwan. For once in my life I am sitting still and have no major travel plans in mind, aside from my daily life in Taiwan: teaching my kids, traveling the island, and learning Chinese.
My first book will be published on August 12, 2011, titled, "Taiwan from the Eyes of a Foreigner", a personal and visual account of the Taiwan experience from the eyes of an outsider. For more information or to order my book, see www.nickkembel.com
Travel Blog Posts
March 8th 2012
In the summer of 2008, the Kembel family was united in Taipei and wreaked havok down the entire wild east coast of the island. From the steep canyon walls of Taroko to the salt water springs of Green Island, we cruised by car and scooter in the thick heat of the summer and stood out amongst the locals. This time things were a little different. It was just Mom and the two boys, and the Chinese New Year weather was damp and cool. As a result, we spent the better part of our time soaking in the various springs in the Taipei region. First off was a day trip to Yeliu, a coastal park of windblown rock formations and hoodoos. Next we ventured on to Bayan, an undevelopped and technically illegal-to-visit spring on the coastal, Jinshan ... read more
El Nido, Philippines with Emily, Mom, & Dad
Published: February 1st 2012Asia » Philippines » Palawan » El Nido
January 31st 2012
Living on a subtropical island such as Taiwan means that the winter does indeed bring cool weather, with conditions perhaps comparable to a damp autumn day in North America. Nevertheless, traveling south past the tropic of cancer, which passes through Taiwan near the medium sized city of Chiayi, puts you in swimming-year-round territory, and another hour south by plane brings you to the Philippines, which are outright hot any time of the year. The Chinese New Year holiday provides the must needed days off during this chilly season. This year my parents were in town for the holidays. First, we did a hot springs tour of Taipei City and surroundings, shot off some rounds of fireworks, and then hopped on a flight to Palawan, a thin, 650km long island; one of 7000+ that make up the ... read more
Beachhopping the Pescadores Islands (Penghu 澎湖) with Leanne
Published: December 12th 2011Asia » Taiwan » Penghu County
December 12th 2011
Booking a trip from Taipei to the isolated Pescadores Islands (Penghu) is as simple as stepping into one of Taiwan's five thousand+ 7-11s and buying a 4000NTD (130$) return flight. Once a stepping stone between China and Taiwan, and a staging point for various colonial invasions of the latter, the archipelago now receives a sprinkling of primarily domestic tourists. Leanne and I opted instead for arrival by sea, hopping on a 90-minute bumpy ferry from the tiny port town of Budai, about an hour west of Chiayi in southern Taiwan. Despite their seafaring past, most modern Taiwanese do not fare well with the waves on the sea, and spend the better part of the journey huddled up with painful looks on their faces, or trying to sleep off the urge to vomit. Upon arrival Penghu's capital, ... read more
October 13th 2011
The archipelago known as Penghu (in English the Pescadores Islands) holds an important place in the history of Taiwan. Located almost exactly halfway between Taiwan and China in the Taiwan Strait, it occupies one of the most strategic trading points between Japan, China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Once held by the Dutch, it was then used as a Ming Chinese holdout for stationing troops, and later occupied by the Qing, French, Japanese, and finally the Guomindang. However, the original occupants of Penghu were primarily fishermen, arriving there from mainland China as early as 8OOCE. Some of those early fishermen went on to Taiwan, becoming the island's first non-aboriginal settlers. Therefore, the Penghu islands have always acted as a series of stepping stones between mainland China and Taiwan. While empires have come and gone, the underlying fishing ... read more
Alberta's Icefields Parkway
Published: September 22nd 2011North America » Canada » Alberta » Banff National Park
September 22nd 2011
The Icefields Parkway has been described as the most beautiful drive in the world, and I am not prepared to dispute that. The 288km journey from Jasper to Banff, the two most famous resorts in the Canadian Rockies, is visually awesome. It takes 4 or 5 hours to drive from one end to the other, should you be crazy enough to cruise through without stopping to take in any of sites. My family and I recently spent nearly a week exploring the area, basing ourselves at each end of the parkway. Unpredictable weather brought us overcast days, mountain peaks shrouded in mist, and evenings that came alarmingly close to the freezing point. Meanwhile, traffic jams on the parkway caused by forest fires in neighboring British Colombia forced us to put our feet up and crack open ... read more
Beautiful British Columbia
Published: September 7th 2011North America » Canada » British Columbia » Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
September 7th 2011
For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com I have experienced the 1200+km road-trip from Edmonton to Vancouver through Southern BC no less than a dozen times since birth, along a variety of routes, and primarily as a child with my family. Place names such as Kelowna, Penticton, Shuswap, Kamloops, Revelstoke, and Hope ring is my head with nostalgia and fond memories of camping below starry skies and wading into pristine, icy-blue lakes. Never before have I been so familiar with an area, a route, or a destination, and yet so unfamiliar with the names, the actual geography of it, as this part of the world. I would struggle to put those place dots on a map for you, or document their cultural history and effect on my own psyche ... read more
Chicken Grandma & Grandpa
Published: August 23rd 2011North America » Canada » British Columbia » Abbotsford
August 23rd 2011
For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com November 9th, 1985. A week before my 4th birthday, and I was boarding a plane to Abbotsford BC, perhaps the first backpacking venture of my life, to visit Chicken Grandma & Grandpa. I was in the company of a 2nd cousin or distant aunt that I wasn’t familiar with. But with Theodore (my companion Teddy Bear since birth) by my side, I was unafraid. My visit coincided with my Grandparents building a new house on a recently purchased piece of property in Abbotsford, an hour’s drive from Vancouver on the west coast of British Columbia. They had just sold the chicken farm in a nearby community, leading us to dub them ‘Chicken Grandma and Grandpa’. The setting of their new home was ... read more
My book "Taiwan from the Eyes of a Foreigner" released
Published: August 16th 2011Asia » Taiwan » Taipei
August 16th 2011
My first book, "Taiwan from the Eyes of a Foreigner" was released this week in Taiwan. The book is available for international order from MY WEBSITE 我的書 “老外愛台灣” 這一個禮拜出版了。 在台灣，上網訂購 （現在有折扣！）： 這理 The book will also be available in bookstores across Taiwan after August 20th. 8月20日 全台各大書店上市. 當西方遇見東方~ 加拿大作家 Nick Kembel在台灣兩年到處旅行、教學、愛情的切身體驗。一部充滿幽默感、創意、振奮人心的真實故事。本書 (老外看台灣) 有令人眼睛為之一亮的攝影作品、自畫卡通、詩作皆以中英文兩種語言呈現 。來 Nick 的官方網站看看 The Story Three ... read more
August 5th 2011
For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao Miao ... read more
November 12th 2010
For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com I am quite frequently asked to cite my favorite country, a terribly ambiguous question roughly akin to asking somebody to choose his or her favorite person in the world. Other people want me to tell them a travel story, but I am seldom able to deliver adequately on the spot. But with the space allotted here, I have enumerated 21 of my most emotional worldly experiences. Most of them border on the sublime, surreal, or even religious, and combined they form the pivotal or core moments that have defined my pilgrimage through the world to date. Some brought tears to my eyes; others forever and irreversibly altered my sense of self and resulting perception of the world around me. This is a ... read more
Maroon 
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