Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Brandon, MB I go. You may be asking yourself; for a 'world' traveler like Ned, why on earth is she going to Brandon, MB. and more importantly why is she driving? Yup - you read correctly; I am getting into my little black beauty with the slightly dented rear end, and we are driving over 1150km to visit my best friend and her 7 year old daughter. Yikes. even that sounds weird coming from me. Driving, domestic and minors? Oh boy, she truly has lost her mind. Alas, as I get a bit older and my friends grow with me, so do their family dynamics and I am still the single, ahem, solo traveler and it is much easier for me to come to people vs the other way ... read more

While I realize this is out of order, I will catch up and just wanted to post this before bed. There's a title to start off with:-) today has been my best day here in Prague, not only because of the sights but what I accomplished and how happy I feel, sipping on a Czech beer or 2, as per my boss's suggestion. I'm really struggling with jet lag for some reason and was up most of last night in the wee hours between 12-5. Despite being exhausted, I still wolfed down some breakfast and raced to the Prague Castle, probably the most important historical site in the city. My Lonely Planet warned to get here early, while I still made it by 09:30, the crowds were multiplying in droves. Regardless, I had the pleasure of ... read more

Day One and Two A relatively easy journey: YEG-YYZ-FRA-PRG, with perfect connection times, just long enough to stretch your legs and not panic about missed connections if flight is slightly delayed. Random Ned Travel Tip:A great way to ensure not making friends with your airplane seat neighbor is to pull out your hand wipes and obsessively wash your tray table with crazed enthusiasm! It worked, he started leaning away from me when I fervently wiped the tray table, on both sides:-) I got to travel business class to Toronto, Frankfurt flight was economy but at least I was the aisle on the 2 seater side. I realized I'd never flown Lufthansa before, good German staff, bad movie and TV choices but what do you do? FRA airport is, shall we say, a very efficient airport. Other ... read more

A wee photo montage of Jill's journey through Chile and Argentina. She is always the best travel companion; packs light, never complains and is always the ice breaker at parties!... read more

Easter Island. Hanga Roa. Rapa Nui. Isla de Pascua. Call it what you will, but I do like "Belly Button of the Earth". It's appropriate and you do get that feeling when you are so, so isolated from anything. Today was our last full day on the Island, we had plans to go to the beach, do some shopping, relax, enjoy and just chill. It had been 17 days of a full adventure on our vacation, and the thought of doing mostly nothing sounded appealing, and Easter Island felt like the perfect place to do so. To get to Anakena beach, you can hire a taxi to take you round trip and you just schedule a pick up time, cost is about $25US. We had our taxi pick us up around 10 and had plans to ... read more