I realized this morning that I haven’t really given an update since I was smack-dab in the middle of our lockdown here in Spain. Most of us here spent 98 days essentially locked up in our apartments, only venturing outside to quickly get some groceries or to go to a pharmacy. It was one of the most intense and invasive lockdowns of any country anywhere, and many people here really struggled to cope with it. While I didn’t mind being at home, especially since I had many renovation projects on the go, the inability to even go for a walk or to get exercise was really difficult mentally, and most ...

I left Vancouver approximately five weeks ago, and headed for Malta via Paris. My ultimate goal was to end up in Serbia, but I thought I would stop and visit two friends of mine that I met in Kuala Lumpur last year: Krisztina and Debbie. Here’s a summary of my one-week visit to Malta. Despite all the travel I do, I actually really hate flying, and would say I have a mild phobia. To counteract that, I usually have a bottle of Ativan (anti-anxiety medication) with me on the plane. For short haul flights (generally less than an hour or so), I typically don’t bother, since I’ll end up feeling a bit ...

This is the first post in an ongoing series where I’ll be featuring a few of the travellers I’ve encountered on the road or whose web sites I’ve frequented during my travels. First up is Alexandra Kovacova, also known as the CrazySexyFunTraveler. I’ve chatted with Alex a few times on Twitter about travel, and asked her a few questions which she graciously answered for this post: First, what’s your name and where are you originally from? My name is Alexandra Kov·Ëov· and I was born in a small Slovak town Snina. People at home call me Saöka, but abroad I’m known just as Alex. Where are you now, ...

As many people know, I’ll be heading to Europe right after my trip to New York City. I officially arrive in Ireland on April 6th, and will be spending the next few weeks around the United Kingdom. Europe is expensive, there’s no doubt about it. Most hotels are around $150 a night for anything decent, and many hostels get bad reviews for what they charge. Since I’ve been living pretty cheaply in Argentina, I’m going to live it up a bit in April. Ireland was definitely on the schedule, as was London (briefly, as I’ve been there before) and Paris. But given that I had a full week to kill in the ...

I booked my ticket across the pond tonight. In April of 2011 I’ll be leaving New York City and heading to Shannon, Ireland aboard Continental airlines. My friend Andy is living near Shannon with his girlfriend right now (she’s in med school over there), and I told him recently here in Chilliwack that I’d like to come for a visit. So, now it’s official! While I’m not much of a golfer, I’m eager to play a game of golf with Andy in Ireland, for the geography alone. I really haven’t seen much of Europe. I spent a week in northern Finland at Nokia a few years ago, and had a brief stop over in Helsinki. ...