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, ...

Members of the Red Cross at the hotel. Photograph: Reuters The first I heard about the explosion today was on Twitter. A friend of mine made mention that she was glad I wasn’t in Mexico anymore as a blast just killed five Canadians staying at a resort down there, as well as two of the hotel staff. I got back home at about 2:30am in the morning on Saturday, so Mexico is still fresh on my mind. At the resort we were at, Dale and I spent quite a bit of time in the lobby sipping coffee and relaxing. At those resorts, the lobby is typically where people check in and out, and often sit around having ...

I’m not officially starting my big travel adventure until after Christmas, but decided to go on a little vacation in the meantime. On Friday I’ll be boarding a plane and meeting a friend down in the Mayan Riviera on the east coast of Mexico. I went on a similar trip a year ago and it was a great time. The resort we’ll be staying at is called the Bahai Principe Tulum, and it’s currently the #2 rated sort in the Akumal region. There are actually three different resorts on the same property, Coba, Akumal and Tulum. Last time we stayed in Akumal, but ended up really liking the pools and the look ...

I haven’t purchased anything new for myself to wear in probably a full year at this point. Unfortunately for me, that means most things in my wardrobe are starting to look pretty ratty. In fact, I was wearing a shirt the other day and noticed at the end of the day that there was a big hole in it that didn’t used to be there. Yes it’s true, I’m that awesome. I was telling Dale the other day that I’m probably about two shirts away from seriously having to consider wearing a garbage bag for the day. So, definitely time to go out and buy a few new things. Unfortunately, I don’t really want to buy ...

A few days ago I pulled the trigger on a trip to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico. I’ll actually be heading down there with Dale, mostly so we can drink a few beers and also strategize a bit about the next year before I head off on my little adventure. While we sometimes meet in Hamilton or Chilliwack, it’s obviously much nicer to be able to have those kind of meetings around a pool in Mexico with some nachos and beers. And truthfully, it’s really not much more money to meet down there: a typical trip to Hamilton during high season probably runs $700-$800 for the flight, plus all the expenses we incur ...