One of the greatest benefits of having a whole year to travel, is that we have the flexibility to fly on the cheapest dates and can take the opportunity to spend a few days in cities that would normally just be quick airport layovers en route to our final destination. There’s been a few of […]
Asia
Adventures in Vietnam – Part 2
During our last day in Vietnam, I was walking down the street in Dong Hoi to mail some post cards before heading to the airport, feeling a little sad that these were my final hours in a country I’d grown to love. As I was walking by a school, a little girl on the sidewalk asked […]
Adventures in Vietnam – Part 1
Vietnam was one of the only destinations we knew for sure we wanted to visit when we started to plan our our itinerary. After living in what could be considered Vancouver’s “Little Vietnam”, we were mostly drawn to the food (which I’ve since discovered is so much more than phở and bánh mìs) and […]
Japan Highlights and the Benefits of Slow Travel
When I think about the three weeks we spent in Japan, it’s hard to say I got a sense of what Japan is really like. That may in part be because the three islands we visited (Okinawa, Hokkaido and Honshu) are so vastly different, but more likely it’s because we just didn’t have enough time […]
Reflecting on Korea
It’s hard to write about what Korea is like beyond my first impressions without getting into the tricky stuff. I almost don’t want to attempt it because really, what the heck do I know about the complexities of Korean culture after visiting the country for a total of six weeks. So as a preface to […]
Student Life | Q&A with Mike
The only way I could get Mike to contribute to the blog was to interview him about his experience in Korea. So I sat him down, did my best Barbara Walters impression, and hit record on my iPhone. His responses are below! Why do you want to learn Korean? I don’t really have a […]
Island of the Gods Part 2: Embracing Imperfection
Admittedly, I’m a recovering perfectionist. I like to get things right and sometimes this causes me a lot of frustration, especially when I’m out of my comfort zone and things are not what I’m used to. When travelling, this happens pretty much all the time. I think a lot of people (myself included) idealize travel […]
Island of the Gods Part 1: Women & Wisdom
Well that month just flew by. I can’t believe my 30 days in Bali are up! Although I’m sad to be leaving the sunshine and a place where I can indulge in my new obsession with surfing, I am excited to get back to Mike in Korea and cure my Bali Belly with some much […]
Seoul: First Impressions
The first stop on our world adventure is Seoul, South Korea! Mike’s visited a few times before (mostly to see family) and had already been in the city a month for his language course before I arrived. As a first-time visitor to Asia, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was only in Seoul 11 […]