Category Archive: travel

Life is one big game of Super Mario Brothers

My brother-in-law pointed it out. We were talking about how to drive a hybrid car in the most efficient way possible, and noting that even though our efforts didn’t make much of a… Continue reading →

Even being mauled by a wild animal was…familiar.

Back in Western Europe, the Low Countries, my second home. It felt good to be back, a little bizarre, and bizarrely familiar. Dutch felt like a familiar game, more familiar to me than… Continue reading →

Anticipation, back hair, and falafel in Amsterdam

It was a few degrees below zero in Toronto but I felt fine, and as long as I didn’t spend too much time in the shade I enjoyed my walks. It was a… Continue reading →

The sleepy wandering of a stoned zombie just below the Arctic Circle

If a plane leaves Toronto at 8:10 PM for a 5 hour flight to Reykjavik, what time does it arrive? If you said 6:25 AM, you’re either extremely aware of time zones and… Continue reading →

Getting catty under the Northern Lights

Where am I? Am I on a bus? Why is someone on a PA system telling me stuff about the Northern Lights? Maybe a midnight Northern Lights tour was not the best choice… Continue reading →

Niagara Falls: Eminem v your grandmother in the zombie apocalypse

Something went wrong in Niagara Falls. It’s a place utterly defined by a piece of stunning natural beauty, artwork of the gods, yet is framed by the flabby vultures of casinos, savory as… Continue reading →

Did you know Toronto is now bigger than Chicago?

Hello from Toronto! And also, hello from a hostel common room, where we are watching Gone in 60 Seconds, which I am hereby citing as the reason why any of the following sentences… Continue reading →

Where I’ve been living and what I’ve been loving.

With only a week left in the US, and less than that in Santa Cruz, I have reached the time for goodbyes.  I’m eating last meals with friends new and old, and savoring… Continue reading →

I have a confession to make.

I confess, when I wrote that blog asking if I should go to Peru or Myanmar, I’d pretty much already decided the answer. I was just curious what you’d say. For the language,… Continue reading →

~Guest blog from/for my friend Lisa in South Africa

Today I’m reblogging, but wordpress and blogspot don’t seem to allow cross-website reposting. I feel like the proverbial kid whose parents won’t talk to each other. In the summer of 2010, before I’d… Continue reading →