This post was originally published in 2019. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content. 

For some reason I thought 2018 had been more sedentary than it was; I couldn’t possibly have visited six countries – including six different locations in one of the countries and two in another, in a sense visiting over 11 different places.

Thank goodness I do these annual summaries of where I’ve been; I’d be lost (literally!) without them!

Please enjoy this summary of the places I visited in 2018 along with the adventures (and mis-adventures!) I got up to. Previous annual summaries can be found at the end of this article.

2018 in Summary

14 planes, two ferries, and countless buses and taxis shuttled me between six different countries in 2018. While none of the countries were new to me on the whole, I discovered some new haunts. The biggest surprise of the year (a surprise to me as much as anybody else) was that I set up a home base in my home town of Toronto.

And still, I traveled over 51,148 kilometers (31,782 miles), which puts 2018 in 4^th place for biggest distances traveled in the last 12 years, while remaining on the lower end of country counts for me. (Good thing I don’t actually care about ticking off countries for the sake of ticking them off)!

Here’s how 2018 rolled:

JANUARY: Chiang Mai (Thailand)

I rang in the new year in my cozy apartment in Chiang Mai Thailand where I had been since late November 2017.

While it was my second visit to Chiang Mai (the first being in 2008), it was almost unrecognizable from my previous visit. This was due in part to my staying in another part of town which had (since 2008) blossomed into “the digital nomad centre of the universe”. During my first visit, the term “digital nomad” hadn’t even yet been coined.

Chiang Mai, 10 Years Later: The Impossible Search

How to Find an Apartment in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai’s Nimman: The Unapologetic Bubble

FEBRUARY: Hoi An (Vietnam)

My first trip to Vietnam was in 2011 as the final stage of completing the Ultimate Train Challenge which was a crazy mission involving 30 days of trains from Lisbon to Saigon. I fell in love with the food and the people, and vowed to return.

So in 2018, inspired by some verbal and written accounts of Hoi An’s beauty and friendliness towards digital nomads, the hop/skip/jump was made from Thailand.

In the areas of food and friendliness, I wasn’t disappointed with my return visit. Despite my complete inability to communicate with the locals, I felt an uncommonly friendly vibe and enjoyed miming with a few of the “market ladies” from whom I regularly bought my produce.

February 2018 also coincided with the Vietnamese New Year, which was a mixed blessing. The upshot was an invitation from my landlord to a family feast that was one of those “victories” for travelers (well at least, for me) in participating in an inherently local festivity. While the evening required extensive use of Google Translate (one of my go-to smartphone apps), it was one where I felt an almost unprecedented level of warmth and welcome from a local family.

The bad news for the month was the weather, which involved solid cloud cover and periodic rain for the entire month. I didn’t realize how badly the lack of sunshine was affecting me until one day it came out and my disposition changed entirely. Unfortunately by that point, I’d already made onward travel plans since I’d lost the will to live.

6 Weeks in Hoi An, Vietnam

Expat Life in Hoi An

MARCH: Koh Phangan (Thailand)

Since my visit to India in late 2017, I had been wrestling with a host of physical and emotional challenges that, by this time, had bled me dry. So visiting the southern Thai island of Koh Phangan was in part a sun-seeking experience, and in part a chance to participate in an intensive detox retreat which I hoped would be a way to hit “reset” on my body (and spirit) and clear it of the variety of ailments it was suffering from.

All I can say is I hope to return to Koh Phangan one day and not do a detox retreat. While I’m sure it was beneficial on the whole, it was a slugfest the entire way, and an exercise in irony and deprivation on this idyllic (even hedonistic) island.

All Life is Suffering: A Month in Koh Phangan, Thailand – incidentally one of my favourite and more entertaining pieces of writing

APRIL: Melbourne (Australia)

This detour Down Under may come as a surprise to some readers, as I never wrote about it. It was “part two” in my attempt to recover from the physical and emotional effects of what I (by this time) realized was a severe case of burnout.

Long-time readers will know that I spent 1.5 years living outside of Melbourne Australia back in 2008/09, and in that time I criss-crossed the country a few times (by campervan and then by train), survived their worst-ever natural disaster, had my first breakup on the road, and other adventures.

During that first stint I befriended a couple with whom I stayed in touch over the years, and who (knowing of my burnout) invited me to stay with them as a personalized healing retreat of sorts.

While I didn’t know this couple very well, the invitation was serendipitous, and I immediately booked a ticket. It was one of the best decisions I made, as their loving care and regular healing treatments in their clinic was instrumental – if not life-changing – for me.

It gave me the rest I sorely needed after almost 10 months of bouncing around just as many Asian countries, recovery from a variety of physical ailments, and strength to start pursuing some business and personal projects over the course of the rest of the year.

Somewhere in all this recovery, I started reflecting on what I’d learned in the last 12 years of travel. Here it is: one lesson for each year on the road: 12 Truths About Travel – and Life

MAY: NYC (USA), Toronto (Canada), London (England)

My frequent flyer mile prowess allowed me to fly from Melbourne to New York in business class for a grand total of about $600. NYC was a glorified layover enroute to my hometown of Toronto, where I planned to spend the summer.

But not before a bit more traipsing! After dropping my checked luggage in Toronto, I packed a wee bag and hopped on a flight to London for a couple of weeks of staying with some friends who had just bought a lovely house.

It rained. A lot.

JUNE: Hollywood FL (USA), Toronto (Canada)

I’m no stranger to Hollywood (in South Florida), where a dear friend of mine lives and where I have a home base of sorts. So while it’s certainly out-of-the-way between London and Toronto, I detoured anyway to visit for a couple of weeks.

JULY-OCTOBER: Toronto (Canada)

I love summers in Toronto, and the summer of 2018 was a glorious one by all accounts. Even locals (who are renowned for their weather-driven running commentary) had little to gripe about.

What was surprising was how a simple plan to spend a couple of months there evolved into getting an apartment and setting up a home base. While I never thought I would live in Toronto again, it clicked for me on a variety of levels, and I’m pleased to have made the decision.

My Epic Search for a Home Base

NOVEMBER: San Diego, Desert Hot Springs, LA, Palmdale CA (USA)

While I would have liked more time to enjoy my new place in Toronto, I have this thing about winter: I don’t do it. I grew up with it, and I loathe it. I spent the last 12 years hemisphere-hopping to avoid it, and my cozy apartment wasn’t about to sway me from maintaining my record.

So, coincidentally (or not), on the day the temperatures plummeted and it started to snow in Toronto in early November, I boarded a plane for San Diego to visit a friend. We did a wee road trip to Desert Hot Springs and Joshua Tree – which was my first taste of the American desert.

From San Diego, I bussed up to Palmdale (near LA) to visit with my boyfriend’s family; included was a little trip into LA to film a video and do a bit of sightseeing.

DECEMBER: Hollywood FL (USA) (again)

Can’t see the picture? Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

One of the reasons why Hollywood has been a frequently-visited base for me over the years is because of its proximity to Central and South America where I’ve spent the majority my time since 2014. (Well, that, and my friend there is super-cool and I have my own room at her house).

So while my visit to Hollywood in June was a detour between London and Toronto, my visit in December was perfectly enroute to Guatemala (!), where I’ll be spending the first quarter of 2019.

Summary Notes: Progress! 

In the summary of my 2017 annual travel report, I wrote the following:

It’s like every single aspect of my life has been thrown up in the air (lifestyle, location, health, relationships, career, etc), and I’m watching all the pieces float around and am waiting to see where they land. It’s simultaneously exciting and agonizing. 

If 2017 was my unraveling, then 2018 was my year for putting everything back together again (well, with a bit more unraveling for good measure in the first quarter or so of the year – as was evidenced in Koh Phangan).

In addition to my personal recovery, you’ll read soon in my annual income report for 2018 that my online business also underwent a significant overhaul and recovery process.

It was a year for many big changes, both personal and professional, not the least of which was setting up a new home base in my home town. After a dozen years of exploring expat life in a many different places, I’m enjoying the close proximity of family and friends when I’m in town (which, in the coming years, I expect will be a little over half of each year).

I own a couch now! And desk, and a bed, and a tv. And I have Canadian health care again! Most importantly, I have a place to return to after every trip, to unpack, unwind, and assimilate my experiences. Already, my travels feel lighter – literally and figuratively.

Looking into my magic crystal ball, I would say that 2019 will be a year for more transitions and transformations. I’m just not sure how yet. Let’s see! It’s far from the end of the trail for me…..rather, it’s the start of a new one.

Prior Travel Summaries

My First Four Years of Full-Time Travel (2007-2010, including Canada, Hawaii, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, USA, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Nepal)

What I did in 2011 (13 countries, 73,000 kms, including New Zealand, Canada, USA, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, China, Vietnam, Grenada)

What I did in 2012 (8 countries and 20,000 miles, including Grenada, St. Martin, BVIs, USA, Switzerland, France, England, Canada)

What I did in 2013 (12 countries and 29,000 miles, including Grenada, USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Ukraine, France, Panama)

What I did in 2014 (7 countries and 34,000 miles, including Panama, USA, Canada, Peru, Spain, Gibraltar, Italy)

What I did in 2015 (6 countries and 35,000 miles, including Peru, Colombia, USA, Costa Rica, Canada, Bolivia)

What I did in 2016 (5 countries and 30,000 miles, including Peru, USA, Canada, Ireland, and Ecuador)

What I did in 2017 (10 countries and 29,000 miles, including USA, Ecuador, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand)

This post 2018: 6 Countries, 32k Miles, And Some BIG Changes appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

In all cases, opinions expressed herein are my own; don’t worry – I haven’t sold my soul.

This post was originally published in 2013. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content. 

The first few times I visited London, I was overwhelmed. Although I’m a born and raised city-slicker, I’ve lost most of my lustre for the big smoke. Since I started traveling full-time in 2007, I’ve lived largely rurally, or in relatively small communities.

As such, London (in the past) has come off as too big, too busy, too expensive, too crowded…just…too.

But I must say London is growing on me. When I visited London last year, I wrote a post about returning to and redeeming London. It’s still big and crowded and expensive; but with familiarity, it’s getting easier to handle.

This time, it was even better yet. Not only was it much easier to get around, but I felt much more comfortable. That is, until I got the flu.

But even getting sick wasn’t the end of the world; the folks at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street hopped to my care right away; the concierge brought me medication, afternoon tea was delivered to my room, and I even had an in-room massage. I was truly pampered.

Club Carlson Gold Points® Tip

My room service extravagances weren’t without its perks. Charge meals and beverages (and in some cases, hotel services) to your room, and Club CarlsonSM doles out 20 Gold Points per US dollar spent. And don’t forget about the discounts on food you’re entitled to at many of the hotels, which range from 5-15%.

London in a Minute

I’ve condensed my two days in London to one thrilling video minute. Enjoy!

Click here to view (in higher-res) on YouTube.

This post London is Growing on Me appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

My recent week in London was yet another exercise in how travel is contextual. The places that resonate with us on our travels tend to only partially have anything to do with the actual place itself. Instead, the places we cite as being our favourites tend to be more related to the people we are with, our headspace at the time, what we are doing, and why we are there.

A couple of years ago, I spent some time in England; house-sitting in Hampshire, visiting Winchester and Avebury, staying in York, and checking out Whitby were my main activities. And of course, with London being the hub that it is, it’s a little difficult to get in and out of England without at least passing through London.

This post was originally published in 2012. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.

London – Before

Every time I’ve visited prior to 2012, I’ve been passing through. Even in spending a couple of days there, I was still enroute to somewhere else, such that London was never the actual destination of choice; it was merely on the way to somewhere else.

As such, my mind was always elsewhere, and London didn’t do much for me. I thought the tube was expensive (it is), the streets were crowded (they are), and I was dismayed at the incongruity of architecture – the city appeared to me to be a jumbled mass of buildings thrown up through the centuries with little attention to aesthetics.

I was nonchalant at best in my feelings about the place.

London – 2012

In spending a week with a local friend (London being the destination unto itself), I had a chance to see the city with different eyes.

Even in a short week, I felt the energy and buzz of the city, got used to the layout and transportation, and covered a fair bit of territory.

And as such, I came to a much more favourable attitude towards London.

Yes, the tube is still expensive.

Paying for the tube (which is “London-speak” for train or subway) on a ride-for-ride basis is murder. An ￡8 day pass is better, paying for itself if you use public transportation three or more times in a day. And given the intricacy of the tube system and prevalence of iconic red double-decker buses (check out the video below to see for yourself), you’d be cheating yourself not to take advantage of it.

For locals, I understand that weekly and monthly passes are a better deal yet.

But it still ain’t cheap. A friend of mine moved here years ago as a young adult to immerse herself in the thriving music scene. However after a couple of years, she realized she was working to live (the tube is just one example of how London is an expensive place to live), and had no time or money remaining to do the things she actually moved to London to do.

(I wonder how many people live in London to do little more than make ends meet).

Yes, it’s crowded.

At just about any time of day or night, the main drags of London are crowded. There is a general crush of people wherever you go – people from such a diverse range of cultures speaking so many different languages that you might be hard-pressed to identify what country you’re in if you were blindfolded and dropped in the middle of the city with no bearings.

I enjoyed the general buzz of the city, and the multi-cultural feel that reminds me of my home town of Toronto. At the same time, I occasionally felt a little bit panicky with all the people; any sort of mishap causing a mass hysteria would be tragic. I don’t normally like to think on those terms, but hey – crap happens, and London is far from impervious to mishaps. So I found the mass of energy from all the people around me to be a little bit overwhelming. I still like cities – but not generally to live in.

Yes, the architecture is jumbled.

This is where I experienced the biggest change in attitude. When I was in York visiting a friend a few years ago, I admired how seamless the architecture is, how aesthetically pleasing it is, and how the history has been so well preserved. (Something I found to be in contrast to London).

My York friend wasn’t quite as obliging. He commented how even new buildings are built to conform to the old style of architecture despite certain impracticalities; a somewhat randomly-selected era that has been frozen in time and replicated with no regard to cultural or practical evolution.

With this observation in mind, I approached London with fresh eyes this visit. Although I still found the older buildings more aesthetically pleasing than the modern structures, and although I sometimes thought the juxtaposition of buildings from various decades and centuries was a tad jarring, I now respect London’s ability to grow and evolve with the times. London strikes a balance between preserving the old and moving forward with the new.

London is a world-class city.

You can’t walk the streets of London and not feel its influence and power. This city has attracted 12 million residents from all over the world; there’s a reason for it.

Being accustomed to influential North American metropolises like New York and Toronto, I found that by contrast, London manages to marry a much longer and richer history with modernity. And even in comparison to other large European cities I’ve visited, London has more of a modern edge while retaining its history.

And, it’s green.

There’s beautiful parkland interspersed throughout the city, so you never have to go too far to reach some greenery. This also makes for excellent bicycle transportation through the city.

Trees that are hundreds of years old line many of the avenues in older neighbourhoods too; a natural tribute to London’s history and preservation of nature.

 As a park-related aside, I enjoyed visiting the Princess Diana memorial….a circular fountain that flows in two directions. Although it’s incredibly simple there’s also beauty in the simplicity, and intricacy in the texture and shape if you take the time to examine it. Kids (and adults) all play in the fountain, walking/wading around it.

Wanna see for yourself?

Here’s a 50 second time lapsed tour (via double-decker bus) through the centre of London. Notice the prevalence of buses, and the general hub of activity on this average day at a non-peak time. This city moves!

Click here to see the video on YouTube.

This post Returning to (and Redeeming) London appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

I mean, really big.

When I arrived at the place I was to house-sit in Hampshire, the owners were sure to take me on a mini pub-crawl before they left. And in my orientation of the area, I was informed of the pubs I was to strictly avoid, as well as the ones I should make a point of visiting as part of a dizzying whirlwind drive around the country roads. In fact, a goodly section of the instructions they left for me even included directions to the local haunts worth frequenting.

No, my house-sitting hosts weren’t alcoholics.

When I was shown the sites of Winchester by a local friend, it was a similar scene. We had to visit his favourite pub in Winchester, and if it weren’t for the late start we got, we’d have visited at least one – if not two – more. In fact, he even made a special detour to drive by one of the pubs he would have taken us to if he had time…just to show us.

No, my Winchester friend isn’t an alcoholic.

This is England.

This post was originally published in 2010. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.

The Pub is an institution. A gathering place. A community watering hole, if you will. And nothing illustrates this better than the Pub Dog.

While we were enjoying a pint and some “bangers at the bar” at a charming pub in charming Winchester, located on a charming street corner surrounded by charming houses, I noticed the Pub Dog.

A little scruffy thing, he was trotting around like he owned the place. In fact, he even wandered behind the bar and sat down, looking expectantly at the bartender. Once noticed, the bartender reached up for a red tin sitting on a shelf behind the bar and opened it up. Inside were a pile of dog biscuits.

“Wow. That’s service with a smile,” I said, watching the scene in progress. “I didn’t even know that dogs were allowed in pubs, much less given biscuits!”

“Must be the Pub Dog,” my Mum commented.

“In fact, he sort of is,” said the lady next to us at the bar, who overheard our chat. “We live just down the street. Today, he came along with us. But he also comes here on his own. If we can’t find him at the house, we know he’s gone down to the pub! Those biscuits are behind the bar just for him.”

As if on cue, the dog finished his bone just as his owner slugged down the last of her pint. “Talk to you soon!” she said, and walked out, followed by her dog.

If I had stayed in Winchester for any length of time, I’d certainly have gone back to that pub, and am sure I would have seen that lovely lady and her Pub Dog. Or at least the Pub Dog.

This post English Pub Culture, and The Pub Dog appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

This post was originally published in 2010. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.

But my view is skewed too; in a recent email conversation with a friend who was planning an eight-day visit to Scotland, I was berated for suggesting that her trip is incredibly short. Indeed, eight days is plenty for most North Americans with limited vacation time. But in reflecting on the approaching end of my four months in Europe – and almost four years on the road in total, I couldn’t imagine a trip that is just over a week. Although my location independent lifestyle comes with some costs, I consider myself to be blessed (if not downright spoiled).

Interestingly in planning this four month trip to Europe, I still thought “whew! Four months. That’s a long time.” I figured I’d get a good sense for Europe as a whole and leave with a feeling of satisfaction.

And although I’m satisfied, I’ve also realized that I could spend a lifetime exploring Europe alone; four months has been a tease at best.

This is a long-winded way of apologizing for the disparity of time elapsed between the places I’m posting about and the places I’m actually posting from. I’m currently in France (again), and have two more countries full of adventures to share with you before I even get to the tales of my adventures here.

To that end, I’m finding with ever-mounting adventures in an increasing number of countries under my belt, things are starting to blur. But having spent three wonderful weeks in England, it’s time to let you in on some of the fun!

London

On arrival in England, I enjoyed a few days of the hospitality of a friend who I met while volunteering in Spain. She showed me her home town of London, which was a hub of life and activity.

I must admit, however – company completely aside – I found London itself to be a lacklustre experience. It lacked some of the uniform character I’d come to expect of a European city, and instead seemed to be an incongruous mash of architecture and culture. Although I love multi-culturalism (being from one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world myself), and I expected it of London, I didn’t expect such a lack of overall continuity. Maybe I’ve watched too many British television programs set in quaint little English towns, and came to expect it of London as well.

But to be fair, I was only there for a paltry three days, and didn’t have a chance to explore enough to give me a true cross-section of the place. It simply struck me as a big impersonal city, which isn’t usually my cup of tea.
Note: I returned to London a few years later, and found it to be a very different experience. Read about how London was redeemed in my eyes and why.

Hampshire

After the hustle and bustle of the big smoke, I cruised down to Hampshire for two and a half weeks of house-sitting. I realized with some degree of shock that this was the longest period of time I stayed in one place since April; a record that will remain unbroken for the next undeterminable period of time in my full-time traveling life. Eek!

The house-sitting (and dog-sitting) gig was great, and a chance to experience a slice of daily life in Hampshire, a beautiful spot in the English countryside. Having my visiting Mum as company for the duration was a thrill too, as it gave us a chance to cook some great meals, watch lots of DVDs, go for long walks, tour the area, and generally enjoy each other’s company.

Avebury

One of the day-trips Mum and I took was to Avebury, where there is an impressive (and impressively accessible) ancient stone circle. Initially we were headed for the iconic Stonehenge, but a few insiders’ recommendations led us to Avebury instead, where we could get up close and personal with the stones, instead of paying an admission fee to remain at some distance from them.

These stones surround the town of Avebury, and there is a palpable energy and aura to the place. Apparently the Avebury area is noted to be the happiest place in the UK. Although I didn’t feel an overwhelming urge to sing and dance in the streets, I did indeed feel a great sense of satisfaction for having seen – and touched – such a curious part of history.

Winchester

A friend from London who spent some time living in Winchester stopped by our Hampshire digs to take us to his old home town. Winchester was much more along the lines of what I (unrealistically) expected of London; a charming town with a smooth continuity to the architecture, beautifully manicured gardens, and – of course – a stunning cathedral.

I’m not much of a cathedral person, but I must admit that with our knowledgeable guide, it was a pleasure to peruse it and glean some interesting facts about its history. Enjoying “bangers at the bar” at the local pub (more on that in an upcoming post) was a special treat, after walking along the enchanting streets.

York

After leaving Hampshire and saying goodbye to my Mum (for the next year or so, until I visit Canada again – probably next summer), I hopped on the train to the city of York to crash on the couch of a fellow travel writer who I met online and developed a rapport with over some hilarious Twitter conversations.

Being a medieval walled city, York further fulfilled my expectations and desires of England, in addition to filling my camera with great shots. For the three days I was there, we walked countless kilometers, sipped Yorkshire cream tea at Betty’s Tearooms (an institution in its own rite), ate Yorkshire pudding (I mean, how can you not – it’s York!), and soaked in the history, energy, and (uncharacteristic) sunshine.

Whitby

Whitby was a day-trip from York, being a two hour bus ride that is well worth the £12 and scenic journey over the heather-filled moors of northern England. It’s a picturesque seaside town with lots of history, scenic views, charming architecture, and a historical brush with Dracula.

It was again a destination filling my tummy with great food, my camera with great shots, and my walking shoes with sand. A good day was had by all.

I must (quietly, yet in a somewhat masochistically public way) admit that England was not on my initial list of places to visit (please don’t hate me, English readers!), as it didn’t seem to me to be the cultural or scenic experience I was aiming for. (Then again, neither was Hawaii, which pleasantly surprised me). In fact, maybe I just felt too much at home in England…with an understanding of the language and culture that made me almost too comfortable – for a traveler. I had many of the comforts and familiarity of “home”, without actually being home. It was a tad surreal.

So although I thoroughly enjoyed my time in England, it didn’t grab me in the way I was grabbed by Spain or France or even New Zealand. Scotland and Ireland however (which you can read about by clicking the links here), held more appeal for me, and piqued my interest in returning to this neck of the woods. And when I eventually return, I hope to visit England again, and to spend more time discovering the place, in the style that I normally like to travel: slowly.

This post Adventures in England: London, Hampshire, Avebury, Winchester, York, Whitby appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!