- I think moving abroad would bankrupt me. My 1500 square foot apartment is full of stuff. - I used…
Argentina & Brazil
We had two criteria for our honeymoon: that it be somewhere neither of us had ever been; and that it…
Happiness is hard work
I love seasons. I spent 4 years on the equator, and it really reinforced in me that the temperate world…
Ethiopia
Ethiopia -- where North Africa meets Sub-Saharan Africa -- offers a diversity of landscapes, historic sites, flora and fauna, delicious food…
The Call to Beer
People have often asked me if living in a Muslim country has changed my religious practices. Ramadan and Fridays are…
Middle East city breaks and weekend getaways
Cheap air travel and an abundance of accommodation alternatives such as Airbnb have resulted in a sharp increase in weekend…
Bikes, Beer, and Belgium: A BlackBerry Holiday
Namur, Belgium, taken with my BlackBerry and emailed in almost real time to friends abroad. Lonely Planet is the bible…
The scale of authenticity
Abu Dhabi's an excellent place to have young children, but for an imaginative 20-something, there's little to do except work.…
Since when is Jo’burg 6500 km from Cape Town?
Two 20-somethings take a spontaneous road trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town and end up clocking 6500 km -- that's…
Thank God It’s – Thursday?
Some Q&A about my first week in the United Arab Emirates. TGIF has a whole new meaning in the UAE…
Prairie Skies
I have often said that Dave and I became close friends over a pint of beer, and Nancy and I…
How to keep one’s self entertained while unemployed
Being unemployed -- or worse, an unemployed nomad -- is a crash course in the meaning of life. The most…
Needing a vacation from being on holidays
I've been in Morocco, Spain, England, and Latvia in the last week, and am off to Lithuania tomorrow. Caught some…
[De]Evolution of a Tan
I associate excessive doses of sun with having a tan. I have been in perpetual summer since February 2006, after…
La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life)
What an art of living the Italians have mastered. We had such an enjoyable time in Italy, eating and drinking…
Great White Sharks
Is shark cage diving inhumane? Yes -- for the humans. After barely a day in Cape Town, South Africa, Guillaume…
Absolutes, ambiguity, and being a real Canadian
Can you spot the "real" Canadian? Ghanaians describe things in often ambiguous ways, while Canadians like to talk in absolutes --…
Just Another Agent of Neo-Imperialism
Being a Canadian in Africa promoting public participation in local governance vs. White lady persuading Black people to do things…
A Day in the Life
Some people have asked me what exactly I do in Ghana. Sometimes I’m not sure myself. So I thought I’d…
Getting married
How to attract more male attention? Pretend your married. How to attract less? Pound lumpy fufu. A few weeks before…
Malaria Christmas and a Hippo New Year!
-What were you thinking of bringing for Sam’s family? -Eeeek. I’ve been so busy. Yes, we absolutely have to bring…
It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas: Christmas on the Equator
-X-mas [pronounced “x” and “mas”] is in the air. Can’t you feel it Obaa yaa? -It’s really hot this week…
Easy isn’t a place on this Earth
A “better life” is not necessarily geographic or across the Atlantic Ocean. I come from North America, a continent whose…
Aspiring to be a Piece of Meat
You can see a paper-thin version of the world, a slightly meatier version of the world, or a deep and…
Cultural Lesson #8 – Public Transit
Taking a tro-tro and going to the market are two of the most impossible topics to do justice to in…