SOUTH AFRICA | Friday, 6 Nov 2009 | Views [10]
It has begun. Little by little, the youth of Askham, a tiny village in the South African Kalahari, are making a difference not only in their community but also in themselves. In just a couple short weeks, we have started preparations for a massive food ... Read more >
SOUTH AFRICA | Tuesday, 22 Sep 2009 | Views [74] | Comments [2]
Here I am, back in South Africa, a full (and I do mean full) 2 years after first falling in love with it. Over the next year or so, I'll be based in the Kalahari, working on a youth development and HIV / AIDS prevention program. I'll write about it from ... Read more >
TURKEY | Wednesday, 5 Aug 2009 | Views [30]
I have found a(nother) home away from home. Cappadocia truly is a magical place, especially once you settle into the local way of life, whiling away your days with horses and your nights with friends and homemade wine. Life here is good. So good, ... Read more >
TURKEY | Monday, 3 Aug 2009 | Views [111] | Comments [1]
Some people can't travel without a complete itinerary outlining every minute of every day - No Changes Allowed. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I've adopted a different style. If an interesting person presents me with an interesting ... Read more >
TURKEY | Friday, 31 Jul 2009 | Views [149] | Comments [2]
Travel warnings for southeast Turkey included rape, murder, religious extremism, and terrorism. Even one of the locals I befriended warned me not to trust anyone (horror movie, anyone??). I guess I was pretty lucky, then, to have emerged unscathed from ... Read more >
TURKEY | Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009 | Views [145] | Comments [1]
My first few days in Turkey taught me that sometimes when backpacking you seem to spend about 70% of your time on public transit and only 30% at your intended destination. Thankfully Turkey has some incredible things to see and do... and a wicked long-... Read more >
GEORGIA | Saturday, 25 Jul 2009 | Views [81]
April 20: From buzzkill Poti to port-side Batumi With tearful goodbyes from Tako and her mother and grandparents, I set off from Kutaisi for Poti. There’s admittedly not much going on in Poti, but I had read about the nearby Kolkheti ... Read more >
GEORGIA | Wednesday, 22 Jul 2009 | Views [125]
April 17: Family Matters I spent the 3-hr marschutka ride from Gori to Kutaisi texting a mystery woman whose family I would stay with but whose name I didn't even know. Drawing the old name-blank inevitably happens when you meet so many new people every ... Read more >
CANADA | Sunday, 19 Jul 2009 | Views [68]
Well, the photos are FINALLY all up from my 4-month overlander! Check them out in the photo galleries on the right side of the main page, starting with Uzbekistan and going all the way up to Egypt. I've also updated the stories from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, ... Read more >
CANADA | Monday, 29 Jun 2009 | Views [92] | Comments [1]
Home. It's quite a meaningful concept, isn't it? It could be where a young mother brings her newborn, swathed in all the tenderness of the world. It could be where a teacher tells a terrified student to bring his report card. It could be the one thing ... Read more >
GEORGIA | Sunday, 31 May 2009 | Views [108] | Comments [1]
April 15: Tbilisi As soon as I got back to the homestay in Tbilisi and pried myself away from the puppy , I made a beeline for the shower. There is something particularly glorious about having a hot shower after several days in a snow-covered ... Read more >
GEORGIA | Friday, 29 May 2009 | Views [89]
April 13
I don't know why, but Georgians have a way of building churches in the most ridiculously gorgeous settings. After recharging my batteries from the all-night Orthodox Palm Sunday service, I hiked up to one of the country's most famous ... Read more >
GEORGIA | Tuesday, 26 May 2009 | Views [128]
April 11: Tbilisi to Kazbegi
Though the mountains were stunningly beautiful and what I had come to northern Georgia to see, my heart and core temperature sank as the snow levels rose with each hour spent careening around the hairpin turns ... Read more >
GEORGIA | Friday, 22 May 2009 | Views [146]
April 10: Davit Gareja I took a myriad of public transit options to get from Tbilisi to the village of Sagarejo, where I was joined by my first Ministry of Education contact – four, in fact, who didn't seem too bummed about taking the day off ... Read more >
GEORGIA | Wednesday, 20 May 2009 | Views [103]
April 9 I awoke to news that my first planned side-trip to an ancient monastery outside of Tbilisi was cancelled due to roadblocks throughout the capital. The anti-government protests were in full swing, but people were reportedly remaining quite ... Read more >
GEORGIA | Monday, 18 May 2009 | Views [228] | Comments [1]
April 8: Tbilisi After disembarking from the train and setting off in the streets of Tbilisi in search of a cheap hostel, I quickly remembered something rather important about Georgia: it has its own alphabet. When you can't read the street ... Read more >
GEORGIA | Saturday, 16 May 2009 | Views [92]
April 7-8: Train from Baku to Tbilisi While waiting for my platzkart-mates to succumb to their vodka-induced stupor for the night, I perused my Lonely Planet Georgia print-outs for some background information on the next country on my route. ... Read more >
SYRIA | Tuesday, 12 May 2009 | Views [127] | Comments [1]
Please excuse the mental detour from my trip accounts for a brief moment of sentimentality... I'm sitting in Aleppo, Syria, as my dear mom celebrates Mother's Day back in Canada with neither of her children. I've missed more than my share of family ... Read more >
AZERBAIJAN | Thursday, 7 May 2009 | Views [117]
April 5-7
I was pretty intent on getting out of Baku and up to the
Caucasus mountains in the north of Azerbaijan, but everyone had warned me of
the lingering cold weather, lack of public transportation, and complete dearth
of English (i.... Read more >
AZERBAIJAN | Monday, 4 May 2009 | Views [153]
April 4: Qobustan While waiting for his friend to pick us up in Baku, Namiq (my souvenir-shop friend) and I had a rather interesting conversation about gender norms in Azerbaijan. It didn't take me long to assert that I would not be marrying an ... Read more >
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