Year: 2017

10 Things I Got Totally and Utterly Wrong About India

How was I supposed to know?? With a forecast of 30°C, I thought I’d be sweaty AF. Not the case. Rajasthan enjoys a dry heat, which means sweat is not a havoc-wreaking, holiday-fashion-killing travel culprit. Well, at least not in March; I can’t speak to monsoon season. Naturally, I thought I’d get sunburned (here’s looking at you Thailand). In fact, I did not get sunburnt, which makes India the only foreign country I haven’t been burnt in. The driving distances between cities are lengthier than they appear. With roadways filled with massive lorries, errant cows and highways that bottleneck at random villages, those kilometres start to feel like miles. This is helpful to know when planning to travel Rajasthan by car versus train. I kind of thought I might die in India. I mean…at least in a car crash. There were several instances when we were speeding toward what was surely an imminent head-on collision. Then, before certain death, we’d pop back into our own lane, hearts pounding away in our throats. For the record, …

Salar de Uyuni is Heaven on Earth (PHOTOS)

Some people need to sow their wild oats before they ‘settle down’. This idiom typically applies to fast romances with people; I feel the same way about places. One such place I was holding hostage from adult life was Bolivia. What can I say? I had been charmed by photographs of jeeps on flooded salt flats. Absent a horizon, they seemed to float, suspended in the heavens. “Greg, I’m sorry…this is a place I need to go before family life…” Of course that was last year when we were discussing our honeymoon. One year has come and gone, and I’ve got a new fixation. (India in case you were wondering; the list never seems to end.) But back to Bolivia. It’s dangerous business wanderlusting over a beautiful Pinterest photo or dreamy Instagram post. Were the salt flats everything I hoped they would be? You bet they were. I wrote about the first half of our Bolivia experience here – We are the crazy Canadians who honeymooned in Bolivia  – and I encourage you to read it. In …

How Have I Never Heard of This Massive Washington Ice Cave Until Now?

I mean – hell – it’s literally a hop, skip and a jump over the border; basically on my doorstep and I had never heard of it until just last month. What are the Big Four Ice Caves? They’re naturally formed caves located on the north face of Big Four Mountain. Snow sloughs off the mountain in the colder months (aka an avalanche chute) and spring temperatures yield snow-melt streams which emerge from carved-out tunnels. Warm summer air further melts the ice but the shadow of the mountain prevents the caves from fully melting. So…just as soon as summer comes and the caves are accessible, let’s get in a car and go explore. Who’s with me? Images by the very talented photographer Michael Matti, via Flickr: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 How to get to Washington’s Big Four Ice Caves From Vancouver, head south across the border and continue along I-5. Then, go east on Mountain Highway Loop via Granite Falls. Drive 34-km east of Granite Falls. The trailhead is just past Silverton. At just 2.2 miles, the trail to …

If there’s only one craft brewery you visit in Darrington, make it THIS one

Okay, okay. I tricked you. Darrington, WA only has one craft brewery. But I promise, even if there was a choice, I’d still pick River Time Brewing. It’s got laid-back vibes, easy going patrons and two, two IPAs on tap. And after all, hops are happiness. The beer business in Darrington is good, but part-owner Neil shares a laugh about humbler beginnings. “I took equity instead of payment for like, the first eight months. Now, I have a hard enough time keeping up with demand in here. We normally have a really great jalapeno kolsch.” It’s a good problem to have. River Time brews were born in a garage, raised in a cabin, and perfected on the Stilly. Well, almost. “Our stout is terrible. It’s back before I really knew what I was doing. There were a lot of growing pains” Neil admits. He nods at a pair of regulars shored up at the tap room’s handsome live-edge bar. “I’m lucky I have faithful locals who will drink terrible beer no matter what!” he teases. “It’s …

India: Bought the ticket, taking the ride

Have you heard? I’m going to flippin India. I’m two parts excited and one part nervous. However, I feel like I’ve been travel-training for this my whole life. The tickets are booked. Greg and I fly to New Delhi on March 3 and back on the 18th. Things I’m really looking forward to: But I’m not going to lie, I’m totally anxious about… So, folks who have travelled to India, I could use any advice or wisdom you want to impart on me. Here’s my itinerary: New Delhi – Agra – Jaipur – Pushkar – Jaisalmer – Varanasi – New Delhi* *Correction: As of 1/23 we’ve decided to go to Jophur and Udaipur instead of Pushkar and Jaisalmer. It just works better for our itinerary. Don’t give me tips for Goa or Mumbai or that awesome little mountain town the Dalai Lama calls home. I ain’t got time for that. Drop a comment below and tell me what I should NOT miss or paste a link you think I’ll find helpful.  

Boho Boutique: Folk Art Interiors, Vancouver BC

This weekend was filled with firsts. For a person who has lived in Vancouver for four-and-a-half years, there are a remarkable number of things I haven’t done, places I haven’t been. On Saturday I went snowshoeing on Grouse Mountain and today I bopped on over to Spanish Banks for an easy-like-Sunday-morning walk. And what’s a basic betch going for walk without a coffee in hand? Queue another first: Grounds for Coffee – and their famous cinnamon buns. I didn’t even stop to take a picture before inhaling my sticky little bun. (Thanks for turning me onto Grounds, Jenn Lee!) Floating on a cozy sugar high, I am walking back to the Jeep when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a shop crowned with vintage antlers? With vibes like that, how could I not? And of course, what should I find but a dust-laden, rolled-up, hairy, disheveled carpet. I couldn’t have found that thing faster if it had been calling me by name. I didn’t stand a chance. So I just spent the last hour-and-a-half beating …

The Snowshoe Grind Isn’t the Hell-Hath-Frozen-Over Workout It Sounds Like

I had seen the Snowshoe Grind advertised on Grouse Mountain’s website. My immediate reaction was, “As if hiking the Grouse Grind isn’t torture enough.” Now, factor in the awkwardness of snowshoes. Sounds. Awful. Well, I’m here to debunk the Snowshoe Grind myth because my gal pal and I unintentionally did the damn thing last Saturday. And I was wrong. It isn’t the hell-hath-frozen-over workout it sounds like. It was awesome and it made me so grateful to live in Vancouver. First, the Snowshoe Grind is completely independent of the Grouse Grind. The trailhead starts atop the gondola, near the ice rink. Second, where the Grouse Grind is a 2.9 km, one-way trail, the Snowshoe Grind is 4.3 kilometres out-and-back. It starts as a groomed path, which keeps up for maybe a quarter of the way. Walking this bit, you’ll wonder whether you should have bothered with snowshoes at all. Soon enough, the trail narrows and leads grinders uphill through a pretty forest. Snow falls from overburdened tree boughs. The sunshine illuminates the diamond dust that blankets …

Why I Want to Pack My Bags and Move to Sayulita

Guys, I drank the Sayulita Kool-Aid and I don’t think there’s any going back. It was love at first sight…for me anyway. Sayulita probably wasn’t so enamored with us. In fact, she’d tell you we were a goddam hot mess when we first met. In our defence, it kind of, wasn’t, totally our fault. It was Booey’s fault. But blaming Booey is like blaming a chef for your food baby. Let me explain… 12/23/16 Greg, Peter, Laina and I started our day watching the sunrise over Marina La Cuz before setting out on a full-day excursion with Ally Cat Sailing Adventure. (I’ll review the fully Ally Cat experience in another post.) We cast off shortly after 9 a.m., setting sail for Las Marietas Islands. Shortly after 9 a.m. Booey brought us our first beers. And then our first margaritas. The rest of the sun (and tequila) soaked day involved snorkeling, swimming, whale watching, and plenty of quasi-awkward-awesome dancing. (I’m on a boat!) Sometime during the afternoon I went below deck for water, because hydration. The bartender was pouring a …