Imagine living on a Caribbean beach, complete with white sand and turquoise water… Your job: running a small bar that serves food (from local restaurants). In between serving drinks, you chill out with the customers and, during/after a gorgeous sunset (which occurs pretty much every night), you dance in the sand. Meet ‘El Caribeño,’ a man who’s…
Continue Reading »
Where: On a Boat I had no clue, but I’d just gotten on the wrong boat. I was on my way to Nainathivu, an island off the coast of Jaffna Penninsula in Sri Lanka. (Story coming soon.) Hundreds of people, on their way to a Hindu festival, had crowded on and taken up every inch of…
Continue Reading »
Children, some cute as a button and others subtly menacing, come running as your vehicle approaches the leather band strung across the desert road. Tires on either side mean circumvention is impossible. Adults, parents or other family members, sometimes wait in the distance…just in case. Just in case you don’t have cookies. Cookie Tollbooths That’s right. These…
Continue Reading »
When I checked in at the beachfront hotel in Palomino, Colombia, I immediately noticed how much Maria, the manager, smiled. She looked beautiful and happy…radiant, in fact. “I used to be an actress on a soap opera in Argentina,” she told me proudly when we had our first conversation. “Really? A sweet character or a…
Continue Reading »
I’d chatted with the neighborhood kids several times during my recent stay in Billy’s Bay, Jamaica–a village with a population of about 150–and there were plenty of smiles and laughs each time. Connecting with them was one of those simple pleasures that make travel so special. One day, another kid, who looked as sweet as…
Continue Reading »
Almost dawn—we’d broken the ‘just-one-drink’ pact hours ago. Hunger and alcohol had gotten the better of us so we queued up for a slice of pizza from the resident roach-coach. “You are the most beautiful women I have EVER seen! Mmm!” He was tall, thin and seemingly down on his luck but offering us each…
Continue Reading »
Where Was I? I’d just landed at the Los Cabos Int’l Airport in Baja California, Mexico, and was inquiring about cheap transportation to La Paz, my destination. I met a kinda loco timeshare salesman who convinced me to take a seemingly pricey shuttle (EcoBajaTours) with AC and wifi. I went for it and was soon…
Continue Reading »
Is Toronto haunted? Are ghosts lurking in certain areas—in the Distillery District, for example? Maybe yes. Maybe no. Did I go on a ‘haunted tour’ to see for myself? Not exactly. Mine was free and impromptu and a bit ChickyBus-esque since it was so random. How It Began… I spotted a man resting on a…
Continue Reading »
Finally—after what feels like forever—my first book, ‘Magic Carpet Seduction,’ has been published and is now available on Amazon. Yay! It’s been a long road getting here. I can’t even remember when I began the book. And the crazy journey it’s been will be the subject of another post. For now, I’d simply like to…
Continue Reading »
Want to win a free copy of my soon-to-be published book? Please keep reading and help me choose a cover image and title/subtitle combo! Finally Finished! First, I want to tell you how happy I am to be finished with the book, a travel memoir; the final major and minor edits are done. Yay! Now…
Continue Reading »