Category: Nebulous Items
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Who Needs A Comfort Zone Anyway? Building Character Abroad: The Employment Edition
Back when I lived and worked in Canada, employers generally expected me to be qualified for my job. They wanted the certification from year-long+ accredited courses, plus, say five years of verifiable, solidly referenced on the job experience. This was difficult when I was 19, as I’d only been working a few years at utterly…
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A Totally Impractical Guide to 6 Underachieving Nights in Hong Kong and Macau
This is one of those times when I have, in theory, at least 4 blog posts worth of things to write about but haven’t the wherewithal to even try to shove it all into one, much less 4. Bear with me then, as I attempt to guide you through a fabulously exciting week in Hong…
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A Totally Impractical Guide to an Emotionally Stunted Weekend in Hefei
The first time I went to Hefei, the glorious provincial capital of ayi-central Anhui, about 3 or 4 years ago, I stepped off the D-train after four squishy hours onto the platform and was carried along in the swarm (because really, in China, in the train stations, it is inevitably a swarm that carries you out) through clapboard…
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A Totally Impractical Guide to an Intellectually Dirty Weekend in Nanjing
I often (well, once every few months, which is technically often in geological terms) get emails from people asking me for advice on what to do in, say, Random Chinese City I Mentioned Once In a Post. Although I feel slightly honoured that someone actually thought I might have a clue, I usually have to…
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What’s my Age Again? 11 Notes on Age and Decontextualization of Travel and Expattery
In a few weeks, I’ll be on the wrong side of my mid-30s. You know, the over the hill and halfway down the other side end. The one with the great big pile of Sisyphean boulders stacked carelessly at the bottom. The unfashionable end. The one traditionally lacking in glitter and shiny things. The end…
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Making You Jealous in Essaouira, Morocco
Hello and welcome to my final instalment of making you jealous in Morocco. For those who follow a linear progression of this blog, you’ll know that I’m already back home in Shanghai and so (wormholes in space-time not withstanding) I technically can’t make you jealous of me being in a place that I’m not actually…
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The Ridiculously Awesome Cats Who Run Morocco
Morocco is, from what I have gathered over the past month of fairly intensive travel around the country, governed exclusively by cats. People are there, sure, but they are peripheral when it comes to internal politics. I have a feeling that this feline governance is what keeps the country so tidy, calm and aesthetically pleasing.…
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Sometimes… Sometimes I just HATE travel: Notes on, er, just that (with cute cat pics!)
Note: this one is long. If you’re not up for a long one, I’ve added cute cat photos from Morocco. Enjoy. Sitting in a pleasant little organic cafe at Charles de Gaulle airport, with a lovely mini bottle of quite decent white wine and a proper plastic wine glass (it even has a stem! Oh,…
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Making You Jealous in Marrakech, Morocco
We had a really crappy day on the road to Marrakech. There was no Marrakech Express- at least, not running during the day. We had to change in Casablanca, en route from Tangier. Out the door by 7am, not arriving until past 6pm. On the Casablanca to Marrakech route, not only did the AC in…
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In Which I Attempt To Find Decent Photos of Something Other Than Mops
I was going to write my Marrakech post today. In fact, I should have written it yesterday, or the day before yesterday when we were still there. Before I sprained my ankle on one last invisible stair. Before I lost momentum. We are in Essaouira right now and we don’t want to leave. We’re not…
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Making You Jealous in Tangier, Morocco
So, Tangier. We came here because Doug was sick as a doug dog in Chefchaouen and we needed to go somewhere less strenuous than our previous intended destination, which was the freaking southern desert area. Camels and Bedouin and all. Not good when you’re ill. Especially not good when it’s both summer and Ramadan. Because,…
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Making You Jealous in Chefchaouen, Morocco
We are now in Chefchaouen, Morocco. If anyone has a spare million dollars or so for me to buy my own riad here, I’d be much obliged. I really need to live here. Seriously. This edition of Making You Jealous is going to be a bit understated. There will only be one food porn shot…