Discovering Paradise in New Caledonia
The Pacific ocean’s vast horizon hides some of the most beautiful tropical jewels in the world, and New Caledonia is one of its crowning examples. Its urban areas combine French charm with Melanesian culture. Its sunny...
Gay Men Travelling in a Group: Some Do’s and Don’ts
On an organized group tour of Morocco we began our first-night group introductions in a hotel bar in Casablanca, (coincidently drinking Casablanca beer) with the thirteen gay men who were listening to our two-week Moroccan...
Seven Yummy Street Food Choices in London
Finding food can be quite daunting in London: so many options, so many locations, so many choices. And trying to sift your way through the enormous gastronomic foodie choices in one of the largest cities in the world, unaided and...
A Long Weekend in New York: What to Do?
from the followsummer archives: November 2016 A long weekend in New York. The city was still buzzing and somewhat in shock from the recent dual uptown and downtown Blue and Red party sharing of election night acceptance and...
Travel Through Japan with a Cat and a Japanese Soldier
This month I travel the furthest I have ever journeyed in books – Japan enjoying the Japanese countryside in The Travelling Cat Chronicles and one of Japan’s former islands and WWII history in The Emperor of Any Place. The...
Ferry Ride to Finland: Homesick for Canada
a followsummer travel memory from 2004 The alarm goes early – 5:30. For a change, it wakes me. The coffee is ready-to-go, and although I am not interested in food, I have my cereal with yogurt and a banana. At 6:00, I make sure...
Happy to Be in Helsinki, Finlandia Again!
I am so happy to be in Finland again! I traveled here in 2000 with my mother, and we visited southern Finland before we went on to St. Petersburg. I was impressed with Finland – beautiful, clean, birch and pine-covered land with...
Wonderful, Wonderful Rainy Copenhagen!
Still rainy and cool. Big, flat, low-hanging grey-hued clouds continue to dominate the Köpenham sky. Everyone, it seems, is complaining about the lack of warm dry weather both in Europe and in Canada. It is even making the local...
Skip the Mexican Beach and Hike the Mountains
We stopped to listen to our guide tell us about the route we were hiking on, the Camino Real to Oaxaca, Mexico. Then he said: “We’ll move on now but let’s stay quiet for the next 20 minutes and enjoy nature.” That was the most...
Why Tahiti Is My Favourite Island in the South Pacific
French Polynesia is like an exhilarating playground of secrets. Dreamy atolls and astounding lagoons dot the endless Pacific wonderland and right there in the middle of it all is Tahiti, – an island that seemingly lies right in...