Morning rituals

 

The fluidity of travel is a double-edged blade. It’s one of the things I love most about it – that each day is different and you don’t know what to expect. It pulls you into the present, encouraging you to pay attention to everything going on around you, rather than going into auto-pilot mode.

We are beings of habit, though. Our brains are wired to develop patterns of behavior, so that we’re not constantly … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (2)  | October 24, 2014
Category: Lifestyle Design, North America, Simplicity, Vagabonding Life

Vagabonding Book Club: Chapter 3: Simplicity

Simplicity

On a basic level there are three general methods to simplifying your life: stopping expansion, reigning in your routine and reducing clutter. The easiest part of this process is stopping expansion. This means that in anticipation of vagabonding, you don’t add any new possessions to your life, regardless of how tempting they might seem….

While … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Vagabonding Book Club: Chapter 3: Simplicity  | April 8, 2014
Category: Simplicity

Another adventure, another reason on why travel is my passion

Having just come back from another great trip, I’m reminded again of the richness of Europe and the gifts it keeps on giving to any traveler willing to seek them out. I went to France on assignment for three mid-size, nationally-distributed magazines, and set to work almost immediately. It’s amazing how profoundly engrossing traveling and learning can be, especially when you have the added incentive of a contract for a story that must be delivered. … Read more »

Tips for hostel accommodation in China

chinaHostel

When it comes to travel on a shoestring – my favorite style – the amount of money you spend or save on accommodation becomes a serious matter. There was a time when travelling to China was very, very cheap, and accommodation options where everywhere. Unfortunately, with China experiencing the economic boom, things have changed … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | August 29, 2013
Category: Asia, Destinations, Hostels/Hotels, Simplicity, Vagabonding Advice

Scars from Scotland and bills from Budapest

A good traveler knows that it isn’t the number of places you’ve been that counts, it’s the number of meaningful experiences. Just like the saying, “it’s not the number of breaths you take that matters, it’s the number of moments that take your breath away.” Same with traveling. Miles mean little, so do stamps in your passport. That stuff is ancillary to the true story: the adventures themselves (be they emotional, fun, or just plain … Read more »

Charity school project in Bodhgaya, India

LordBuddhaSchool-kids2

As a first stop during my “charity discovery tour” in India I visited the village of Sujata, just behind Buddhist pilgrimage center – and Tibetan refugee colony – Bodhgaya, in Bihar state. If Bodhgaya is a bit more developed, although desperately poor, Sujata represents a real Bihar’s backwater: the kind of Indian village where … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (1)  | May 16, 2013
Category: Asia, Destinations, Simplicity

Why I’m not a minimalist… I’m a “maximalist”

The subject of my life as a minimalist keeps coming up in conversations lately.

I’m always a bit taken aback when someone suggests it, because I don’t think of myself as a minimalist at all. It’s true, I’ve lived out of a backpack, essentially, for over five years now. My whole life fits into one checked bag … Read more »

Posted by | Comments (4)  | March 19, 2013
Category: Lifestyle Design, Simplicity, Vagabonding Life

Motorbiking helps long term vagabonding city dwellers

After I read this article about motorbike travel in Indonesia, I started thinking of my own experiences: I switched the focus from great memories of incredible biking trips around Southeast Asia and India, and I considered my actual situation. I concluded that I could not lead the same comfortable life if it wasn’t for an old rattler of a motorbike I am driving around Penang Island since 2010.

To be honest, when I … Read more »

Posted by | Comments Off on Motorbiking helps long term vagabonding city dwellers  | February 7, 2013
Category: Asia, Expat Life, Notes from the collective travel mind, Simplicity, Vagabonding Advice, Working Abroad