Tag Archives: family
Flying Solo
It’s been a long time since I’ve lived on my own; some five or six years now. Back then, I had a flexible schedule: a blend of university classes, office work and eons of study. I had a townhouse to myself, my own car, and still managed to maintain a gym membership. I shopped, washed, […]
The Next Generation of Travel Writers: Part II
A year ago now, I posted a piece of work written by a talented young man as the culminating task of learning about travel writing. Now, the time has come for my next phase of brilliant young minds to finish up their travel narratives*, and I have even more amazing experiences to share. Not only […]
I really love the internet
A young girl sits sprawled across the carpet on her bedroom floor, a pillow under her elbows propping up her chin, and head tilted towards the open pages of the book. It’s her sixth book this week, and another library trip will soon be in order. She’s not too worried though; she has the special […]
Monday Moment: A Trip Home
I love my Omi. I love everything about her: her strength, vitality, incredible memory, and her smile that runs so deep you can see a piece of her soul. She speaks with such love and care, and the pain and ordeals that she has endured throughout her life have carved the lines that trace around […]
One more year of it
When I went hiking in Sa Pa, I met a writer – a real one. Admittedly, he’d spent the last two years teaching English in rural Japan, something else I would give a limb to do, but his actual field of work and study was to write, rather than teach. He was writing a book. […]
Security Office 21: Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Warning: This is a long post with some fairly graphic reflections. It was hard to see and harder to reflect on, with my further comments on the difficulty of this at the end. All the same, I still wanted to communicate the nature and the history of a place that affected me in such a […]
Coming home
When I came back post-summer vacation to Dubai from England, and even from Australia, I felt that this place was cramped; that my apartment was too small and that the city was truly stifling. I came from the homes of family and friends, from the life of sprawling supermarkets and full size highways and returned […]
The way to see the true Cambodia
When you first meet Channa, she will tell you that she is not a good Cambodian woman. She says that she talks too much, is too noisy, and she walks too fast. Indeed, not a good, traditional woman at all; one who is expected to be reserved, demure and compliant at all times. Women in […]
The Egyptian Election ~ A Traveller’s Perspective
When I first returned to Dubai from Egypt I was exhausted. It was a postponed honeymoon trip, but in true “Team KLAB” style, we spent the whole time adventuring and traversing the country on local trains, in homestays and traipsing about monuments. It was our kind of holiday. At the time, when anyone asked me, […]
A summertime heartstring tug
There’s something that’s been tugging at me of late, and it’s not just the standard level of homesickness. I noticed, as we drove in to one of the biggest malls in the world on Friday, at the foot of the tallest building in the world, that all I could think about was wandering along Beach […]
What’s on my Bucket List?
At the end of 2007, I ended a toxic and stagnant relationship. I was young and unsure I if I could cope on my own. I had never spent long enough learning to be me; to be strong, independent and to find my own way in the world. I found strength in the support of […]
Four Weddings and a Revolution
We can be a bit nosy at times, I suppose. We love delving into the lives of our tour guides, asking about what they’ve done, where they’ve been and what their lives are like as citizens of the countries we’ve explored. Some of the stories we’ve encountered have been incredible, with our Nepali guide having […]
