Author: Melanie Chambers
08 Oct Norway for The Holidays
Imagine: cross country skiing along a forest path at night-- with lights. The path gets brighter as it merges into the city streets. Outside bars, dozens of skis resting against a ski rack reveal that...
02 Oct Grapes and goodies
North of Belleville, a country road that smells of pumpkins, wood smoke and earth, also leads to a slew of wineries. On our first stop, Harwood Winery the grapes were bursting off the vine: harvest time....
02 Oct Prince Edward County road trip
Friends, bike and wine. For a couple of days I get to combine these on a road trip to Prince Edward County, Ontario with a new friend. Every time I see Diana she's dressed in...
29 Sep Am I home, yet?
I moved to Toronto from London, Ontario last February. After a few decades in London--thank goodness for travelling every summer--I needed a change. And, I think I have begun to carve out a little niche...
24 Sep GLOBE AND MAIL: Bali Scooting
Don't need a licence to drive a scooter in Bali- only nerves of steel and a touch of stupidity; appeared in The Globe and Mail. It was my first time riding a scooter, but that didn’t...
20 Sep Obsessive nomad
Someone recently asked me: "Is there a psychological condition for obsessively travelling?" I realize it wasn't a malicious statement, but it got me to wondering. Why is it that not long after returning home, I...
25 Jul Filipino Family
Every time I walk to town, San Juan, about 10 minutes from my cabin on the beach, I pass a host of characters. Off to the side of the mud road, before turning onto the pavement, broken tube lights hang over a dozen pic nic tables. It's Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-ish. The roof is made from corrugated metal and blue tarps. Illegal gambling.
Across the mud road: a dozen or more knee-high A-frames for roosters. Illegal cock fighting.
I pass the gambling, roosters, and men who watch me intently, before turning the corner on to the paved road in front of the church.
And there they are: two giant white slabs inscribed with the ten commandments. See the irony? Non?
22 Jul Filipino finger food and tricycles
Ok, in Philippines now for two and a half weeks; another few weeks to go. Coming from Java Indonesia, where everyone is trying to sell you something, that is not the case here; however, walking through San Juan, my little town in the north, I feel like a celebrity. All eyes watch me because I'm the only white person. But, people smile, and wave. Some even blurt out a big 'hello ma'am!' Everyone calls me ma'am. I flew into Manila and then gum booted it out of there (chaos and unsafe) on an eight hour bus ride north to San Juan City to find my cabin on the beach. Arriving around 2am, I could only hear the waves crashing on the beach. Beautiful.
Fishing boats outside my cabin.
If I thought Indonesia was humid, this is an entirely new level of stickiness!