Some general thoughts about the art of travelling on "shoestring" budgets, destinations & expectations, and budget travel. A few years ago, Tazim and I were living on the prairies in Cow-town— daydreaming about a different life, or at least of seeing the world beyond the rockies. We'd both been around North America a bit, in the company of our parents or family, and in fact, Tazim had already been overseas to London for a summer after high-school graduation, but neither of us had done ...
London—Portrait of a City Taschen Book Review
From the 2012 Summer Olympics to its historic roles as the world’s largest metropolis for almost all of the 19th century, and as the great heart of the British Empire—London is certainly one of the world’s great cities. From the crowded lanes of Covent Gardens, to the expansive splendor of Kew Gardens it’s also one of our personal favourites, which is why we were delighted to see this new entry in Taschen’s World Cities series: London—Portrait of a City ...
Road Trip Ready: An Ode to Boredom
If I'm honest: one of my favourite things about long road trips is the boredom. Staring out at a prairie horizon that's coloured by the setting sun, or climbing up series of mountain switchbacks, I feel like my mind tunes into a different frequency. At first it seems like nothing but white noise and fuzz—but invariably, lightning strikes. And I know that some people meditate , and that this guy swims, but the road has a special place in my heart. Even where memories of the ...
A Volume and Weight Scale — Deserted Island Kitchen # 8
At home we have nice thick metal measuring cups and spoons galore—they rattle around in our cupboards and drawers like a pocket-ful of change. But, just like all those pennies that you can never seem to spend, we hardly ever use them. Instead, we measure by weight: it makes it easy to double, halve, and quickly throw together, recipes from around the world. We couldn't live without our kitchen scale, which lives on our counter with an index card full of conversion factors taped to the ...
Lexar Memory Card Review
When I was a kid, it wasn't unusual for me to spend my allowance money on cassette tapes or floppy disks—physical media was everywhere. Now, I plug my digital camera right into my computer—and sometimes forget that there's a storage device inside. But, anyone who's ever had their vacation photos suddenly disappear, or waited hours for them to transfer, knows that what's inside counts. That's why we're fans of these high speed, high quality memory cards from Lexar—their Platinum line, they're ...
Car Stereo Review—Kenwood DDX319
Tazim and I never consider ourselves road-trip-ready without a playlist—but when we bought our new-to-us ride, the stereo was a sore point. Whoever had bought the car originally had sprung for the limited package—we could see the upgraded speakers all around us, and knew they were fine—but the head unit was low-spec. Having an in-dash 6 CD player seemed kind of cool—until we found out that it wouldn't play anything burnt at home, or CDs that were the least bit blemished. Worse, it put out a ...
Rubbermaid Glass Containers Review
Tazim and I made the switch to glass containers in the late nineties, and haven't looked back, even aside from health concerns. we'll accept the occasional broken container in exchange for the impermeability of glass—glass containers don't tend to discolour or absorb odours, which make them winners in our book! ...
The Bully Project: My Testimonial
Thanks to The Bully Project for sponsoring my writing. Visit their website to join the movement and learn more. I want to take a moment to talk about bullying. There's a myth in our society about survival. It goes like this: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It's true that sometimes in life we all have to learn things the hard way. And it's true that a few of the things that aren't always fun in our lives—lifting weights, eating kale, or struggling with math—are ...
An Oil Brush — Deserted Island Kitchen Item #7
Alright, alright, we have a couple of heavy cast-iron pans on our deserted island kitchen list already—clearly we're going to get a work-out lugging our stuff there! Sadly they would be absolutlely worthless without some oil and a brush. It's true that when seasoned these pots have top-notch release, but stuff is still going to stick without a little grease. We don't really have anything against a little fat in our diets—the average person needs 60g a day, and as vegetarians, that's a number we ...
Essentia Organic Bedsheets Review
We roll up to Essentia Calgary on a clear early spring day. The store is fresh and minimal, and in addition to the lack of excess packaging, signs, and junkage—one of the first things I notice is the lack of smell. I breathe in deeply, and smell only air moist with melting snow—and a faint whiff of cotton. It's a moment I've been waiting for for a while. I've been curious about Essentia since I read a story in the Globe and Mail last year—as Tazim mentioned in yesterday's post—they make all ...