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Morocco: up up and away… to the Atlas Mountains (for the day)
Marrakech is flat and crazy, so it was a refreshing change to get out of the city and into the Atlas Mountains for the day. We hired a guide who was a good sport about speaking French with us all day. (He gave us 5/5 stars for our French, btw!) The tour took us to 5 valleys, each with a different landscape and features. The first stop was an Argan Oil production collective (#touristtrap). We bought some magic crystals (#berbervicks) and some Argan honey that was delicious and subsequently leaked in my bag. The second stop was more what we’d imagined, with a moderate hike up to a series of…
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Marrakesh Roundup
We did all the things in Marrakech, but which ones bear repeating? Here’s our list of places we still harken back to – and would go back to. And when you go to Marrakech, you should check them out to. Tops Hyped (we tried these so you don’t have to) Sights and Spas Here’s some of the other things we did and random commentary to help you decide how to spend your time. Thanks for reading, and happy travels! We’ll see you on the road…
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Morocco: All the things. (Part 1)
J and I have a bad habit when we travel: we do it all. We’re not much for the beach, and we don’t care for resorts or lounging by the pool. We want to go to a place and soak up all it has to offer. But we struggle to balance our FOMO with the desire to return home feeling rested. It’s a ‘struggle’. We’ve been in Marrakech for a week, and we’ve been so busy doing things I’ve barely had time to post about it. So, in no particular order, here are some of the things we’ve done during our week ‘just chilling’ in Marrakech. We found our Riad…
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Korea: Solo in Seoul
It’s been a while since I’ve roamed a new city on my own. I’ve grown accustomed to asking for the city’s finest coffee, and having J conjure it for me from a careful triangulation of internet sources. When we are out and about, I vocalize a destination and like the Citymapper that he is, I follow him there. We map a city noting its craft breweries and hipster coffee shops, and along the way, we stop in at clothing shops, knick knack emporiums and home stores where we buy super random things by which to commemorate our journey. My job in these journeys is the food. I know my way…
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Yukon: Thanks for adventuring!
One of my favourite conversations on this trip was with a server at Klondike Brewing in Skagway, Alaska. She was super friendly and happy to chat about life in Alaska. I love hearing about people who have made deliberate moves to live somewhere they fell in love with, and in my experience, Alaska is a hotbed for these journeys. We heard about her life without internet from April to September, and had a lively discussion about her limited restaurant recommendations in town. When she realized we hadn’t just rolled off the docked cruise ships like most of the other patrons, she became particularly chatty and wanted to know about our…
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Yukon: The gold rush and other old-timey things (no internet required)
I’ve never been that interested in the Wild West or olden timey days. Everything about it seems very dusty, with few vegetarian meal options and limited opportunity for women. Also, gold really isn’t my jewelry of choice. So it came as a real surprise that Dawson City and everything about this area was so darned cool! We had planned to hike in Tombstone, but a brief to stop at their visitor centre confirmed that we were ill-prepared for unmaintained trails and snowy peaks. So instead of an active day, we worked on completing our wildlife bingo cards. This time, with porcupine caribou! Before leaving town we stopped in the Bonanza…
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Yukon: Canada’s shameful present
There’s been a lot of news in recent years about Canada’s treatment of indigenous communities and our shameful past. The continued discovery of children’s remains at former residential schools have brought new attention to this topic, in very recent years. But in the North, none of this is news. Part of my desire to travel through Canada’s more remote and northern areas is to better understand our indigenous communities. I spend my professional life engaging with and trying to understand communities and cultures around the world. And yet, in many ways, my own backyard is a mystery. More than anywhere else in Canada that I’ve travelled, the North feels like…
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Yukon: Larger than Life
We’re making up for lost time here – both in actual Travels, and on this blog. So let’s catch up! Whitehorse was a little sleepier than we’d expected. We imagined a small, hip city and probably should have paid attention to its population which barely tops 30,000. But it’s population was outsized by its charm, and we really enjoyed our weekend there. It was also where we got the first of many wow views. The MacBride Museum was a great stop in Whitehorse. So much great information on Canada’s indigenous peoples, which we don’t know nearly enough about, and great info on the Gold Rush and history of the Yukon.…
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Yukon: On the road, again.
Friends, It’s been too long. After a long lockdown, and longer FOC (fear of COVID) time, we are back on the road. We are excited to see things – and excited to remember what traveling together is like. And as per usj, why not blog about it? As I’ve been remembering how to travel over the past few months for work, I recently made a list of travel musts. Things never to leave home without and tips for making sure that travel disruptions and disappointments have minimal impact on your day. And I know it’s a good list, because when I don’t follow it, I regret it. Every single time.…
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Aus + NZ: #stogansabbatical bottom 5 (Miranda’s list)
You can’t spend 9 weeks traveling (or living) without a few missteps. Here are 5 incidents we could have lived without (though they’ve made for some good stories!). 1.Sleeping in a car in Hobart. When we booked our flights into Hobart we had no idea we would find ourselves in the midst of the Southern Hemispheres largest wooden boat festival (what luck!). Surprisingly, this event has a huge impact on the city, and there wasn’t a hotel room to be found. Jay booked us the last room 40 minutes outside of Hobart, but when our flight was delayed 3 hours, the front desk refused to stay open to let us…
