First World Problems and Travel

10 - RCdekei

One of the first things many of us notice when we first travel to developing countries is the fact that there is a disparity between our own lives of comfort and the lives of poverty lived by those in far away places. Coming to terms with that divide can be problematic, leading to guilt and sadness. But it can also be an epiphany allowing us to reflect on the lives we take for granted. [Read more...]

Avoiding Social Interaction While Traveling

dan on mt gardner bowen island

I pace quickly up the hill. My feet slamming into the mud of the trail.

My heart is racing, my body sweating. Legs ache, lungs burn. I can’t stop though. There’s something in the trees behind me. Something scary. Not a bear or a monster. Much worse than that.

My housemates.

Now you may think from my last post about socialising while travelling, that I’m a lover of conversation. The truth is, I hate it. I am a level 99 ninja at avoiding it. There’s a lot I’d go through to get out of a conversation. Including climbing a mountain.

[Read more...]

Competitive Travel Packing: The World’s Newest Sport

intricately packed bag

In a bizarre turn of events, the latest sport to be accepted by the Olympic Committee is competitive travel packing. For years now, the sport’s biggest competitors have been meeting up all over the Internet to compare notes, and show that they’re the best at putting clothing into backpacks.

The rules for this new, strange sport are simple: the lower your bag’s weight, the higher your score. Points are deducted for including cotton clothing and a laptop in your packing list. Only an amateur traveler makes such incompetent mistakes.

In order to compete in the next games, you must leave at least twenty condescending comments on travel blogs claiming that you know how to pack a bag better than anybody else on the planet.

[Read more...]

My Quest for Junior Mints While Abroad

7-11 Slurpee.

As I found myself spending more time away from the States, I started craving certain things from back home in America. It’s true what they say: you want what you can’t have.

For instance, there are 7-11s on every corner in South Korea. But the one thing that makes 7-11 so special is missing. There aren’t any Slurpees in the Korean 7-11s. I don’t even know how it is possible to have 7-11s without Slurpees. That’s, like, part of their branding.

I hadn’t had a Slurpee in ages. In fact, it wasn’t ever something I frequently had back home in the States, and it hardly ever crossed my mind then. It’s just ice and artificial flavoring anyway, but something started to happen. Knowing that I couldn’t have it in Korea, I started craving it.

[Read more...]

Watching a Newcastle Football Match in Wellington, New Zealand

Newcastle fans at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand.

Life is full of coincidences. Just a few days after we arrived in New Zealand, my hometown football (soccer, blah!) team revealed that they would be visiting for a short summer (albeit winter here) tour. Almost exactly a month after we moved to Wellington, Newcastle United arrived to play a game against Wellington’s own team, the Phoenix.

Jamie and I were both excited, for different reasons. Me because it was the first opportunity I’d had in years to see Newcastle play a game of football. Jamie because she’d never been to a football game before.

[Read more...]

Playing Bubble Football in Wellington, New Zealand

Bubbles on soccer pitch
We’ve been in Wellington for a month now, so we decided it’s probably about time we went out and did some socialising. This is one of the hardest things when you move to a new city, finding new friends and ways to meet like-minded people.

Fortunately Jamie and I are both big users of the website Reddit. Most big cities have their own Reddit group and often the users meet up to socialise. When somebody posted on the that there would be a meetup for bubble football we decided to pounce on the opportunity.

[Read more...]

I Think I Might be an Anglophile.

A Union Jack teapot.

I’ve always felt like I belonged somewhere else in the world. Americans are known to be loud, brash, and patriotic. I’m quiet, reserved, and my house would never be donned with a US flag.

However, there is one place in particular that I’ve always put on a pedestal. If I could choose anywhere in the world to live, I’d go to this place in a heartbeat. Oddly enough, it’s a place I’ve never even been to. (Some may wonder how’s that even possible?)

That place in particular? England.

[Read more...]