I’ve never been the sort of traveler to obsess over frequent flier points, or to spend hours trying to game the system. Where my time is concerned, quite frankly, I’d rather have more of it than save a few bucks or get the occasional free upgrade. But my friend Craig Ballantyne of Early to Rise recently turned me on to a couple of cool “mileage hacker” newsletters. And when an opportunity came up...
I believe every trip has a soundtrack. That special album which entrances you on long journeys by bus or rail, occupying your conscious mind and allowing insight to float up from the depths. Those songs soak up the landscape, the smells and the very feeling of the place you’re travelling through. And they colour the way you see it, just like different shades of glass colour a sunny day. Well...
The Philosopher and the Wolf is a profound and original book. But I never would have found it if it hadn’t been recommended to me. Even after I ordered it, it sat on my shelf for over a year before I finally picked it up. I can understand why the back cover copy didn’t grab my attention, because this is a rather difficult book to describe. It’s not quite an autobiography, because the author is...
I read a very good book this week called The Longest Way Home. It reminded me of myself in so many ways. And I wanted to share it with you. The author, Andrew McCarthy, is probably best known as an actor. I first saw him on cheap night at the Parkdale Cinemas in Brockville. I think it was Tuesdays or Wednesdays in the summer, when we got in for $2. I went there every week with my Grade 10...
I read something like 100 books a year. All sorts of stuff, from travel literature, history, fiction, classics, philosophy and memoir. And I like to end each year with a quick wrap up of what I liked best. These are the books that stood out for me in 2013. Have a look through the list, and pick up a few. You won’t be disappointed. Weeding out the best from the borderline — so you don’t have to...
I was searching for insights into this 40’s decade that I’ve somehow slipped into… I wanted to know more about the challenges ahead. Where I should focus my efforts. And why I now have this sudden very clear sense that the clock is ticking and my time is running out. My search led me to a classic book about the major crisis points we all face in our lives: I wanted advice for the...
It’s been a little while since I posted a new blog. I’ve spent all of 1 week at home in the past 5 weeks, and I’ve got a lot of travels to fill you in on. Let’s start by talking about the Expedition Skills course I attended last week in England’s Lake District. If you’re planning a journey beyond the farthest fringes of the map, then you really should have this stuff in your toolkit. I first...
We haven’t talked books in a while, but I’ve got a great one for you this week. It’s the best novel I’ve read in recent months. The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson is set in a mysterious old farmhouse in Provence, France. And that location permeates every page, the way the sun soaks through the olive leaves and lavender fields of the south. Rather than try to sum up the book, I’ve copied and pasted...
Music is essential for any trip. It entrances us on long journeys by bus or rail, occupying the conscious mind and allowing insight to float up from the depths. You listen to those same songs over and over, and they soak up the landscape, the smells and the very feeling of the place. They colour the way you see it just like different shades of glass colour a sunny day. Here’s what’s on my travel...
It’s been a while since I reviewed a recent travel book. This one stood out among the books I read last month. The Riverbones by Andrew Westoll Andrew Westoll spent a year as a primatologist chasing monkeys through the jungles of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve. He returned five years later as a writer obsessed with finding the secret soul of this poorly understood country. Few...