writer. traveller. life unraveller.
I’ve been in Southeast Asia a long time. So long that when I thought about writing my next blog, indicators you’ve travelled in Southeast Asia a long time, I was a bit stumped. I thought about it as I took a shower and delighted in the ease at which I can go from toilet to... Continue Reading →
Photo credit: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UolOn_ZO-KY/UMuR9fNCKJI/AAAAAAAAACU/TqfPWbfWfp... Are Western women easy? The answer depends on who you ask. I am a single white female (SWF) travelling in Indonesia, a country that has conservative values regarding women, so my Western perspective is biased. This musing may provoke a bit of controversy but isn’t that the best kind of reading? It’s... Continue Reading →
James is an awesome guy. I met him in Wakai, one of a small group of remote islands in North Sulawesi, Indonesia called the Togian Islands. I was waiting for a boat to a smaller, even remoter island than Wakai. Turns out James was going to the same place. I asked him where he was... Continue Reading →
Out there in the world, Canada is like the forgotten kid on the playground, but it doesn’t care. It’s the underdog to the United States, what a friend of mine calls “America’s attic” (and can you guess where he is from?) When I lived in Indonesia, nobody ever guessed that I’m from Canada. They would... Continue Reading →
I’m leaving Surabaya at long last. Of course I’ve left a dozen times over the course of two years to go on holiday but I always came back to my job and my apartment. Real Life was always there waiting for me to resume it. There were a handful of get-out-of-jail-free passes but I resigned... Continue Reading →
The first time I drove a motorbike in South East Asia I was robbed. I had just learned to drive a scooter during a holiday on the island of Lombok, next to Bali and one day I was scooting along one of the main roads, in the middle of a beautiful day, and boom–two local... Continue Reading →
This past weekend I went to Taman Dayu with a friend, a large park about an hour and a half drive from Surabaya. We had registered to participate in a 12 km run/hike race at my friend’s suggestion. Funny actually, because he hates running and hiking and getting up early. The race started at 6:30... Continue Reading →
Once you’ve seen the other side of something and it’s good, returning to the familiar can be difficult, even when it feels like a relief. Peeking over the fence or flying across the pond in search of something to rattle your bones and shake your worldview might actually do yourself a disservice, but that doesn’t... Continue Reading →
Click here to see a beginner's burpee demo... Late last year I started working out with a trainer. I felt I needed to step up my game a little bit. I had hit a plateau in my regular routine because that is what was: a routine. Like anything in life, once something becomes routine... Continue Reading →
colleen thornton 