I grew up in a small-ish city, in a Ukrainian-Canadian family. A lot of my friends were, like me, second-generation Canadians who had grandparents cooking, not only Ukrainian food, but also Italian, Polish and Finnish. There were a lot of…
Barcelona 2.0
The first time I went to Barcelona was in 2010 with my Mom and my Aunts. I had just moved to Paris and I joined them for the Barcelona and Tuscany portion of their European-vacation. That first time in Barcelona…
Congo- One Week Back
A year ago I arrived in Congo, slightly wide-eyed, taking in my new ‘home’. Seven days ago, I arrived back in Congo for the second school year, after being gone for ten weeks of summer holidays. My husband came back…
Congo- My Year in Review
I’m back after being quiet for quite awhile. I guess we can call it a period of reflection, although as I write this, I feel like I might still be in the middle of that. For someone living what might…
Spas of the World: Dubai, Guerlain Spa-One&Only The Palm
When I lived in Canada, my friend Karen and I would escape to the spa every now and then to treat ourselves to a bit of relaxation. Our spa time in Calgary was always great, and back then I never…
A Taste of Dubai
She’s one of my best friends, she was my maid of honour, and there is an ocean between us…but not this week! My friend may live in Canada and I may live in Congo, but for one week we were…
Flying High in Dubai
The sound of the alarm lurched itself into the room. “This is what time we should be going to bed,” my friend moaned as she reached to turn off her cell phone on the night stand. I glanced at mine.…
Namibia: Self-Drive Safari Itinerary
From our part of the world, in Sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia is a popular travel destination. When I was planning our trip, I leaned on a few friends who had been before, checking out their itineraries, and taking any tips they…
How to Survive a Family Road Trip…WITHOUT iPads!!!
~Disclaimer~ I want to start by saying that we didn’t set out to make this an electronic-free trip. The iPads were fully charged in a bag at my feet at all times, we just didn’t advertise that to our kids.…
Planet of the Seals: Cape Cross, Namibia
We had just finished driving the Skeleton Coast and knew that we wanted to stop at Cape Cross before arriving at our final destination for the day, Swakopmund. We rolled in to Cape Cross, and paid the park fee of 80…