yay for Halifax! I really miss it terribly. I am hoping to go back in October, at least for thanksgiving.

I've just come back from Italy and had a lovely time exploring some places. I visited: Venice, Bologna (and ate pasta bolognaise, heh), Florence, Lucca, Sienna, then worked on a farm in Tuscany for two weeks which was nice except the people weren't too friendly. Then off to Rome and another farm where the people were even worse. Not a great time there. Then Naples for lots of pizza and gelato. Phew.

Now I am in the Netherlands with my parents hoping to soon get a temp job to get some savings for a return to Canada.

Where are your travels taking you next?

Merci pour ce gentil commentaire en français sur ma page! Et un grand bravo, c'est presque parfait!!!
;-)

About your question: I've dived once around Redang Island, during my stay in the Perhentian Islands, but it was in 2006...

Corinne
http://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr

Oh, I'd love to know anything about visiting Ottawa! Haha. A lot of my family lives there so I'll be fairly busy...but what would you consider a MUST do? Eating a beaver tail is right up there on my list, lol.

Hi.interesting profile...U said u r planning to go to India...Even I m from there.The place is Udaipur, Rajasthan.Its beautiful, city of lakes, historical, beautiful gardens. Its one of the most popular tourist destination In India. U will find so many 5 star hotels and other star hotels to stay....let me know about it. Hope to meet u soon.

Cheers :)

Thanks for the Welcome! I have been here for a little while, I guess I've just always been a lurker :)

Thanks :)

Now I'm really jealous - the Yukon is simply one of the most spectacular places on the planet IMHO... Take lots of photos!

Thanks for the comment regarding my blog post "What do you do and where are you from?" Lately, I have found that if I don't feel like going into a long conversation, I just tell people I am a gypsy and the questions suddenly end. he he

Actually, I have never seen Ben or Seth but I would see Seth's dad quite a bit at the resort I worked at in Laguna Beach. I would also of course run into the Laguna Beach kids too. If and when you do your tour of America, I hope you do California as there are so many great things to see in that state. A group of friends and I did an RV trip last July from San Diego up to northern California and back in one week. It was one of the most memorable trips I have taken, not only because of the company but because CA has so much to offer in landscape, ocean views, mountains, etc.

I was just reading your profile...you have an impressive background! I'm heading to Ottawa for the first time in July, can't wait to see the city my family raves about. :)

Thanks, Deva! Appreciate it!

Caroline Oceana Ryan

Thanks, it really was, I would recommend it!! Ottowa's amazing by the way, I really want to skate on the canal in the winter!! x

Hi Deva -

Thanks for commenting on my review of "The Mighty Celt"!

I would really recommend this movie, particularly if you've visited Belfast. There are a lot of great films coming out of the North these days.

I will next be in Belfast in April, all going according to plan! I haven't heard about Working Holiday visas -- is that something available to US citizens, or EU, or what?

All the best,
Caroline

'belfastyank'
Caroline Oceana Ryan

Hey there Deva,

Wanted to thank you for taking the time to read and then comment on the 'Reverse Culture Shock (RCS) & Societal Shock' blog I recently posted.

It's satisfying to read in the feedback that there was "plenty to chew on".

Similarly there was plenty of food for thought in your comments. So I have taken some time to respond to them and your constructive criticism. Great stuff.

Keep in touch & travel safe out there.

Kind Regards,

Craig L Hodges

I am currently in Swansea, Wales (yawn) but I just got back from an incredible week in Deutschland!!!! I LOVE that country. I'm going to look into moving there next summer.

-MOJO
"Live simply, so that others may simply live."

OH MY GOSH EVA!!!!!

It was you!

Let me explain... I've been checking out your blogs, and reading your profile. It's all been wonderful by the way... then I noticed that you contribute to Rolf Potts' Vagablogging. That amazed me! I won't go into detail what that book means to me, but realize that it's significant. So, I went back over to Rolf's site to check out the Vagablog and see what you've put up there.

And this is where it all ties together... on September 26th I was on the vagabonding site, just casually going through it like I often do, when I came across a post about social networking. It mentioned a world-travel specific social networking site called Matador... I immediately clicked the link, signed up and was home!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

There is so much I want to discuss with you! But I'm a little burnt out from the move today... that and I'm a Mac guy and I'm on my friend's PC and I'm finding it to be a little frustrating.

Let's talk about Canada/England/elections/writing/travel/life or anything else really soon!

Thank you for the welcome!

My husband and I went to Ottawa in July and we loved it!

Hi Deva,

Thanks for the welcome.

Yeah, I love that pic of the spices, too. The vendor was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed looking bored. She smiled a little when I took the picture, but I'm quite sure she would have like it more if I'd bought some spices. I cut her out of the picture for her privacy.

Barcelona is great.

I'll definitely be back in the Bay for the summer, although I'll probably be going to Seattle/Vancouver and/or Colorado at the end of summer/beginning of fall. I should look into the free events at Book Passage. Let me know when you're in town :)

One lira kebabs and stray animal control in istanbul are related, I hear. Good to know you are wary.

Eva,
Love the halftime show !
Made me remember all of those Canterbury top ten lists...much improved however.
Fried PB and Banana....I am at work and laughing my head off. Come across any deep-fried steak yet? I am still comfused as to how this nastiness exists.
I met a bunch of really great people from Denmark and Norway that are working at their respective embassies...I'll have to introduce you when you get back. I have been partying with these folks harder than I have in years.
K- this is long, come back soon!
B

Hey if you haven't seen Waitress yet, you should before your Southern roadtrip. Hope the planning is coming along well. Have a great trip!

Happy Birthday, Eva!!!! Hope you're having a great day :)

Wow, such a detailed post! I loved all your suggestions. I'll definitely stay at Caterina Hostel - that whole area sounds amazing. I'm planning on spending around 4 days in Budapest. And would you say that half a day in Szentendre would be enough? Of the day-trip towns I think that's the one I'd be most interested in.

Eva!
Didn't realize that you hadn't logged off my computer last night and mistakenly sent a message as you! So sorry. I fixed it now and sent her an explanation for my dumbness.
whoops,
Barb

Hey Eva- I know, I haven't been very visible on Matador lately, I apologize!

I've been working for an Internet company lately that has taken up most of my time, but I plan on getting back into Matador heavy in a couple weeks once this new release of our technology hits the market. Looks like you're still pluggin away, which is good to see.

Any travel plans?

Thanks for the comment. Especially enjoyed your American Soldier post.

Great comment on my blog entry! I'm actually thinking about going to Budapest in the spring, so I will definitely check out that market you mentioned.
I can't think of any good How To topics at the moment, but I am working on some Speakers Corner and Dispatches pieces, and I will probably contribute a Where in the World Are You? piece when I go to the Caribbean in January. I also just became a contributor to a new local guidebook series that promotes sustainability and environmental consciousness.

Great job on your blogs here as well as on World Hum - I've really enjoyed reading them! They're so well thought out and enlightening. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

Eva, check out Parc Mont Mégantic on the Sépaq site. Its www.sépaq.com I think that might be a good place for our camping adventure - it's not too far from Orford which was beautiful, and it looks like there are some good (tough:) hikes to be done.

If you click on randonnée pédestres or activités, it gives a tableau of hike descriptions and a map and distances.

So excited, can't sleep.

Welcome to Matador! If you're looking to publish something with an adventure travel slant, check out an Aussie magazine called Get Lost - www.getlostmag.com - they're looking for North American freelancers.

Looking forward to more of your blogs -

-Tim

Looking forward to the Zim piece!

R