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The Pursuit of Perfection The Sharps have been anticipating our Japanese leg since the beginning - knowing our love of the food would lay the groundwork for an amazing immersion into the culture and traditions of this fascinating country. The constant pursuit of perfection is a cultural ethos that is apparent the moment you arrive. Everywhere we look we experience focus on nailing every last detail, continuously improving and committing to mastery. We have found ourselves sa

The tastes of Thailand We spent almost a month exploring Thailand and have so many amazing experiences to show for it. Ian and Erin spent some time travelling here almost 15 years ago; it was nice to be back and to contemplate how things have changed although we chose mostly new locations to see more of the country we remember so fondly. We hit the beaches first, opting to explore the south eastern Thai islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao (Koh means Island). Each i

The way to a traveler's heart is through their stomach. This variant on the old idiom rings true for us. Since food runs between 20-30% of our budget, it is a big part of this trip. So much of a country's culture is communicated through its food. As many of you know, we Sharps love food, from the simple art of a dinner out at the pub with close friends, yummy food packed for a ski lunch at Lake Louise, or more elaborate dinner parties and clubs we’ve been part of over the ye

The Vibrancy of Vietnam We just finished almost a month in Vietnam - making this dynamic country one of our top three in terms of time spent (the others are France and Tanzania). We have learned and experienced so much during our time here. We found each new stop offered locally distinct and special culture, history and food. Over the last few decades Vietnam has experienced one of the most remarkable economic transformations in modern history, evolving from one of the world

We are often asked about the planning pieces of travel - and I would say that we received great advice in this area - and yet cannot say we have nailed this skill - not sure anyone can (although many on instagram claim to have). We decided early to do most of the planning ourselves (ie without tour company or travel agent) because we had the time and wanted the budget to stretch as far as possible. Ian and I both backpacked “before the internet”, where a physical copy of a Lo

Our last few weeks in Indonesia have been focused mostly on the beach, the ocean and all things outdoors in this gorgeous country. A little factoid about Indonesia is that the archipelago has roughly 17,000 islands, this puts it at number 6 on the world ranking. We learned new skills, met new friends and slowed down to take a vacation from our travels. This much needed rest and recuperation felt so good. We are stunned by the value on offer in Indonesia – our quality of life

Knowing Australia is as big as it is, we did not even attempt to see all or most of it. Our travel cadence after the frequent stops in the RV in New Zealand also had us craving less movement. We flew into Brisbane and spent one week on the Gold Coast, then flew to Northern Queensland to spend another week in Cairns (pronounced ‘Canes or Cans’ if you are trying to fit in). Gold Coast The Gold Coast is famous for its sun, beaches and surf - we got lots of the first two but had

Auckland From the moment of arrival you know the environment is whakamiharo (amazing in Maori) and special in New Zealand. The magnitude of biosecurity procedures alone that you pass through upon arrival give a hint. The luxury of being an island is the control that is possible to protect those things that cannot be replaced - flora, fauna (and people in the case of COVID when New Zealand was among the most restrictive in the world and thus saw a much lower fatality rate). A

Decisions decisions How did we end up in Singapore? The route decision matrix gets complicated! One decision starts the dominoes falling, then we pick up the pieces to solve the rest of the journey puzzle. Like throwing a dart at a map but with slightly more planning. Tanzania for Safari and Zanzibar were pegged early as must dos. We originally thought to end our trip in New Zealand (in June), but wise advice (thanks Susan!) told us to avoid the winter season. Ultimately, we

Zanzibar Following our amazing but very busy safari adventures, we settled on the island of Zanzibar for a much-needed rest and relaxation for two weeks. This also coincided with the half-way mark of our 10 months on the road: it is crazy how time flies. We had all been looking forward to a few weeks unprogrammed and to live beach-forward. We stayed in the town of Paje on Zanzibar’s east coast – facing out to the vast Indian Ocean. This town is a mecca for kite surfing on t

Pole Pole It is hard to put into words the magic of safari in Tanzania. We came out of the bush tired, dust covered and delighted by all that we saw and experienced. This was a wow for each of us - keeping us individually and collectively engaged and interested throughout. This will be a memory that we will all keep with us. *There are videos uploaded into this blog post be patient with the loading Our supreme leader, Boniface, is a 20-year veteran of safari guiding - havin

Nairobi We left the dusty streets of Cairo behind and headed south, officially crossing into the southern hemisphere. We landed in Nairobi, Kenya at a very uncivilized hour of 4:30am. We have learned this is common for air travel on this continent: Weird departure and arrival times help facilitate some of the immense distances involved. Thanks to some local contacts we were able to arrange for a driver, James, who picked us up at the airport in the wee hours of our first day.

Reflections on Europe Other than a quick trip to Morocco for a week we’ve spent the last 4 months exclusively in Europe. For those keeping track we’re technically not in Europe anymore; this blog is meant as an interlude as we work on our first post from Africa. We’ve had a great time immersing ourselves in European history and culture. We started by finding our family roots in a small cemetery in the Scottish midlands. Exploring ancient (Stonehenge) and more “recent” history

Egypt has represented a significant step change in our travel - from the relative ease of independent travel around Europe to a place presenting significant language, cultural and logistical complexities. The pay off for the extra effort is to have experiences and see sights that amazed us. The best part was that we were joined by Grannie Annie (Erin’s Mom) and Lito (her partner Miguel, who we call Lito - a short form of grandpa in spanish) for the adventure. Cairo We arrive

After Ian’s unplanned trip home to Canada, we were all glad to have that behind us and resume our travels to Germany, Greece and Turkey. This leg saw us hop some flights to squeeze in a few final stops in Europe before we journey onwards to Africa after Christmas. Germany Berlin is a fascinating city for students of history - this capital has had a front seat to virtually every major historical event of the 20th century: World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the C

Hauts-de-France & Holland We looped back to France to complete our history lesson of World War 1 - and to spend more time eating french bread and cheese. We chose a lovely little town called Arras, in the Hauts-de-France region, a short drive from Vimy Ridge. The shelling of the town and subsequent “Battle of Arras” left the town largely destroyed by the end of the war in 1918. The town was rebuilt as closely as possible to its prewar look. Unfortunately, further rebuilding w

Venezia We left Italy on a high note, visiting the magical city of Venice - thankfully without the crowds. We were surprised to find ourselves staying right on the island of Venice, but in a neighbourhood where our courtyard filled with Italian kids and teens in the evenings. The day we arrived was college graduation day with hundreds of students partying in the streets wearing corona di alloro (laurel wreath crowns) to celebrate their accomplishments. Gondola ride Overlook

Italia has been high on the list for the Sharps. We consider ourselves lovers of Italian-ness by nature: pizza, pasta, espresso, talking loudly with our hands…. We have immersed ourselves in many different facets of Italy over the past 2+ weeks - uncovering the beauty and the quirks of living in Italy. Scuola di cucina Milano Duomo Finlay is introduced to cappuccino Milano We started off in Milan - a modern, vibrant city in Italy’s north. We opted to stay in a not-at-all tour

We moved to the south of France and wow the differences are amazing: the climate, the food and the architecture were distinct while still giving us the quintessential french feel. We settled in to a quaint little town in Provence called Vaison la Romaine(VLR) for a week-long stay. The area has some of the oldest and best maintained Roman ruins in France and has a wonderful museum dedicated to the life of Romans in the area. VLR is a mecca for road biking, hiking, eating and w

We connected with the ease of train travel with a trip on the Chunnel between London and Paris - how amazing it is to go from one global city to another so quickly and easily. Alas, the Sharp boys were a bit disappointed as they had thought/hoped the Chunnel would be a giant, transparent tube where they could see the bottom of the ocean while in transit like at an aquarium (LOL). The Sharps are learning the beauty and subtle, yet meaningful differences of life in France comp