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Iceland: My Introduction.
In Iceland the land is alive. Everything is newly formed with ancient hands. The country shows its fresh mountainous scars with pride while its volcanic pulse beats violently below and a thousand years can be felt in a moment. Land is violently born in guttural heaves while...
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Iceland: The Golden Circle Part 3 – Geysir and Language
Travel can be a way to see back in time. Geysir is a representative of the Old Norse language making its way from the sagas of viking sea explorers to my own familiar stories. “Guysa” in Old Norse means “to gush.” The Icelandic language is the closest...
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Iceland: The Golden Circle Part 2: Þingvellir and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Mid-Atlantic Ridge I first wanted to go to Iceland when I saw video footage of a rift eruption as a teen. It was watching the world give violent birth to a new portion of land that would creep across the world and see civilizations and species rise and fall before either...
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Iceland: The Golden Circle part 1 – Gullfoss
The most popular route in Iceland (understandably for it’s ease of travel and abundance of cool shit to look at) is the “Golden Circle” which is a road loop of a day trip from Reykjavik. It was (and I was told almost always is) a constant crawl of tour buses,...
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Walking on Abraham Lake in Alberta
In the Pacific Northwest, mountains appear to have just burst from the earth in a single violent motion inland, then they softly sink on their way back west. I live on the coast, in Vancouver, where the call of tree-covered towers cries softly from the north – and it only...
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Easter Island/ Rapa Nui: Anakena Beach
Pristine white sand, palm trees (imported from Tahiti in the 60s), turquoise Polynesian waters and stands where you can buy food, water and the most overpriced of the trinkets. This is Anakena, the part of the island that made me feel suddenly transported to pretty much any...
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Easter Island / Rapa Nui: Tongariki
At the base of the extinct volcano Poike, looking away from the distant shores of Chile is the largest ceremonial platform, and an example of the pinnacle of moai construction; Tongariki. Fifteen moai each about 8 m tall stand on a platform 220 m long, or about the length of...
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Easter Island / Rapa Nui: The Forbidden Quest to Rano Raraku
The second day was our time to see Rano Raraku; the place of postcards and virtually every book cover and magazine image associated with Rapa Nui. We resolved to watch our first Rapa Nui sunrise there to make it extra amazing, which was not as straightforward as we thought....
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Easter Island / Rapa Nui: The Southeast Coast
The farthest road and the only road that runs along the coast begins in Hanga Roa and shoots east around to the opposite side of the island before it turns inland at the white sand beach of Anakena. We packed a rented jeep with water, wine, beer, and maps and set out toward the...
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Easter Island / Rapa Nui: Hanga Roa
“Easter Island” is how the tiny volcanic thumbprint of Earth’s mantle in the middle of the south Pacific is known to most of the world. It is a name given to the island by Dutch explorers to commemorate the day they found the land of stoic stone statues. The...
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Easter Island: Arriving in Rapa Nui
The day I awoke and patted Dave on the head to say “Hey, wake up, we’re going to Easter Island today!” was surreal. If I was irritatingly chipper waking him up every other morning, this was surely the one that took it. We grabbed a cab before the sun came out...
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Santiago, Chile: Getting Lost in a Sprawling Graveyard
I was ready. I was so very ready to love Santiago. Instead, I found myself comparing it to Lima, and Santiago’s smog and traffic could not compare to the rush of life and history of the Peruvian capitol. I did find a saving grace; the largest (and tallest) graveyard I...
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Valparaíso, Chile: The Poet Nerruda’s Home – La Sebastiana
At the edge of the little map issued to tourists of Valparaiso and near the top of the hills is the quirky, narrow, tall and perfect home of the poet, Pablo Neruda named “La Sebastiana.” Forty years after his death, his home is the humble and magnificent palace of...
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Valparaíso, Chile: Alleyways, Animals, and 100-year-old Funiculars on an Ocean Hillside.
The first city in Chile I fell for was Valparaiso. Just a two hour bus trip away from Santiago you can trade a desert of buildings and a sandstorm city bustle for a vertical jungle of art and culture. The city is built on a very steep hill, so very unlike Santiago, the women...
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"Adventure, discovery, endless curiosity."
Travel stories from a macabre-loving, kitty petting wino.
Most Recent
Iceland
The last location I updated was Iceland. So far it’s just the Golden Circle, but a trek of sheep, rain, ice, and crazy river crossings is coming.
Current Favorites
Writing makes me happy but posting gives my crippling anxiety. I’m working on it.
Who?
I’m that wine-drinking cat lady who cringes at children, has a collection of vintage party dresses and knows all the lyrics to that 80s song you like, but will only sing along if you sing louder. My home is in Vancouver, Canada, and I share it with George (who co-stars in most recent adventures) two geriatric cats, a whole lot of books, and some dead plants.