Reflections on the ‘best small city in the world’: San Miguel de Allende

April 7, 2022

Overlooking San Miguel de Allende. By Steven Buchanan (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/mexico-san-miguel-de-allende-dusk-5756222/

A recent “Good Tour­ism” Insight about ‘jouis­sance’ promp­ted me to reappraise the con­cepts of sen­sa­tion and per­cep­tion and the pur­suit of pleas­ure.  It triggered memor­ies of San Miguel de Allende, a magic­al UNESCO World Her­­it­age-lis­ted colo­ni­al town in cent­ral Mex­ico.  The story begins with an artist and one of Canada’s former fig­ure skat­ing cham­pi­ons, the […]

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Posted in "GT" Travel World, "GT" Travel in Mexico, "GT" Travel in North America
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Memories of Jordan (and celebrating the ‘bucket list’)

February 17, 2022

Memories of Petra and Jordan by Melanie Kay Smith

I was at a tour­ism industry con­fer­ence a few months ago listen­ing to a talk on the dev­ast­at­ing effects of COV­­ID-related travel bans on her­it­age des­tin­a­tions.  Pro­fess­or Mike Robin­son, the speak­er, cited Jordan as a prime example.  Amidst my sym­pathy for the des­tin­a­tion and its people, my ‘buck­et list’ quest react­iv­ated instantly in my mind.  It […]

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Posted in "GT" Travel World, "GT" Travel in Asia, "GT" Travel in Jordan
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Living Laos by riding it

January 13, 2022

A photo opportunity somewhere in Luang Prabang Province, Laos. Image by Chris Mulder via KTM Laos.

Hav­ing lived in Laos for all but a year since 2009, I real­ise how little the gen­er­al vis­it­or to the PDR takes home with them in terms of exper­i­ences and memor­ies.  Per­haps that is because ever since I star­ted liv­ing in Laos I have wanted to explore my new home on a motor­cycle. And now […]

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Posted in "GT" Travel in Laos, "GT" Travel in Asia, "GT" Travel World
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Impressions of eastern Nepal & the gem that is Ilam

November 18, 2021

Tending tea near Shree Antu village, Ilam District, eastern Nepal

Leav­ing the com­forts of my home has always been not only excit­ing but also some­what com­fort­ing to me.  Travel has helped me grow, learn, unlearn, and relearn things in life.  The most pre­cious memor­ies I have of grow­ing up are of going to dif­fer­ent places, exper­i­en­cing dif­fer­ent cul­tures and lan­guages, and enjoy­ing the loc­al del­ic­acies. Tak­ing family […]

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Find five-star dining in surprising Mae Sot

October 21, 2021

Instruction in the kitchen at HCTC's The Passport restaurant in Mae Sot, Thailand

The city of Mae Sot in west­ern Thai­l­and dis­plays most of the hall­marks of a small bor­der cross­ing hub. Rich in trade, the quiet little town is a fas­cin­at­ing melt­ing pot of people.  Over dec­ades, influxes of refugees flee­ing neigh­bour­ing Myan­mar, many from the per­se­cuted Kar­en tribe, have shaped the city and earned it the nick­name of […]

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Posted in "GT" Travel in Thailand, "GT" Travel in Asia, "GT" Travel World
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Far and wide: Inspired by Hanoi’s hoa sữa

August 25, 2021

Hanoi's hoa sữa (“milk flowers”, named after their milky white petals). Picture courtesy of Minh Quan (c). httpswww.facebook.comshotgun911

Estab­lished some 4,000 years ago on the banks of the Red River, and chosen as the cap­it­al more than 1,000 years ago, Hanoi is widely regarded as the his­tor­ic heart of Viet­nam. It clings strongly to tra­di­tions. The city’s Old Quarter trans­ports vis­it­ors back in time. Over the cen­tur­ies, Hanoi has been exposed to the ups […]

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Posted in "GT" Travel World, "GT" Travel in Asia, "GT" Travel in Vietnam
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