I often get asked why I love to travel so much. Or why I can't just stay home and skip a year without going anywhere. The reasons are obvious to me but they are not always obvious to others. Here are my top 5 reasons why I'm hooked on travel! Breaking the routine No matter how many road trips I may take per year, a routine is a routine. You get up, go to work, workout, socialize and go to bed. Although I do ...

The Merriam-Webster defines happiness as "A state of well-being and contentment". It sounds like a pretty straight forward definition, right? Wrong... Happiness has a different meaning depending on where you live,  how old you are and the obstacles you have faced in your life. In North America, being happy means owning a big home, riding a nice car, going on vacation every year and having a comfortable amou ...

As I was doing some research for my upcoming trip to Africa, I came across a site that provided the meaning of Ethiopia.  Intrigued by the meaning of other country names around the world, I decided to do some research for you! Argentina  Argentina is derived from the Latin argentum, meaning silver. Early Spanish and Portuguese traders used the region's Río de la Plata or "Silver River", a beach area in Arge ...

What crosses your mind when I say: Amsterdam? Legalized weed, Red Light District, Heineken?  And you're right! Most of us visit Amsterdam for these 3 reasons. But during my stay in Amsterdam, I must admit that one of the most interesting part of the weekend was my visit to Anne Frank's House. Ok ok, yes, the Heineken Museum was also really fun! But I'll save that story for another time! So who is Anne Frank ...

Back in 2005, I spent almost 7 months in Europe. Studying, traveling, partying and eating, I was indeed ready to go back home after an abundance of all those things! But just when you think you're right around the corner of your house, you get a surprise! If  you have a good memory, you'll remember that the London metro bombings took place on July 5 of 2005. To my luck, my flight back home was departing fro ...

I was surfing a few blogs and came across this video from the SMU Travel Bugs. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPQYxnaONaA] When I first saw this video, I told myself: "This is so me!"  It could not describe me any better. I couldn't agree more with everything that is said in this video. Once you start living outside of your comfort zone, it's difficult to settle for a "normal" life. It's videos lik ...

People! I've traveled to many, many cities. Anywhere from Barcelona, to Buenos Aires, to NYC, to LA, to Bangkok, to Marrakech, to Rio. Now, I did indeed have a great time in all of these cities. But in all honesty, Montreal, my hometown, kicks ass! [caption id="attachment_6692" align="aligncenter" width="597" caption="Courtesy of slack12 (Flickr)"][/caption] Festivals Montreal is definitely known as one of ...

In April, during my three-week work/vacation trip, I purchased a few items abroad. Now this is like for anyone who travels, we always purchase something. Though do we ever think about customs and once we return back to our own country. Ya, I have tones of times, but on average most travelers don’t think about it while they are shopping. So when I was in Cannes, France I didn’t really go shopping and the onl ...

This is for all those romantic backpackers, who have found true love while backpacking. So these are the top five places in the world that you must visit with you loved one. Romeo and Juliet: Verona, Italy This is the town were those actual overlook the beauty of it due to so much romance in the air. Why? Well it is where the famous balcony is located of Romeo and Juliet. The balcony can over whelm you with ...

After 13 hours of flying, I have finally arrived in Cannes, France. As first impression after five years, its a whole lot of wow. Things have change! I know, not very usual for Europe, but its not the buildings that have changed its the amount of stores and resturants that have been added to the water fronts main street. There are now many designers stores, which is what I expected since Cannes is the cente ...