Yarns
A Letter to You Who Hears the Call of a Romantic Life on a Boat
Each day had a handful of half-an-hour drives. It was a halfa to swim in the sea.A halfa to work.A halfa to yoga.A halfa to the pub.A halfa to visit…
A Gay Atheist Goes To Church
I’m an atheist. It’s never normally hard for me to admit that. But last time I settled myself in a city overseas, while looking for community, I found myself in…
High Way to Hell
There is a fine line between discomfort and danger in the context of travel. Discomfort is that sexy stretching of one’s personal parameters in pursuit of a broader lens on…
Sin Palabras: Speechless in the Chilean Desert
Photo by Jens Johnsson Camping in the Atacama Desert with a group of Chilean hippies was always going to present something of a communication challenge. With my bare-bones Spanish, I had…
I Hitchhiked Around Albania
I sit in the back seat of an old Mercedes-Benz that smells like cheap tobacco and think about what I should say to the mystery man behind the wheel. Squished…
Stoned and Paranoid in Vancouver: A Lesson From the Streets
I arrived in Canada to begin what was to become my fourth snow season, but my first long-term solo overseas trip. I had no job and vague intentions of making…
What Happens Once You’ve “Found” Yourself?
We all go through a Mulan phase. Not so much the cross-dressing our way into the army, saving China and cosying up with mega dreamboat Captain Li Shang part. It’s…
A Balinese Jungle Ruined My Gig as the Villa Psychic
Using my tweed blazer, online degree from the University of Metaphysical Sciences, and superior height, I convinced three of the mugs I was living with to follow me into a…
So You Decided to Sit With the Gods?
You look at the biro-ink peaks of Mount Olympus on the back of your ouzo receipt. The receptionist at your previous Greek hostel made them look more innocent than what…
Here Is Good
I stare out the plane window at the twinkling lights in the darkness below. That’s Japan down there. Hitting the ground feels like victory: a life’s dream of coming here…
“What Goes Around Comes Around”: On Accepting Kindness From Strangers
Right now, I should be in absolute shock and wonderment. I’m sitting comfortably in the rental home of three elderly Japanese people, who have just treated me to a magnificent…
Drunk on Homesickness
Seven months into a student exchange in Europe, and I’d only seen two Australians. One was guy who had little interest in reminiscing about our favourite meat pie flavours. “Mine’s…