Will Printed Travel Guides Become Obsolete?

(Her: Joanna)

It's been 9 years since my first backpacking trip!  Internet (and smartphone) transform how we live and how we travel.  Looking back at my first backpacking trip, me and my girlfriend only have 1 and only Lonely Planet Western Europe on a Shoe String with us.  That's what we go by for hostels, where to go, where to eat, and how to say "where is the bathroom" in all the languages we need in Western Europe.  Lonely Planet was our travel bible.  

Fast track 9 years later, as Charlie and I research for our upcoming trip to Myanmar, a few bloggers said the information in Lonely Planet Burma is outdated even though it is only a year old!  Will printed travel guide become obsolete in the near future as hard copies cannot catch up with the world that seems to be changing in a faster and faster pace?

A flow of travel memories flash through my mind every time I look at the collection of Lonely Planet on my bookshelf or in the library or bookstore.  It is sad for me to think about may be one day they won't be needed anymore by future backpackers.  

What will become the new travel essential for future travelers in 20 years?  

No matter what, Lonely Planet will always have a special place at my heart.

2-Years Anniversary: Re-living Our Backpacking Days

(Her: Joanna)

In a random occasion, I’ve got asked to tell a travel story that would entice someone to visit a place.  To my surprise having backpacked to so many places, my brain froze.  All these travel scenes popped up in my head like a flashback but they are all more or less descriptive snippets of places I traveled to.  Not stories!  I can’t come up even one decent story!  I cannot believe it.  

 After this happened, I spent the whole weekend digging through my mind for a good travel story.  I remembered so many little but great moments about my past trips.  It has nothing to do with what I see or what activity I did.  What’s common amongst these memories that pop to my mind is that they all left me with strong feeling when it happened.  But most of my travel blogs record what I did and where I go.  I probably have not use a story angel enough to capture my travel on my travel blog.  Then, I got the idea to do a 2-year anniversary blog posts, using a story angel, to re-write travel memories that still left me the strongest impression.   

I’ve always say I like travel because I like to experience different culture and see different things.  So after 2 years, what sticks out?  What did I learn and remember?  Re-living my travel definitely is a treat for me.  It always leaves me a big smile feeling that I’m on the road again.   

Leave me a note letting me know how you like my story-telling blog posts please!

Backpacking Equipment Must Have - Water Sterilizer

There are a lot of equipments out there for backpacker that just add dead weight to your backpack but this is definitely a must have that will save you weight.  Do you always carry at least 1-2L of drinking water with you?  To save a couple of bucks, always opt for the 3.5L bottle water vs. 0.5L so you ended up always have to carry the left over water with you because it is too wasteful to throw them out?  

It was painful carrying all these weight on top of your sac, isn't it?  We thought this is how it has to be until we came across the SteriPEN that sterilize water from any water source so it is safe to drink without needing to boil.  All we needed was a 1.5L bottle and a water source.

I can't tell you how great this is.  BUT, we suggest you bring with you Iodine pills as back up.  We lost our SteriPEN during our trip and ended up having to carry bottles and bottles of water when we track.  Always good to have a back up plan!

You can buy this at MEC Canada or REI, US.

Hostel At HK

Hostel is not a pure cheap accomodation option for travellers. Often travellers pick this option for their atmosphere to meet other travellers, to meet friends, or to share their travelling stories. We have met many friends at hostels that hotels or B&B cannot offer.  There are certain quality to be qualified as a hostel such as a place to hang for travellers to interact, travel information, kitchen facilities. 

I have a few friends who passed by HK to visit have asked me for hostel recommendation here.  There are lots that claim to be hostels but they are just cheap hotels with bed in a room.  That is not hostels!  There are a handful that are sort of like hostels with common area but lacking some nice to have ammenities.  But why?

We have a friend who attempted to open a hostel in HK but gave up mainly because of the ridiculous rent and it was difficult to get landlords to sign lease longer than 2 years, which makes it hard to recover the rennovation cost he needs to put in.

On top of all these, the HK government do not give any slack to hostels in terms of requirement over "safety".  Hostels owners needs to put in a significant investment to match these standards that are shared with hotels. 

All these make it awfully difficult for potentially hostels owners with limited fund to start one up on top of the fact that you cannot make huge profit from running a hostel (may be in some countries you can).

It is shameful that HK does not nuture this alternate type of accomodation to travellers.  Aside from shopping, HK has so much to offer that are not promoted.  One of the things I love about staying at hostels is the opportunity to interact with the staffs who are locals and go to places recommend by locals that are not in any travel books.  Travellers can get a deeper exposure to the local culture through hostels.   HK is such an interesting place with a mix of Western and Eastern culture that it is shameful that we do not support the passionated locals to run hostels and give travellers an option to be closer to our local culture and people.

JoCharvel Christmas @ Taiwan: Yilan (宜蘭) Road Trip #1 - Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup

Life can be quite simple especially when I am traveling.  We got the pleasure to spend our Christmas holiday in Taiwan.  Though it has rained non-stop since we arrived, the food and people totally made up for it.  A big bowl of warm and tasty Taiwanese beef noodle soup (臺灣牛肉湯麵) in the town city of LouDong (羅東) on Zhong Hua Road across the car park (老牌牛肉麵) at a rainy winter day gave me a super satisfying sensation.   It tasted just like the familiar flavour in Vancouver.  Now, that I visited Taiwan, it was so surprising to find out my daily diet back home was influenced so much by Taiwanese cuisine! It is completely because there were so many immigrants from Taiwan in Vancouver and our largest Chinese supermarket , T&T, was own by Taiwanese.  I had the great pleasure to enjoy countless authentic Taiwanese food in Vancouver!!!!

The beef noodle soup was in good filling size with well made soup base that is meaty but not too salty and very generous amount of braised beef that you can never get in HK for the money we pay (well....even if you are willing to pay extra, you won't get such a well made and generous portion).  It is said to say  that as we have more tourists from China, I feel that the food in HK has not only gotten more expensive but the portion and quality are not like before anymore.

I am really in food heaven in Taiwan!

2013 - A fascinating year.

(Her: Joanna)

2013 was a fascinating year for me.  We relocated, found a home in HK, been a house wife, found a job, got married, changed jobs, reconnected with families and started a new life in Asia.  There were a lot of exciting changes but adjusting to them didn't came as easy for me as Charlie.  I struggled and hung onto my life in Canada.  I have doubt whether the move help my career.  Along the way, Charlie helped put myself back on course time after time.  I realize, then, we are in this together and in this life together with many years to come.  

Have I consider move back to Canada? Yes.  Did I regret coming? No.  

I'm struggling to embrace my life while I am here.  It has always been a challenge for me when I move.  In 2014, I will look to unique things in HK to discover and enjoy and less on how different HK is to what I am used to in Canada.     

JoCharvel – 1 Year in Hong Kong!!

(Him: Charlie)

Looking out the window from our Shatin apartment – City One is unsparingly radiating its suburb sleepiness and laziness on this late fall Saturday. With mild sunshine and cool northeasterly breeze soothing the otherwise distressed crowd, the busy intersection below seems particular calm and, believe it or not, tranquil today. It is the best season in Hong Kong after all (fall). And it is the beautiful weather that reminds me that Jo and I have been here for 1 year! I still remember the first weather-related news when we first landed in Hong Kong, that a cold weather warning was forecasting a temperature drop to 19 deg C. Interestingly, a year later, we are bracing for another significant drop to 16 deg C in a few days.

Time flies, but looking back the last 12 months, there’s much worth reminiscing! Out of everything, the biggest milestone is definitely our memorable Koh Samui wedding. In my opinion, it couldn’t have been better. I like its simplicity, its fun, and most importantly, with many great friends, family and relatives. Having another person entering my day-to-day life is a change to both of us and it comes with challenges, but the companionship and the ability to share life is exactly what marriage is about, so I am quite enjoying our journey together, especially an adventurous one. Over the last year, we made new friends, grew in our career, explored new places both locally and internationally, and personally, I completed one o the greatest physically challenges of my life – completing the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker! We look forward to another amazing year ahead!