For our fifth workaway of the trip we house sat a straw bale house in Ontario. The owner was away studying in Toronto for three days a week and because the house was completely off grid it needed someone to […]
Have I got news for you
Suddenly, after being more flexible with our time and plans this year than I’ve ever been in my life before, we now have a very clear view of our movements until reaching London. We have even booked our Eurostar from […]
One country, two systems
Hong Kong (or Xiānggǎng in Cantonese) was the name of a small fishing village and the island that it was located on. In 1860 it expanded to include the Kowloon Peninsula and then in 1898 it expanded again to include […]
Between Rivers
The name Hanoi means “Inside [the] river”. It was given this name in 1831 having previously been known as ‘Dragon Belly’, ‘Big Net’ and ‘Eastern Metropolis’, among others. It is apparently sometimes referred to as the Paris of the east, […]
Back to work
For two weeks in October we decided to do another workaway. It was our first in China and also our first which did not mention cleaning anywhere in the job description. It was billed as an aquaponics farm on the […]
Xiahe, not quite Tibet
After looking at prices and travel times for the trip to Urumqi, plus how few unreserved spaces remained due to us travelling during Golden Week (the 7 day period that encompasses October 1st, the founding of the Peoples Republic of […]
Amongst the paddy fields
We couldn’t travel through China again without stopping and settling at an attempt to experience more of Chinese life. Our third workaway of the trip is on a farm focusing on aquaponics. And yes, we assumed hydroponics too, but aquaponics […]
Zao Onsen
We finalised the plans for our 21 day whirlwind shinkansen tour of Japan at our workaway in Busan. It took us two very stressful hours to work out the best way to navigate this elongated nation and see as much […]
Hokkaido: the north island
Japan consists of four main islands: Honshu (the largest containing Tokyo), Kyushu (the westernmost closest to South Korea), Shikuko (the smallest and most rural underneath Honshu) and finally Hokkaido in the north. From this northern island it is possible to […]
All too brief stop in the Japanese Alps
Ever since watching ‘Joanna Lumley’s Japan’ a couple of years ago, I have wanted to walk on the Nakasendo Way. This is one of the main roads that went between Kyoto and Tokyo during the Edo period. On it are […]
