Where Does a Travel Writer Spend her Money? On Spas

It’s 4:30 in the morning and I’ve got jet lag bad. No, I’ve never found a remedy for it except time. And I’ve tried everything. Right now I just rummaged through my cupboard to find some melatonin, the sleep hormone, and am waiting for it to kick in. If it kicks in. And while I wait [...]

Hiking in Switzerland – Foreign Confusion

There is no denying Bad Ragaz is a lovely Alpine town – Heidi country for sure. But try hiking here without reading German and you can find yourself in a mess of confusion. I was happily following the walking trail along the Rhine – keeping to the yellow Wanderweg signs, which I guess means nature [...]

Switzerland – Peeing in a 13th Century Tower

The things you think about when hiking alone. In this case it was literary poop. Some scenes in a book stay with you for life. In Bear, the best-known book by the late Canadian author, Marian Engel, the female protagonist, Lou, goes outside and shits with a bear. It’s a strangely erotic relationship between the [...]

I Missed the Party in Zurich

  This is how cool I am. During Fashion Week in Toronto I was invited to zero shows, parties and/or events. Not one. Oh,wait … I just checked my email and was invited to the Andrew Majtenyi show. I did go the year before and he’s a rockin’ Canadian designer. I guess travel journalists don’t rate [...]

Travel Blogging an Expensive Prospect

I want to blog about the Zimtstern fashion show I went to last night in Zurich but at 20 bucks to use the Internet at my hotel, forget it. It was in the hip and cool slightly dodgy area of Zurich West – dirty chic you might say – and the snowboarding fashions were much [...]

Blogging on the Road – St Moritz

I had no idea it would be so hard to keep up a blog while travelling – especially when you’re on a press trip and your time is not your own. But how can I not mention St Moritz, the elite of the elite of the ski world. From the highest hot tub in the [...]

Hockey Night in Zurich – VIP Style

 It’s not every day I go to a hockey game. It’s not any day I go to a hockey game. But when in Zürich, do as the local fans do. EVZ, the hockey team from a town called Zug are playing the ZSC Lions, the home team here in Zürich. The Lions are winning 3 to 1, [...]

Writing on the Road – Switzerland

This is what my Rick Steves guidebook says about Geneva. “Skip the big, dull city of Geneva: instead, sleep in fun, breezy Lausanne.” Well! I loved Geneva, even if I was there less than 24 hours. I loved the view from my window at Hotel le Richemond that overlooks Lake Geneva, though it seemed particularly poignant since [...]

Travel is Never Easy – Even for a Travel Writer

On Thursday afternoon I called British Airways to try and get a window seat for my Saturday night flight. “What’s you reference number?” asked the woman on the other end of the line. I gave it to her. “Sorry,” she said. “Your ticket wasn’t paid and you’ve been erased from the system.” “Pardon?” “Deleted. It’s [...]

Where Am I? A Travel Writer’s Life of Confusion

Okay, physically I’m in Toronto. I know that because the view out of my window shows highrises and trees with dingy gold coloured leaves ready to fall. Mentally, I’m still on the island of Grand Bahama thinking about pirate treasure and the burial sites of the Lucayan people who onced lived here. There. Whatever. At the same [...]