Irish in Portugal

  Like the occasional flight, life encounters moments of turbulence. Our unique lives are unconventional and full of freedom, while being challenging, by choosing not to work full-time or have children, we have had to carve out our own sense of purpose and meaning. Raquel and I have lived financially independent in Lisbon for three years now, experimenting with multiple hobbies, volunteering opportunities and part-time jobs. Before buying our city apartment we considered more rural living, with the romantic idea of having a garden to learn about growing some of our own food. But we chose Portugal’s capital for the ease of building community, and its wonderful choice of activities to stimulate our bodies and minds. This year brought itchy feet and a heavy dose of soul searching, as we encountered frustrations, such as injuries and Portuguese red tape preventing our parkrun event becoming official, and we thought of ways to build a better quality of life. One moment we almost bought ...

  During our time in Brunei, word trickled through that Taiwan was something of a hidden gem, so Raquel and I hatched a plan to visit before leaving SE Asia. Somehow we discovered the island was incredibly cycle friendly, so we invested in a couple of foldable Tern bikes for the trip, the rest of our time in Borneo, and afterwards. Tern was aptly headquartered in Taiwan, and ‘the Arctic tern was the inspiration for the company name, due to the fact that it travels the longest distance of all migratory animals and is light and small, qualities the company attributes to its bicycles’, according to Wikipedia. As there were no direct flights between Brunei and Taipei, our journey there and back was an adventure in itself. We drove across the border to Miri in Malaysia, we took part in the half marathon and 10km races there, then we flew with our foldables to Kota Kinabalu (KK), another city in Malaysia. At KK, we unfolded our bikes and cycled to our accommodation, then out for sushi di...

  My last blog post was a whopping 8 years ago in 2016, and soon afterwards my blog website TravelPod ceased operating. Thankfully I saved my writings from the 12 years of travelling prior to that, and now the platform Blogger will reignite the storytelling spirit within me. I must thank my friend David Schlaphorst for his keen interest in my travels, and his question "What happened in Brunei?" will now be addressed! I know I can also count on my sweet mum as my top fan, and my gorgeous wife Raquel as my biggest cheerleader. Raquel and I worked as coaches for 2.5 years from January 2017 until June 2019, helping up-skill local Bruneian teachers, in the fields of literacy and numeracy, across primary and secondary. This ambitious nationwide programme involved 60 international coaches and every school in the country. It was fascinating to work closely with such a diverse spectrum of individuals (coaches, teachers and school leaders), who were all passionate about education and m...

  We didn't originally plan to spend much time in Mexico, but with the flow of travelling we enjoyed six amazing weeks in this vast and diverse land. Prior to arriving we felt apprehensions about safety, with impressions of drug related crime from news and readings. Friends had reservations about visiting the enormous Mexico City, as did we, but we were so surprised and impressed with the efficiency of their public transport, the pretty leafy streets and squares, and total feeling of safety. We leave with such a warm affection for the country and its people, which ranks as one of our favourites on this trip. It was brilliant to dedicate ample time to kicking back and relaxing on so many beautiful beaches. On the Yukatan Peninsula the water was a stunning turquoise blue and deliciously warm. The sea was wonderfully calm, and perfect for floating and gazing up at the puffy white clouds gliding across the rarely not blue skies. By contrast, on the south coast the Pacific Ocean surged ...

  Cuba, the seventieth country I have visited, and probably the most frustrating place I have experienced! Many of the simple things in life are not so simple here. Take easy internet access, for example. If you want to get online you must purchase a card to log into a single wifi provider, and this wifi is only located in hotels and occasionally public places. 1 hotel in town sells the card costing USD 5 for one hour, or you can go to a government building to buy them for USD 2. There we waited nearly an hour in a queue of 20 people as the sloth-like team of 5 staff served the customers, one every 5 minutes!! What's the incentive to work harder when your wage is about USD 20 per month (the same for everyone, regardless of profession)!? Logging on takes a few attempts entering the same two 12 digit codes. Be patient though, as the connection may cut out regularly and requires the codes to be entered again. So Cuba is definitely an opportunity to take an internet detox! This was fin...

  Guatemala in many ways is a great country to visit, and Raquel is in every way the perfect travel partner for me. This blog entry is a tribute to both wonders and the joy of compatibility. A short hop from Guatemala City airport is the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site town of Antigua. Cobbled streets lined with brightly coloured stone buildings are surrounded by towering volcanoes and lush green hills. Raquel and I happily whiled away the hours wandering aimlessly and stumbling across hidden courtyards and gems of cafes selling tasty juices, lattes and treats. Our 'sharing is caring' approach to all meals and our mutual appreciation of healthy vegetarian food, means we enjoy tasting two different dishes and drinks. Because Raquel is "littler" and I have "more muscles to feed", Raquel always makes sure I have the bigger half, and I gratefully receive all donations of potatoes and bonus extras! The day we arrived in Antigua, Raquel found a running race h...