California in December is amazing.
Trump welcomed me into the USA — then had me attacked by wild horses. 😀
California is a great place to visit in winter. I’ll be doing plenty of cycling and hiking.
For 2025, it’s Christmas here with my brother Rob and his wife Yvonne. And their dog Charlie.
We’ll have our official Christmas dinner in Calgary on January 11th. The Great White North.
Ho. Ho. Ho.
I did make the best of the past 4 months in Asia — but not likely to return.
I traveled Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, and Taiwan (which is actually in Asia, not S.E. Asia).
S.E. Asia is ideal for young party animals without much money — who want to ride a crappy rented motorcycle in a thong bikini while drinking cheap beer on the way to the beach.
It’s not great for me as multi-day hiking and cycling cultures are near non-existent.
MOST of the outdoor activities are water related. 🐟
I believe the ocean should be avoided due to box jellyfish and sea monsters.
I’d only gone to S.E. Asia because two Gymnastics competitions were scheduled there. Both excellent. I was happy to be at both with a media credential.
If offered a private jet to fly back to just one destination ➙ perhaps the Gili Islands, Indonesia.
Click PLAY or watch Vietnam highlights on YouTube.
I hate personal motor vehicles. But it’s literally the only way to get around.
S.E. Asian cities are polluted, littered, and mostly should be avoided.
Even in Manila, public transit is too lined-up to be time efficient.
Super keen to finally get to Taiwan, ultimately I was disappointed as a tourist.
I got used to the heat and humidity of S.E. Asia. NOT my favourite climate, however.
On the upside, I saw very few mosquitoes. Only one cockroach. Second hand smoke is not nearly as bad as Europe.
MANY rats. Most in public parks eating garbage litter and around outdoor street food kiosks.
Many would list food as a highlight of S.E. Asia. Personally, I quickly tired of rice based meals. Most of my cravings were for western comfort foods. Toast, in particular. I ended up in McDonalds often as it’s clean, fast, and you can pay by credit card in a machine.
One pet peeve is trying to check-out of any grocery or convenience store. I can’t recall Canada EVER being so slow. Philippines has dozens of people in a grocery store doing something, but still makes customers. spend 20 minutes in a check-out line.
Cash based economies seem so backwards to me now.
S.E. Asia, in general is super inefficient. I do love Singapore, however, exactly the opposite. Everything is fast and well organized.
Many things are closed. Nobody knows why. Nobody knows if and when they will ever reopen.
What Asian nations will I likely visit in coming years?
Mongolia. I’m planning an adventure there in the next year or two.
Pakistan too.
Oman.
Nepal, of course.
I’ve only been to South Korea once. Would love to get back.
The only reason I flew to Clark was for a joiner hiking tour to Mt. Pinatubo.
I’d booked a month in advance. Sent in my passport. Sent in a doctor’s confirmation of health. AND still wasn’t allowed to join the group.
Nobody can tell me why.
It’s yet one more example of inefficiency in most of the S.E. Asian nations. (Singapore a HUGE exception.)
On the upside, the Facebook only group who couldn’t get me on Pinatubo, offered an alternative next day. And I did enjoy my hike to the Aw Sen waterfall with Filipino young people.
Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone serves as a hub for business, industry, aviation, education, and tourism in the Philippines, as well as a center for leisure, fitness, entertainment, and gaming.
You know the name because Clark Air Base grew into the largest U.S. military installation outside America.
Controversial with citizens, the U.S. returned the base to the Philippines after the terrible 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
I did a recommended walking tour around the Clark Parade Grounds.
Nice — but short.
Clark Museum was interesting. Tourist Information and the 4D Video attraction both inexplicably closed, as are so many things in the Philippines.
Rented a mountain bike and did about 30km of touring green spaces.
This no nonsense character was selling used golf balls.
Cycles and Brew had an all day breakfast deal with good coffee.
One thing that is very impressive in the Philippines is shopping malls.
I hung out quite a bit at SM Clark Mall.
They LOVE celebrating Christmas in the Philippines, starting in September !
Sun Moon Lake is a highlight for everyone visiting Taiwan.
748 m (2,454 ft) above sea level, temperatures are more moderate than the coastline.
In 2020, the number of annual tourist visits was 4.65 million people. Yet it didn’t feel crowded to me.
Surrounding the lake are biking and hiking trails for visitors.
I did both.
Cycling around is about 30 km + side trips. I stopped at most of the side trip attractions. Several temples.
The highlight was seeing indigenous Formosan macaques at play. They are much shyer than the macaques I’d seen in S.E. Asia.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Highly recommended.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
My new home away from home in S.E. Asia.
I used to consider Hong Kong my jumping off point for Asia — but I don’t like the dictator-for-life who now runs that city.
I first got to Singapore in 1996. Amazing airport. Fantastic zoos.
Everything WORKS in Singapore. It’s ultra-modern in most ways.
Very welcoming for tourists.
Public transportation is a dream. You tap a credit card to take any subway or bus. And they run everywhere frequently.
I stay in Little India, the least expensive area. Most of the hostels are there.
Mustafa Centre is a highlight. Open 24 hours. Packed at all hours of the day and night. An experience.
YES, Singapore is expensive. But there are plenty of free attractions to keep you busy if you don’t want to pay $30 for a museum entrance.
For example, Shimano Cycling World will rent you a high end road bike for $150. Or you can take one of their mountain bikes for free. Nice.
I did a lot of hiking on my most recent trip. The Botanic Gardens are excellent and mostly free.
It’s a surprisingly green city.
I explored Sentosa island more this time.
My A.I. Halloween costume in front of Universal Studios globe.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
More PHOTOS
I’ve watched a LOT of cycling gear videos. This is by far the coolest.
Quek Shio is a director / creator / cyclist from Malaysia.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Lael Wilcox is my cycling inspiration.
Incredible positive and upbeat.
In 2024, Lael Wilcox set a new world record for circumnavigation of the earth by bicycle.
For 108 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes she rode, joined by friends and fans, with her journey documented by Rugile Kaladyte.
This is the film of that ride, filled with highs and lows, incredible roads, friends and fans. Beyond the record, it’s about the experience and the connections made, and how the bicycle makes it possible.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (90min.)
Our first electric bicycle was my Dad’s Pedego Trike. Purchased 2019. Dad was worried his driver’s licence might not be renewed in his late 80s. This was a back-up plan.
It worked well for Dad (VIDEO), though he wasn’t keen to take it out unless weather was great.
He DID keep his driver’s licence to age-94.
Later, my brother and his wife purchased good value Ebgo e-bikes at Costco.
As a daily pedal bike cyclist, I’ve always pooh-poohed LAZY making bikes. 😀
However, it is clear to me that e-bikes are the future.
And recently I’ve been out on my brother’s electric a lot.
It’s not cycling. Riding an e-Bike is closer to riding an electric motorbike.
Motorbikes are fun. e-Bikes are fun.
They are much quicker than a pedal bike. Ours easily goes up to about 32km / hour.
Great for short trips — but not much fitness benefit.
On the down side, I find them much more dangerous than pedal bikes. Acceleration of electric vehicles is often faster than expected. And our Ebgo bikes sometimes simply take off without being prompted. I have to keep my hands on the brakes at all times, just in case.
This particular e-Bike is great on pavement. Good on hard pack and hard gravel. Poor for loose gravel and technical single track.
Here I am riding gravel to go check out possible hiking trails on Vancouver Island. Reconnaissance.
One day on this gravel trail out of Parksville, I turned back — two small bears made me think MOMMA might be close.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
When not traveling, I stay with my Mom at her home in Parksville, B.C.
➙ PLEASE spread the rumour that I am some kind of son / saint caregiver. 😀
Though I tell people I’m semi-retired, I seem to be mostly retired in 2025.
Retirees tend to evolve a daily routine. Here’s mine as of …
Wake EARLY
Pick up COFFEE at McDonalds
WALK the coastline at Dawn
Internet in the morning. Updating my 3 main websites. …More coffee.
Typically I don’t eat until 10:30am or later.
RUN or STAIRS in the morning.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
If I run, leisurely is 4.5km in 30min.
Lunch
1 or more hours CYCLING
Dinner. (I’m actually starting to cook a few things. Under my Mom’s direction. 😀)
Chores
Evening WALK or CYCLE. Most often just after sunset.
Upper body strength and endurance training at the playground. About 10 minutes.
I sometimes do an abdominal program at home, as well.
9pm TV
10pm SLEEP
Saturday and Sunday I try to shoot some basketball outside the local school.
I SHOULD start golfing once a week.
That’s my regular day. Of course, conflicting things come up.
Right now we’re drinking very little alcohol in Parksville. And I’m trying to eat less this winter compared with last year. Fewer sweets.
Health is still good. Dentures my biggest medical issue.
I continue to listen to about 3 audio books / week. At about 145% speed. Fewer podcasts.
I watch a lot of YouTube, as well.
In my “spare” time, 1st priority is VIDEO EDITING for my Hiking YouTube channel. Over 235 videos since I launched during the pandemic.
Most popular, so far, is a fantastic coastal hike in Portugal.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Overall, I’m very happy with my Aura Helmet — and would recommend it to one and all.
Right now it’s probably the best smart helmet available.
The system is expensive, however. I paid USD $300 for the entire system. You might be able to buy the helmet alone for about $220.
I bought it on Kickstarter. (And might not use Kickstarter in future.)
My delivery was delayed by several months.
Click PLAY or watch my 3 month review on YouTube.
I used an A.I. voice over on that edit.
A helmet once saved me on a crash in New Zealand. I plan to wear this helmet more often into the future.
I’ll try not to lose it. 😀
IF you ride an electric bike, having the SAFEST possible helmet is even more critical.
I really like the quick magnetic attachment of 3 alternate visors. Wearing glasses full-time, very few other types of visors or cycling sunglasses fit.
BUT …
The process for pairing all the devices with Bluetooth is confusing. What’s on their various help videos is not what happened when I paired.
In addition, my first remote was faulty. Support was prompt. And they eventually shipped me a replacement.
The biggest complaint online is that the ON / OFF button is difficult. Personally, I like the fact that the helmet will not accidentally be turned on. I’m OK with the stiff button.
Click PLAY or watch an independent review on YouTube.
Here’s the company pitch.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Here’s one review of the top 4 smart helmets, as of the date of this post.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 