I’ve been following travel vloggers Zac and Ine since 2021.
This year they decided to move slower. And mostly visit islands around the world.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Category: travel
Rick’s Travels in 2026 ⛰
So far — I’m planning to keep traveling in the new year.
I start Kilimanjaro on Feb. 14, 2026.
To train and gain some altitude acclimatization, I’ll be in Ecuador above 3000m for some weeks prior.
I have flights booked through to Kenya. And will be deciding my East Africa itinerary from there.
Then most likely to Dubai. And Oman for hiking and cycling.
Then back to Calgary for some spring skiing.
After that …
… living every day as if it’s my last. 😀
Christmas – La Quinta, California
I’d celebrated Christmas with my parents all but two years of my life.
But with both Mom and Dad gone in 2025, joined my brother Rob and his wife Yvonne for the Yule in La Quinta, California. This was their 4th winter renting a beautiful place from Canadian friends.
Loved it!
The Mediterranean climate is perfect for year round cycling and hiking.
YES it’s a bit odd celebrating the traditional Great White North Christmas in a town at 20C.
The municipal park is nicely decorated for the holidays. We walked Charlie there once or twice a day.
Highlight for me was FREE COFFEE at City Hall !
This is ME awaiting my next free Latte. 😀
Actually the grub was pretty good at home with Rob doing much of the cooking and kitchen clean-up.
We only ate at a restaurant one time. Home cooking is the rule.
When we wanted an orange, we picked one off the tree in the back yard.
I spent a fair bit of time at the library.
La Quinta place names are mostly Spanish. There’s much recognition of the sacrifices of military. And the First Nations.
We had a hot tub about every second night.
California should probably just become the 11th Canadian Province. 😀
Consider me won over to the snowbird annual vacation.
We’ve also scheduled Christmas dinner for January 11th in Calgary.
Love the Mediterranean Climate
December in Southern California is perfect weather for me.
Sunny and dry. Not too hot. No humidity.
Here’s where a Canadian snowbird wants to spend part of the winter.
Mediterranean climates typically offer 250 to over 320 sunny days per year.
Shorts and t-shirt every day. ☀️
The main cause of Mediterranean, or dry summer, climate is the subtropical ridge, which extends towards the pole of the hemisphere in question during the summer and migrates towards the equator during the winter. …
Areas with this climate are also where the so-called “Mediterranean trinity” of major agricultural crops have traditionally been successfully grown (wheat, grapes and olives). As a result, these regions are notable for their high-quality wines, grapeseed/olive oils, and bread products.
… Because most regions with a Mediterranean climate are near large bodies of water, temperatures are generally moderate, with a comparatively small range of temperatures between the winter low and summer high.
Southern California is a great place to visit …
Alberni Bam Bam: A Bikepacking Route on Vancouver Island
It finally dawned on me that I can no longer easily hike and cycle on Vancouver Island. We’ve sold my parents former home on Vancouver Island.
In the past, I’ve cycled large sections of this challenging route. Looks ideal for an experienced bikepacker who wants to find out what coastal rainforest wilderness is like.
Unpaved about 70% of a 450-kilometer loop. It starts and ends in Nanaimo, British Columbia, for those coming from the mainland. You don’t need a motor vehicle.
It links gravel roads, rough doubletrack, and a four-hour boat ride up the Alberni Inlet, featuring numerous swim spots, old-growth forests, quirky communities, and so much more.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Christmas in California
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.
My Berlin Koffer by Michèle Allaire-Rowan
My Berlin Koffer – Blissful Memories (2025) is the 2nd of my friend Michèle’s series of lifetime retrospectives.
It’s available on Amazon.
Michèle reads the audio version.
Her first autobiography is Crossing Borders and Cultural Divides (published 2022) which ends 1975.
This book is focused on Michèle’s 10 years in West Berlin — one of the most unique and interesting cities of the world. She lived there 1976 to 1986. Moving only to marry her husband Garth.
If it wasn’t for Garth, she might still be living in Berlin. 😀
Formally controlled by the Western Allies (England, France, USA), West Berlin was surrounded by the Berlin Wall, built in 1961, and bleak East Germany.
German students going to school there could avoid military service. The counter-culture was artistic freedom and living life to the fullest. Nightclubs had no closing. A haven for hippies, punks, musicians (like David Bowie & Iggy Pop), Michèle, and her friends.
My Berlin Koffer is a time capsule of West Berlin between 1976 and 1986, a time when the city was literally an island of freedom in the middle of Eastern Europe, restricted by the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall.
After a few years of teaching in England and in France, Mimi is looking for a change in her life.
West Berlin in the 1970s offers affordable rents, a good university, part-time jobs, and an abundance of cultural events.
For a young, educated woman with plenty of room in her suitcase, the island of freedom seems to be the ideal place in which to settle.
It’s a long and winding road to learning German, studying for a master’s, and finding an interesting job, while enjoying cinema, theatre, music, art, as well as socializing with cosmopolitan friends and adapting to a new culture.
Will this extraordinary city which never sleeps enable Mimi to find what she wants and eventually fill her suitcase?
And if it ever overflows, will she ever be able to leave?
I’d been waiting for Michèle’s Berlin book because my first flight to Europe (1974, I believe) landed West Berlin. I recall that trip vividly. It was a really BIG deal for me. Checkpoint Charlie.
A Gymnastics tour organized by Hajo Elsholtz.
I’m wondering if German boyfriend Alex has a copy of this book. 😀
Visiting Vancouver Before Christmas
Returning from 4 months in Asia, I landed for 3 nights in Vancouver.
Ron and Kate hosting. As usual … 😀
Kate had organized a surprise birthday weekend celebration for Rocco.
I jumped out of a Lonsdale Quay coffee shop to surprise him and Maureen.
We enjoyed a meal at the lively JÄGERHOF restaurant near the Quay. Schnitzel, spaetzle, and bratwurst in a cozy, alpine-themed setting.
Though I was quite jet lagged, and just getting over a cold, we still packed the weekend with laughs, golf, great food, Christmas celebration, …
Ron played around with A.I. photo editing app Nano Banana. Some hilarious results.
December is BUSY month at Chez Shewchuk. All the important people have birthdays — AND Christmas, New Years.
Thanks to all.
Wrapping up 4 Months in S.E. Asia
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.
- World Championships 2025 Jakarta
- World Jr Championships 2025 Manila
BEST of my Holiday
- Best nation for tourists ➙ Vietnam
- Least expensive nation for tourists ➙ Vietnam
- Best hike ➙ Mt. Rinjani, Indonesia
- Best day tour ➙ 3 Waterfalls Tour, Da Lat, Vietnam
- 2nd best day tour ➙ Island Hopping El Nido, Philippines
- New home-away-from-home in Asia is Singapore. Hong Kong now dead to me because of their dictator-for-life.
- Best new-to-me adventure ➙ Motorbike Touring Vietnam
- 2nd best new-to-me adventure ➙ 4 day boat trip from Lombok to Komodo, Indonesia
- Best personal bucket list destination ➙ Borobudur Temple, Indonesia
- Favourite hostel ➙ Meander 1948 in Taipei
- Best photo op ➙ Bromo Volcano at Dawn
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.
Problems for the Tourist in S.E. Asia
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.
Visiting Clark, Philippines
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 !
Rick McCharles 