October 2nd, 2018
Greetings from Prague!
We’re back in Prague, the city where we started off our full-time travels back in 2014. We’ll be here a month but not for fun stuff – Prague is where we get our yearly medical/dental checkups. Still, we love Prague and never get bored (we’ve been here 7 times and have spent a combined 6 months).
We really enjoyed our last 2 months in Ukraine and will be back. The photo up top was taken at the Canadian Embassy in Kiev. A lot of people liked our post on Lviv, including the Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine (Roman Waschuk. That’s him up there). Next thing we knew we were being invited to a party at the embassy. It was almost like being back in Canada and I took advantage to drink some Labatt Blue, purely out of nostalgia. It’s still one of the worst beers in the world.
Below: I think I should be a spokesman for Labatt Blue. “Labatt Blue. Still one of the worst beers in the world”.
Speaking of nostalgia and Canadian patriotism, anyone remember this ad?
A gem overheard by Lissette at the Embassy party. A man, making an excuse to the woman he’s standing next to: “I have a photographic memory. I just can’t remember right now”. Ok….
Above: we loved the sign above the beer fridge at the Embassy. Nice Canadian touch.
The beings formerly known as Bbqboy and Spanky…
We were at the airport yesterday and I was reading the News online when I saw that Kanye West is changing his name to Ye. His official tweet “the being formerly known as Kanye West. I am YE”.
Which made us rethink our nicknames. Maybe we need something that captures the essence of “us” in one word. Spanky wants to change hers to “shitalot”. I want to change Bbqboy to “talkshitalot”. What do you think of that? Our new header will look something like this:
Ps. I’m just kidding.
Our Travel Plans (Croatia, Mexico, Montreal, Morocco)
We had planned to fit 3 weeks to visit Georgia on this most recent trip. But we have a lot going on and couldn’t fit it in this time. But seeing how we’re planning to spend next summer in Ukraine we’re considering visiting Georgia and Armenia next fall for a more extended period. But that’s a long time away.
The next 3 months will be very busy. October will be spent together in Prague. Then November and December we travel separately. I’ll be going to a bunch of places. First is Mexico where I’ll spend 2 weeks with my mom. We’ll visit a few towns we haven’t previously visited (I’ve done a lot of travelling in Mexico, it’s one of my favorite countries. Have a look at my Mexico category if you think it’s a destination that interests you). I’ll then spend a week in Montreal. My son Benjamin graduated university and I’ll be attending his commencement. I’ll then be spending 5 weeks travelling solo in Morocco. I plan on visiting much of the country and doing some hikes and adventure activities. I’ve previously written about why people should travel solo, even if they are in a relationship. Last year my solo trip was the week I spent taking El Chepe across the Copper Canyon in Northern Mexico (amazing experience). I also had an unplanned solo trip in Sarajevo. This year it’s 5 weeks in Morocco.
While I’m doing all this Lissette will be going somewhere. Where she doesn’t know or won’t say. But she’ll be making up her mind in the next few weeks.
By the way, special thanks to Heather at Conversant Traveller. Morocco is her favorite destination (I think she’s been there 7 times now) and she’s really helped me out with my planning. Have a look at her posts on Morocco if you want to be inspired.
So for the first time I won’t be spending either Christmas or New Year’s with Lissette. But we’ll be back together in the new year and plan on a slow train trip that will take us from Budapest to Istanbul (with stops along the way). We’re then thinking of a month in both Germany and France in the spring. But again, that’s pretty far away and we tend to plan in 3 month blocks…
Below: Here’s a map of our plans for the next few months. Although it looks really professional I can assure you that I did it…
Day of the Dead
A reminder that the Day of the Dead is coming up in Mexico (on November 2nd, but there are festivities from Oct 31 to Nov 2). The best place to experience the Day of the Dead is the Pueblo Magico town of Patzcuaro.
Day of the Dead is something I’ve always wanted to experience but just can’t seem to fit in my schedule (I’m arriving in Mexico November 3rd this time around…)
Are you a full-time traveller?
Writing back and forth with another full-time travelling couple this week I got an idea for an upcoming post on other full-time travellers. Their background, why they decided to travel full-time, how they fund their lifestyles, the places they’ve been and their experiences, challenges to travelling full-time, etc, etc. I still have to figure out the format. If you, as a reader, have questions you’d like answered please comment below. It’ll help determine the format. If you’re a full-time traveller let me know, I might want to include you in that post.
Monetizing
Readers will notice that we’re starting to include some affiliate links in our posts, the reason being that Spanky is demanding a bit of return from this bottomless pit of time and energy that I call a blog. But for readers those affiliate links don’t change anything – in fact they add value to those looking to book a hotel, rent a car, or reserve a tour. They’re all companies that we use ourselves.
So if you enjoy this blog please consider using these links when booking your next hotel, car rental or tour. We get a small commission out of it, it doesn’t cost you a cent, and it keeps Spanky happy. When Spanky is happy I’m happy and I write all this free content. When she isn’t happy I hide somewhere and I don’t write.
Booking.com for booking hotel stays. Some people also use it to book apartments (something we have to look into as well. Watch out Airbnb!).
We now also use Booking.com for car rental. We don’t rent cars very often but some places (like Croatia and South Africa) you can’t do without. Some of our best adventures have actually been road trips where I’ve rented a car (like our South Africa road trip).
GetyourGuide.com for tours. Sometimes you HAVE to pre-book a tour. When we were in Krakow for example we missed out on the Wieliczka Salt Mine because they had no openings that week. We usually like to wing things, but if there is something we really want to see we’ll pre-book.
You might not be planning a trip anytime soon but if you keep us in mind for the next time it would be greatly appreciated.
Ok, that’s our update. Thanks for reading!
Note: I usually do one of these newsletter every 3 months or so. You’ll find them all right HERE.
Dear Shitalot and Talkshitalot, I love those names. I haven’t come up with mine yet, I’m sure it will wake me at 2am, at which time I will promptly get out of bed and write to you guys…..ok, shit, talkshitalot is taken….hmmmmm…..thinking…….thinking……
Anyway, I also love Prague. My husband I were married in 2006 in Old Town Hall by the mayor. A few years ago…I rewatched our small wedding. I mentioned to my husband about how great the ceremony music sounded …..and how sounded like it was a REAL pipe organ. He looked at me like I was crazy (which is not unusual)… And he said, “what are you talking about??????that’s because it WAS a real pipe organ” ha ha Hahaa. My reply, “Oh” ahahaaaaaaa!
So maybe my name could be: missesalotashit
You can be Miss Takeashitalot, how about that? Between you and Lissette, you’d be the Shitalot twins.
Still our favorite city Malinda (that and Lviv, which is a smaller, less popular, less manicured version of Prague). Prague where we started our full time travels and we always think of it.
Lissette has corrected me because evidently I also miss a lot of shit. Her suggestion: Missesshitalot. And it has a dual meaning, you both can still be the Shitalot twins 🙂
Hola Frank&Lissette… I first stumbled across your site while googling “Croatia hiking” (unintended pun) and that led to your helpful guide to Croatia (living in Split, road trips) which led me to Mexico then to Laos and in true web fashion I was down the rabbit hole to the wider world collectively known as “bbqboy&spanky”… (Collective name changing won’t be easy, guys, some of the best are already taken: “bogie&bacall” “john&yoko”
“ren&stimpy”.)
As for that first link down the rabbit hole, I plan to be hiking and driving around Croatia next May & June during another solo ramble that starts in seat 13F to Kathmandu next March 3rd with no end in sight. Like you guys, I prefer the deeper dive, slow travel, solo travel, exploring the edges, aka following links down rabbit holes.
Oddly enough, I’m a US expat living in Mexico (since 2000) and I’m selling my house in San Miguel de Allende to get back on the road, again. Small world, eh? After having a homebase for 8 years in SMA and 10 in Oaxaca, I’m getting the highway blues again.
Frank, yeah, you missed Days of the Dead again but better to see your first in Oaxaca at the Panteón General and Zocalo and dozens of smaller cemetaries where extended families have a laughing/crying picnic with music, mescal, botanas. Not the disneyfied SMA version.
Give me a shout while you’re in town and I’ll buy the first round.
Hi Glenn,
funny receiving your comment, I’m arriving in SMA today. I’ll have a bit of time so I’ll contact you about that beer. Be interested to hear about your travel plans and maybe I can help you out a bit about Croatia. Be interested to hear about your Mexico stories.
I’ll write you personally over the next couple of days.
Frank
Frank, for some reason I have not been receiving your posts by email? I am a subscriber but not sure what is going on. Anyway great adventures ahead. I don’t blame you for trying to monetise your blog, you put a lot of work here…so why not get paid for it? I will be very interested on your travels in Morocco, so will be waiting for your blog posts with great anticipation. Congratulations to your son on his achievement and good luck to him with job hunting. It is a huge transition for our children to go from student life to real life. Enjoy Mexico with your mum?
Hi Gilda,
A month or so ago I changed the email address that Aweber uses to send out these posts. It was a Gmail address and was landing in most people’s spam box. So now it gets to more people but depending on your email options it might no longer be getting to you :(. I’m sorry, always a struggle with mailing lists.
Looking forward to Morocco as well! I think it promises to be colourful. A bit nervous about it which is always a good thing.
Thank you for the kind words Gilda!
I agree about the monetizing. It talks a lot of time and energy to share with us. I will definitely be using your links when booking.
Very nice of you Malinda 🙂
Congratulations on your son’s commencement! How time flies, right? Sorry to hear about your computer and phone troubles. Same happened with my phone about 3 months ago. Woke up to “device is corrupt” and took it back to the store where they wiped everything out without asking me if l had a backup :-(. Glad you’re enjoying your favorite city!
Thanks Kemkem. Best thing about a son graduating is having to pay the bills. Now he gets to find out what the real world is about.
But I’m proud of him. Not easy getting a BComm in Finance.
Hi Frank, I have recently discovered your blog and am very curious to follow your journey. My husband and I have started our full-time travel last year too and still keep learning how to adjust and not to go back to the same lifestyle we had before, but we are loving our adventures.
By the way, is there a chance for us to participate in your full time travel post?
Hi Anya – definitely you can. Checked out your website and can really relate to your content. I’m also looking for people in different age groups so it’s nice to see an example of younger people doing it.
It’s just an idea for now and might take a few months. Swamped right now with a bunch of things. But will definitely do it and I want to include you guys.
I’ve been following you guys on/off for years. We started on the same note: full-time travel combined with location independent work. Over time, it looks like you adjusted your lifestyle. I have to admit that I missed the better part of your adventures over the last year. Time flies amazingly quickly while on the road. It is my understanding that nowadays you have a more permanent base and travel for relatively shorter periods coming back to your current temporary home. I am curious how does it affect your work schedule?
Speaking of Morocco, we spent 3 wonderful weeks there last May. I am pretty sure that you already planned your trip. However, if, by any chance, you might be looking for a local guide let me know. We were referred to a small tour company by our local host. They organize customized trips around Morocco based on your preferences and wishes. Cheers!
Hi Elena! Nice to hear from you and I’ll also be better about keeping up with your latest adventures. And maybe you guys would like be part of my full-time traveller post?
We had a base last year in Split (Croatia) and thought we’d work towards permanent residency. But the conditions were onerous and we just weren’t ready to commit (imagine, can’t be out of the country more than 2 months/year and not more than 30 days at a time). So things didn’t work out and since March 1 we’ve done what we did the previous 3 years – travel full time. We were in SEA Mar – June, Moravia/Poland/Ukraine July – Sept, and are now in Prague.
Lissette still works online, I do the blogging. We basically have half-day work schedules.
I will have a look at your Morocco posts. I’m planning on travelling it independently but I will take tours and side excursions from the different places I visit. I don’t know if your local guide does this? Do they maybe have a website?
Hi Frank,
I swear that Earth must be spinning much quicker these days: a month looks like a week to me. Or, perhaps, diving into the depths of Moroccan history wiped off any sense of time for me. As a side note, I decided to create a more in-depth review of non-touristy parts of Northern Morocco. Hunting for original sources and translating mostly French or Arabic materials grew into a separate project. Lo and behold, and it’s been a month since I planned to reply. Anyway, here it goes.
Thank you very much for an update about your whereabouts. I would have to look closely into your Ukranian experience – thinking about spending time there sometime closer to the end of 2019.
If it’s not too late for your full-time traveler post – we would love to participate.
Back to Morocco, our local guide specializes in cross-country multi-week excursions. However, they were happy to provide us with daily trips to places of our choice. There is no website, but they have an FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Typical-Tours-1447613512132941/
Cheers,
Elena
HI Elena,
Yes, haven’t gotten around to that full-time traveller post – I’m backed up and it might be a few months. But you’re on the list!
I’ll have a look at that Morocco company over the next couple of weeks. Just arrived in San Miguel de Allende today, have a couple of weeks in Mexico, another in Montreal, then I’ll be in Morocco at the end of the month (with nothing planned, a lot going on).
Thanks for getting back to me,
Frank
Well-done, Frank. I laughed throughout the post. Love the new nicknames but not at all certain they would be well-received. 🙂 But, I could be wrong.
Somehow, the months of August and September got completely away from me and I haven’t been online very much so I am way behind in pretty much all things that fall under the guise of the internet.
Congratulations on your son’s commencement, it’s a definite highlight in the life of a parent. Glad to hear you’ll spend time with your mom again and that you’ll explore more of Mexico. I think experiencing the Day of the Dead would be so interesting. I love the concept and I love the vibrant colors of the art. Such a rich culture.
Hello to Lissette, I’m quite curious as to where she’ll spend her solo time.
Take care and happy trails!
Thank you so much Patti, very kind of you. I’m really happy that my son graduated university (BComm in Finance). Really proud of him. It’s a chapter in life and now the start of a new one (he’s looking for his 1st job now). I’ll be nice to be attending his commencement.
Mexico has such a bad rap but it’s a great place and I always love the colors as well. Maybe the most colorful place anywhere – although Morocco is colorful as well. Look forward to visiting those 2 countries and seeing my mom.
I have a pretty good idea of where Lissette wants to go but until she actually books something you never know.
Went across to your blog and happy all is good and that you’ll be continuing on working towards permanent residency in Portugal. Isn’t Europe great?
Lviv certainly looked like a highlight indeed! Let me know when you’re heading Georgia way too. What do you think you’ll be up to in around 12-13 months? I’m hoping to get to Europe then!
A year from now? Don’t know…I’m secretly dreaming of going back to South
Africa! Whereabouts in Europe Andy?
You look so happy, Frank. Apparently, you are happy to return to Prague.
Thank you for the “publicity” of this unhappy beer. I laughed.
Thanks Victor, we are always happy coming back to Prague. Probably our favorite city – and that’s without counting the incredible sights here. It’s just an easy place to base ourselves.
But we also really enjoyed our time in Ukraine.
I’m a step behind you guys, I’m in Prague Nov/Dec and considering Morocco after the new year, but perhaps leaning towards Bulgaria instead…or maybe …. Lol, I’m like Spanky, undecided with a few weeks to make up my mind. I’ll be checking out Heather’s Morocco post, they might help me decide ?
Now everyone who reads this will buy a can of Labatt’s just to see how bad it is
True, we’ve been kind of following in each other’s footsteps these days!
Morocco Vs Bulgaria in the new year? Big temp difference for sure. We will actually be passing through Bulgaria sometimes late Jan/early Feb.
See, told you I’d do a great job as their spokesman.
Huge temp difference! I do prefer being warm, but…. Hmmm, where’s my dartboard lol
We met a Guatemalan couple during our last few days in Kiev and they didn’t have great things to say about the friendliness factor in Bulgaria. Sounded similar to Romania.
Morocco on the other hand they can be very pushy…but friendly.
So choose your poison 🙂
I think you must keep your current nick names.. considering the options. Good on you for another BBQ boy giggle!
Thank you Jane 🙂