rainbow silhouette, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

suit, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

Melbourne is the first Australian city I’ve visited where I really thought I could live.

Lest that come off snobby, let me explain. Well, yes, I’m a snob but really? Sydney? Canberra? Sydney is too big and freeway-strewn and aggro, and Canberra is just kind of weird with all it’s government buildings and legal prostitution. I’m on the verge of graduating and considering my future career options, as is my lovely and Australian Janelle, and as much as I love Vancouver, I’ve been here a while. A change of scenery, well, it’s an option. However, I’m really not a person motivated solely by career. First and foremost, I want to live in a place I want to live. Melbourne seems like a place I could want to live.

As a city on the other side of the world where everybody has odd accents and roughly 90% of the architecture dates to the Victorian period, it’s different enough from Vancouver (or my last city, Toronto) that I feel like I would be getting a new experience. But it’s also not unfamiliar. It’s bustling and vibrant, with yuppies, hipsters, immigrants and middle-class families rubbing shoulders. The combination of broad streets and countless twisting laneways — an artifact of the 19th century gold rush and subsequent real estate bubble that made Melbourne the richest city in the world and second-biggest in the Empire — makes it walkable, colourful and gives rise to a truly impressive tram network. Tasty, cheap ethnic food abounds, even if the Vietnamese restaurants all call phở “noodle soup” and bánh mì “Vietnamese rolls”. It has a really strong art scene (and street art scene) and a lively pub culture, complete with dozens of trivia nights around the city (go Team “Throw Another Ken on the Barbie”! We would have totally kicked ass if it weren’t for the $12 jugs of beer!). The people seem to all be either friendly or entertainingly pretentious. In a way, it combines a lot of my favourite aspects of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, with a dash of junior-league London for good measure.

And it seem like a place where I could get a job. Maybe.

Anyway, after a couple of overnight flights broken up by a 17-hour layover in a Taiwanese airport, I’m back in Van now, and you know what that means! Pictures!

• hipstamatic Melbourne
• Melbourne street art
• Gold Coast
• Madrid
• Paris

Commence info dump in 3… 2… 1…

tower with bird, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

Paris, France

This was my first trip to Europe and I liked it more than I thought I would. Paris in particular, which I was prepared to find smug and overrated. Instead, it was attractive, clean and charming. Not the most forward-looking place I’ve ever been, but not the theme park I was afraid it would be, either. I didn’t even find Parisians rude or anything, just kind of stand-offish, which, as a kind of stand-offish guy myself, I’m totally okay with. I’ll definitely go back to France at some point, though I might try to take a French class first — my Canadian cereal-box French let me read signs and order in restaurants, but as soon as anyone tried to talk to me, I had to throw myself on their mercy, or more likely, just having my French speaking frère Tyson step in. And it really is a beautiful city. One night Tyson and I were strolling through the Champ de Mars by the Eiffel Tower, with the tower lit up and vendors selling bottles of wine in the park. I turned to Tyson: “our girlfriends will be soooo freaking jealous.”

Oh, also, the catacombs are really cool. And the Eiffel Tower. Even the Louvre has it’s good points, though the Mona Lisa isn’t one of them.

Madrid by Night, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

Madrid, Spain

Madrid was cool, but the 38+ degree heat during the day got old fast. At least the city is one of these winding old European cities where everything is a twisting lane. Bad for navigation, but good for shade. Even better for shade is just to spend the afternoon indoors and go out in the evening, when the old city really comes to life. Spain may have 20% unemployment, but the bars and restaurants are pretty full. Didn’t hurt that the night after my talk was simultaneously the pride parade (the biggest in Europe), and Spain’s victory over Paraguay.

Neither Ty or I speaks any Spanish, so getting around was harder than Paris, but fortunately on our first day Nando introduced us to the Mercado de San Miguel — a gigantic indoor market full of little stalls selling tapas, empanadas and sweets, and glasses of wine, sangria and beer, all for 1 to 3 euros a pop. Not only ridiculously cheap due to the collapse of the euro (thanks, Greece!), but it reduces browsing the menu to just pointing and knowing the words “Este, por favor. Dos.” (Even Paris was cheap, by the way. Dining out in there is probably less expensive than Vancouver at this point.)

North Burleigh Beach, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

Gold Coast, Australia

Then, it was so long Europe and Tyson, and hello Australia and Janelle (well, after thirty-odd hours in planes and airports it was). I’m on the Gold Coast now, Janelle’s home town. Pretty relaxing, but the entire city has a little bit of a vibe like a vacation town in the off-season. Which it kind of is, it being the middle of winter here. Our apartment was about 30m from the beach, so every day, I got to go for a run and watch the surfers. Lots of hanging out with Janelle’s friends and family, too, including a CRUSHING victory at the local pub trivia quiz night (Go, Occademics!). Also, some really nice trips to nearby Tambourine Mountain and Byron Bay. Internet situation has not been great, though. I was mostly reduced to the painfully slow, but free, McDonald’s wifi, since the rare coffee shops with wifi charge around $10/hour (!). However, McDonald’s here also serves some pretty good coffee (!!). Their flat whites are quite tasty. Such are my observations on international wifi availability and the differences between local and overseas McDonald’s (or, in Australian, “Maccas”). See? Travel does expand one’s horizons.

Up next: Melbourne. Specifically, Fitzroy. Good coffee, cheap ethnic food and hipstery shops in old Victorian buildings. I have a feeling I’ll like Melbourne. Plus, the film festival is on, and unlike the last couple years of the VIFF, there are actually a bunch of flicks I want to see. (On the minus side, though, it’s also the most expensive film festival I’ve ever been to. No wonder nothing’s sold out yet.)

Eric versus the Arc de Triomphe, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

A full report will have to wait until I have more time and internets, but hey, yeah, I made it through Europe unscathed except for a couple of nasty blisters. I enjoyed bobo Paris more than a snarky small-town Canadian really should, Madrid was effing hot during the day, but great at night, and Germany, well, I spent a lot of time in German airports and they were fairly efficient, so there’s that.

I’m in Australia now, where it’s actually possible to get free wifi, but time is short, so… more later.

I’m pretty happy about getting this accepted for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a big part of my thesis, so getting it accepted to a good venue is a major step toward finally graduating. And second, it means a free trip to Madrid to present it! Hopefully I’ll be mostly finished writing my thesis by that time (early July), so I’ve already booked a bit of an extended tour that takes me to Paris for a few days before the conference and lets me stay in Madrid for a couple of days afterward. My brother-slash-coauthor Tyson gets to go, too, so that should be fun. Especially as he actually speaks French, so he can deal with any potentially snotty Parisians for me.

After that, it’s off to Australia to visit Janelle. I’ll be flying in and out of Brisbane, which is cool, but we’ll also be spending a good chunk of time in Melbourne, which I’m stoked about. From all accounts it’s a really cool city. I’m imagining it as kind of a mix of the best aspects of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Will I be disappointed? Don’t worry, I’ll let you know.

I’m also hoping to talk to people in Melbourne in the research community (for start-ups in particular, but in general, too), so if you happen to know anybody, or know anybody who knows anybody, or you are that anybody, you know what to do.

itinerary, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

• Paris. June 28-July1.
• Madrid. July 1-7.
• Brisbane. July 9-20.
• Melbourne. July 20-29.
• Brisbane again. Jul 29-Aug 1.

SF cable car, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

(More photos on Flickr.)

Janelle’s flight back to Australia departed from San Francisco in the early morning hours of Wednesday, so I went down there with her for a few days beforehand.

Aside from a single day in 2001, and an airport transfer or two since then, I’d never been to SF, so it was pretty cool to see it. I think I had an image in my head from other west coast cities I’ve been to (Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, San Diego) but it’s actually very different. Older and more expensive, and less naturey — the downtown is definitely more Manhattan than West End.

We stayed in the downtown Hotel Des Arts, an “art hotel” like the Carlton Arms in New York, meaning that the rooms are small and basic, but painted with murals my local artists. Ours was done by Jeffrey Fish, and was really cool, with whimsical skulls (yes) everywhere.

We were only there a few days, and neither of us gets all excited about spending all day seeing the standard tourist sights, so aside from a trip to the SF Museum of Modern Art and the obligatory cable car rides, we mostly just wandered (always my preferred tourist activity in a new city). Highlights and random thoughts:

• After a couple of expensive, mediocre meals, we basically gave up on restaurant dining in San Francisco. I simply couldn’t get past the feeling that unless you’re into fine dining (which we aren’t), you can get food in Vancouver just as good for a whole lot less, once you figure in the abysmal exchange rate. After coming to that conclusion, we mostly ate Subway and burritos.
• SF burritos are yummy. Are they really all that? I’m not sure, since I didn’t get around to trying enough different places, but they are pretty good.
• Being at the intersection of the Financial District and Chinatown makes for interesting bar hopping, as we decided to do one night. We started in upscale wine bars and rooftop patios and ended up in a dive bar with old Chinese dudes and trannies, arguing incoherently, and having walked a total of about four blocks.
• I am too old to drink a lot. Never again.
• Seriously, the cable cars are not to be missed. Not only are the views spectacular, but in this age of litigation and safety regulations, it’s great to be in a rickety open car open to the elements, with standees hanging off the sides and hopping on and off in the middle of traffic. Just don’t try to catch it at Powell station — it had dozens of people waiting a good hour to get on, while the other stations were almost empty. In fact, we took the California Street line and had the car to ourselves for most of it.
• Seeing Milk and then going to The Castro was an experience. The place might have been gritty in the 1970s, but today, the place smells of money. Sweet, gay money.
• The SF MoMA is cool, but what I really dug was the nearby Cartoon Art Museum, which had Coraline and Watchmen exhibits, and a huge room full of Gene Colon originals.
• Probably my favourite neighbourhood was Valencia Avenue, which was like a cooler, slightly more upscale version of my beloved Main Street, with taquerías and bars instead of noodle houses and coffee shops. We spent an entertaining afternoon wandering the vintage shops, hipster art galleries and zine stores.

stark landscape, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird.

I was back in The Skatch for Christmas. I had forgotten what -32C felt like, but stepping out of the airport, it all came back to me in a rush.

more pics

Aside from that, though, New York is awesome. I got to see the sights with my friend Janelle, spend some time working in the reading room of the New York Public Library, see Spamalot on Broadway (laughed our asses off), and sleep in a tiny fifth-floor room in a Manhattan hostel which had no TV, phone or internet, but had beautiful murals on the walls of all the hallways and rooms.

I’ll put up some pictures later, but here are a few observations from my time in NYC.

• Going shopping at Macy’s the last Saturday before Xmas was… pretty insane. You know all those shots in Koyaanisqatsi of crowds of people moving, but shot so that the crowds seemed like they were flowing and crawling like they were entities of their own? It’s like that. And it’s stressful. But I managed to buy a Samsonite suitcase at 50% off to carry home all the vintage clothes I bought!
• Speaking of which, shopping for vintage in NYC is almost too easy. It was fun to go to Williamsburg and visit some hipster-oriented second-hand shops, but Janelle and I visited one (admittedly pretty expensive) vintage store in midtown Manhattan which had hundreds of jackets, all organized by size and colour and style, neatly labelled and sorted. And I mean, dozens of old smoking jackets, corduroy suits, disco jackets, Elvis jumpsuits — everything. It’s too easy. There’s no thrill of the hunt. Sure, I bought a red houndstooth blazer, but I felt a bit dirty doing it.
• Abhi is right: tiramisu is a lot better in New York. So are bagels. Coffee and sushi, not so much.
• People in New York are not particularly mean, but unlike Vancouver, they don’t generally go out of their way to be nice. And customer service is mostly pretty bad — or at least, not reliably good. I wouldn’t say I’m a people person: I want simple transactions to be smooth and predictable, and I did find it irritating to have that overruled by the whims of pissy salespeople and surly waitstaff. Seriously, I don’t care if you’re having a bad day — just do your job, take my money, and you never have to see me again.
• My previous trips to NYC had been pretty much entirely in Manhattan, but this time I got to actually spend some time in Brooklyn (mostly Williamsburg). And for the first time I could actually see myself living in New York. I mean, you got trees and houses and people that know each other. Like a real neighbourhood. And you’re still only about 15 minutes from Manhattan by subway. And all this for only $1400-$2000 for a one-bedroom apartment.

on packing

I packed very light for a five-week backpacking trip, and I’m really glad I did. You can see what I took here. Oh sure, I needed to buy a few things, but they were all cheap. (Incidentally, nothing on that list did I actually regret bringing. I owe a debt of thanks to the Travel Independent packing guide for the “pack light, buy what you need” philosophy and tips.) However, there were a couple of things I really wished I’d had at times.

Number one was a lightweight, windproof, waterproof, hooded windbreaker. For travelling on boats, mostly, where it really can be cold, wet and windy. I even have one — I just forgot to bring it. I tried to buy one, but not until I was in the middle of nowhere, and I couldn’t find one that fit me and didn’t suck.

Number two was a pair of jeans. I had a pair of light cotton pants, but just one. And while it’s always possible to get laundry done, it can easily take 24 hours before you get it back, and you don’t want to be in the mountains of Northern Thailand in the middle of winter for a day and a night in a pair of shorts. Now, persons of conventional dimensions might have been able to just pick up a pair of jeans in Asia — it’s a big continent with lots of people, but my problem is, I’m too damn short for Western sizes, and too damn… “cuddly” for Asian sizes. So getting a pair of off-the-rack jeans that fit me simply didn’t happen.

on Lonely Planet

The Lonely Planet books are useful for getting a handle on regions, but are best ignored for details. Once you’re in a town, you don’t need the LP to tell you what a good guesthouse or restaurant is. Just take a look around first, trust your first impressions, and you won’t go far wrong. The problem with the LP books is that they are so popular (especially Southeast Asia on a Shoestring) that pretty much anything that gets a mention is going to be packed, while places just as good — or, often, better — but unlisted will be half-empty. I also found a much better source of recommendations in simply approaching friendly-looking backpackers who have been in the place for a while.

Incidentally, for maps and trip-planning info, I found South East Asia: The Graphic Guide to be an excellent alternative to the Lonely Planet, with a lot less hand-holding.

on pre-planning

Speaking of accommodations, before I left, I was kind of nervous about travelling at the highest part of the high season, so I booked a few places before leaving. This wasn’t a bad idea, but it was mostly unnecessary, not to mention limiting and probably more expensive. Turns out there’s always something available. Even arriving in Luang Prabang the night before New Year’s Eve, or in Saigon at 2AM, I had a room in under an hour. Not that it wouldn’t have been nice to have a place waiting on those occasions, but really, I needn’t have worried. And you know, I’d heard such planning was unnecessary, but still I needed to do it for my peace of mind.

Also, because I only had a few weeks in Asia and was coordinating with other people, and generally didn’t want to waste time, I ended up flying a lot, which meant holding to a pretty tight schedule, which meant planning things out in advance. The plus side of that was that I did actually make it to all the places I wanted to see. The cost, though, was flexibility. For instance, I really, really loved Laos and wanted to stay there longer, but I had a whole itinerary for Vietnam that I had to get to. I’m glad I actually got to see all the things I did, and staying longer was simply not an option, but next time, I’d like to go for a longer, more flexible trip.

across Asia in Chuck Taylors