About Travel Moments

I launched my first blog while living in Shanghai in 2006, in an effort to stay in touch with family and friends. In the seven years since, I’ve maintained various blogs, depending of where I ended up in the world. Taken together, these blogs track my evolution as a traveler and citizen of the world, from the wide-eyed first days of expatriation in China, to my current life as a location-independent digital nomad.

Scattered throughout are all the seeds that would eventually become the Way of Slow Travel: from my rejection of the label ‘backpacker’ in Vietnam in 2006, to my learning about the importance of local food in Edmonton, it’s all in there.

Shanghai, 2003-2006: In early 2003, I quit an IT job to follow my dreams of living abroad. Fortune smiled on me, and I landed my first job in the videogame industry at Ubisoft’s Shanghai studio. China Moments, my first blog, documented my first expatriation experience and my obsession with the craft of videogames.

Edmonton, Canada, 2008-2009: When I began working for legendary game studio BioWare in 2008, I thought I had it all. Instead, I slowly woke up to the realization that I was living someone else’s dream. Gaming Moments started as a videogame blog, but turned into a discussion on travel and the value of small-scale food, thanks to the community of producers at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market.

The World, 2009-2011: Helene and I sold everything we owned, and in September 2009, we hit the road. The result was a year-long Slow trip filled with wonders, friendships, and delicious meals. Somewhere over a cup of coffee, the Way of Slow Travel was born.

Brahmapur, India, 2011-2012: Yearning to settle after two years on the road, we moved to rural Odisha in September 2010 to work for Gram Vikas, an Indian NGO. The experience was life changing and filled with wonder; but faced with tremendous frustrations at work, we decided to call it quits after a few months. The short-lived Mango Blue documented the experience.