Anywhere&Here

tales from a travel editor's desk

Destinations

Nothing Found

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching can help.

Search

Follow me!

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,840 other followers

Instagram

Things you must do in Bangkok: Ride in a tuk-tuk ✅ Get a lesson in Buddhism ✅ Stuff your face with street food ✅ Hang out at hipster cocktail bars ✅ Do all these things in one afternoon with @urbanadventures ✅✅✅ . Our Bangkok Hidden History & Food Culture Tour is a collaboration with @nytimesjourneys to bring the @nytimes “36 Hours in Bangkok” article to life. It’s a jam-packed intro to the city, from beloved tuk-tuk transport to the best local spots for eating on the street — like a crispy pancake shop recognized by the king and a dessert bar famous for its pandan or Thai tea custard on toast. . We met with a monk who broke all our brains a bit with his riddle-like philosophy on the meaning of life. His answer: freedom. Freedom from seeing things in black and white, from feeling permanence, from being controlled by our senses. (Didn’t love that last one; I’m a tactile, sensual, epicurean Taurus — we like our good food and pretty things!). . And going from enlightened to tipsy, we finished off at a hipster cocktail bar serving boozy herbal drinks that are said to ignite your power, strength... and lust. Ooh la la. . Together, it all told a story of traditional and modern Bangkok coming together in a way that only #localsknow. ✅ @bangkokurbanadventures @hugthailand @tourismthailand #urbanadventures #amazingthailand

The best way to kick off a press trip to Thailand? By shaking out your airplane legs on an @urbanadventures bike ride through the #localsknow backstreets of Bangkok, along the River of Kings, past temples and street art, through a floating village and along narrow neighbourhood alleyways. And mega kudos to the most game-for-anything journalists @stephenjheard @footloosejasinski @lindyalexanderwriter @emmemckay and @daniellestorywriter who didn’t even flinch when we took a spontaneous detour through downtown Bangkok traffic. 😳 @hugthailand @tourismthailand @bangkokurbanadventures #urbanadventures #thailand #amazingthailand

There’s a very short window of perfect running weather in Toronto, when autumn comes and it’s sunny outside but the air is chill, and the sticky summer humidity has finally gone, and the trees are in brilliant techno-colour. But it’s also so much harder to get out the door at this time of year, waking to dark mornings after you’ve had a summer of long daylight hours. Because of the growing dark, I’ve been capital-L laaaaazy the past few weeks and can feel it in both my body and my head — heavy, irritable, fatigued, anxious. Was going to just do 5k today but then kept going because that therapy vibe under my feet was real and it really is the most perfect running time of year, and dammit if I’m going to keep wasting that window. #rkrunner #instarunners #torontorunning

Eating in Italy: A photo essay and a story. I’ve often joked that I’m an honourary Italian. My godmother is Italian and I grew up with her family as much a part of my childhood as any blood relatives could be. My father had been friends with the family when he was a kid. They were known for feeding the whole neighbourhood, including my dad and his friends, and then as they all grew into teens, feeding their girlfriends, like my mother. And then their children, like me, came along and joined this ever-growing family of Italian immigrants and their adopted bellies. Meals aways involved lots of food and Italian-English translations. The mother of the house didn’t speak much English and I spoke no Italian, so my conversations with her consisted of a lot of hand gestures and laughter. I’d try to use my school French to interpret at least a bit and when I would catch the gist, she’d speed up, excited that we understood each other and then laugh when we lost it again. But I did quickly learn what “Mangia! Mangia!” meant. On the first night of my @intrepidtravel tour last week, our leader Giulia asked us all why we had specifically picked an Italy food tour for our holidays. I was only half kidding when I said I was there for my Italian “heritage.” And so many of my meals on the trip did in fact remind me of those meals growing up. The smell of fresh tomato sauce, the taste of real parmigiana, the long lingering around the lunch table, no one in a hurry for the eating to end. Today, I attended the funeral for the mother of my honourary Italian family, Pasqualina. There were many mentions of her formidable cooking and how she fed generations of us, and how saying no to a plate in her home was simply not done. And then, while driving home, something clicked for me. Some of the family had joked with me that I’ve made a career of eating around the world. And I realized that it was their Ma/Nonna who had taught me from an early age the very thing that defines so much of my travels today — that good food, shared with laughter, is the only common language you need. * * * Food photo captions in the comments. #beintrepid

All content on this blog, unless otherwise noted, is the original work of Tammy Burns. While you are welcome to quote from posts and link back to the blog, please respect writers’ rights and attribute any quotations to Tammy Burns and/or http://anywhereandhere.com. Please do not reproduce articles in full or photos without permission from Tammy Burns.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy