A road trip is a great way to get an authentic experience in Sweden. When you're driving, you can choose to stop anywhere you like, and you aren't restricted to anyone else's schedule. That means no rushing to airports or bus stations! Sweden has all kinds of terrain to experience, from chilly Nordic wilderness to rural farmland. With an itinerary like the one below, you can ambitiously loop all the way from the south to the north and see a bit of everything in about a week. Start in ...
Life
The 6 Best Rainy Day Activities in Kansas City
After all the time spent planning a trip to Kansas City, a rainy day could be an unwelcome intrusion into a hard-earned vacation. You may just feel like curling up in bed with a book, watching a movie, or visiting a spa. When booking your trip, make sure that you search for hotels in Kansas City, Missouri, that have big comfy beds, high-end TVs, or a luxurious spa!However, if you just can't stay in bed, plenty of fun and exciting indoor activities are available in Kansas City. From ...
Top 10 Things to Do in Saint Martin
Imagine a tropical island with a special mixture of European and Caribbean culture and you have St Martin. St Martin vacations are growing in popularity with tourists getting the French St Martin and Dutch St Maarten for the price of one. Here are some of the best things to do on both sides of the island. 1. Cupecoy Beach: Cupecoy Beach is on the southwestern tip of St Maarten. Three beaches are separated by cliffs and is one of the places recommended to watch the sunset. Restaurants and ...
Lost Luggage – What to Know When Your Stuff Doesn’t Show Up
When you head off on holiday, there’s plenty to look forward to. Sun, sea, sand – and a bevy of memories you’ll carry with your forever. However, it’s isn’t all roses and sunshine. Sometimes things sadly go wrong. One such example comes in the form of luggage going missing. Here are some tips for knowing what to do when this does occur:Report it Don’t be shy about reporting your loss. As the CAA point out, most airports will have a specialist baggage area where you can report lost or ...
5 Things You Need to Know Before You Teach in Thailand
So, being either bored or dissatisfied with your local job, you made the decision of traveling far away to seek your fortune. As far as the eastern hemisphere at that! It’s great to aspire, but hold your horses for a second.You won’t require extensive preparation for moving to a local country, but Thailand is a whole different story. Before packing your bags or even searching for a Thai teaching job, you need to be introduced to a couple of facts.Ahead of anything (and this precedes the 5 ...
Under Construction
Cubicle Throwdown is turning 5 years old very soon (wait, what?! FIVE YEARS?!), and my little blog that has turned into a big part of my life is getting a much-needed makeover! Just as I've changed from a dive instructor in the Caribbean to an English teacher in Japan, my site needs some changes too. My new site will be much easier for me to post - something that is the reason behind my lack of posting lately. My current set-up is too cumbersome and makes me just not want to write anything. So ...
Month 53 Roundup – December 2016
Wow, what a year!2016 has been all over the map (literally and figuratively) for me.Here's a quick recap:January - lived in Roatan, went to Canada halfway through for family reasons February - in Canada, interviewed for the JET Programme March - in Canada, and then back to Roatan April - found out I got a spot on the JET Programme, left Roatan for good May through July - in Canada, with a few trips to around Canada and one to Portland in there August - moved to Japan! September through ...
Visiting Ritsurin Garden
You know that picture in your head you have of Japan? Maybe you imagine lush green Japanese gardens, with impeccably manicured trees, zen gardens, traditional teahouses, tranquil ponds and moss everywhere... at least that's what I pictured before I came here. I recently visited Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, and my imaginary picture came to life!At the entrance, there are special attendants who have "I Speak English!" buttons, but all you really need to do is hold up the number of fingers for ...
Happy Holidays from Japan!
I haven't been home for Christmas in close to 10 years.My family doesn't really "do" Christmas, so I'm not missing much. But the above statement seems to horrify a lot of people! I think if you've ever worked in the service industry, you have gained knowledge that Christmas is sometimes just another day.The last few years in Roatan I spent Christmas working, just like any other day. Imagine all those people coming down on their winter vacation and being told there's no diving on Christmas ...
A Weekend in Osaka
When I first visited Japan seven years ago, I crammed as much as I could into my trip. I think I came to Osaka, the second-largest city in all of Japan, for about two days. My memories are hazy, partly from drowning my brain in rum during my recent years living in the Caribbean and partly because the breakneck speed of my trip back then means everything sort of runs together in my mind now. All I remember seeing was massive restaurant signs in Amerika-mura (the "American" neighborhood...note the ...