I checked out my hotel in Ubud, Bali and made my way down to the airport. I gotta say, driving in Bali is one of the scarier driving experiences I've ever had. People are fairly ruthless on the roads, and most of the paid drivers are extremely agressive (passing in the other lane when there's lots of traffic). You sort of have to trust that these guys know what they are doing, and do your best not to pay too much attention to what is going on. I heard that traffic might be bad, so I left the hotel early knowing I'd probably end up with time to kill at the airport. Unfortunately for me the free ...

After visiting Kuala Lumpur for five days, I decided to take a three hour flight down to Bali, Indonesia. Bali is known as The Island of the Gods due to it's amazing temples. It also happens to be a primary resort area for most Australians looking for an ocean-side vacation. I spent my first few days laying low in the hotel, mainly to catch up on sleep after a fun, somewhat exhausting weekend in Kuala Lumpur. I was staying in a hotel in Sanur, which is a beach area on the south-east coast of Bali. Ultimately I wanted to head to the cultural centre of Bali, Ubud, to meet up with a friend of mine ...

By the time this year is over, I will have spent nearly eight months away from home and on the road. I've been to South America, Europe, back to North America, over to Asia, and will soon be heading down to Oceania. I'll have close to 100,000 kilometers of flying under my belt by the time it's over, and will hopefully have my silver elite status. And yet despite all the traveling I have done though, I haven't really done much backpacking, other than the odd weekend trip. Usually when I go see something new, I branch out from my home-base on a weekend and simply grab a hotel or a hostel for a few ...

Prior to leaving on my first travel adventure, there were a few key people that helped inspire me to leave my North American life behind. One such person is a good Vancouver friend of mine, Robert Scales. Here's Robert's latest BIO: PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer with a passion for management, teaching, underwater photography, and digital media. I’m currently working in Bali, I am the General Manager and a Master Scuba Diver Trainer at Dive Concepts. I’m a former digital media executive. As founder & CEO of Raincity Studios, I spent the last decade working with emerging media and web ...