Have Internet Will Travel Traveling the world, wherever there's WiFi. The adventures of two freelance digital nomads.

I can’t believe it’s that time of year already. Not surprisingly it doesn’t feel anything like Thanksgiving. No cold fall weather, no turkey, and no friends or family to share it with. That’s not to say that the day went by unnoticed, it definitely didn’t. I thought about all of you back home and wondered how you were spending your holiday. I wondered who was hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, and whether or not Randal had been put in charge of the turkey again. I also thought about our new life here, and how thankful I am that we are able to do this, and more importantly that we’re able to do this together. I know that may sound cheesy, but hey, that’s what this day is all about. Read More…

Yesterday we visited the beautiful Casaroro Falls. We hired a van in Dumaguete the day before, and arranged to be picked up from our resort in Dauin the next morning. We managed to haggle the price down from 3000pesos to 2500pesos (about $58) but it was still a bit expensive with only the two of us. We tried to find a couple more people to come with us to cut the cost a bit, but seeing as it’s low season we were outta luck.

We set out at 9 o’clock for a bumpy half-hour ride through the town of Valencia and up towards the falls. About 1/2 a Km before the entrance to the falls the road became too rough for our van and it was time to walk. (You could do this trip on a motorbike or 4×4 and make it all the way to the jump off point).

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It still hasn’t really hit yet that we live here. Despite moving into our own apartment, and both of us starting up with some work again, it still just feels like an extended vacation. I’m sure that will eventually wear off, but for now I’m just trying to enjoy it. Read More…

So last week after I updated my Facebook status regarding a bug incident there’s been a fair amount of people asking for more details regarding the critters around us here in the Philippines. And while we’d never want to dissuade anyone from visiting… while in a third world country a person should be prepared to deal with varying types of pesky pest issues.

So, back to the previously mentioned bug incident… I was cooking dinner the other night at the outside stove (some unbelievably tough steaks I believe) and while heading between kitchens for various ingredients, I failed to keep an eye on my can of beer. Cooking completed, we sat down to eat. Then as I finished the last of my beer, I felt the feelers of a fairly large sized cockroach on my lips. Needless to say, I was thoroughly grossed out and sprayed the table with the last swallow of beer. Dumping the roach out of the can, I smashed him good. Incredibly, minutes later when I wondered if the roach had crawled into the can or had been packaged there at the beer plant… I noticed he had managed to crawl a good 2-3 feet from where I had crushed him. I smashed him again, then lit him on fire just to be sure. I can understand why roaches will survive a nuclear blast. They’re near indestructible! Read More…

OK I know I missed a week. But some how the days here just seem to fly by. I’m amazed by people who manage to post everyday. Here I am living in a tropical paradise where my biggest decision of the day is ‘should I read my book by the pool or in a hammock?’ and I can barely manage to post once a week, let alone once a day.

Anyway, over the last two weeks we’ve been settling in to life in the Philippines. As I mentioned in the last post we moved into a new place, which has been great. After three weeks of eating out it’s been great to be able to cook for ourselves. And although it’s a little small, it’s nice to have somewhere to call home, even if it is only temporary. Read More…

After three weeks of traveling around and checking out a few different places in the Philippines, we finally found a place to rent. It’s been a bit of an interesting process, as people tend to tell you what they think you want to hear rather than the reality of the situation. It also took a little longer than expected… it seems that filipinos take “Island Time” to a whole new level. Never the less, we now have somewhere to call home, at least for the next month anyway.

We have rented a studio apartment at the back of the resort we’ve been staying at. It’s small but it’s clean and has a kitchen which is great as Mike mentioned in the previous post… Plus we get to use all of the resort amenities like the swimming pool, dive shop, internet and backup power generator (the power goes out a lot here). There’s also a couple of restaurants/bars a small spa, and a free shuttle into town.

Anyway… since pictures speak louder than words I decided to put together a photo tour of our new place…

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We’ve managed to get ourselves set up in a small studio apartment near the beach. Most importantly, with a furnished kitchen! While Kelly and I are often more inclined to head out for a meal than prepare something at home, after three weeks of restaurant food we’ve been craving simple comfort foods.

There’s no lack of familiar ingredients here. Rice and noodles, coffees, teas, and spices. Most are readily available. The basic meat groups are the same… and usually fresher than at home. The seafood is plentiful, colourful, and sometimes confusing. Many types of fish and shellfish are unfamiliar, and will require some experimentation. Vegetables are similar, but of varying varieties. Tomatoes are orange or green. Carrots are short and fat. Oh, the selection of fruit! Banana and mango trees are everywhere and during the storm last night at least 3 coconuts fell onto the roof, scaring the wits out of us. The papayas are amazing. Read More…

About 20km outside of Dumaguete lies Malapatay, a sleepy little seaside town which comes to life every Wednesday. People from all over the island come to, buy, sell, barter and trade everything for anything at the Malapatay Market.

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After a relaxing week on Panglao, we came to the conclusion that although beautiful, it was perhaps a little too small for us to stay there long term.  So we decided to continue on to the next destination on our list. Dumaguete.

Dumaguete is a laid-back university town on the south-east coast of Negros Oriental. Although lacking a white sand beach, there is a quaint little promenade that runs along the shoreline, with a few little cafes scattered along it, which make for a great place to people watch.

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As some of you know, before we left Canada, I purchased a brand new, and very expensive toy to allow me to take, what I hope will one day be some great underwater shots.

I started by testing my new toy in the pool. I wasn’t quite ready for that big blue ocean, and decided that somewhere safer, like the resort pool, would be a better first step. Plus this way if I flooded it on the first try, at least it wouldn’t be in salt water.

With Mike as my test subject I cautiously stepped into the pool and slowly submerged my expensive camera. When I was confident there were no leaks I splashed around a bit and took a few shots. It’s heavier than I expected and took a bit of getting used to, but once I’m deep in the ocean the weight wont really be an issue.  Read More…