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What to do. Where to go. Difficult Decisions.
When travelling, one encounters many crossroads. I’ve had to handle my fair share of tough decisions in the past, and right now I’m at another fork in the road. I’ve been on the move for six months...
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The conflict in Syria, spilling over the borders
The way it’s raining tonight is fitting for the current situation. I’m at a bus station in Beirut, trying to find a shared taxi home, and instead find myself staring up at the bullet holes riddling the...
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Getting to know the Levant
Withdrawing from the culture I grew up with this past year has been an eye-opening experience for me. I was born and raised in England, and since 2008 had been living in Canada. Both countries are very...
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Visiting Syrian Refugees in the Bekaa Valley.
It was shortly after leaving the calm surroundings of a Bekaa Valley winery that we stumbled upon on one of the countless Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon. Suddenly, our afternoon of wine tasting seemed...
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The chance to help a Syrian family
Since I moved to Armenia in July of last year, the ongoing war in Syria has become a major part of my life. In Yerevan, I had many Syrian-Armenian friends who had been forced to flee the fighting back...
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Thoughts from Syria. A nation crumbling
Almost a year ago, Victoria and her family fled their home in Aleppo, Syria. They now live in Beirut, less than 100 kilometres away from the borders of their homeland. But the land they grew up in...
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Gelato fuelled stream of consciousness
It’s difficult trying to write something when you can’t think of anything to write about. I sit in a bustling cafe on a beautiful evening in North Vancouver with an empty “new post” window open, and –...
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Blankets for Syrians
In a few weeks time, I will be packing my backpack and travelling once again to the country I called home for the first three months of this year – Lebanon. Whilst being back there, a few friends and I...
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Memories of Syria, five years ago
“Nowhere else on Earth have I so often been physically restrained from leaving the homes of complete strangers in order to stay for yet another meal or another night.” This was the response from Tom,...
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No home, no warmth, no end in sight. Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
“There’s a lady here who has ten children aged under 18, and she’s widowed, and living in a tent,” we were told. The thought of that existence, in the cold of the Bekaa Valley winter, was difficult to...
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Just another day in Shatila
There was a huge bang. Twenty metres to my left, the guy cleaning an AK-47 outside his shop had accidentally set it off. Again. He’d produced the same dramatic punctuation mark to our day a few minutes...
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The magical music monster of Syria
Clearly, the mighty rumble of Beirut’s jam packed highway wasn’t enough. Neither was the regular maelstrom of shelling providing the soundtrack to the dark hours in Damascus. Oh no, nothing could...
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Syrians rejoice as Derby Chip production returns to Aleppo
There was a huge outpouring of emotion in the Syrian community today as news filtered out of the reopening of the fabled “Derby Chips” factory in the war-torn city of Aleppo. The chips, a light, salted...
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An Ode to my Backpack
It’s a sad day when a traveler has to replace their backpack. That day arrived for me today. The day my backpack is to be retired. Moved on to pastures new. We’ve had many great adventures together,...
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