Category: Dispatches
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Arriving in Da Nang: First Impressions of Vietnam’s Coastal City
We’ve arrived in Vietnam, Da Nang, to be precise. Getting here required what was supposed to be a short flight from Bali, though VietJet somehow transformed it into ten hours of airborne purgatory. I don’t think I’d fly with them again, but that’s a story for another day and possibly…
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Hunting Down the Perfect Banh Mi in Da Nang for Just $1
Today’s mission was simple: find a proper Bánh Mì. For an hour we wandered through the back streets of Da Nang, peering into laneways and following our noses whenever something smelled remotely promising. Eventually, we found it: a small cart, a few plastic stools, and a woman who looked entirely…
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The Bali Scratch-and-Win Scam
Yesterday, Will and I decided to walk the ten kilometres from Canggu to Seminyak Beach. We wandered along the shoreline, stopping periodically for fresh juices and iced coffees. The beach was crowded with sunburnt Australians, influencers posing in flowing dresses, and men trying to sell sunglasses to people already wearing…
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A Chicken Parma in Bali Might’ve Saved My Holiday
To curb the increasingly theatrical relationship developing between my stomach and the toilet, I decided it might be wise to try what travellers call “Western food.” This is usually said in the same hopeful tone people use before adopting a rescue dog with behavioural problems. In this case, the cure…
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A Week in Ubud: Rice Fields, Whisky and Surviving the Spice
It’s been just under a week in Bali, though time here behaves strangely. A single afternoon can feel like a month, particularly when spent half-submerged in a pool with a warm Bintang in hand while absolutely nothing of importance happens around you. Ubud was the first stop. We stayed in…
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50 Years On.
Half a fucking century, I reached this age expecting a revelation. I woke up this morning in Bali with a stomach doing backflips. It could’ve been the ice in the cocktails or the suspiciously cheap food from the warung down the road. To be fair, if you’re doing this place…
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The Unemployment Diaries Vol. 2: The First Day of Freedom
One hour and forty-one minutes. That is precisely how long my newfound freedom lasted before the umbilical cord of my former employment attempted to snap back into place. I was sitting on the balcony, my first official morning as a gentleman of leisure, when the phone on the table began…
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Anzac Day in Adelaide River: Beers, Dawn Service and Vanlife Weekends
It was good to be back in the van again, even if only for a couple of nights. With Anzac Day landing on a Saturday, work wrapped up around lunchtime Friday, and I pointed the HiAce towards Adelaide River. Rolled into the caravan park, set up, and got straight into…
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Vietnamese Coffee, Pho and Why Vietnam Might Be My Spiritual Home
“Gooood morning, Vietnam!” We’ve all seen the movie, and it’s no wonder Adrian Cronauer was in such a high state each morning. Forget the adrenaline of the broadcast; it was more likely the high-octane Robusta surging through his veins. Vietnam is the second-largest coffee producer in the world, a title…