Adventure To Anywhere

A Collection of Hilarious Signs found around the world

I don’t know about you guys, but funny signs and hilarious translations are some of my favourite things about travel.  Recently, I’ve found myself regretting not taking more photos of these things when I find them.  Luckily, the social media community had my back on this one. A while ago, I reached out to a few different bloggers, instagrammers and facebookers asking for their favourite hilarious…

Hey guys…you good?  You cold?  You freezing?  You dying of malnutrition because your groceries have run out and your front door has frozen shut and there’s 9 feet of snow outside and you can’t leave your house and your life is flashing before your eyes in a flurry of snowflakes and icicles?  Me too.   Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much here in Calgary today.  This morning, I…

Day Seven – Journey to Bush House

After two short and restless hours of broken sleep, I finally decided to give up on rest and begin packing my bag for the next part of our trip…two days of pure bliss and relaxation at Bush House Lodge on Madagascar’s East Coast. We met our (groggy) team for breakfast at 6am and were on the road by 7.  Most of us had only slept 3 or 4 hours after the previous night’s celebrations, but I think we…

How I Beat my Flight Anxiety - 8 Tips for Flying Without Fear

*Disclaimer: I am obviously not a doctor.  The advice in this, or any, blog post can never replace the advice of any medical professional.  What works for me may not work for you, and my opinions and choices are not necessarily right for everyone.  Please seek medical help if you have a severe case of anxiety, consider all of your options, and make an informed decision based on what works for…

Day Six – Walk For Water

Today was our final day in the field visiting local villages on this study tour. The feeling was bittersweet as we packed up the trucks and headed into the rural communities one last time. Our morning began in the unserved village in Belavabary, which will have access to clean water beginning 2017. Currently, they have zero access. I knew I was in for an emotional day.   We broke into small…

Day Five – Ambonidobo

Okay. For real. I don’t even know what to say about today. Every single day that I spend in Madagascar keeps getting better. It’s becoming a challenge to come up with sexy opening paragraphs so I’m just going to cut right to the good stuff.Greeted by traditional dance  I actually had a pretty decent sleep, about 5 hours and I was only woken up twice. It’s funny what classifies as a ‘decent sleep’…

Day Four – Belavabary

How do you even begin to sum up a day that changes you forever? Let me tell you…it’s tough. This morning began with an early breakfast and departure from our hotel in Antananarivo, and then a three hour drive to Moramanga, a small town that will serve as our home base for the next few days as we visit the various WaterAid communities in the area. Road Trip! Once we were out of the crowded city…

Day Three – Antananarivo

We haven’t even been in Madagascar for 24 hours yet and my heart could already burst for this beautiful, strange, mysterious and amazing country. As expected, we didn’t arrive at our hotel until 2am last night, which had most of us getting to bed between 3 and 4. We didn’t have to be at breakfast until 9, though, so we all managed to get some sleep. After breakfast, we had our briefing with…

Day One & Two – The Journey

I am writing about days one and two together because, honestly, at this point, they’re just blended together into one hazy, delirious, exhausting lump. As I am writing this, actually, I am 23 hours into what I have now determined will be approximately 32 hours of travel, from the door of my house in Calgary to my bed in Antananarivo. Right now, I am in a plane high above the Mediterranean Sea,…

Carry-On Only: Two Weeks in Africa in a 40L Backpack

*First off – I want to state that there is NO part of this post that is affiliated with any specific brand, product, or company.  I talk a lot about brands in this post, but I am purely sharing my opinion about fantastic products that I love.  I was not perked or paid in any way for writing this post.* Good morning, guys!  Ok, can I just say – I can’t believe that I leave for…

Flight and Seek – The Ultimate People-Watching Airport Scavenger Hunt

I get it.  Layovers suck.  Especially when they’re long.  We sit.  We wait.  We wander.  We buy things we don’t need at the gift shop.  Sometimes we sleep.  But mostly, we people watch. – – – My name is Ashley, and I’m a Travel Blogger here at Adventure To Anywhere.  I’ve been a traveler for as long as I can remember, and as the daughter of two parents who both worked in travel and tourism, I’ve…

Madagascar Diaries #1 - 1 week to departure

Friday, October 7, 2016 My Bed Calgary, AB, Canada One week.  Seven sleeps.  168 short hours stand between me and my departure gate for New York City.  And then, Paris.  And then, finally, Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital city.   My feelings go from excitement to anxiety to gratitude and back again.  I still can’t believe that I’m really going.  All of the hard work and the dreaming that went…

Coming To Terms With Myself As A Blogger

I’ve had a lot of time to reflect over the past few months.  I guess that’s what happens when you stop blogging, cancel all of your brand contracts, set your Instagram to “private” and stop posting, and go through nasty health issues.  I was silent, but I wasn’t absent.  I was still paying very close attention to the state of things in the blog-osphere.  I knew that I wanted to keep writing, but…

I have a confession to make. Over the past few years, I have been struggling – really really struggling – with anxiety. More recently, this anxiety has turned into panic attacks. They are scary, embarrassing, and often times debilitating. My first panic attack occurred in January. I was at work and it came out of nowhere, and it scared me so much that I left work to go to emergency because I was…

2016 Spruce Meadows Heroes Behind the Heroes 10K Race Recap

Hey, Strangers! First of all, I want to explain myself. I’ve been a little bit MIA lately, and as I’ve explained before, (and, as I’m sure you all understand!) sometimes life gets busy, and the hierarchy of priorities knocks my blog out of the ranks for a bit. These past few weeks, I have been exploring the backcountry of Saskatchewan (yes, that’s a thing), buying a new car, and preparing for the…

I registered for the Rock n Roll San Diego Half Marathon 364 days before the actual race. If you know me, you know that San Diego has been my favourite city in the world ever since I visited for the first time in October of 2014. I knew that I wanted to race in my favourite place on earth, so I started planning a year in advance. I’ve always been a tiny bit superstitious, and I believe in lucky…

In case you weren’t already bombarded by my (over) instagramming and snapchatting this past weekend while I was in San Diego for the Rock n Roll Marathon Series, I have concluded that the best way to sum up this unreal weekend experience is by breaking it down into 3 separate blog posts. The first one (this one) will be a race recap of the Saturday 5k, the second one will be a race recap of the…