Monkey & Rooster's Travel Tails

About

We are Paul & Scarlett of Vancouver, BC, Canada and this blog will chronicle our travels around the world which began March 7, 2009.  Currently we have visited almost every country in Europe and will be moving on to South East Asia in January, 2010.  We’ve been together for almost 10 years (married for 3) and this is the most time we’ve ever spent continuously in each others company.  Miraculously, we haven’t gotten sick of each other and now we plan to hit every continent except Antarctica (too far and remote) before we return home for good.  As of right now, we have no set return date.  Yes, it’s kind of crazy to have no real home and live out of a 35-litre backpack for an indefinite number of years, but now that we’ve adjusted, we can’t see ourselves stopping anytime soon!

While we don’t expect to become rich or famous from this blog, hopefully some of you have stumbled upon us from an Internet search because part of our goal is to provide information that can help others when planning their travels.  Trust us, we understand how frustrating it can be to figure things out in a new city!  More than once we’ve found useful information on other people’s blog sites and we hope that, by writing about our experiences, we can help others as well.  Apart from that, the blog is a way to keep in touch with people back home and keep a record of things for our own memory.

If you’re wondering how this trip began or how it’s even possible, see below for more information about us.

If you’re wondering about the name of the blog, it’s derived from our Chinese zodiac signs :)

If you’re wondering about anything else, feel free to contact us!

paul

Paul (Mr. Monkey)

The first question people usually ask is “how is this trip possible for you guys?”  The short answer is that Paul is an IT Consultant and has his own company.  Thanks to the wonderful world of technology and a trusted partner back home, Paul can run his company from anywhere in the world provided there is Internet and cell phone coverage.  This makes the trip financially possible.  This also makes us flashpackers, travelling with lots of technology, preferring hotels to hostels so that Paul can work, and being able to afford upgrades.  Some people say it’s not really backpacking, but we’re ok with that!

Although Paul doesn’t contribute much to the blog in terms of writing, he is the mastermind behind this beautifully designed web page you are viewing now.  Hopefully we’ve accomplished our goal of bringing you an aesthetically-pleasing, user-friendly website which you can use to search for information or read/see what we’ve been up to.
scar

Scarlett (Mrs. Rooster)

The second question people usually ask is “how did this trip come about?”  The short answer – I got laid off!  I was working in the automotive industry as a Finance Manager and I took a job replacing a girl who had left to have a baby, not expecting her to return to work.  When she made the decision to return, I became displaced.  Faced with an uncertain future, we decided to go travel Europe, which led to travelling the world.  Now that I’m accustomed to not working, I’m not sure what I’ll do when we return home, but I’ll worry about that later…

I am voice behind the blog – the author of the majority of the articles (hence this is written in first person because I think it’s silly to write about yourself any other way).  You would think that since I’m not working, I’d be able to keep this blog up to date all the time, but it’s just not always possible!  I do my best, but sometimes I get tied up with people we meet along the way or other things, or there isn’t free Internet for me to use, and this blog falls behind.  Bear with me, I will catch up!
pat

Patrick [Editor in Chief]

I’ve known Monkey and Rooster for almost 10 years now.  I was the best man at their wedding and have had the opportunity to see them both at their best and their worst.For reasons beyond our collective fathoming, a short year after they moved to Vancouver, I found myself halfway around the world in Asia and have been trying (I’m the horse in the boat) since 2005, to come home.As they embark on their global tour, I will be doing my best to keep their entries neat and tidy as they share them with the rest of the world!  Bon Voyage you two!