By BOB FOULKES International travel always amazes me. I get into a magic tube not much bigger than a Wayne Gretzky cigar and after a movie or two, I emerge in a far, far away place. I always feel a little like Dorothy and Toto. Vietnam is not Oz but it’s definitely not... read more
Bucket List | Classics | Travel
By BOB FOULKES Cambodia is one of those countries known to the western world as an unfortunate circumstance, the Killing Fields of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Over a short time, one quarter of the country’s population was brutally murdered, mostly the urban, educated and the successful were butchered by a Chinese sponsored/funded/armed madman.... read more
BY JOHN SKINNER Book Boy is somewhere between 10 and 15 years old — it’s hard to be exact because Cambodians often look younger than they are because they’re smaller than we are, due mostly to poor nutrition. He makes his living selling on the street. He may or may not go to school. He... read more
Monitoring an election in Ukraine opens a Canadian’s eyes By BOB FOULKES A few weeks ago, two things happened to me independent of one another. I finally tracked down a book that I had been looking for and I went off to Ukraine for my second electoral observation mission. The book is called From Dictatorship... read more
By BOB FOULKES I’m a westerner, born on the prairies, living in Vancouver. I’m unilingual. With those qualifications, unlikely as it is, I love Montreal. I’ve had a crush on Montreal since my first visit more than 40 years ago. An old friend, long passed away, took me to lunch at the Cafe de Paris... read more
Bucket List | Travel | Vignettes
Train travel is a 19th century answer to a 21st century challenge: Get off the treadmill and out of the rat race, conveniently, relatively cheaply and with little fuss. It lasts for only a few days but it is delicious. By BOB FOULKES Airplanes are frenetic, providing me a few hours of inflight sanctuary after... read more
By BOB FOULKES I like adventures because they take me out of my comfort zone, and they force me into a challenge that mixes fear with hope. My latest adventure is an eight-day trek called the Tour de Mont Blanc, an iconic 135-km trail through France, Italy and Switzerland around the Mont Blanc massif... read more
Bucket List | Health & Fitness | Sports & Leisure | Travel
By BOB FOULKES I got hooked on adventure during an eight-day Outward Bound trek in the wilds of British Columbia north of Whistler. Since then I have completed a 77-km struggle along the Westcoast Trail on Vancouver Island, the 53-kilometre Chilkoot Trail in B.C., made famous by the Klondike Gold rush, and the 154-kilometre West... read more
By BOB FOULKES In the mid 1970s, when I was 25, I had a dream job: executive assistant to Judd Buchanan, Canada’s Minister of Indian and Northern affairs. He was responsible for Canada’s national parks, the territories north of the 60th parallel and the many duties prescribed by the Indian Affairs Act and other issues relating... read more
Bucket List | Family | Sports & Leisure | Travel | Vignettes | Wheels
By BOB FOULKES There comes a time for every guy to — literally and metaphorically — put his son in the driver’s seat. I love road trips. Men in a car, a full tank of gas, the open road, driving music, roadside diners, no eye contact and no schedule. It is a formula celebrated... read more