I look up after 20 minutes of sitting on the subway with my nose buried in my iTouch. And I’m surprised at what I see. To me, it’s a slice of the Toronto I remember, and it simultaneously warms my heart and makes me giggle.

After just a few weeks back in Toronto, I’ve noticed a few trends, one of which is the opulence of iPhones and similar devices on the subway. Most – if not all – passengers are glued to some sort of device – a phone, a tablet, a smartphone, MP3 player, etc. The lady on my left is sending a text message. The guy to my right is scrolling through his music collection. Across from me is a couple watching a video, and somebody else checking their emails.

Everybody has one. The peer pressure is palpable.

Lucky for me, I have one too. And although I was initially skeptical about how I’d incorporate an iTouch into my routine, I’ve done so and continue to push my boundaries by attempting to go “paperless”.

Back to my ride on the Toronto subway. Today, like so many other passengers, I’m mesmerized by my own device, watching some inspirational TED talks that I’ve downloaded.

When I look up, I’m surprised to see two people talking across from me. I can tell they’re strangers; you wouldn’t expect to see these two keeping company.

The woman is plump and dark-skinned, wearing an orange wig that couldn’t possibly be assumed to be natural. I figure she’s in her early 20’s, and I wonder why she’s wearing such huge fake eyelashes at two o’clock in the afternoon.

Her unlikely conversation partner is a lanky elderly oriental man, wearing clothes that he’s likely worn for the last 20 years but maintained as lovingly as possible. He has a broad cheeky smile and a thick accent.

There is one thing they both have in common: bags. Lots and lots of bags. His are filled with groceries and knick-knacks, and hers appear to be from clothing and accessory stores.

“You got iPhone?” he says to her in what I assume is the middle of an involved conversation about such technology.

“No,” she replies as she produces an iPhone-looking device. “But I have this, which is almost the same. It even looks like an iPhone.”

They go on to discuss price and features at some length. I watch as he asks her a series of simple questions, followed by a pause and thoughtful batting of eyelashes while she considers the question and gives him a patient answer. I keep looking for a sign of impatience or lack of interest on her part for being pestered with such questions, but all signs point to her generally tolerating – if not downright enjoying – the conversation.

“You have music on that?” he asks.

She nods.

“You like Bob Marley? I think you like Bob Marley.”

A flickr of a bemused smile floats across her face as she bats her eyelashes with a “No, I don’t usually listen to Bob Marley.”

“Oh. I do. I like Bobby,” he says in a vain attempt to appear hip and find more common ground with his subway seatmate.

I meet eyes with the woman, who can see that I’ve been eavesdropping on their conversation. With a mutual smile and understanding wink, I leave the train and wonder how much longer these two will carry on their chat, how it will end, and what will come of it.

The last time I rode the subway in Toronto two years ago, I had a great conversation with an Indian lady who invited me to stay with her family inIndia.

This time around, I’ve noticed sadly that the increased abundance of iPhones and similar devices has shut people up and drawn them into their own worlds. Which is why it’s so refreshing to see a couple of strangers with such diverse backgrounds conversing and relating and having fun.

That’s the Toronto I missed.

As I walk towards downtown Toronto for lunch, I see a large woman (?) clad in a red ball gown and a sparkly tiara, speaking animatedly on her cell phone. Simultaneously walking by her is a shirtless man singing at the top of his lungs and dancing wildly while listening to his mp3 player.

Aahh….Toronto in summer, on the day of the Pride Parade. This is nothing; I’m still five kilometers from the downtown core (and the parade route itself).

I’ve always appreciated my hometown of Toronto for being among the most eclectic and multicultural cities in the world. Growing up here, I was pretty much a minority as a Canadian-born Caucasian, and I identified Canadian culture with that of many backgrounds. Perhaps it is part of the reason why traveling full-time has come so easily to me; I’m used to coexisting with so many other ethnicities and cultures. Racism is (or rather, was)  not in my vocabulary.

It’s in this spirit of openness and acceptance that Toronto has also become a major player in the world gay and lesbian community. In North America, Toronto is among the most progressive for setting policies, including legalizing same-sex marriage (which happened in 2003).

And for over 30 years, Toronto has hosted a Pride Week Festival (one of the world’s longest running organized Pride celebrations), attracting almost 1.5 million people. This annual festival culminates in the Pride Parade; a colourful extravaganza of expression and flambuoyance that takes over downtown Toronto.

Here are some impressions of the Toronto Pride Parade on this hot and sunny Sunday afternoon:

Wow! Have I already been in Toronto for a month? Where does the time go. Whereas in so many other places in the world I’ve found that time moves slowly, my time back in Toronto has catapulted into mach mode. Of course, it’s exacerbated by the fact that I have a massive list of errands to run while I’m back (like filing taxes and getting a new passport), I’ve made a week-long trip to Florida (stay tuned for future updates on how this No Baggage Challenge trip went), and I have masses of friends and family that I’m trying to catch up with. (It’s nice to be loved!)

And boy – has Toronto ever changed in the last few years. I don’t even recognize the intersection of Yonge & Dundas any more; I saw a picture of it before I came back and mistook it for an obscure corner of Times Square!

So as usual, time management and getting work done has been a juggling act extraordinaire. But I’ve still managed to publish a few articles, as evidenced below. Enjoy!

Wise Bread

Fee Fighters: Fighting for Low Credit Card Processing Fees

Fee Fighters is a free service that advocates for businesses and gets you the best deal with credit card processors. If you have a small business, you’ll want to check out the skivvy here.

Care One

Under 30? Plan for a Working Holiday Abroad

Before you get up to your eyeballs in a career, house, family, and the accoutrements of life that tend to tie you down, wouldn’t it be nice to spend some time working abroad? By having a working holiday, you can earn money as you go to cover your expenses, and in some cases you can even return home with some extra money in your pocket.

Capital One – Endangered Savers

Protecting Your Assets and Income as a Freelancer

Your income – and your ability to earn it – is your biggest asset as a freelancer. But what happens if you can’t earn anything due to an illness or injury? What will your dependents do? We all know that insurance can be expensive – and freelancers rarely get good rates. However, there are viable options out there than can help you protect what’s yours. Let’s take a look.

Planning for Travel Emergencies (Part 5 of 5 in the Saving for Travel Series)

Mishaps while traveling can be both scary and costly. But with a little planning and foresight, you’ll be able to assess a situation and take a travel emergency in stride. So the last step in this series to making sure your travels are a save-savvy success is to ensure a travel emergency doesn’t leave you up the river. Here are a few things to think about.

Profiles & Shout-Outs

Mark at BdayDday.com polled me and a few other location independent people about what’s in our wardrobe. Although mine tends to evolve and change with my location and style preferences, here is what was in my bag the last time I took inventory! It’s interesting to compare it to the wardrobes of other location independent travelers.

The Location Independent Wardrobe

Thoughts that Happen During the Longest Trip on Earth

This is the story of one girl’s determination to take a large trip without layovers, inexpensively, and somewhat stupidly. Please enjoy my antics.

So. The longest trip on earth (or at least so it felt). I endured it recently, and lived to tell the story. It was not 4 days on a train through Asia (we’ve done that), nor was it bumping along in a bus on a dirt road for longer than bowels should have to suffer (been there too).

No, it was nowhere near as exotic a trip as that. It was just a bloody long haul – devoid of culture or enriching or even terrifying experience – from Canada to Australia. Between two points in two countries that are almost exactly as far away from each other on this not-so-small-world as is possible.

The trip should not have been that long. I mean, long – yes. The quickest route from Toronto to Melbourne will still be a 30 hour journey after necessary layovers and airport dramas.

But this journey in particular took 50 hours. And not a flight-has-been-delayed-and-your-itinerary-just-doubled sort of 50 hours; instead this was a completely intentional (possibly delusional) 50 hour itinerary.

It all started when I found a seat sale from Melbourne to New York City – return fare. It was a perfect chance to get me at least close to Toronto for my summer visit, and the price was pretty good. And traveling between New York and Toronto would be a cinch, right?

Well, on the way it was. Flying with Porter Air and enjoying the World’s Shortest Ferry Ride was a real treat after a two day rest in New York City.

Getting back to New York, however, was not as easy as I initially thought. Airfare was double the price than it was to go the other way (from New York to Toronto), which was an initial surprise. And I had no desire this time to layover in New York – I intended to catch my international flights from JFK airport directly.

As time ticked away and I scrambled to make an appearance on Canadian national tv, I also managed to miss the 14 day advance purchase price. Whoops – now airfares were triple the cost I had budgeted for.

Not only that, but finding a flight that would get me to JFK with enough time to allow for delays and still catch my international flights was proving to be a challenge. I finally found a great airfare time and price out of Buffalo – only to discover that there was no way to get to Buffalo early enough to catch the flight. And although I’ve slept on ferries and in airports before in the name of getting somewhere the night prior…it’s not something I like to do if I can avoid it.

And so the most logical solution (for my brain which was sadly devoid of logic) was to hop on an overnight bus from Toronto to New York City. I wouldn’t have to contend with airport delays or missing my flight out of New York; instead I could enjoy a fitful night of sleep on the overnight bus and wend my way across the city before catching a flight to LA, then Sydney, then Melbourne. All with a neat little nine hour layover in LA to break up the monotony (ahem).

All this travel adds up to 50 hours of dehydrating recycled-air bliss. Here are some of my crazed musings that happened along the way:

1) I had already ridden an overnight bus to NYC and gotten across the city to the airport, checked in, and made it to the gate. I sat down in the chair, looked at my watch, and did a quick time conversion to figure out what time it was in Australia. I then mused to myself that Kelly had TWO MORE SLEEPS until he came to pick me up in Melbourne!

2) I struck a moment when I realized why so many people have ipods and similar mp3 players (something I don’t own). 29 hours into the trip saw me going stir crazy as I finished up my nine hour layover in LA (this was surprisingly the most agonizing part of the whole journey –the 14 hour flight to Sydney was easy after this). This particular terminal had to be the dullest terminal on earth, with just about nothing to do and nowhere to eat.
It was here, that I began to contemplate elevator-music-suicide.
I knew I was in trouble when I broke down into tears upon hearing She’s Like The Wind played – elevator music style, in hour eight of the LA layover. I was placated with a self-reminder that at least it wasn’t the Phantom of the Opera or Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head (all elevator music style, of course) for the tenth time. But I was past emotional; I even got teary-eyed at the sight of McDonalds fries at one juncture.

3) And the suicidal-travel-moment that will go down in history for me: (drum roll please)
As I boarded the plane in LA (and embarked on the final 20 hours of my trip), I realized there was one avenue that I sadly had not considered in the process of looking for airfare back to New York. I could have called the airline and tried to switch my ticket to fly from Toronto directly to LA instead of from New York….and saved myself about 20 hours of agony. Then again, since I didn’t make the call I prefer to assume that the ticket was strictly unchangeable.

At least that’s my story, and for the sake of my sanity, I’m sticking to it.

As you read this, I’m in the middle of a mammoth journey from Toronto Canada back to my current home 2 hours outside of Melbourne Australia. The trip is about 50 hours long (certainly the budget booking and not the most direct route!), and after the time difference, the trip amounts to leaving on Tuesday and arriving on Friday.

Oy.

But first, the last few weeks of my adventures:

After appearing on Canada AM on August 13^th, I was asked to do a five-part series for them! Although we were going to shoot it prior to my departure, I ended up being bumped (as you do) by a news story I can’t even bear to give lip service to. (!) However all is not lost; we are looking into shooting something remotely, and it will be aired in conjunction with the release of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget in Canadian bookstores, sometime in September.

Mexico

Shortly thereafter, I boarded a plane to Mexico at an ungodly hour  to join my high school friend Christine as maid of honour for her wedding. We were a group of 19 people, and it was a wonderful mix of personalities. Much fun was had by all, and although we are all feeling a little tired from so much sunshine, heat, and partying(!), we are also exhilarated from the amazing week and picture-perfect wedding.

Toronto – Festival of South Asia

Shortly after getting back from Mexico, I attended the Festival of South Asia on Gerrard Street (in an area known as “Little India” in certain circles). It was a wonderful way for me to celebrate the cultural diversity and my love of Toronto, my home town. I walked through the dense crowds, using common street sense but feeling very safe (ie: not worried about the purse dangling from my shoulder as I might worry in more foreign places) as we ate hoards and hoards of delicious Indian food from the various street stalls.

It rang home that I feel truly comfortable in Toronto, despite how it may have changed since I left a few years ago. Although I don’t know if I will ever live in Toronto again, I am still proud to call myself a Torontonian.

The Journey Home

As I alluded to, my trip back to Oz is over 50 hours in length. This was not supposed to transpire as such, but due to some flight complications and a lack of ability to make it to New York City easily (where I pick up my onward flights to LA, then Sydney, then Melbourne), I am ending up on the overnight bus to New York with the better part of a day to wend my way to the airport for my big flights.

Home

You will notice that despite my Canadian upbringing and heritage, I am now referring to my digs in Australia as home – despite my continued tourist status there. I have some dear friends there, not the least of whom is my boyfriend Kelly who has been tending the home fires (quite literally, as I have received reports that it has been a bloody cold winter!) in my absence.

I believe that home can be an ever-changing entity, and as such, I feel that right now my home is in Australia, and beside Kelly. Later, home will be some other location in the world, wherever I choose to hang my hat long enough to unpack and get used to the place.

Such is the life of a Professional Hobo, for better or worse. I love the fact that I have no idea where I will be this time next year. Opportunities, abound!

So when I “met” Lea Woodward (“met” being a loose term for the sort of networking that happens between people who are thousands of miles apart, thanks to the Internet) and learned of the ever-growing Location Independent community that she and her husband Jonathan are fostering, I had to look further into their experienced words of wisdom in their latest e-book: X Marks the Spot: The Indispensable Guide to Living and Working from Anywhere You Choose.

For somebody who is already living the Location Independent life, I learned lots of things in this 82 page book that made for an informative afternoon read. Most of the knowledge I appreciated revolved around specific applications or services that make living a nomadic life so much easier, such as:

• Global Wireless Internet Service
• Online Faxing service
• How to search for suitable accommodation from abroad
• Remote mailing services that give you a “local” mailing address. (They send you a scan of the unopened envelope, so you can decide what needs to be done with it from there. Who knew such a thing existed?)

But I also appreciated the dozens of other practical resources for applications and technology that Lea and Jonathan use (personal experience is always the best recommendation) to make their Location Independent lifestyle run smoothly.

For those who are new to the idea of Location Independent living, this book is fabulous. You can follow along Lea and Jonathan’s journey, starting with their “regular” and unsatisfying lifestyles in the UK, to making the decision to go and eventually hitting the road.

They provide practical tips for managing each step of the process, including creating a Location Independent income with business advice, dealing with the emotional effects of becoming (and staying) Location Independent, and the ever-important logistical steps to take in wrapping up your life and becoming nomadic.

As the reader, you share in their mistakes as well as their victories in their last few years of being Location Independent. Lea is very open about their cost of living on the road, so that you can make the most educated decisions for yourself before taking the plunge.

If you ever thought about creating a Location Independent lifestyle for yourself, then picking up a copy of X Marks The Spot is a great idea.

Editor’s note: There are affiliate links in this post.

WISE BREAD

Permanent Home Swap: Solution to a Volatile Real Estate Market

Let’s say the real estate markets are down. You want or need to sell your home, but buyers won’t pay what it is worth (or even enough to leave you with a zero balance). And if you have already purchased your new home, you may have to insist on a sale price that the market won’t bear, or settle for a sale price that leaves you further in the red. There is an alternative…a Permanent Home Swap.

Saving for Retirement (and Other Long-Term Goals) on a Variable Income

A variable income coupled with fixed expenses is tricky to manage. In this article you will find a five-step strategy that allows you to save effectively for retirement, take advantage of automatic savings and dollar cost averaging, all the while not over-taxing your bank account on lower-income months.

Household Cleaning Hacks that Save You Money

Here is an assortment of ways to get more bang for your cleaning buck and efforts. From making your own cleaning solutions, to ensuring your appliances are working optimally, most of these techniques below can be used with what you already have on hand. Why not give them a try?

TRANSITIONS ABROAD

The Motivation for Long-Term Travel

In this article, I interview six fellow long-term travelers about what motivates them to travel, how they travel, and what their lives on the road are like. As you’ll see from their diverse backgrounds and travel styles, there is something for everybody out there in this big and inspirational world of ours.

AMEX

To Payroll or Not: Hiring Contract vs Salary Employees

This comprehensive article discusses the pros and cons of hiring contract versus salary employees from both the employer and employee perspectives.

Where is the Business Going? Succession Planning Points for Consideration

When I was a practicing financial planner, I was shocked at the number of small business clients who did nothing but blink their eyes in response to my line of questions about their business succession plan.

These are people who poured years of blood, sweat, and tears into their businesses, making it a corner piece in their lives. With so much invested, they had little to no thought towards how the business would evolve with them.

Here are some points for consideration in developing your own business succession plan.

Accounts Receivable Nightmares: Collecting on Delinquent Accounts

As a business owner, balancing the administrative tasks (including invoicing and collecting money from customers) with doing the billable work in question can be a delicate balancing act. Here are some tangible ways to collect on delinquent accounts without damaging the customer relationship.

NO DEBT WORLD TRAVEL

A Guide to Packing Light for Flashpackers

I wrote this guest post for fellow traveler Brian at No Debt World Travel. It details how I managed to travel to North America for 6 weeks from Australia with nothing more than carry-on baggage. Check it out!

(Not that I’m biased or anything).

More details will follow shortly, and if you don’t get a chance to tune in I will try to post a recap here on the blog. Thanks in advance for your support!

When I sat down to read Queen of the Road, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I should have: the cover of the book is quite explicit:

Queen of the Road: The True Tale of:

47 States,

22,000 Miles,

200 Shoes,

2 Cats,

1 Poodle,

a Husband,

and a Bus with a Will of Its Own

…pretty much sums it up, right?

This travel memoir is written by Doreen Orion, self-proclaimed Long Island Princess who counts among her life’s accomplishments, the accumulation of 100 pairs of shoes.

When her husband Tim (who earns the loving nickname of Project Nerd) reveals his “mid-life crisis” dream of traveling around the United States for a year on a bus, Doreen begrudgingly hangs on for the ride of her life. Being bus phobic, a homebody, and wondering how on earth she would fit 100 pairs of shoes (as well as the matching outfits) on a bus, this was not her idea of a good time. But in the spirit of compromise required for a successful marriage, she is finally lured in by the dishwasher and satellite tv that just might make this bus trip survivable.

With a creative and contextual martini recipe to start off each chapter, and a dose of self-deprecating humour to keep the tone light, this is a fast and fun read. More than once, I was caught in a public place, guffawing out loud at Doreen and Tim’s antics and adventures.

I find that many travel memoirs can be anticlimactic by the end, but Queen of the Road doesn’t disappoint. Lessons are learned, values are enhanced, and crises are averted. I closed the book at the end with a smile on my face, and anecdotes to share with my friends in recommending that they read Queen of the Road themselves.