Notes from the Road: After Four Years of Retirement, I Have a New Job—Sort of
Plus what to know about travel to Peru
Springtime has officially arrived in our little town, more or less. That means that we’re turning our attention from the inside of our new home to the outside with Gillian ramping up her gardening efforts.
It’s an exciting new chapter for Gillian; the last time she had a garden was a decade ago and it consisted of a few struggling tomato plants on a balcony. I think her plans are a little more elaborate now that she’s got more space to work with. You can catch her latest handiwork on today’s Instagram Stories.
Visiting Machu Picchu in 2024
Our visit to Peru was everything we hoped it would be and a few things we didn’t. We absolutely loved our challenging yet cushy lodge-to-lodge trek along the Salkantay trail. Unfortunately, it may have raised the bar a little too high for future treks. While we’ve done plenty of inn-to-inn hikes — you might remember last summer’s trips to Czech Republic and Romania — it was extra special to be ending our long days on the trail with full-service pampering.
There were also a few less appealing elements to our trip. The constant barrage of touting in Cusco became a little tiring after just a few days…and we spent a full week there. Additionally, my romantic notion of what it would be like to visit Machu Picchu — I pictured myself quietly contemplating a world heritage site — bore almost no resemblance to reality.
Still, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we are grateful to have finally ticked off the list. If you’re hungry for more details — including the cost of our luxury lodge-to-lodge trek — we’ve got a comprehensive blog post all ready for you. As usual, it’s our totally honest, unfiltered opinion of the Peru travel experience in 2024.
I’ve landed a new job
That’s right, I saw an open position, applied online, did an interview and accepted a new position. But don’t worry, I’m not heading back to corporate life. Instead, my job is a volunteer role; I’ll be applying for fundraising grants on behalf of a wonderful dog rescue called Save Our Scruff.
One of the dark sides of travel is that we have visited many countries where the local dogs lead a very precarious existence. We’ve seen injured dogs, abandoned puppies, abused dogs, neglected dogs, hungry dogs roaming empty highways, and many more difficult situations.
I’ve always wished that there was something more I could do beyond handing out a one-time meal or making a donation to a local organisation, if I could even find one. Then I discovered Save Our Scruff, a Canadian-based organisation that works with partners in a number of countries to rescue and re-home dogs in need while also running spay-and-neuter programs to address overpopulation.
When we decided to make a home base in Canada, one of my priorities was to dedicate time to service, something that wasn’t possible when we were moving to a new Airbnb in a new city every month. Naturally, volunteering for Save Our Scruff was at the very top of my to-do list. If you’d like to learn more about how Save Our Scruff makes a difference for dogs in need, start by clicking here.
With that, it’s back to gardening while we daydream about our next destination — and it might just be a return to Southeast Asia after spending so much time in Europe and South America. Stay tuned for more.
See you on the road,
Stephanie & Gillian
Stephanie,
So happy for you that you’ll be joining the team at sos. I checked out the web site and it seems like a wonderful organization.
I will be taking a 6 month leave of absence from my job to go to Ecuador to work with 2 great organizations doing the same work in Cuenca and cotacachi. Saw your wonderful video of your visit to Cuenca.
Best of luck with your new adventure and thank you for all of the work that you’re doing on behalf of pets in need.
Jan
Here in Turkey the dogs are generally vaccinated and spayed/neutered but they mostly go unloved and seem very sad, which makes me sad. Congratulations on the great work you're going to be doing.