They call it One Happy Island, and to be fair, Aruba lives up to its nickname. Beneath the polished glamour of upscale resorts and year-around sunshine, Aruba is actually full of surprises. For starters, I had no idea what language to greet people in. “Hola” felt natural to me - this is the Caribbean, right? But that wasn't how locals greeted each other. After some eavesdropping, I cracked the code: “Bom Dia.” Not Dutch, not Spanish, but Papiamento - a mix of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and African languages. This basically sums it up: Aruba isn’t what you expect, and that’s exactly why it’s worth exploring. 

There is honestly nothing like the Panama Railroad anywhere else in the world. Completed a mind-blowing 170 (!) years ago, its construction was a story of human endurance. Suffering deadly diseases and relentless exhaustion that claimed about 10,000 lives, workers continued to hack their way through impenetrable virgin jungle, endured torrential rains for eight months each year, and navigated political turmoil and staff shortage, all while relying on almost everything from construction materials to food shipped from New York and New Orleans. Such was the monumental cost of linking two oceans and making what would become the most vital transportation artery in the world. Shall we take a ride? 

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is one of the largest and most popular cherry blossom festivals in Canada. With over 43,000 cherry trees across the city, the festival celebrates the beauty of these stunning trees through various events and activities. There's no single cluster where cherry blossoms can be seen. Instead, these stunning trees are everywhere blooming in every corner. As someone who fell in love with Vancouver many years ago, I was very excited to visit my favourite city again when an opportunity presented itself and capture the beauty of cherry blossoms.