Hi! I'm Ian
I’m from Quebec City in Canada, and at a very young age, I had dreams to discover the world. I imagined a life of endless travel, off the grid, out of the ordinary… In 2002 I designed a system to make it possible through online income. Little did I know, this new form of lifestyle would later become widespread with thousands of new adepts, known as digital nomads.
Fast forward today, more than 20 years on the road, non-stop and counting, I how visited 230 countries, including every one of the 195 recognized by the United Nations. I’ve circled the globe more than 6 times and filled 11 passports on the way… My digital nomad lifestyle is now deeply encrusted in me and I pride myself every day to have inspired travelers from around the world to grab their backpacks, and embark on their own journey on the open road!
Countries I've Been: 230, including 195/195 U.N. Countries
Latest Articles
Blablacar, a new useful cheap travel service in my toolbox
I was recently traveling from Budapest to Vienna and since I had heard about how blablacar was getting popular in Spain, I installed it and decided to give it a try. It seems to be an interesting solution, being basically the Airbnb or Uber of share riding and can ultimately drive the cost of my travels even lower. Trains in Eastern are cheap and many times there is only one option available between two cities. But back in Western Europe if you don’t shop around you can easily pay 3 to 4 times the price by traveling by train. The Budapest to Vienna train was about 35 euros and the Bus a little less, about 20. After checking with blablacar, there were about 5 drivers making the trip, for an average 15 euros. That’s very good savings while traveling on a budget. Back in the days when I was just a student and traveling ultra budget that would have cut down costs and definitely helped […]
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Why Colombia Should Be Top of Your List to Settle as a Digital Nomad
With the recent increase in security in Colombia due to agreements between the Colombian Government and the long-term Guerilla named FARC, tourism in the country has enjoyed a decent increase in popularity. Also made famous by the Medellin Cartel leader Pablo Escobar in many films and T.V. Series, Medellin stands as the highlight of most people’s itinerary, together with Cartagena. Many people started asking me lately for tips about this beautiful country and where they should go while visiting. I have mentioned many times that my favorite country in South America was Brazil, but in the past few years, I have had a preference for Colombia and having stayed there several times, it is one of my top destinations for a great living place as a Digital Nomad. The Quality /Price ratio is super high in Colombia! You get an amazing lifestyle with great infrastructure and accommodation choice, at a very low cost. Transportation on the ground is very cheap too, with choices of taxis […]
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World Map of The Most Beautiful Countries, Through The Eyes of a Man Who Visited Them All
This is part of my series about maps of the world where I compare each country I have visited in different categories. The point of this analysis is that after having visited almost all the countries (173/196) I believe I have finally acquired the experience and the credibility to be able to put them side by side and give an honest comparison. Of course, many of them are personal views following my personal tastes and is only a generalization. But since I get so many questions all the time about “what is my favorite country, for this, for that, for everything… “ I decided to represent my results graphically for people to get a better understanding of my opinion. The world is truly a marvelous place! And humans are truly an amazing species! It is pretty incredible what human intelligence and creativity have been able to do in different places in the world, under different climates, different geography, and different beliefs. This creativity has resulted […]
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My Thailand “Top 5 lists” for Best Cities, Festivals, Friendliness, Nature and Beaches
Very few countries have as much to offer than Thailand in terms of activities and fun factor for your holiday. Adding to the fact that it is still a very cheap country, it is no wonder it ranks as my number one “Quality/Price” destination in the world. Nowadays, the country has adapted to satisfy the whole range of tourism, from backpackers to luxury tourism and is now one of the best places for digital nomads to head first to settle in their new life. I know many of them which never made it further than Thailand itself. Through my 10+ visits to Thailand, I have accumulated a lot of experience and knowledge about this wonderful country and continue to highly recommend it to anyone asking me for a nice place to spend their holiday. Many people usually just ask me my top 5s list… so to make it easy I have prepared my top 5 list of everything. Top 5 Favorite Cities • Koh Samui […]
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How the Story of Otto Warmbier in North Korea Could Have Been Mine, Yours, or Anyone of Us Present at the Wrong Time…
I’m usually the one saying to people “don’t believe too much what you see on the news, it’s not what it seems over there”… While I do believe that most people are definitely too paranoid as a result of all the negative news about some countries on TV, it’s true that for some destinations, extra caution is required… I was in North Korea in December 2015, exactly one month before Otto went on the same trip, with the same tour company, at the same hotel I was. He basically booked the same tour as I did from a company called Young Pioneers, which is one of the few tour companies that are licensed to organize such tours in North Korea. There are about 20 of them, but they all redirecting people to one single government-run company in North Korea. On arrival, all tourists are joined together in one tour bus and escorted to the same hotel in the middle of an island in the middle […]
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