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
196 or 195 Countries in the world? Why I readjusted my count
For as long as I could remember, I had been counting the world as 196 countries. This number is usually considered one of the most popular counts by the travel community as a means of measurements. It amounts to the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations, plus 2 observer countries (Vatican and Palestine) and Kosovo which s part of the IMF and World Bank. Some even include Taiwan as a 197th. But once I got closer to finishing the world, I decided to backtrack and use another popular count: 195. This comprises the 193 and the two observers, but not Kosovo. It is not recognized as an observer and thus, not really qualifies as a full country. This seems to be the most accepted convention as of 2021. I have been twice to Kosovo and really enjoyed my time there. But I have decided that until it strikes the observer status, I would not count it in my official count of countries visited. Some […]
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One Day in Rio de Janeiro
Here’s a little snapshot I wanted to share where I am at the moment. Spending time home in quarantine isn’t easy. At least I have the beauty of the marvelous city of Rio de Janeiro to keep my morale up while I can’t continue traveling around the world. I decided to have a little fun today. I took pictures of the view from my window at different times to compare them together, to show how the beauty of this city changes through time. I am constantly blown away by Rio which never ceases to impress me year after year, every single day, every single hour. The pictures are taken from my Lagoa apartment rental I found to spend the quarantine, overlooking the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. I took the first picture early in the morning at 7:00, where the sun wakes up from behind, lighting up Ipanema on the left side, where we see a little bit of the Atlantic ocean, and the Morro Dois […]
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My Favorite Town in Cuba is… Trinidad!
Even better than Havana in my opinion, it is a perfect little picturesque and authentic village to spend two to three days while in Cuba. I felt transported back in the 19th century walking around its cobblestone streets and its colorful houses. The setup is just magical and nature as well. But be quick to come because I predict that its authenticity will disappear very soon as it is booming with construction at the moment. Hotels are popping everywhere and tourist traps will arrive soon after. If they say Cuba must be visited before it becomes developed, then Trinidad is to be number one on your bucket list. In This Article…1 What should you do there?2 Any restaurants to recommend?3 How to get to Trinidad?4 Trinidad in pictures… What should you do there? I enjoyed just walking around the old town. It’s so nice and feels so good to just observe how people are living. It just feels so colonial at the same time so […]
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Overnight in Varadero from Havana
Most people who go to Varadero will be in an all-inclusive hotel and arrive straight at Varadero airport. I wasn’t in Cuba to be in this sort of hotel so Varadero was not my first choice of place to be as a base, I had chosen Havana for that. But I still wanted to see it so a 2 day visit was enough. Now that I’ve been, I can honestly say that even if it’s a tourist behemoth, it is a very beautiful beach. Even though it’s super touristy, it was really built on an amazing piece of Beach and the water is one of the clearest and bluest I have ever seen around the world rivaling with the Pacific ocean and even the Red Sea. A two-day trip to Varadero. This time around I wasn’t really into just hanging around all day at a beach and sipping mojitos and piña coladas all day. I had done that in 2002 and quite frankly I wasn’t […]
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Viñales – Best Day Trip from Havana
If you happen to make Havana your base for your next trip to Cuba, don’t forget to do a day trip to Viñales, which is such an easy trip to do as a day tour from Havana. You can do it yourself or do it with an organized tour and it will not cost you more than $60. Highlights are coffee plantations and most especially that tobacco plantations which you can easily visit and test by yourself by smoking a big cigar made in front of you. [TOC] How to get to Viñales from Havana? Some people prefer to stay overnight or to stay two days because of the nice little village that they can just stay and relax. But most people do it as a day tour as there’s not much more to do than what you can do in one day. That’s what I did. Also, by tsharing the cost on a shared tour becomes much cheaper than doing it by yourself because […]
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