Diane the Wild Wanderer
It's a small world. Live large.
Top tips for a less touristy Edinburgh trip
There are so many more wonderful things to see and eat and drink in Edinburgh beyond what I have here, but these are a few of my favourites beyond the top attractions everyone knows about.
AI-inspired adventures in Amsterdam
I'm heading to Amsterdam next week for the first time, continuing my pandemic-interrupted mission to see more of Europe by living and working in the UK. I have a rough idea of what I'd like to explore, but even by my standards of not wanting to over-plan I haven't...
Home in a time of coronavirus
I contributed a monologue to the storytelling podcast What You Call Home, for their isolation series exploring how expats and others are coping with the coronavirus situation. Listen to me speaking it here. This is my text: I’m Diane, a Canadian living in Edinburgh,...
My Olympic life
Today marks 10 years since the opening ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. And 10 years since I was running through the stadium carrying boxes of embargoed papers destined for the rights-holding broadcasters. Olympic rule: there’s always transportation issues. I...
Out of place
The move to Edinburgh is the most obvious sign of the changes I’ve made in my life over the past few years. I read the book Designing Your Life after I was already well into the process – job quit, bags packed – and it felt like an affirmation. In retrospect I could...
Home is where the art is
It's been just over a year since I landed in Edinburgh with two bags of clothes and sundries, followed by two cats and five boxes of stuff. If home is actually where the heart is, the cats were the biggest factor in making even Chateau Mildew feel like home instantly,...
Chateau Mildew
Toward the end of September I’d just landed in London after more than nine hours in the air, with another short leg to Edinburgh to come after this layover. Years of contemplation and months of preparation brought me here. I’d gone past comfortable to stagnant; I was...
Becoming bulgogi
It didn’t start with the bulgogi, but I realized what was happening with the bulgogi: I was shedding my self-image of being an indifferent cook. I was -- could it be? -- enjoying myself. I was now … a different cook. I might even start cooking for other people more...
Join the dance
Before I moved to Edinburgh sight unseen, knowing no one, I knew I’d have to make an effort to create a social life from scratch. I had a plan: Meetup groups, volunteering, evening classes, pushing myself to get out as much as possible. I’ve occasionally overdone it...