What You Can Expect From Wander Yonder

Jason Evans

I've always been curious about the world and its rich diversity of peoples, cultures and landscapes; and as a Canadian, the cold winters always brought beckoning dreams of warmer places.

At 20, I embarked on my first long-term trip, spending nearly a year exploring and working in beautiful Mexico. Looking back on that year now (almost 30 years ago), it feels like a dream of adventures involving secluded beaches, jungle hikes, ancient ruins, and cultural delights. This was my first taste of slow travel, and I knew I would eventually do more of it in my life.

At 23, I embarked on my next slow travel adventure to Australia for a year, thanks to a working holiday visa program shared between our two countries. I met some amazing like-minded people and explored some beautiful parts of the country. My favourite experiences included a road trip along the Great Ocean Road, a train journey to Ayers Rock, and living in the bustling cities of Sidney, Melbourne and Perth. While Australia was culturally similar to my home country of Canada, the exotic landscapes, strange animals and unique natural wonders were quite otherworldly.

After Australia, I returned to Victoria, BC, Canada for several years, where I worked as a waiter in a restaurant and completed an undergraduate degree in Philosophy at the University of Victoria. I enjoyed my studies immensely, which broadened my mind and sharpened my critical thinking and writing skills. However, I also recognized that my education was largely focussed on western ideas based on the philosophical contributions of dead white men over the last 2500 years. I became very interested in eastern thought rooted in the teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism. After graduating from my undergraduate program in 2006, I decided to take my first trip to India.

Arriving in Delhi, India was like being dropped off on another planet. The sights, sounds and smells were all completely foreign to me, and it was challenging for my nervous system to adapt, but I loved it all. Travelling India for six months was hard work, but I also learned to appreciate slow travel on another level, which took me far outside my comfort zone both physically and mentally. I saw some of the most exotically beautiful things I have ever seen, as well as some of the most humanly tragic, and their juxtaposition made me reflect and evolve in unanticipated ways.

While I was in India, I became a TEFL certified teacher of English as a foreign language. Over the next few years, I spent time travelling throughout Asia, including teaching English in Thailand (Bangkok), South Korea (Gyeongju), and Japan (Tokyo), as well as visiting Cambodia and Laos. I fell in love with Asia and cannot wait to spend more time exploring the region.

After teaching English in Asia, I returned to Victoria, BC, Canada in 2008, and completed a Master of Public Administration at the University of Victoria, which led to my first job as a Policy Analyst with the federal government in Ottawa, Ontario. Over the next 15 years, I worked as a Policy Analyst in various health-related policy areas, such as food safety, mental health promotion, substance use harm prevention, healthy aging, as well as Indigenous rights and relations. I learned a lot as a Policy Analyst and met some wonderful colleagues dedicated to serving Canadians.

During this period, whenever I had the chance, I took short vacation trips around the world, visiting many countries, including the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Colombia, India and Vietnam. While I enjoyed these trips and would try to squeeze every last drop out of my limited vacation time each year, these short vacations always left me wanting more time in each place, and also very envious of people I met along the way who were successful at making slow travel a long-term lifestyle.

When the pandemic hit and everything shut down, like many others during this period, I began to experience a deterioration of my mental health, largely due to long periods of social isolation and physical inactivity. I was very fortunate because my employer permitted me to move back to Victoria in 2022 to be closer to my roots, allowing me to spend quality time with my family and some of my oldest friends. This period was very healing for my mental and physical health, bringing me back to life and back to myself, including a renewed desire and passion for slow travel.

Early in 2024, I decided to trust my innermost voice and took a huge leap back into the world of slow travel. I resigned from my desk job and flew to Mexico to launch the next chapter of my life. This time, I am challenging myself to travel on a deeper level than ever before and to document and share my experiences, insights and knowledge gained along the way.

I hope to inspire and help other like-minded travellers who are curious and open-minded, particularly all of the wanderers and explorers who wish to go beyond the brochures, make meaningful contributions, and deepen their experiences and understanding of our diverse world.

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Email: world@wanderyonder.blog