Meet Janaline

Hallo Moscow!!!
Hallo Moscow!!!

I’m a woman who’s completely addicted to travelling and seeing the world. You could say I was born with the travel bug—it’s the kind of itch that never quite goes away. The thrill of adventure is something I think about constantly, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I love exploring new places and have so much fun sharing my travel stories and photos so you can see why this life calls to me. I’ve been travelling and working my way around the world for more than a decade now and have had some truly unforgettable experiences along the way.

When you live in a country, you get to experience it from a totally different perspective than the average tourist. It’s the people, the rhythm of daily life, and all the little unpredictable, often crazy moments that make it so interesting.

One of the biggest misconceptions about travel is that you need a pile of money to take big trips. That’s simply not true. You don’t have to be wealthy or earn a high salary—you just have to choose travel over “stuff.”

I got to have a Cormorant on my arm!!!
I got to have a Cormorant on my arm!!!

My first job abroad was in the Bahamas and Caribbean on a cruise ship. I swam with stingrays at Stingray City and rode a moped down the Mexican coast of Cozumel. I fell for New York and Charleston—would go back in a heartbeat. Then came a move to England, where I lived all over the place. Bath was my favourite, though I eventually settled in Cambridge.

I backpacked through Spain and Portugal, with a sunny pit stop in Majorca. I fell in love with Barcelona—the art, the people, and definitely the seafood paella. Granada took my breath away, and I had a little too much port in Porto.

I had a snowball fight next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and stuffed myself with chocolate crêpes. Took a break in Egypt and watched the sunrise over the Valley of the Kings and Queens from a hot air balloon. I zipped through Vietnamese traffic on my bright yellow Honda Cub and soaked up the sun for a while. In Cambodia, I got lost exploring Angkor Wat while sipping iced café sữa đá.

On my way to Japan, I stopped in South Korea to taste kimchi. I wandered the quiet streets of Kyoto hoping to catch a glimpse of geisha and attended a solemn memorial in Hiroshima. I lived in the desert of the UAE for a while—yes, I rode a camel—and filled up on baklava in Turkey before walking the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem at Christmas.

Me in front of the East Glorius Gates we just walked through to enter the Forbidden City.
Me in front of the East Glorius Gates we just walked through to enter the Forbidden City.

I spent two years living in Russia, where I developed a respect for good vodka, wandered St. Petersburg during the magical “White Nights,” and learned to walk confidently on snow and ice. I walked the Great Wall of China after cruising down the Yangtze River during my China odyssey.

Then South America called. I lived and worked for a while in the street-art-filled Santiago, Chile, and stood knee-deep in snow in the Andes Mountains.

Chinese Calligraphy artist at work
My name written in beautiful caligraphy art

I eventually moved back and worked as a travel agent in Cape Town before returning to teaching English. That path took me to Shanghai, China, where I lived for three years, and then on to Vancouver, Canada, where I became a certified Art Therapist.

Now, I run my own online practice, Healing Art Journey, offering therapeutic art sessions and creative resources for healing, self-expression, and growth. It’s a new kind of journey—one that goes inward—and I’m excited to share more of it here alongside the places I’ve seen.

My challenge to you:

Pick one place you’ve been dreaming about. Choose a date within the next nine months—and buy the plane ticket. Right now. Once it’s booked, you’re committed. The rest will fall into place.

Get excited. Make the promise to yourself: Do this every year.

Your future self will thank you.

Winter Cycling through the streets of Shanghai
Winter Cycling through the streets of Shanghai on a shared bike

©Janaline Smalman  – All rights reserved,

All material contained within this blog, whether photographic or written is subject to copyright. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without prior approval and permission granted by the author, is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links to photography may be used, provided that © Janaline Smalman is credited, such that it directly refers to and reflects the original source and material content.

612 comments

  1. Hey Janaline! You liked a post on my blog so I wanted to check out your blog and say, “Hi”. OMG girl – you live an exciting life! I’ve traveled precious little in my life, but I love the idea of it. I do go on vacations every year, but they’re usually to Boston to visit my hubby’s family or to northern California to visit my family (how dull is that!). Your photos are beautiful! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog – hope to see you again! Celeste:)

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    • Thanks a lot Celeste! I love traveling and hope to inspire others to travel a bit more with my stories of my experiences in these different countries! Love all the different vegan recipes you have on your blog, would love to try some of them out sometime! Will be seeing you around.

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  3. Namaste!! thanks for liking my last post…you have an amazing life, love all the pictures….I’m quite a travel buff myself….all the very best for your future adventures…would be back again…And yes you must visit India on your next trip to Asia…I can be your guide here.

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    • Thank you Shivani! I will definitely let you know If I head over To India! Its always lovely to meet someone who loves traveling and hearing what they did and how they experienced the different cities or countries! Will be looking out for your next post!

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    • Thank you Mark!! I am trying to travel as much as I can and love experiencing new countries and strange cultures! Love sharing these travels and my experiences with everybody, thanks for joining my journey!

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    • You are very welcome Red. Hope you enjoy reading about my Russian adventure. Loved Russia so much that I actually stayed there for 2 years and would love to go back and visit again someday so that I can do the Siberian Railway! Scotland is also a very beautiful place to live….will be reading about it all on your blog, thanks!

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  11. You have done some amazing things! I hope that one day I can say that I have done such amazing things too. Can’t wait to read about your South America adventures! I would love to go there. Best get saving!

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    • Thank you for the compliment! I have been very privileged to be able to see all the places that I have! Once you have the travel bug its impossible to get rid of and I just cant stop exploring the wonderful things the world has to offer. Hope you get to go to South America one of these days as well!

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  12. Wow you have great adventures, Jana. Glad to know you 🙂
    By the way, thank you for your visit and your follow, I will definitely follow you back since I’m eager to read all your travelling adventures.

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    • You will enjoy South-Korea, for how long are you going Jade? I quite liked South Korea although I couldn’t eat kimchi-it is fermented chili covered cabbage. I had one bite and thought all my taste buds had been burned away and that I would never be able to taste anything again!! I teach English at language schools, this allows me to move around a lot and gives me the chance to not only travel but also live in different countries!

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  19. Thank you for visiting my blog…………as you can see from mine I have fallen in love with the little country of Lithuania. I spend hours photographing the wondedrful city of Vilnius………an absolutekly must visit for ant traveller.

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  20. Hi Jana, your blog is truly awesome and your journey with your writing are really fascinating in every country you’ve been. I hope you can visit my country someday. Nice to have a blogger friend like you. Cheers. muhammad

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  21. Travel is an education in itself that you just can’t get at college. keep traveling, blogging, photographing and experiencing the amazing wonders of this world and the amazing people in it!

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  22. Wow… Really amazing … Love the blog … Really interesting insights on the places you’ve been … Cheers ! for the comments on my blog ..

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  24. Hi! Thanks for visiting; liking; and following my blog. You look like a joyfull, open woman who would like to embrace the whole world. Well, you got me. See you!

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  25. Hi Janaline! I followed you here from your comments on my blog (thank you for your kind words!) and I am jealous of all the amazing places you’ve been to over the last 10 years! I look forward to reading about South America, I’m dying to go back there again.

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  28. Thanks so much for visiting my blog and liking my photo! I appreciate it very much. You have a very interesting blog and I look forward to following your posts. 😀

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  34. oh lovely to read about you excellent.

    Thanks for visiting my blog. Be in touch. Browse through the category sections, I feel you may find something of your interest.

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  36. Hi Janaline! I have been fascinated with your stories and pictures especially on travels and adventures. Well, I just wanted to let you know that I have nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award. I hope this will be a wonderful news for you. To see more about the award and this nomination, please visit my post at http://smartntrendymom.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/liebster-blog-award-the-first-award-for-my-blog/
    Congratulations and all the best to you!

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  39. What a great life to be able to have! You must visit Greece before you slow down! I too love travelling but have children so can’t keep moving… Just have some holidays 🙂 If I were to settle somewhere other than here (cold & wet November England) I would definitely head for Greek islansd. Beautiful scenery, happy people warm sea, delicious food! Heaven!!

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  41. This all sounds amazing. What an exciting life you have. Do you have (and I hope you don’t mind me asking) a career or a job that enables this or do you do casual work? I have always felt bound by ‘get a job, house, family etc etc’ though am delighted that my son has been travelling for nearly three years now. Fabulous 🙂

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    • I teach English as a foreign language. This makes it quite easy to pack up and move to different countries as there is always a demand for English teachers. I have been working and traveling for the past 10 years and think I will continue for a couple of more before I think about settling down. There are still so many countries that I want to see and places I just have to visit before I settle down somewhere. But for now I am loving this nomadic life!

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      • I new it 🙂 I read your blog and think, what a job she has? Probably, she is a teacher, only this job allows such interesting traveling life. But such life style demands studying local languages too, so how many languages do you know on this moment?

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  44. Hi

    I came acros your blog via Tra.velne.ws and I want to get in contact with you to see if you are intersted in an Invite for your blog on Yabbedoo.com

    A new way to promote your blogs to travellers searching for a particular region. In your case probabaly Mosciw and other cties?

    If you are interested, contact me on questions @ yabbedoo.com

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