About
Chandler
A Canadian from Atlantic Canada. In May 2022 I booked a one-month Airbnb in Tallinn, Estonia — and discovered that solo travel wasn't just something I wanted to do. It was something I needed to do.
The Story
It started in May 2022. I booked a month-long Airbnb on Narva Mantee in Tallinn, Estonia — a long, straight road running east from the old town. I had always known I wanted to travel, but that trip was when I realised it wasn't just a want. It was a need.
I walked everywhere. I found the medieval old town, which is one of the best-preserved in Europe and somehow still feels lived-in. I took day trips to Tartu and Pärnu. I took the ferry to Helsinki and stood in the city feeling, for the first time, exactly what I was chasing with the way I dress. I went out, met strangers, ended up at an apartment party at 7am, and walked home at 8am as the city was waking up. I met people everywhere I went.
That trip gave me something I hadn't fully had before: confidence. The knowledge that I could go somewhere completely alone and not just survive it but genuinely thrive. I fell in love with the European approach to life — laidback but functional, rooted in history, intentional in a way that's hard to find elsewhere.
What followed was Iceland in September 2022, a four-month run across twenty-one cities in 2023, Iberia in 2024, and a return to Scandinavia in 2025 — 28 cities across 15 countries so far.
What this site is
A catalogue, not a travel blog.
This isn't a guide and it isn't researched. It's a record of what I've actually done and what I actually use — the cities I've walked, the cafés I kept going back to, the tours that were worth the day, and everything that fits in the bag. If I haven't been there or don't own it, it isn't here.
01
Places
Cities, what they cost, where I slept, the cafés I kept going back to, and the tours that were worth the day. Grouped by the trip they belong to.
02
Things
The wardrobe that fits in one bag, the hair and skin routine, the gear. Nothing listed that isn't actually in use.
03
Notes
The origin story, the trip timeline, and the thinking behind travelling light and staying longer. Written when there is something to say, not on a schedule.
Transparency
How this works
Some links on this site earn a commission — tour bookings, accommodation, and the occasional piece of gear. They're marked wherever they appear, they never change the price you pay, and they have no say in what gets listed. Nothing is on here that I haven't stayed in, gone on, or worn. See the affiliate disclosure.
Sections of this site are deliberately empty. Where there is no café, no tour, or no product listed, it's because I haven't written it down yet — not because there's nothing to fill the space with. Filling it with something approximate would defeat the point of the whole thing.
CityboundNomad is an entity of Strandway Systems, based in Nova Scotia, Canada. If you want to get in touch, it's hello@cityboundnomad.com.
“If I haven't been there or don't own it, it isn't on the list.”