Hello and Welcome!

My name is Candice Walsh – but you can call me Candie.

I’m a freelance  travel and arts writer, blogger, and communications coordinator living and working my way around the world. A Newfoundlander born and bred, I’m always happiest near the sea.

You might remember me from CandiceDoestheWorld.com, my initial travel site born out of a need to document my journeys. The thing is, I’ve grown. But CandiceDoestheWorld.com didn’t grow with me.

My life is more than travel and adventure (sort of). Sometimes my life is reading good books and drinking a lot of beer on a Tuesday afternoon just because I can, dammit.

Once upon a time, I had a more serious lifestyle that drove me into miserable fits of rage. I worked 9-5 as a technical writer for a deep-sea technology company before being laid off two years later.

I took that opportunity to build a lifestyle for myself that better fits my passions.

Some of those passions include beards and nachos, but since I can’t capitalize off either one of those, I now write about travel and lifestyle and everything in between.

I have a BA in English with a minor in Classics, and a diploma in Professional Writing from the Memorial University of Newfoundland. I just completed my first manuscript for a fiction novel with Toronto’s Humber College. I’ve been freelancing for nearly 10 years and have been working remotely for just as long, all around the world. I’ve been published everywhere from BBC Travel to CBC Arts to The Independent UK. You can find my work in my Portfolio page.

After a year stint living abroad in Berlin, Germany, I moved back to Newfoundland broke and hungry. I spent 16 months working at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, and developed a new passion for all things independent arts. It’s been one hell of a journey, and although the work was fulfilling and fun as hell, I realized I needed to get back out there in the world. Now I work full-time in research and admin for Nomadic Matt, while working on my own creative side projects.

FreeCandie.com is everything I aspire to be: free. Living life on my own terms and having a ridiculous amount of fun in the process. Man, I’ve seen some things. And if I inspire you to do the same, then I’m happy! If I haven’t, well, that’s cool. Can I crash on your couch?

This blog tends to focus on travel narrative, alternative guides, independent arts, outdoor adventure, and literature. That’s some niche.

Instead of travel only, FreeCandie.com is all about living a life worth living…whether it’s travelling the world non-stop, painting hardboiled Easter eggs for a living, or drowning in a vat of puppies. I’m not going to tell you to quit your job and travel the world, because it’s not for everyone. But it is for some.

free candy fun facts
I didn’t leave my home island of Newfoundland until I was 21, and I went straight overseas to England for six weeks.
I have the largest extended family ever, with 12 aunts and uncles on both of my parents’ sides, and a ridiculous amount of cousins.
I used to want to be a ballerina/animal rescuer/typewriter person. I once won a national writing contest thanks to an essay about how I wanted to save all the dogs in the world. Later, I won a couple of thousand dollars for a trivia contest. I ended up spending all of it on a brand new desktop computer (!!), which eventually led to my Internetz explorations.
Books have always been my passion, above everything. Even travel.
I’m happiest on the Mediterranean; I’m always pulled back to this part of the world. A glass of wine by the sea is all it takes to make my day.
My dream someday is to own a happy little home in Newfoundland, with a house full of cats and dogs and horses. Maybe the horses will be outside. I don’t know.
I actively avoid places with giant spiders. I’m not sure I’ll ever make it to Australia.
FREE CANDIE FOR ALL!
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