I'm watching 'UP' and just twenty minutes in, it is definitely going to be a favourite of mine for the rest of my life.  And, it just re-affirms that travel is something that should never, ever, be put off.  They should have gone to Peru together.  But the adorable way he's going on his own... ah I love this movie!

Fort Lauderdale (yes, again)

Yes, I was just here a few weeks ago.  And somehow, I'm lucky enough to be here again.  Ahhhh the hardships of dating an American businessman...always getting to tag along on business trips.

Not that today consisted of much 'business'.  Inside now after spending hours basking in the beautiful, hot sun.  And the water... oh my.  I have to say, this is one of the best, if not actually THE best, beach I've ever been to.  The water is WARM.  Apparently it's always like that.  And as soon as you walk in, it gets deep.  Walk in a few feet, and you can barely touch the ground.  Just enough waves to make it entertaining, but not enough to make you nervous (and I get nervous.  Especially after being left to drown by my snorkelling team in Exmouth, Western Australia last year. I don't think I'll ever get over that).

I hate resorts, but am admittedly falling for this 'resort hotel' deal.  The luxuries of most resorts without being stuck on it all the time; and without the shitty all-inclusive deals where they pad you full of weak drinks and meager buffets.  Here, you are on the beach; there are tons of restaurants and bars in the hotel; but you are also IN the city, not on some remote area where you have to pay a tour bus a hundred bux to get you anywhere.  So, you can lay on the beach if you choose, or you can head out.  I like it.  More than I thought I would, which is actually a nice surprise.  Turns out I'm not *just* a backpacking addict; I could kind of get used to these lazy sunny days.

It has been almost two years since I went to Central America and realized what my true love in life was: travelling (Well, one of my loves.  I also love cats. And cupcakes.  And something else that starts with 'c', but I'll keep this PG for now).

When I got back from Central America, I was so in love with travelling I saved my ass off and took myself to Australia for six weeks. And since then, I haven't left North America.  Wtf?

My man takes me to the States pretty much all the time now, and not to sound ungrateful, but it's not 'travelling'.  He takes me to fancy hotels, and we eat out at restaurants all the time, all possible amenities provided for.  No adventure, no uncertainty. Lots of fun, yes, but.  I miss the uncertainty.

Not to say I've been lacking adventure completely - when A and I did our east coast trip, we decided as we went along where/what we were doing; we turned my car into a bed for three; and we saw things that rival what I saw in Belize, and Australia, for most gorgeous scenery ever.

But I want to get out of my own again.  I want to do my southeast Asia trip.  Me and my backpack.  I want to go somewhere foreign.  Where I'm challenged, every day, to socialize, adapt, and survive.  Life here in North America is pretty damned easy,  no matter where you turn.

This past year I kept trying to recover from my robbery, and couldn't.  And other things happened which changed my life, in very hard ways, and made it difficult to leave.  When you keep losing friends, it's hard to pick up and run off on the ones that are still here.

But I'm still here.  And part of who I am is having to run off from time to time.  It's the biggest reason I do the job I do: I have the freedom to do what I want, when I want.  I have a good income.  So why the hell haven't I left?  Hmmmmmm.

Florida Keys

What a beautiful day.  Drove from Fort Lauderdale right down to Key West.  Traded in the original rental for a convertible, my very first time riding in one - and first time driving one!  God it felt amazing to zip over the bridges between keys, top down, wearing nothing but a bikini.

Stopped at Bahia Honda State Park, and found a beautiful, small, white sandy beach.  Little piece of heaven.  Got onto Key West right before the sun set, so sat on a pier and reveled in that before heading back here.  The drive back to Fort Lauderdale was definitely not as exciting at night as it was during the day, instead it was just LONG.  Flight leaves in 5.5 hours, so now to try and stay awake so I can get to the airport on time.

Although, I have to say, I wouldn't be too upset if I had to stay down here for a while longer... :)

Best drives in the world

Well, A and I did the Cabot Trail, one of the best drives in the world, and today I get to cross another one off that list - I'm about to drive from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to the end of the Florida Keys.  Gonna be another day wishing I had more time here, but at least I'll get to do a bit of it!

I know what I'm getting myself in to when I share a room with three people. But does it have to seem weird that i cant sleep inthe middle of a loud bright room? really?  I can't sleep when people are talking/the teevee is blaring/ the lights are on.  I like dark and quiet when I sleep, that's NOT WEIRD PEOPLE it's normal!!!!

DINOSAURS!!!!!

Road triiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!!!!

Currently sitting in my hotel room in Hartford, CT, drinking a vodka redbull before heading off to the venue to see a few of my favourite punk bands play tonight.  And today, just about an hour ago, I touched an actual dinosaur footprint!!!!!!!! I love travelling with Karine because instead of just party she likes to check out the area and do cool things, and we discovered last night that Hartford is the site of 200 million year old dinosaur tracks.  We walked in and I was actually shaking with excitement; I think it was one of the coolest things I've ever done.

It's funny because as I'm typing this, the television show in the background is playing 'Kokomo' by The Beach Boys, and it started the song right at the part about the Florida Keys - which is my next trip, in less than two weeks, ha!

My last three trips, this one included, have all been so different from each other it's hilarious.  A friend of mine was laughing the other day about how, looking through my photos, you see me and A on a trip, living in my car, and only two weeks later there I am in the States with my man, living in swanky hotels.  Now I'm in a swanky hotel, but the room is overtaken by punks, and one snores so loudly that last night I set myself up in the bathtub to sleep so I could shut the bathroom door and keep the noise out - seriously

I'm so happy that this year I'm actually doing what I wanted to do - I'm travelling around North America.  There is a possibility that in October I'll drive a friends car down to California from Ottawa - which means that I can stop in Utah, Nevada, and all of the gorgeous scenic places I've been dreaming about.  AND it means that my decision for next year of either doing Western Canada or America will be made: if I drive to California now, then next year will be Western Canada for sure.  And the year after that... well then, by then I think I'll have to step off this continent again :D

I hate flying.

Or more accurately, I hate airports.

Plastic knives to eat with.  $13 cocktails. Not being able to bring in my bottled water.  Sitting here, waiting...waiting...waiting... for my flight, which was supposed to be leaving in five minutes, to start boarding.  FUCK YOU AIRPORTS!

After a lazy Sunday afternoon spent reading a book in Central Park, I'm now sitting in Hell's Kitchen enjoying my last moments of vacation.  This moment includes a mind-blowingly delicious red velvet cookie, oh yeah.

I've had an amazing week, but goddamn I can't wait to get home.  Ten days away, living out of my suitcase; one week home, working my ass off; one week on the road, living out of my suitcase.  Incredible, but exhausting.  And fattening.

I can't wait to get home and wake up tomorrow with my fluffy monsters snuggled in to me.  To not have to get up and BE anywhere (well, until work, but that's not until mid-afternoon).  To go to the gym.  To COOK FOOD.  I haven't made myself a meal in three weeks.  THREE WEEKS! That's nuts.

I have twelve days of normality before hitting the road with Ashley for a punk fest in Hartford.  That promises to be a weekend of extreme fun and gluttony, so the next twelve days have to be focused on healthy eating, sleeping well, and working out.

I love that, even though I've had to keep postponing my big trips, I'm managing to jam so many incredible short excursions into my life.  As much as I'm ready to be home now... I can't wait to hit the road again.

Almost home again...

My mini-American roadtrip is coming to an end, and even though I'm on a train to my favourite city in the world (NEW YORK!!!) I'm feelings pangs of sadness, but not because the trip is ending.  I miss my man already.  These long-distance things...ugh.  I love it in a way, because when we're together I can kind of close the rest of the world out and just focus on us.  But I hate it too, because if during that time you're not feeling 100% (like me yesterday), it's hard to hide that and remain positive.  I don't want to spend a day of our limited time together feeling sick, but what can you do?  In my head I want us to be happy every minute we're together... but I guess that's just not possible. You have to decide at one point, am I going to pretend it's all good, in order to keep up this idea of being a fantasy, or are you going to admit you're grumpy/nauseous/tired and accept the reality that no one can really be a fantasy *all* the time?

Stupid reality...

It's funny how within the last few weeks I've had two such differing trips, each one so amazing.  A and I and our limited budget, stopping at every tourist attraction to take silly photos, sleeping in the car, soaking up every minute of the incredible Canadian landscape.

Then this American trip, money not really an object (although I kept telling him it should be, it's hard to get the stinginess out of me sometimes!), sleeping in fancy hotels,  eating and drinking like gluttons, trying to fuck in as many States as possible (we hit six on this trip, missed out on three though, grr!), and planning to hit tourist attractions but passing them up to spend time together instead.  American monuments just don't seem that interesting when my hot American boyfriend is laying in our giant bed.  

Normally when I return from a trip I just need to adjust my mind back into the reality of Ottawa and my daily life.  Now, I need to adjust my mind back to the reality of Ottawa and my daily life... and to try not to feel too wistful that I have to wait weeks again before I have my man in bed beside me.  BUT, mixed in with that wisftulness is the excitement and anticipation of seeing him again in a few weeks - ahhhh life.  Everything is a double-edged sword with you!

In Philly. Off to a bar where I can drink beer in bumper cars and eat vegan corn dogs (I'd say pogos, but I'm in America so I have to speak American).

Tomorrow I will ingest both a vegan and a regular Philly cheese steak.  Good thing there's a sweet fitness centre here and I brought my resistance tubes for a good workout.  In Canada, I'm able to go to Goodlife anywhere, so on my east coast trip I still hit the gym 3-4 times.  Here, I'm being spoiled and treated to gorgeous hotels, that are all decked out with fancy cardio equipment and pools.  Whoa. La.  

Now for a little American History

Will be spending the afternoon checking out Civil War monuments and purrhaps the Edgar Allan Poe museum in Richmond, VA, before spending the night in Washingon DC! Got a room right by the Lincoln Memorial, so I foresee a drunken me screaming JENNY!!!!!! like I'm Forrest Gump later.  Also gonna see the White House, Washington Monument, Smithsonian.... oh yeah!!!!

Today will also be my first time driving a vehicle other than my own car ever (well I drove Katie's car for my drivers test, but that's it), and my first time driving on American roads.  Stay off the roads, my American friends :P

Philly tomorrow and Friday, then NEW YORK CITY Saturday night!!!!

Home again

Survived the 15-hour drive home.  And only drank two cups of coffee and two energy drinks to make it (I was the only driver).  Been home about three hours now and feeling really wonky, every time I move my head it's like a haze and I know I should be asleep but I can't shut my brain down.  Ugh.  Hoping to wake up feeling okay tomorrow, because I have a lot to do this week before hitting the road again in a week! This month will bring about TWO mini-American roadtrips, YAY!  Can't wait!

Trailer Park Bitches

Yes, we dressed up like the Trailer Park Boys and went to the park where they shot season one.  Meet Julianne, Rikki, and Boobles.

We rule.

Bay of Fundy

Did you think it would be possible for me to gush even more about how amazing this trip is?

Tonight we walked through the mud in the Bay of Fundy, watching a group of girls go mud-sliding.  Goddamn it looked like fun, but they had clearly come prepared for that adventure - their car was parked beside ours, and the entire interior was coated with garbage bags. Our feet and ankles were coated in this red, clay-like mud, that took three washes to come off my feet.  And we just walked out into it - we weren't doing mud-angels and slip-n-slides like they were.  But were they ever having a time, if I lived out here I think I'd go out and do the same.

The sun was starting to set so we decided to drive around and find a place to camp and spend the night.  I wanted more than anything to camp right on the beach, like Mike and I did last year, but the tides are extremely high at this time of year and there would be no BEACH on the beach at high tide, just tide.  So we drove for over an hour down the coastline, looking for a road to bring us anywhere suitable to park for the night.  Every thing that looked like a road turned out to be someone's driveway.  I was way more disappointed than I let on when I suggested just heading back to Truro and spending the night somewhere there.

Then, we found it.  A tiny roadside pointing us to a dirt road, which we followed until it turned into an even smaller dirtroad, fallen trees lining it on both sides.  A was terrified, and I was making jokes about how in a horror movie, we'd be yelling at the screen 'TURN BACK YOU IDIOTS!!!!'.  But I couldn't even stop and turn around, because it was so narrow.  So we kept going.

And now I'm sitting the back of my car, about 30 feet away from the ledge overlooking the Bay of Fundy.  There are two campers here, so we're obviously on someone's property, but they're not home and it's late, and it's the east coast, so even if they show up I highly doubt they'll be mad at us.  So this means we get to stay in a Canadian paradise tonight.  And in the morning, we get to walk out onto the Fundy shore, and make a fire and watch the sun come up over the coast, before heading to Burncoat Head Park, the site of the worlds highest recorded tides, where we'll jump in the beach before heading back to Halifax.

Travelling these days is so odd.  Here I am, at the end of a dirt road, on the edge of the Bay of Fundy.  Yet I'm still typing away on my netbook, and I still have cell reception.  Which reminds me, I need to get an new phone plan, because I just got my phonebill from a month of international texts with my man... and it's even scarier than the drive to this spot was, ha.

Technology is amazing. We're in Maccan, waiting for the highest tides in the world to come  in. Basically in the middle  of nowhere, nothing  but water and trees around  us...but even way out here, and even though he's on the other side of the continent, I'm able to sext my man.  AWESOME :D

Cape D'or

I'm not sure how it's possible, but every day out here so far has been my favourite.

I am sitting here winded and sweaty, having just walked down to Cape D'or, and back up the steep climb.  It was breathtaking.  I mean that literally - as Alanna and I stood at the literal edge of the rock cliffs, you could hear the intake of breath as we stood there, awestruck.

Today we woke up after spending the night in the car in a truck stop parking lot and headed to Joggins, where we were stoked to see the fossil cliffs.  Along the way, I pulled off to check out some wetlands, and we discovered we had accidentally come across one of the areas to view the 'tidal bore'.  To quote the guidebook, 'the Bay's incoming tide is so extreme that it temporarily reverses the flow of several rivers that empty into the bay.  When the tide and rivers collide (twice a day), a notable wave called a 'tidal bore' can be view moving upriver'.  It was pretty cool to see it rush in, and move past us in seconds.

We then continued to Joggins, which failed to impress.  It was awesome to stand on the beach and have the high tide push in on us, we had to give up our hunt for fossils and head back to the stairs out when the tide was almost pressing us against the cliffs.  But overall, not that exciting.

I do have one complaint about small-town Canada.  GET MORE GAS STATIONS.  We drove through four or five smalls towns with the needle on empty, passing signs counting us down to the next gas station - and the first sign said it was 56km away.  I was trying hard not to stress, while blasting through the winding country road at 120km, and A kept a good poker face on even though I'm pretty sure she would have killed me if I'd ended up stranding us on the side of the road.  But we made it, and I learned that I get at least 35km of driving even after my gas light has come on, so at least I'll know that for next time :P

Our next stop was Parrsboro, where A wants to go to the geological museum.  Along the way signs pointed us to Cape D'or, and we decided to check it out.

WOW.  Wow wow wow wow wow.  I was just standing, just now, on the edge of a copper cliff who knows how high up.  It was so surreal - jagged rocks everywhere, the water covered in fog, it felt so unsafe, which is something I'm not used to in Canada.  Here I'm used to ropes and things keeping you away from the danger.  But here there was simply a sign on the edge that said 'DANGER - actively eroding cliff'. One teeny little sign.

I can't believe I'm here.  It's been so amazing.

Tonight we're going to camp somewhere on the Fundy shore, before heading back to see friends in Halifax for a couple of nights and then... home to Ontario.  UGH!  At least I have a roadtrip with Ashley coming up to look forward to, and right after that my man will roll back in to town for a few days.  Without that to look forward to, I honestly wouldn't even want to go back.  I love it here.  I think I may have found my new home.

death to all mosquitoes

The Cabot Trail/ Cape Breton Highlands National Park

When I was in Guatemala almost two years ago, I met a married couple that I became extremely envious of. She was French-Canadian, and I think he was Scottish.  They'd met travelling a decade ago, and never stopped.  Not even when they had kids- she had their infant son strapped to her, and their 3-year-old daughter wasn't missing a beat.  Not even when climbing the ruins at Tikal - the kids went with them.  It made me so happy to see, but the pangs of jealousy also crept up and surprised me.  I'm not one for marriage.  It has never been anything I aspire to, and when I see my future, I see ME.  Independent.  But seeing them made me wish for a partner, because when I do have a child, it won't be as easy for me to keep travelling alone.  A single woman with an infant wouldn't be safe everywhere, and I'd get tired.  So I've had in the back of my mind for a while now that when I have a baby in a few years, I'll have stop travelling.

Then I hit the Cabot Trail, especially the section through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and I saw what I'll be able to do when I have my baby.  The park section has 24 different trails, with differing intensities, all leading to spectacular views, waterfalls, gold mines, etc.  We didn't do any of the trails today, but I am going to come back here with my baby when I have her.  This is an area I can easily spend a couple of weeks camping in, safely, and the hikes can be done with her strapped to my chest.  I can't wait :D

Anyway.  Enough dreaming.  The last 24 hours have been so beautiful they may as well have been a dream.  I can't even count how many times A and I have stood there breathless, looking at the beauty around us.  I'd honestly never even known about this area, and now I highly suggest all Canadians come out here.  Other people too - I've gone to other countries specifically to go on adventures in areas that can't even compare to some of what I've seen.  And we haven't even hit the Bay of Fundy yet, and that's been called one of the 10 Wonders of the World.

So.  Yesterday we left Price Edward Island, after camping out in the car near Thunder Cove, and headed east to Cape Breton.  We made it partially through the Cabot Trail, and up 'Smokey', where we saw the most beautiful view we've ever seen.  It was too dark to take photos, so we turned around and camped out basically on a rock ledge overnight.  We woke up just in time to catch THIS in the morning - I hadn't even gotten out of the car when I took this photo

We hit the road at 6:30am and started back up Smokey.  I'm so glad we went back in the morning to see this again...

And it just kept getting better and better.  As we climbed up into the mountains, it got foggier and foggier, until we realized we were driving through clouds.  Yes, I said CLOUDS.  Amazing.  Got insanely foggy for a while though, and as I'm a new driver, I was petrified.  Driving down a steep mountain, with shitty tires, almost no visibility...it was one of the scariest times of my life.  I'm pretty proud of myself for making it through, but once we were done I was exhausted and had to have A take the wheel for a bit while I napped.  


I can't wait to come back here in a few years and spent many days up there.  We did it all today in half a day, and what we saw was mind-blowing.  I can't even imagine what I'm going to see when I come here again.  I can't wait. 

Thunder Cove

Prince Edward Island

So pretty. So, so pretty.

We came here with two intentions: go to Cavendish Beach, and find Thunder Cove.

I didn't realize that Cavendish Beach was on a National Park, so firstly there was an $8 charge to go on to the beach, which while I was annoyed I was willing to pay, but they also don't allow dogs on the beach.  Not wanting to make poor Lita sit in the car while Alanna and I played in the sand, we decided not to go to one of the prettiest beaches ever and instead we were directed to Cabot Beach.  Definitely underwhelming.  But still, nice to lay in the sun, and splash around in the ocean for a bit.

From there we tried to find Thunder Cove, but lack of internet connection made it hard to find.  I could see Alanna fading, but I was determined to find it.  I wasn't going to let our trip to PEI be wasted, and have us fail in both goals.

And we're both glad we did.

Beautiful.  So reminiscent of the scenery I spent a million dollars going to see in Australia.  Every day I'm amazed to discover what is here, right in Canada.  We should have just come right here, instead of going to Cabot Beach.  The beach here is phenomenal; huge, soft sands (it squeaks under your toes!), nice breeze... heaven.

I'm thinking that next year will bring my trip to western and northern Canada, rather than to the USA.  I want to stop branching out to other places before I'm done seeing what is here.

Today I learned two things:

It is impossible to drive under 160km an hour  when  listening to SLAYER because metal makes you drive FAST.

And Cows Ice Cream is  one of the best things I have ever eaten.

While driving to Peggy's Cove today, I realized how different the things I want in life are now from a few years ago.

If you would have told me ten years ago that I wouldn't be living in Toronto, and that I'd be dreaming of a little country house, and of having a little girl to raise, I would have said you were crazy.  Ten years ago, hell even five years ago, I craved the city life.  I wanted to move to New York City, or at least get my debt paid off and move back to Toronto.  And children... HELL no.  I wanted the convenience of the city; the bustle; the constant noise, always something to do.

Now, I want something simple.  I want to sit on my porch, watching the sun set over the water, my little girl playing in the sand a few feet from me.  I only have a few years left to make this happen, so I'd better get on that.

Peggy's Cove

I love being able to drive when travelling, and I'm loving travelling with A.  We both love things like stupid roadsigns and beautiful lakes, so while driving along blaring Gwen Stefani we both point and laugh at things and stop the car to get out and take pictures.  I've never travelled like this before, and I'm loving it.  The freedom to go where we want, when we want.  It's awesome.

Today we drove to Peggy's Cove, which is very justifiably listed in a million places as one of the prettiest places in Canada.  It was surreal to see a tourist attraction that wasn't jammed up with tourist booths.  There was one jewelry shop; one ice cream stand; and one art gallery.  Other than that, it was just gorgeous.  Sitting up on the rocks, cool wind blowing, sun shining, the ocean in front of me:  THIS is what I travel for.  I haven't felt that peace since Australia.  And this is in my own country!

I'd upload a photo to go with this but I lost my freaking camera case along the way so now I have to go out and hunt down a new camera cord.  But at least I didn't lose the camera itself.

Tomorrow we're taking a ferry over to Prince Edward Island, I'm excited to check out Cavendish Beach and the red red sands.

Being on east coast is making me miss my ex, for the first time really since we broke up months ago.  I've only been out this way twice, and both times were with him.  So I'm already finding myself saying 'M and I did this', or 'M and I wanted to go there', etc, etc.

We get along fine back in Ottawa but it's not like we're great friends, and I haven't felt this affection and nostalgia since we broke up, so it' surprised me to feel this way.  Although it's natural in a way I guess, because here I am re-doing a trip I've only ever done with him, but still.  WEIRD.  Nice though, because there's no reason not to feel affection for someone I lived with for eight months, it's not like we're enemies.  And it's not like missing him here is making me want to run back and get back together with him, but it does make me want to try and actually become friends.

Changes

Well, no Newfoundland.

It's hard for four people to be on the same page.  Sooooo...me and A are going to go our separate way and create an east coast tour of our own.

Haven't put a plan in motion yet, but thinking

Peggy's Cove
Price Edward Island
Cape Breton
possibly the Gaspe
and DEFINITELY spending some time at the Bay of Fundy.  Thinking around Parrsboro, there are a bunch of fossil sites there and according to the internet it's Nova Scotia's 'best kept secret'.

Mike and I camped out on the fundy shore last year and it was amazing.  Unfortunately we only had one night, and this time A and I have lots of time.  Originally our plan had been to get back to Montreal/Ottawa for the 7th, so we could both work the 8th and 9th before her birthday celebration on the 10th, but now that we're not going to Newfoundland we're going to head back sooner, most likely next Sunday, the 5th.  So we have a week to hit all the locations above, which should be fine.

I'm sad Newfoundland isn't happening (AGAIN).  BUT, I've never been to PEI, and my other trips to the east coast were mostly to Halifax to party and head back.  So this time, we got the partying done last night, and now it's scenery time.  Fuck yeah.

Day two...

Already realizing that everyone's plan for this trip wasn't the same.  At this moment, not sure what's gonna happen.

The only thing I know for sure right now is that I'm at one of my best friend in the worlds house in Halifax, drinking with his awesome girlfriend, and heading to a sweet metal show.  So at least right now rules.

Day one

What an odd beginning to a trip.  We've currently made a 'bar in a car', sitting in a truck stop outside of Woodstock, NB, where we're gonna pitch our tents and camp out.  We'd intended to make to Moncton tonight, but we got started hours later than planned so wouldn't have gotten there until about 4am.

Tonight is an odd one for me in a few ways.  I've been looking forward to this trip for so long, but for the last two weeks I've been playing house with my 'boyfriend', which quickly became the more dominant thing in my mind, and the trip became very secondary.  I say 'boyfriend', because, in many ways I will not put out here on teh intrawebs, it's a very real relationship that will never be real.  And to go from this pretend reality, to saying goodbye today and jumping in my car to travel, makes it all even more unreal.  So I'm excited to be on a real roadtrip, and excited to finally be getting to go to Newfoundland, and excited to get away... but I'm also wishing so much that the trip hadn't happened today and I could be in my bed with him right now instead. But reality had to step in at some point...

Anyway.  Tomorrow we'll stop in Moncton, then head to Halifax to party for the night before *hopefully* getting on the ferry to St Johns on Sunday.  It's only hopefully because, of course, one of the four of us (not me!) forgot identification, and it's required to take the ferry.  We have someone in Montreal sending faxes of it to us in Halifax tomorrow, so fingers crossed they'll let us on with it.

Well.  Now I'm going to have a drink, and hang out with my friends.  And not think about the boy.  And not be grumpy that I'm tired.  And not let the mosquitoes bug me.  Because I'm going to fucking Newfoundland in a couple of days, to climb mountains and play in the red sand.  Fuck yeah.

Hitting the road

Tomorrow morning I'm allowing myself to fall prey to Canadian advertising and I'm heading to Newfoundland.  For months now, I've stared in awe at the commercials for Newfoundland and Labrador and am blown away by the beauty that exists in my own country, but that I've yet to discover.

I saw more of Australia than most Australians I met.  And I met many Australians who had seen more of Canada than I had.  So many people use their travel time to go to other countries, without discovering their own.  So I'm hoping to change that.

I'm going as far east in Canada as I can get.  Me, three of my friends, and two of their dogs, are about to pack ourselves in to my junky car and head to what I'm thinking will be the most beautiful part of Canada I'll ever see.  When I'm done, I'll finally have travelled my entire country from east to west.  When I was 18 I packed my life into two garbage bags and a backpack and moved from Pembroke, ON to Edmonton, AB on the greyhound.  A few months later I made the same trip in a junky truck with a guy who drove the whole way without sleeping, while I pretty much slept right through the prairies.  At one time during my stint in Edmonton, a few friends and I drove out to Victoria, BC, which was my only experience in the Rocky Mountains.  Unfortunately this was before the age of digital cameras and cellphones, and well before online blogging, so my memories of it are very faded.

Next year I hope to make it back out to BC, and I also want to go north at some point. And I want to drive all over the U.S.  And and and...fuck I'm going to take my car everywhere.

The saddest thing I've ever heard

Not long a ago, a family member told me that he didn't need to travel, because he 'has the internet'.

I didn't know how to respond at the time, except to blink back tears and tell him it pained me to hear something like that.

Just now, as I prepare to leave for my next (brief, but hey it's something!) trip, this time to Houston, Texas, his words really hit me.  I can't imagine ever saying something like that, but at the same time, before I started travelling, maybe I could have said the same myself.

I didn't know what the big deal was about travelling myself until my first night in Belize.  It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the warm air, relaxed atmosphere, the Caribbean sea lapping at the sand just feet away from where we were sitting in outdoor swings enjoying our dinner.  My very first night in Central America, I knew I had the travel bug, big time.

How can I convey that to someone who's never left Ontario?

How can I try to explain that feeling of peace, and excitement?  Or even explain the feeling of terror I felt when snorkelling in Western Australia and I came up to find my snorkel team gone, back to the boat already,  and I was all alone in very choppy water. That SUCKED, but I would never take it back.  Especially because, just a few hours later, I swam right over a whale shark, one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever layed eyes on.

I want to tell him about me, Sarah, and Alanna drunkenly climbing the Flamingo sign over and over again in Vegas.  About sitting in Central Park, reading a book under a tree while waiting for Mateo to meet me after work.  About the time I got so drunk in Cuba I thought it was 3AM, not PM.  Or even tell him about the time I had sex on the beach in Caye Caulker, under a palm tree, the water just inches away.  I can't possibly find the words to explain the feeling of the water when I jumped into the crisp  'Garden of Eden' in the middle of Kings Canyon in Australia, or what it was like to sleep in a swag in the middle of the Outback.

I look at photos of places other people have been, and I feel this tugging in my heart and think I WANT TO GO THERE.  The photo is not enough - how can it be?  The internet is a great tool to show us where we should go, but to think of it as a substitute boggles me.  Every thing I do, every day, is to get me somewhere else.  My travel plans change all the time, due to change in finances, or other circumstances, but they only change.  They don't go away.  I WILL make it to Thailand one day.  I will go live in Spain for a while.  I will go to Morocco.  And Mexico.  And Peru.  And England.  And Rome...and... EVERYWHERE.

Or I will die trying, that's for sure.