Throwback
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Getting to Know London
Public transport in London is absolutely amazing, yet I find myself walking everywhere all the time. It’s not even about saving money, it’s just about a general feeling of ease and the discovery of hidden gems made possible only by walking around London. When Shannon and I did our two-month backpacking trip in Europe, we dedicated four days to this lovely city. During that time, we saw a lot because we walked pretty much everywhere. June 2015 The bus ride from Inverness to London was supposed to take twelve hours, but due to traffic, it took fourteen. Our forty-five-minute stopover in Edinburgh ended up being twenty, leaving us little time…
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London Festivals and Street Art
I know I’ve traditionally posted throwback posts on Thursdays in honor of the whole “Throwback Thursday” idea. However, I’ve decided to do away with that tradition and give some love to the other days of the week. Since I am currently still in London, due to COIVD restrictions and I haven’t done much other than work. I’ve decided to do a series of posts about previous visits to London, the first of which I now present to you. Cheers! June 2015 The story of how we got the tickets goes something like this: While teaching a high school art class I received a text from my best friend Shannon. It…
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Road Trip: The Grand Canyon and Glen Canyon
This post is the first part of a two month road trip I took around The States. September 2017 I got the family discount, even though I wasn’t exactly family. Ross and I had known each other since we were ten, having moved to Big Bear the same year, and given each other shit for our entire acquaintance…so in a way we were absolutely family. I hadn’t been to the Grand Canyon since I was three and didn’t have the keenest memory of the experience. In fact, I remembered absolutely nothing other than a story mum told about how I nearly gave her a heart attack by climbing up the…
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Pompeii
This Throwback Thursday posts took place during one of my favorite trips. It was my first time in Europe and I was travelling with my best friend, who was the ideal travelling companion. This story takes place on the very first day in Italy. May 2015 It was our first day in Italy and with only a thirty-minute train ride between us and Pompeii, the ruins of a city once drowned in the ashes of the volcano Vesuvius, we knew exactly how we wanted to spend it. After a complimentary breakfast of Nutella croissants, espresso, and orange juice, we hopped (literary we were bouncing) onto a train south. Little to…
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El Oceanario
Spoiler: my next post is going to be about diving in the Great Barrier Reef. However, I think it’s important to give a bit of back story regarding my diving experience prior to the GBR trip. Hopefully you enjoy the chaos, stress, and emotion to follow in this blog. April 2014 Normally, I write my blogs in past tense, retelling events how they once happened. However, when I first arrived on the island I was very stressed and wrote to escape some of the anxiety. I feel that these “in the moment” entries provide a more accurate representation of everything. Night 1 I feel like crying. When I arrived, no…
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Idle Afternoon
Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) was an original essay by Mary Schmich and made famous by Baz Luhrmann when he turned it into a speaking song. In it the listener is given a plethora of advice relating to how one should live their life. One piece is not to worry about the future, “The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.” On Tuesday the 13th of July, at 4:23pm I was hit by a car while crossing a street. It certainly wasn’t something that I had worried about, though it…
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Cheated
Time for another Throwback Thursday post. I’m going to try to be more regular about these in the future. This time we are headed back to South America, to Lima, Peru. January 2014 For our final day in Lima we visited the ruins in Miraflores, constructed by the Limas not the Incas. The bricks were stacked on top of each other in what archaeologists call “bookshelf style” and composed of a mixture of mud, sand, crushed shells, and water. The vertically stacked bricks have increased flexibility and endure the impact of earthquakes more effectively than those stacked horizontally. For years the ruins had lain buried below a mound of dirt…
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Another Year in the Books
Two weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday and by celebrate, I mean that I was sick with the flu and pretty much stayed on the couch watching Disney movies all day. It’s the first birthday that I can remember being sick for, but it was still wonderful. My housemates were super understanding and accommodating. Even though I encouraged them to go out and do fun stuff they insisted all they wanted to do was whatever I wanted to do. You’re supposed to feel special on your birthday, and despite my illness I couldn’t have felt more special. This was the third birthday I had abroad: the first being in South…
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Bruises and Hives
In South America I traveled alone: I was prepared and in the right mindset. In all honesty when Shannon left Europe, I hadn’t entirely prepared myself for being on my own. It wasn’t that I didn’t realize I would be by myself. It was just that I wasn’t accustomed to it. We had been a travelling duo for two months and suddenly not having her around was quite a shock. A few days passed before I began to adjust. July 2015 The day after she left, I decided to go jogging along the river. When you travel, the learning curve is astronomically steep. I discovered the east side of the…
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TBT Holiday Edition
This is a holiday edition Throwback Thursday post. It’s about the first time I was away for the holidays and the emotions and thoughts the experience inspired. Enjoy! November 2012 The past month has been uneventful in the best ways possible. It has given me a chance to forge stronger friendships, catch up on TV shows, and explore the local scene. Although, it is rare that everyone from work comes together to hang out, an opportunity presented itself when we celebrated Thanksgiving. With almost equal numbers of Canadian’s and American’s we had to make it fair and pick a neutral day. So, we went with the first weekend of November.…
