Once again I’ve found with travel the things you often go looking for aren’t always what end up having the most impact. Not sure how many finish lines, mountain tops and “experiences” I have chased, yet a simple unplanned moment can easily trump them all.
In visiting Japan I felt that if I visited the cities of my ancestors I’d somehow have an epiphany or at least feel some connection. So I traveled to the cities my ancestors called home, walked the streets they once did and you know what. No epiphany no spirits speaking to me from the great beyond, not even a remote feeling of connection to this alien place.
Great grandpa, whom I never met, had a saying, “don’t visit me when I’m in the grave”
In going to Japan I was thinking it was the past, the history, discovering things about where my roots lay that would have an impact on me. Turns out for me the past is the past and it was the now in which I found the most meaning. Read More »
Her name isn’t Kay but does start with one so lets call her that.
BMI flight 564 LHR -> AMM, I boarded with a bit of trepidation. Had checked into things and in my mind I knew wandering around Jordan is probably safer that wandering through the DTES. Still hard to shake all the ideas I’ve had beaten into me about the middle east and here I’d be snuggled up against Syria which seemed to be making headlines daily. Again that “unknown” sure does a good job of placing doubt in ones mind, but as I have tried to do lately I pointed myself directly towards it.
Then it happened. I walked onto the plane scanned down the rows of other passengers and was met with mostly stares from unfamiliar faces, I wandered down to find my seat. Arriving at lucky number 13C I stepped into the row and was greeted by a smile that took me by complete surprise. Sitting there ever so comfortably in the window seat was a little unassuming lady who I placed in her sixties. Certainly not the person I was expecting. Read More »
Hunger
When I was approaching my Vancouver departure date I ran into a guy that has an office on the same floor as me. We had chatted in the halls for many years and when I told him I was packing it all up and leaving to hit the road for an indefinite and unplanned journey he was enthusiastically supportive. More importantly something he said really struck me, which was “great you’ll come back more hungry”. Turns out this couldn’t be more true. I’ve been on the road coming up to four months now and wouldn’t trade this time for anything; however, there are a few things that are calling me and one is a desire to get back to creating and working on new ventures. Something which had waned in recent years with all the battle scars that have been built up. Read More »
First post … I don’t know how many times I’ve written and re-written it, it has been the biggest thing holding this site up. There were just too many thing I want to share and explain. Then a friend recently pointed out to me I say far too much. If you’ve ever had to endure a beer with me you know this all to well 
So, here it goes just the important stuff.
I left my all too comfortable life in Vancouver in August of 2011. Home sold, career put on hold, ten years of accumulated “things” sold and what remained stored. That process alone was amazingly cathartic and highly recommended. I packed two bags and boarded a plane on August 15th, 2011 with a one way ticket to Paris. Read More »
