Journey & Adventure

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving today, so in the spirit of giving thanks, here’s what I’m thankful for: I’m thankful for my family and friends. They all drive me bat-shit crazy on a regular basis, but I appreciate their quirks – in small doses. I’m especially thankful to J for taking care of the majority of the household chores - cleaning, groceries, baking and margarita making. I’m thankful for my sense of humor and the margaritas because without them, I would have totally lost my mind by now. I’m thankful for The Boy and his sense of humor because without it, he would have made me lose my mind by now. I’m thankful my in-laws are hosting the turkey dinner this year for the whole family. I’m especially thankful for not having to have those people in my house for an extended period of time and being able to leave when I want. I’m thankful today is a holiday and therefore, I do not have to spend time with my boss or co-workers. I’m thankful for my job, but would be more thankful...

After a couple of years of wandering aimlessly through a couple of different college programs, The Boy has decided to take a year off from his search of post-secondary knowledge. In hindsight, J and I should have encouraged him to do this sooner, as it would have save a lot of time, money and frustration by everyone involved, but as parents, you want your children to succeed, have more and do more than you personally. During my generation, we finished high school knowing we were lucky to be heading off for college because many of our parents didn’t have that ability. They simply finished high school and entered the work force, got married, started a family, etc. A post-secondary education wasn’t expected from them, or in some cases it wasn’t even an option. In this day and age, we expect our children to be destined for greatness and when greatness doesn’t come exactly how and when we expect it – on our terms and schedule, we become overly concerned that there is something fu...

Well, we've been back over a week now and all I can say is that it feels like we were never away.  So before I completely forget about the trip, let's get started... Let’s start by telling you a little bit about where we stayed in the Philippines. Our first stop was the island of Negros, Philippines and on this island, we stayed at a beautiful resort called Atlantis Dive Resort . From the moment we were greeted at the airport by our hosts, we knew we were in for a treat. Every detail of our stay was beyond our expectations. The resort was clean and comfortable. The staff were over-the-top attentive and they knew our names by the second day. This is not a tiny resort, so memorizing all the guest’s names should be commended. A personalized greeting goes a long way to making you feel welcome and at home.  Gloria - She Was The Best !!! The food was 5+ star to say the least. It’s a miracle I did not gain any weight while we were here, but I guess having the abilit...

People say – “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I say – “Absence makes you wonder why you didn’t stay away longer.” Yes, I’m back. It’s good to be home, but it’s not so good to be back at work and back to reality. Reality is overrated. I know, I know...enough of my bemoaning the fact that my vacation is over. We arrived home late in the evening on my birthday, March 31st. We left the Philippines on my birthday.  I had two whole days of birthdays thanks to the International Date Line. It was the longest birthday of my life, but thank goodness, I didn’t age twice.  That would NOT have been cool. This time around, jet lag caught up to me with a vengeance. It’s now Wednesday, April 04, 2012 and I’m just starting to function again. Thank goodness it’s a short work week – Good Friday is a Godsend (pardon that horrible pun). I hope to finally get some pictures downloaded from my camera tonight and put together some thoughts from our trip, which I hope to share w...

Just a quick update.  We are mid way through our Philippine vacation and have been having a great time.   We spent last week scuba diving in Dumuagete, Philippines (Negros Island).  The resort was unbelievable, the people, food, accommodations were beyond our expectations. Yesterday, we were on the road again...headed to Legazpi, Philippines to snorkel with the whale sharks.  This is where our trip took a turn for the unexpected.  Our flight was first delayed and then ultimately canceled.  We tried without luck to reschedule our flights for today, but were told all flights to our destination were sold out until March 30...the same day we are scheduled to fly home. So, long story short...here we sit in a hotel lobby in Manila, Philippines - waiting for our rooms to be ready.  This will be the same hotel we will be residing in for the next 3 days....until our flight home. As disappointed as we are about our disruption, travel is what yo...

I’ve posted these lyrics before, but they sum things up quite nicely, as we get ready to depart tomorrow… Changes in Latitude Jimmy Buffett - 1977 I took off for a weekend last month Just to try and recall the whole year All of the faces and all of the places Wonderin where they all disappeared I didn't ponder the question too long I was hungry and went out for a bite Ran into a chum with a bottle of rum And we wound up drinkin all night Chorus: Its these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes Nothing remains quite the same With all of our running and all of our cunning If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane Reading departure signs in some big airport Reminds me of the places I’ve been Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure Makes me want to go back again If it suddenly ended tomorrow I could somehow adjust to the fall Good times and riches and son of a bitches I’ve seen more than I can recall Chorus:...

Allow me to introduce…Stella…. “Stella” is what I am fondly calling my new photo backpack - my Tamrac Expedition 6X photo backpack. I know what you’re asking – why the hell do I need a photo back? Well, it seems that J thinks I’m getting off too easy when we travel and that I need to start sharing the “load”, so Stella is his way of passing over some of his 30 lbs of camera equipment to me (read: I’m being transformed into a pack-mule). I must admit that I’m a little sad to be saying goodbye to Juan (photo not included). Juan is a little tired from all of our adventures, but he’s still got it going on…and man he’s ruggedly handsome and holds a lot of stuff and none of it is camera related (read: 4 bottles of rum). If it wasn’t for J needing to carry an excessive amount of photo gear, Juan would be the one venturing to the Philippines with me. *sigh* Honestly, I don’t mind really since the backpack seems to be made to fit a female frame (read: shorter person). U...

In less than a week, we are off to the Philippines for two glorious weeks of scuba diving, snorkeling, eating, drinking, relaxing , more relaxing and maybe some shopping. I’m looking forward to everything - except the journey to get there. The first leg of the trip will see us depart Toronto for a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. Then it’s another 2 hour flight from Hong Kong to Manila and then another 2 hour flight from Manila to Cebu and then a 2 hour bus ride to the dive resort. Estimated time in transit to get there, including flights, wait time at the airports and bus time = 25+ hours. A previous trip to Palau was 36+ hours of travel time, BUT we had an overnight stop over in Hawaii, which softened the blow a bit. All of our travel companions are pretty easy going, but I’m sure someone will have a meltdown before that excursion is over. My money is on one of the smokers in the group. Should be interesting. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes. The suitcases are ...

Let me first start by saying that I have no experience in this area, but am slowly gathering some knowledge through my research while trying to help The Boy “discover himself”. Truth is - I’m trying to get him out of my house and into the world… Although, I joke about his wasted college days, I don’t see anything that helps you decide the things you DON’T want to do in life as a total waste. Yes, money has been spent on school that could have been better spent elsewhere. Enough said… I’m not dwelling on that. Moving forward… So, The Boy is once again at a crossroads of what he wants to do with his life. He’s tried three separate college programs (broadcast television, business marketing and most recently, culinary management) and none seem to be fulfilling a need in his life. While he enjoys culinary, it’s not something he can see himself making a long term career out of. He’s a hard worker, but just doesn’t have the passion for it. With all that being said, it’s been di...

Back to travel basics...  When traveling always remember, that you are a merely guest in someone else’s village, city or country.   You are visiting their home.   Stop and ask yourself - how would you want visitors to behave in your home?  Making responsible choices before and during your vacation can help protect communities and the environment around the world. Know Before You Go Do your homework before you go.  Know where you’re going, what to expect, acceptable practices and most importantly, the cultures you will be experiencing.  It doesn’t hurt to learn a few words of the local language – words like “please” and “thank-you” will go a long way in any culture.  The internet is a vast source of travel-related information – use it.  Ignorance is not an excuse. Go Green Remove all excess packaging before you leave home.  Understand that proper waste disposal can be difficult or non-existence in remote places a...

Only 28 more days until my journey to the Philippines begins. I can’t believe it is getting so close. To be honest, I haven’t thought much about it with everything else that’s been going on with my life at the moment. I know it seems insane, but I’ve already started to pack. Packing for a scuba trip is a completely different form of packing and because we take all of our own gear (with the exception of tanks and weights), we need to start early to make sure everything is still in working order. Believe me, there is no such thing as “packing light”. With all the scuba gear, including regulators, suits, boots, BCD’s, mask, fins, snorkels, underwater flashlights, batteries for the flashlights and underwater camera equipment, my “gear” suitcase is usually just shy of 40 lbs and then when the first aid kit, sunscreen, medications (decongestant, Pepto Bismol, Dramamine, Tylenol, toiletries and anything else we think we might need that won’t be readily available) is added, I’m push...

Technically I was back to work yesterday after being off work for almost a week. I am fortunate that the company I work for provides for five days paid bereavement leave, which allowed me to attend the funeral of my grandfather in New Brunswick, Canada and spend a few additional days with family. Although the circumstances weren’t ideal, it was nice to spend some time with loved ones that I haven’t seen since my mother’s funeral in 2007. We also spent a fun day with my dad, just driving around the back country roads looking for moose for J to photograph. Sadly, no moose were seen, but plenty of laughs were had at my dad’s expense. He’s quite the character. After spending time with family, J and I took off to my favorite place in Canada - St. Andrew’s, New Brunswick. This small seaside village is located on the Bay of Fundy and is absolutely deserted in the winter, but the clean, cold ocean air and sunshine was just what I needed to clear the cobwebs and stress of the previous ...

I wish I could tell you that I have it all figured out and that our relocate plan is 100% foolproof, but let’s be honest…I don’t really have it all sorted out just yet.   Here are some highlights to date:   1.        Become Debt Free.   Our main plan of action is still to pay off the mortgage, credit line and any other debts we might have within the next 3-5 years.  When the time comes to sell here, the equity we have in our current house will easily pay for our house or condo in Ecuador.  Believe me, we don’t have an extravagant house now, but housing costs in Ecuador are substantially less than houses in North America, which will give us a nice nest egg left over.   2.        Downsizing.   Slowly we will begin to purge everything non-essential from our lives.  Apart from our laptops and iPods and some personal meaningful items, we don’t plan...

In yesterday’s post, I said I would try to explain our decision about our plan to relocate to Ecuador in 2017.   Putting our thoughts on paper is harder than I thought it would be, so please excuse me if it doesn’t make sense to you, but in the paradise that is my mind…it makes sense to me.   Let me first say – regardless of how much I complain about the long, cold, Canadian winters, we love our country and Canada will always be our home.   That said, I’ve got enough love in my heart to go round, so enough with the mushy stuff.   Here we go…   Lack of Time   I know I’m not the only one out there and that the majority of us are in the same boat.   We all lack time and lack of time is has been one of the biggest deciding factors to relocate - we just don’t have time and can’t seem of find the time for anything – no time for each other, no time for our son, no time for chores, no time for hobbies, no time for friends and n...

You might remember me telling you about my 7-10 year plan .   You know the one - when I pay off my mortgage and debts, be totally irresponsible and quit my day job and then run away…far, far away to somewhere warm.   Well, I know this might sound absolutely ridiculous, but the planning has begun.    Put the date on your calendar – 2017.   By end of year 2017, J and I plan to be living in…. (insert drum roll)…Ecuador.   Exact location to be determined, but I can tell you that it will be somewhere on the coast of Ecuador.     There you have it.   There’s no turning back now that it’s on paper.   You, my Blogger friends, are the first to know our little secret.   We don’t plan on telling other friends or family members anytime soon because let’s face it - 5 years is a long way off and there is no sense in stressing them out long before we have to.   Obviously, we plan on taking a few research trip...