On a boat

It’s 4:50am and my alarm is ringing, telling me that I have to wake up. Slightly confused from the darkness and the fatigue, I also hear a knock at the door. My aunt, also my backup alarm, is passing along the same message. I’m groggy… I only went to bed a few hours ago, after unpacking and completely repacking all of my belongings that I’m taking with me. It was a scene of ordered chaos at about midnight, but it was quelled and organized before 12:30. I knew I needed at least a little sleep.
The bus ride went fairly quickly. I arrived at 5:15, purchased tickets, and lugged my three suitcases and two carry-ons over to the bus bay. All three big pieces weighed in around 50lbs, with my biggest one just cracking the mark by about 2lbs. Not bad, considering the life that I’m packing up can fit into 3 suitcases. To be honest, I could’ve got rid of even more, and I actually plan on abandoning some of it once I arrive. But when the furthest semi-permanent move you’ve made is from one province to another, I figured I should err on the side of too much rather than not enough. Now I’m on the Spirit of Van Isle, racing for the big rock.
A lot of what I expected to pack didn’t make it, mainly due to time constraints. I didn’t pick up any coffee, or any extra spice packets or other foodstuffs that I was told would help me feel less homesick. I have the worst sense of time in the world, so everything took me twice as long as anticipated, and I just simply didn’t get ‘er done. But it doesn’t matter now. I’m on a boat, and I can’t look back and wonder, “what if”.
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. I’ve been scrambling to get my bills paid, addresses changed, loans sorted, banks notified, goodbyes said, etc. I even made a ridiculous trip back home to Alberta over the weekend… 1184kms on Sunday, 12 hours and 20 minutes in the truck, and 3 or 4 food/bathroom/gas pit stops. It was good to see the family, but within 24 hours of arriving on their doorstep in Lethy, I was boarding my plane in Calgary to come back to the coast.
I’m exhausted and getting long-winded, so I’m going to cut this off for now. I’ve got my coffee and a make-shift breakfast, so I’m going to go find a quiet place to enjoy it. Hopefully I’ll be able to update you all when I arrive in Tokyo, as I have an overnight there before arriving in Dalian on Friday at noon (or 11pm BC time on Thursday night). The coffee is important… 3 hours at the airport waiting/checking in, then 10 hours in the plane, and then another 3 the next day. I haven’t slept much all week, so caffeine is going to be my constant and steady companion. See you all on the other side of the world.
T

Long days

So, I'm still waiting for my flight itinerary. I fly out either Tuesday or Wednesday but I don't find out until the morning. So what did I do in the meantime? Caught a 9pm ferry last night, then drove about 1184kms and 12 hours across southern BC/Alberta today before I fly back to the coast tomorrow night and potentially fly out the next day. Still a bit nutty. But things are still coming along, albeit more slowly that I would've hoped. I'll have more updates in the morning, but if I don't update before I go, I'll write from my hotel in Japan before I arrive in Dalian, China.

Until then, mes amis...

T

Quite a year

I can be absolutely awful at emailing people individually. I tried keeping everyone up-to-date while I was backpacking in Europe, but after a while the emails fell off. So I'm hoping to use this format to keep in touch with everyone back here in Canuckistan, especially since Facebook can sometimes get blocked by the goverment.

I've been more nomadic in the past 16 months than the entire rest of my life. Multiple moves, city switches and occupational changes have brought me to the latest adventure: China!

I have about 5 days left in Canada. I still have a tonne to do in that time... pack up my apartment, get rid of my phone, get a vehicle back to Alberta, see as many friends as possible, and try to get my head around the fact that I'm packing up my life into two suitcases and going to a place where I'll be the token "lo fun". 

It's going to be fantastic experience, though. Not only will I have the chance to travel on holidays and see things I've always wanted to see, but I'll be able to get back in the classroom and use some of my expensive education to do something great. And I'll likely get to see the culinary adventures that you may only see on an episode of Survivor or Fear Factor.

Keep in touch when you can, and I'll see you all in a year (or two or five).

T