Never Stop Exploring

Just got my first ever North Face Jacket...great fit, and most of all it keeps me dry and warm against the endless wind and rain Gent, Belgium has to offer. Just thought I would brag a bit because I fell in love with their slogan;

Never Stop Exploring...

WCT - Preparation.. Struggles..

Time is flying and preparation is going slow... still need to get some key items hopefully this week;

- Shoes
- Tent
- Pack

Training; slow but better than nothing...
- Stairs - average 3 times a week
- Rock Climbing - Once at the Toronto Rock Climbing Academy
- Running - average 2 a week.

Time to pick up the pace!

Spring Time...A New Beginning

So... the last six months absolutely fleeeeew by. There's so many things I want to catch up on and talk about I don't even know where to start. It seems like my travel theme for the last year has been 'The West Coast'. Last summer we spent a week road ripping from Vancouver down to San Francisco. On the way climbing mountainous waterfalls in the BC-Rockies, driving by some out-of-this-world red woods and sandboarding down Oregon Sand Dunes. In January, we took a four day trip to Calgary - Banff, where we enjoyed some fresh powder in Lake Louise and Kicking Horse resort. And now, this June we are taking up a legendary journey, the changing mark of our lives, the behemoth of all missions, the trips of all trips.... drum roll.... the West Coast Trail! It is now April 29 and the training and preparation has began. I am hoping to keep you up to date with our step by step preparation. From equipment to getting into shape, we'll see how it goes! AAAAaaaadventure is out there!* (Source: Up)

And for now, here are some little reminders that Spring is in full gear..

Feels good to be back...

Alright.... from late Summer through Fall to Winter, the time has come for me to stop blog-hibernating. I've been away for way to long, it seems like I have never returned from my vacation. Its quite odd, that a person can think about something everyday, and yet not take one moment out of their day to allow themselves to partake in that one little activity they enjoy. I think the same occurs when people avoid making the time to invest in their 'future-self'. You can spend everyday occupied with all the little day to day activities that fill up your time, and never really move forward.

For the short time that I have dedicated myself to this blog in the past I felt a great satisfaction with it, so if nobody minds, I think I'm going to continue with it. I think my biggest deterrent until now, was to find one main direction that I want my writing to take, but I just can't decide on one direction. There is way too many things in this world I find interesting. So, just like with many other aspects of my life, I found that you cannot just sit around and wait to get an answer to your confusions and doubts, you have to continue trying anything you can to gain some inspiration. So here I am again...

... The self is not something one finds, it is something one creates. ~Thomas Szasz

Since today we welcome the first day of the last month of 2009, here's some precious moments I captured from the Winter early this year, throughout the precious months in between... still anxiously awaiting the first snowfall of this year.

Away from the Office

A Mr. Bean Holiday

Ladies and gentleman,

It's that time of year again... Vacation Time! After working for 51 weeks, I get my 1 - week off. I could expand plentiful about the topic of slavery in today's society, but instead I choose to show you my feelings of happiness. I must say there is no one better to demonstrate this ultimate feeling of absolute excitement than our favorite Mr. Bean! Mr. Bean's Holiday is actually one of my favorite movies, and I think what made me like it even more is that I watched it right after visiting Nice. I was going to post his dancing scene from the movie, but I think this one will portray what I want to say a little better. You think I'm kidding, but this is probably what I will be doing at the airport tomorrow evening.

Mr. Bean has been close to my heart since I was little. Every New Year's Eve we would watch the Mr. Bean Christmas special, and they would always play the one where he gets his head stuck on a turkey. Anyway, enough about that... tomorrow night, we're hitting up the west coast! Can't wait to tell you all about it when I come back!

Vancouver! San Francisco! Here I come!

Hasta Luego !

Inspirational and Beautiful

I am posting a video which was showed to me by Mike, because I really want to share my appreciation for it and I am convinced you will all find it just as inspirational and beautiful as I did. It's a video taken at the Oknawa Churaumi Aquarium, the second largest aquarium in the world accompanied by the music of Barcelona, in my opinion a soon-to-be-grand indie band that deserves some praise. This video was mande by Jon Rawlinson, a cameraman/producer that specializes in documentary production all over the world.

What's really cool about this, is that ever since this video which is now counting over 800,000 views on youTube , and is highly complemented on digg.com, Barcelona's Sales on ITunes have been sky-rocketing. To show their appreciation the small band posted a Response Vidoe on Jon Rawlinson's page, thanking for the exposure. It's funny how it all works.

I leave you with this;

He who can no longer pause to wander and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. - Albert Einstein

A Tribute To a Stranger

As I was looking for some quotes to portray perfectly the need to look at life through the eyes of a child-the biggest explorers of all, I stumbled on ‘an inspiring human being’, Dan Eldon. I would like to share this person with you.

Dan Eldon, was a british photojournalist who along with three others, he was stoned and beaten to death on a dusty street in Mogadishu (largest city in Somalia). He was 23 years old when he died, but he left behind some amazing journals. Throughout his short life he visited 46 countries! He even set up a charity, “Student Transport Aid” where with other friends raised $25,000 for a venture to a refugee camp in Malawi. They traveled over thousands of miles in three vehicles then donated one of the cars to ‘Save the Children Fund’, as well as money for three wells and blankets for a children’s hospital. ( Source: Wiki)

Like a comet, he blazed through life. Every day was a new adventure. But an act of grief and revenge cut it short. – National Geographics

His Pledge on Life; The journey is the destination.

Success;

To laugh often and love much

To win respect of intelligent people and the affection of children
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends

To appreciate beauty

To find the best in others

To leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded - Ralph Waldo Emerson

How’s that for Inspiration…?

Younger Days Traveler

Things are so much easier when you’re a child, exploring is just as important on a day to day basis as brushing your teeth. If anything I wish I could remember the time when everything you saw and touched was for the first time. In case you’re wondering, yes I am the one beside the monkey, me the little explorer,and beside me, is my brother (whoever knows my brother, Do Not Mention This Picture). Till this day I still remember the numerous road trips and travels my family has taken us as kids; vivid memories of sticking my head out the window trying to get a glace of the passing scenery, playing card games with my brother as the road rushes by or hearing the muffled sound of the engine as my cheek pressed against the back seat and my body crammed, while my parents continued to battle the drive through the late night hours. Looking past the discomforts, fights and ‘are we there yets’, if I could recommend anything to the parents in today’s day and age it would be to force those family road trips! They build character and unite the family. Its is those memories that we end up remembering most I think. I strongly believe that I am the person that I have become today, because of the wonderfull things I was exposed at that early age. And although I don't remember that monkey, I'm sure I was loving that beach then, just as much as I would love it now.

I once again leave you with a quote...

To explore the unknown and the familiar, distant and near, and to record in details with the eyes of a child, any beauty, horror, irony, traces of utopia or Hell. - Dan Eldon