twenty-somethings

i watched this video and then called my best friend to talk about it for about an hour.

this happened in a coffee shop while i was inhaling a cinnamon bun. 

everyone of my twenty-something friends that i've watched it with have all drawn on different points that she mentions. piecing together what applies to them and if they see truth in it. 

personally i found it terrifying. i felt like i am the twenty-something that is postponing adulthood. 

that i am waiting to grow up. 

also, i haven't done this yet...but i'd be interested in finding out how many times this blue silk shirt wearing southern gal says 'twenty-somethings' during this talk. 

still playing snakes and ladders

it has been a month and im still playing snakes and ladders.
ive gotten the summer schedule for the tour company and its lacking. im still doing random nannying jobs and taking tour groups around the city to make ends meet. but there has been no potential leads on anything solid. no new news on a job that im actually interested in, and would want to keep for the coming year or so.
it's brutal. i didnt think this would be where im at after living here for almost four months.
and to top it all off im also looking for a new place to live. my roommate patrik recently told me that he is moving back to sweden sooner than expected. so im on the hunt again.
this week consists of a couple mornings spent nannying, meeting a girl from latvia who is new to vancouver, a going away party for interns at the tour company and getting my bike tuned up. woah! slow down you 25 year old. the lack of excitement in my life is appalling.
i think about where i was a year ago. one year ago from now i was nannying in calgary and spending all of my free time at the library reading travel books about the countries i planned to visit in the coming months, and heading to my favourite outdoor travel gear store; price comparing light weight tents and trying on countless pairs of hiking boots. i was looking forward to something huge. and one year later im back in canada and struggling to pay rent.
its hard not to think about packing up everything and buying a one way ticket somewhere warm. where i can live in a little hut on the beach for a year. paying a dollar for my weeks supply of groceries. having a bathing suit be the only thing i ever wear under my clothes. maybe next year.

taken on my training day on vancouver island

training

so i had a great weekend getting trained for my new part-time job as a tour guide. it really got me excited for the months to come. i was one of four trainees. we spent the weekend sightseeing and partying our way threw the rocky mountains. spending a night in valemount, banff and golden, before heading back to vancouver to recover. my highlights included going swimming in lake louise, partying in banff at my old stompin' grounds, and seeing the columbia ice fields! 

my thrill was short lived though. because when i got back from the trip i found out that not only was i not getting paid for any of my six full days of training, i also was only scheduled for one day of work for the next two months. so 'pissed off' doesnt even begin to cover my frustration.on one hand im extremely excited about the job, but furious at their lack of decency at the same time. and it's not like i can bring up the fact that it is super illegal not to pay employees for nessesary training, because then i would loose my job. so that is happening. which means that im back at square one again! 

i feel like im playing snakes and ladders and i keep landing on snakes. whether it is family issues, personal relationships, employment blunders or financial uncertainty. i keep sliding backwards just when i feel like ive made progress. but so is life.

ive caught myself doing countless 'count to ten' exhales. it helps. 

tomorrow my roommate patrik leaves for hawaii for a week. i am glad to have the house to myself so i can be relaxed and in my own frame of mind while trying to organize my life here. 

                                     

first stop day one

early morning at the new job!

all the single ladies. elk.

columbia icefields

shots and guns

emerald lake, AB

bonfire night goodbyes

fingers crossed

i am currently in an employment limbo. i haven't started with the tour company yet, but i've already had my last shift at the bakery. i am supposed to be spending this week browsing for new jobs. "supposed to."
but i'm having trouble staying focused. day one of my job search didnt go as planned. the problem was that it was gorgeous outside. so i decided to take advantage of the sun and head to the beach. so day one was a flop. day two proved no better. it was spent running errands. and by running errands i mean that i went to the grocery store and bought a twelve pack of reese peanut butter cups and then came back home and watched an entire season of californication. day three continued with the trend. i poured myself a vodka cran at around noon. kept those coming, ate homemade sushi and stayed in my pyjamas until four, then i headed up the street to my friends place and watched my first ever audrey hepburn movie. it was marvellous. the cycle ends tomorrow though. i have a trial shift as a nanny for a family that lives close by. i already know that i probably wont take it. the pay and hours offered are both too low.
today i got an email from the tour company about my upcoming training weekend! this weekend, easter weekend, i am going to be heading out on a four day trip to the rocky mountains! i am beyond excited. i have already made a list of stuff to remember to pack and started picking out outfits. i feel like im in elementary school, getting ready for my first real sleepover.
i failed to mention one crucial factor in my interview. or maybe they just failed to ask it.
the thing is, this is a ten hour bus ride. not only will i have to be on the bus for those ten hours. i will have to be wide awake and exciting. full of enthusiasm. engaging the tourists with funny jokes, answering questions about the area and mingling while oozing charm. now i can rock the crap out of those characteristics in any other circumstance. but once i am in a moving vehicle its like i took a hefty handful of sleeping pills and cozied up to a hot water bottle. im out. and when forced to remain awake in a moving vehicle i get uber naseaus. i get motion sick just backing out of the driveway. asking me to consult a map while the car is moving is also out of the question. so my body has come up with a coping mechanism. ever since i was little, whenever im in a car longer than about twenty minutes i fall asleep. hard and fast asleep. im always given the bitch seat on roadtrips because its not like ill be awake to complain or to take in the scenic views. just give me a nudge when we reach a pee break and im pretty much good to go. so in preparation for the demands of my new job i have developed a plan of attack. ive bought mass amounts of anti-drowsy motion sickness tablets, ginger tea, and ginger root to attack the nausea. ive also decided i will drink coffee on the days of bus travel. im not an avid caffeine ingestor (unless questionable amounts of reese pb cups count?) so i figure shocking my system with that will help keep to my eyes open and the witty commentary flowing.
i will report back next week with either a story of how awesome my training wkd was, or how i got fired for falling asleep and/or ralphing on the bus.

monday afternoon at wreck beach, vancouver

last day at the bakery. blueberry scone hand.

still settling

it has been over a month since my last post.
i've found an apartment, got a job, made new friends, got accustomed with bus routes, got a second job, quit my first job, found a market close by, got involved with the couchsurfing scene in vancouver, started exploring the city, and lots of other things that go hand in hand with settling into a new environment.
yesterday was sunny. i couldn't remember the last time i had seen the sun here in vancouver. actually i probably could tell by flipping through the photos on my phone. no doubt i capture a picture of that ball of yellow in the sky the last time it appeared. i probably was just as in awe then as i was yesterday.
about a month ago i started my job as an apprentice baker at a small bakery in east vancouver. i live about a 35 minute bus ride from work. so the change in age and race of passengers as my bus rolls through the yuppie area of kits where i live, through to the downtown business centre, past chinatown and until it drops me off just past the church-run homeless shelters and parks lined with tented soup kitchens is like a proper tour through vancouver each morning. asian students, hipster infused white young family types, business men and women, poor asians, homeless of all races, white kids saving money by living in sketchy neighbourhoods, and that is when i get off and walk a block to work.
i liked the bakery. i still do. but at minimum wage i knew it wouldn't be enough to meet my bills and save as much as i wanted to. so i started looking for something part time to work on the side. this is when i found an ad online for a tour guide position with a company called west trek tours. i applied. went for a first interview, got called back for a second and then was offered the job! i was and am still beyond excited for this position. it is a part time position primarily on the weekends. but it just seems like something i should do. i had a gut feeling about it. interacting with travellers, being loud and outgoing, getting to do all these amazing activities and get paid for it. just wild! i knew i couldn't pass it up. so i told the bakery. i knew that this new job wouldn't be able to work with the schedule the bakery wanted me for. so i told them i would go. so this week will be my last at the bakery. my first training weekend with west trek is on easter weekend from friday-monday. i will be going on their 'rockies' tour. which is four days and three nights. so now i am kind of back to square one. because now i have a part time job and i still need another job to make ends meet. so im on the hunt for employment again.
and im not as nervous or as anxious as i was the first time around. i feel like something will work out. i feel good about my decision.
i went to my first couchsurfing meeting about a month ago. vancouver is such a bigger hub for travellers than halifax. at the meeting i met people from about fifteen different countries! and i have been getting requests from travellers who want to stay with patrik and i, so hopefully soon we will host people as well.

pumpkin sourdough at the bakery

tuesday night stroll along kitsilano beach

homemade pizza and dough from work

keeping in touch [boston-vancouver]

if you click the link below it will take you to a video of the tour company i will be working for and depict some of the stuff i will be getting up to over easter weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSqy2Qu20QQ&feature=youtu.be

vancouver valentine

i live in a one bedroom basement apartment with my friend patrik. we are both stressed about trying to find a job. so today we were both out on the streets of vancouver handing out resumes with the hopes that someone will want us.

i am still waiting to be wanted, personally and professionally. 

virtual clink

by late afternoon i was out of resumes and sitting in a cafe drinking an earl grey latte. the playlist was an ironic collection of some romcom soundtrack. obviously the cafe dj did not take the time to scan the premisses to observe that there were only singles sipping on lattes. not a couple in sight. the soundtrack mocked me. 

my valentines day evening was spent navigating my way to some guys house so i could buy his iron off him, which i found on a craigslist ad. it was creepy and thrifty. when i got back to the apartment i discovered that the oven was not working. which soiled my plans for homemade sweet potato fries.

so instead i walked to the closest liquor store bought the cheapest bottle of chilled white and called it a night. got a message on skype from one of my best friends who is living in san diego. she skyped me and she too was having a glass of wine by herself, alone in her apartment.

so we did a virtual clink of our glasses and enjoyed our sad valentines day together. 

it was the perfect end to my day. minus my lingering  rage about the sweet potato fries. 

pit of doom feeling.

first photo in vancouver 

i am in vancouver.
before i left nova scotia i wasn't really worried or nervous. i felt like i was leaving on another trip.
i have only been here for a couple days but my feelings have definitely changed.
now i am constantly nervous, anxious and worried. i don't want to overstay my welcome at my friends place. which she keeps insisting isn't even close to an issue. and i get that it is mostly in my head, but i just can't help it.
everyday since i've arrived here all my thoughts have revolved around checking the apartment listings, contacting people and going to view places.
my unnerving emotions are even turning physical. i have a constant knot in my stomach that i can't get rid of. i have no interest in going out to eat or for drinks, and no interest in sight seeing at all. i won't be able to enjoy it knowing that i could be doing more to try and set up a place to call home for my time in vancouver.
i haven't even started to worry about finding a job. i am too focused on finding somewhere to rest my head where i don't have to live out of a bag.
i have two showings tonight. it would have been three, but as usual something came up with one of them. decided they weren't moving out, already found a tenant, i was too old, too young, too unemployed, too mature, too immature.
i know that in a month this will all seem like so long ago. i will be caught up in a job and this pit of doom feeling i am having will be a distant memory. but right now it is not a memory. right now i am in it. right in the middle. pit of doom.
my outlook on life feels as ominous as the grey skies in the photo above.

[fast forward four days]

i am now an official resident of vancouver. one of the places i went to see worked out. a basement apartment in an adorable little house with an adorable little family living above me. the pit of doom feeling has left my stomach, and i am now feeling naively positive about the prospect of me easily finding a job this week.
this whole beginning stage thing is weird. arriving in a new city, finding a place to call your own, getting to know your new neighbourhood, finding the cheapest grocery store and produce market.

last night my friend robyn and i waddled in the dark with an oversized futon mattress made of rocks flopped on top of our backs. robyn is about the height of an average 10 year old, which makes this visual even better. while waddling down the narrow pathway to the back of the house it hit me that this will be the longest i've lived in one place besides my home in nova scotia. i've been away from home longer, but never stationary, in one place. the thought of buying a utensil set gives me more anxiety than purchasing a one-way ticket.

no where near a grown-up.

a change will do you good

i was more than ready to come home when i was in thailand.
falling asleep at two in the afternoon on a beach off the west coast of thailand, listening to the waves crash at my feet. an ederly thai woman shouting "coke-nuts ICEY creaaaam".
i dreamt of walking my dog through the trails around my house while the autumn leaves fell. the season changed in fast forward in my head, the snow began to fall and i was bundled up in a cozy winter parka with a toque on my head.

play time with mom

it has been three months.
i am full of snuggly lovins, homemade favourites, and daytime television.
my days repeat. wake at noon. optional shower, breakfast, walk dog, watch romcom, dad gets home, read with dad in the living room till mom gets home, dinner, coronation street, more reading, mom and dad to bed, and i end up awake until two or three. hitting a really strong arts and crafts frame of mind around one. modge podge and crayola products strewn a top my desk.

my puppy, anna

but i think i've had my fill. in fact i probably had my fill after the first week. but i had to give it another three months to be really sure.
and as i mentioned before i felt more comfortable coming home this time because i had a plan. well a fetus of a plan. maybe just an egg.
i knew i would come home and get comfy. full of cuddles and carbs. then i would buy another one way ticket. i did.
hello vancouver.
"well that's great emily anne! what are you doing in vancouver?!"
"i don't know"
nothing has changed i still have no clue. i have no job. no place to live. no plan.
luckily i have a good friend who lives in the city who is letting me crash with her for the first week. and if everything goes according to the fancifull dreamlike scenario in my head, i will find an apartment and a job with ease. doubtful.
vancouver is just going to be a temporary base. maybe just the spring and summer. and then i'll be off again. no immediate plans for adulthood just yet.
wish me luck :)

ballet and booster seats

for years my mother and i have wanted to go see the nutcracker ballet together.
it has remained a subject of daydreams. every year there has been a different excuse. it was on the same day as nana's christmas party, i was out of the country, my flight got in after the show stopped for the season, too expensive, snow storm, sold out, clara broke her leg.  we could never seem to catch a break.
but this year it all changed. my aunt was given tickets to a matinee showing of the nutcracker by one of the ballet's sponsors, and she gave them to me and my mom. i was thrilled.

clara and the nutcracker

when we entered the theatre lobby i was in shock. we were giants. surrounded by hundreds of little girls and their mothers and grandmothers. a generational tradition. little girls holding cabbage patch dolls in matching gowns. GOWNS. the miniature humans were dressed in lavish dresses with crinolines poofing out above their dora the explorer winter boots. i was wearing a jean jacket and red keds. the ugly 24 year old duckling of the matinee.
five minutes until curtain and we entered. on our right sat a little girl named taylor and her mother. taylor is about five years old. she refuses to sit still. her only redeeming quality is that she is tall for her age and does not require one of the brightly coloured booster seats. which the ushers seem to be handing out like candy to ever child that walks by. not taking into consideration the lap sitters, hallway tantrumer's and aisle walkers among them. we spent the entire show hearing

"taylor sit down" 

"taylor one more time and we are leaving!"

"don't lick that!"

"QUIET people are trying to watch the show"

i adapted to taylor and her wild ways. but the four eyed blonde pigtail stick figure in front of my seat was another story. she could have cared less about the ballerinas prancing about on stage. she didn't even bat an eyelid during the set changes. in fact her eyes seemed determined to stare at everything but the stage. she sat on her knees facing me for the majority of the show. her knuckles griping the chair back, her nose squished into the seat cushion so tightly that it pushed her glasses up a couple inches higher than they should be.
the families in the aisles surrounding us had lunch boxes filled with snacks for intermission, they talked about christmas concerts, led kids down to the front of auditorium to get a peak at the symphony pit, and the said countless rounds of "excuse me, excuse me, excuse me"as they squished in and out of aisles like we were at a wiggles concert instead of the ballet.
needless to say, i can understand why my mom waited until i was 24 to take me. until i was old enough to stash snacks in my own pockets, sit quietly, and hold in my pee until it was socially acceptable to relieve myself. 

saving 101

found this gem on nomadicmatt.com this week. an article about a guy named michael who wanted to travel and got thrifty with his saving techniques in order to do so. it got me thinking about what techniques i'll have to start once i get settled in vancouver.
the following article snipit is courtesy of travel blogger matt kepnes from nomadicmatt.com.

How Michael Saved $14k in 6 Months Making $9 Per Hour

By Nomadic Matt | Published December 5th, 2012

A lot of people say you need to have a well-paying job in order to afford your trip. But Michael (age 27) never had one of those, yet he still managed to save $15k in 6 months on his trip while on making $9 USD per hour! When he told me his story, I knew he was perfect for this week’s success story. He epitomized the idea that anyone can find the money for travel. Without further ado, let’s meet Michael and find out how you save so much money while making so little!

Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself.
Michael: I was living in Austin, Texas before I became a citizen of the world. I had always wanted to take a year off and travel the world. I had taken small trips overseas in the past and would meet so many travelers who were taking months or years off to travel. Those people put the idea in my head that maybe I could travel for extended periods of time too. When I graduated from college I spent a year and a half looking for a teaching position but couldn’t find one. I started entertaining the idea of selling everything I own and taking a year off to travel, but still it didn’t really seem feasible. Since I couldn’t find a teaching position I got a job as a cook at a pizza place in Austin. I was only making $9 per hour plus tips.

How long were you planning on traveling? 
I was just planning to be gone for a year. Once I started researching how to travel the world, I came across several blogs of people offering words of encouragement and advice. I had looked up RTW tickets and thought that would be the best way to go. I had started organizing and planning the entire year; what cities I would go to, the cost of living in each country, etc. But then I thought “how the hell can someone plan for an entire year?” I was new to planning a trip but still knew there was just no way to plan anything for an entire year. Now, I’m just going to go with the flow and be gone as long as possible.

Ok, so tell us, how the heck did you save $15k in 6 months? 
I decided I wanted to save $15,000 for my trip, figuring that could last me for a year. I only had 6 months to save for my trip so I had to work my hardest to be able to get to $15,000. I say I only had six months because to keep myself from putting off the trip and keeping myself disciplined I booked my flight out of the U.S. the day I decided I was going to travel around the world.

At first I thought I would get a second part-time job, upping my total work hours to 60 a week. I was only making $9 USD per hour so it’s not like I was living the rich life. My boss ended up giving me the hours I wanted so there was no need for a second job. On top of the 60 hours he gave me, I would eat up others people’s hours if they called out of work. On average for 5 months I was working about 65 hours a week. Life was tough, but I kept my goal in sight and fought through it. In those 6 months, I put myself on a budget; I would limit myself to drinking once a week, eat food from work as much as I could, not use my air conditioner as much (that was the worst for I was living in Texas), and try to lower my electricity bill by not using as much light. Basically, I put my expenses into two columns, wants and needs (a friend of mine came up with this money saving technique). Every time I was to spend money I would ask myself if it was a want or a need. If it was a want I would usually come to the conclusion that it was a waste of money.

Aside from working I sold stuff to make money. I sold almost every electronic item I had, like my T.V., guitar amps and such. I figured I could always get those things again later in life if I wanted them. I also sold my car.

if he can do it, i can do it...again. although i have no car to sell, no air conditioning not to use, and actually no job to speak of at the moment, but i am confident that i will get creative just like michael did. it is hard sacrificing things in the present in order to save for something in the far off future. but reading stories like these helps to keep me on the right mindset. 

low expectations

i've been home for a little over a month now. and i've already made my next move.
i bought a one way ticket to vancouver!
i leave at the end of january. no job, no place to live.

i need to save up some more money before i can head off on another adventure. so instead of staying home and working here i decided to make the process of saving money into an adventure too.
and an adventure it will be! i will arrive in vancouver with no plans other than crashing at a friends place for a week while i look for a job and a place to live.

i'm going in with low expectations. that way i can't be disapointed. well i mean if i end up getting strep throat, stung by a bee, develop an infectious rash on the back of my ankles so i can't wear shoes and i'm forced to wear flip flops all the time, then yes, i will get disapointed. but in general i think this is a good way to go into any new situation. trying a new restaurant, traveling to a new country, buying a pair of shoes that are a little to tight, but that you hope will stretch out in the first lil bit. low expectations.

through my travels i have learned one thing for certain, it is the journey not the destination. sure if your journey happens to take you through the outback of australia that sounds drastically more exciting than spending the same amount of time in your hometown while working at a restaurant and spending your nights watching coronation street with your parents. however it is up to you to make yourself open to experiences, and create opportunities for them to happen. so with that in mind i am entering this next chunk of my life with low expectations, an empty bank account and an open mind.

stewart sandwich 

me and dad

setting up nana and papa's christmas tree

i wear fake glasses and braid my hair like a five year old blonde dutch girl

returning the favour

a few nights ago i had my third round of couchsurfers stay here with me in wolfville. this was the first time my parents were home for it too. so they got to experience the joys of couchsurfing as well.
when mom found out that we had two guests on the way she went into clean up mode. she vacuumed and cleaned everything. she also began to make detailed dinner preparations as if overnight we had opened up a b&b.
so around 6pm carolin from germany and kyle from ontario arrived at our house with a bottle of red in hand. i invited my friend tippy over for dinner too. so the house filled with noise once everyone arrived and i loved it.
we all sat at the kitchen table and talked of how carolin and kyle had met at a hostel in halifax and carolin decided to travel with kyle in his car as he traveled around the south shore of nova scotia before heading to prince edward island. dad was particularlly intrigued to hear how they got started with couch surfing and he shared his expereince of hearing about it through me and not really liking the concept until after i did it for the first time. then he was cs's biggest fan.
we had a traditional maritime dinner of hodge podge, roast chicken and for dessert an apple pear ginger crisp. then tippy and i taught kyle and coralin one of our favourite boardgames before we called it a night.
and as i write this i am sitting in my living room with another couchsurfer. isabelle, she is from quebec and is spending the weekend with us. i am just thrilled to be hosting couchsurfer's again! i love getting the opportunity to try and return the kindness that was shown to me during my travels.

coralin, kyle and me

me and mom and our valley

halls harbour

me and isabelle at halls harbour

hodge podge

ten small things

i recently was reading an article written by one of my favourite travel inspirations, alastair humphreys.
after reading the article i saw a post he wrote called 'ten small things i wish i did more'. he followed it up with a 'ten things i waste time on' list.
a simple list. a lot of what he wrote i could relate to. it made me want to make my own list. so i did.
i encourage you to make your own. post it on your fridge, in your journal etc. then check it out a year from now and see if the list remains the same.

10 things i wish i did more:
1. walk
2. wake up early
3. swim
4. socialize
5. yoga
6. read books
7. wear sunscreen
8. write blog articles
9. call my grandparents
10. floss

10 things i waste time on:
1. facebook
2. horrible tv shows
3. deciding what to wear
4. worrying
5. trying to solve simple technological issues by reading or watching tutorial's for dummies
6. emails
7. brushing my hair. (i'm dangerously close to chopping it all off or just accepting dreadlocks)
8. stumbleupon.com
9. fantasizing/daydreaming
10.

10 things i am happy with:
1. family & friends
2. being in nova scotia until christmas
3. being creative
4. not having a clue what i will be doing next year
5. the amount of traveling i have done
6. my money saving skills
7. my routine of keeping a journal
8. how long my childhood was
9. my level of french proficiency
10. the fact that i couldn't think of a tenth item for the above list

happy with #1

happy with #10

downtown in my home town

my 10 year old puppy, anna

looking over the valley where i live

one hundred

when i left on my trip i told my family i would be home for christmas.
but in the back of my head i kind of knew i wanted to come home before that. i wanted to be able to spend the whole month of december at home. be able to make short bread cookies with papa joe.

who once when asked how to make his secret recipe of short bread cookies answered,
"take a pound of butter and add flour till it feels right"

then once i started traveling i chose a page at the back of my journal and formed a list. a list of things i missed from home, and wanted to fit into my stay when i returned. most of the list ended up being food.

the list: 
frenchies with mom (frenchies is an amazing used clothing store)
oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
mom's pancakes
borscht with a dollop of sour cream and fresh chives
long walks with my dog along the bay of fundy
read anna karenina before the movie comes out
hike cape split
nana's spaghetti
nana's sweet and sour chicken
make a photo book of my trip
watch dad coach at some end of season football games
cuddly sunday mornings
pineapple on pizza
make homemade christmas cards
play catan with tippy and alicia
watch ted talks with mom
garlic fingers
bubble baths
go ice fishing
make perogies at ukrainian christmas

after i started adding to the list. and i watched it grow and consume the page, i thought that maybe going home earlier wouldn't hurt. i thought a lot about it. i was worried that if i went home i would instantly regret it. i would get back to wolfville and daydream about how i could still be on a beach in southern thailand. but this time it felt different that when i left new zealand and came back to canada two years ago. this time i felt ready. i felt confident in my decision.
my nana kept pestering me.
"emily anne when are you coming home, where are you going next? you know nanny's 100th birthday is in october, you know you're named after her, it would mean so much to me, everyone is coming to celebrate her birthday, you'll meet so many cousins..."
nana wanted me home bad. which is exactly why i didn't tell her when i booked my flight home. i love a good surprise.
bangkok - seoul - toronto - home
i arrived home, attempted to adjust to the ten hour time difference, enjoyed what i believe was the longest shower i have ever taken, and then drove to cape breton with my mom. the surprised went off without a hitch. my nana was more surprised than my nanny. i guess not too much shocks you after once you turn 100. but my nana made up for it. when i ran up the porch she was just coming out the door, i whipped off the fleece blanket that i had wrapped around me and said BOO!
she stumbled backwards, her mouth was literally gaping open.
"YOU ASSHOLE! you you you little shit!"
those were the first words out of my nana's mouth. lovely little thing she is.
the weekend went by in a blur. i saw many family members and received so many hugs i actually think i developed subtle rib bruising. it was an explosion of irish relatives; the quantity of liquor consumed was a direction correlation.

cousin saki passed out on mom

cooper family

my aunts

skipping stones

more stones on the atlantic

mom and nanny

josiah, jordan, me, jacob

nana and her three children

four generations
emily, annetta, suzanne, emily anne

so for now i am home and it feels right.
i don't regret coming home when i did. i am happy right where i am.

koh lanta

after i left bangkok i flew to phuket, spent one night there before heading to an island called koh hae. there are no stores or roads on koh hae. i rented a sada, which is basically a bamboo hut without walls. i  stayed on the island alone for four nights before heading to koh phi phi. i couchsurfed on phi phi (pronounced pee pee) for three nights before heading to koh lanta.

monkey beach

my sada on koh hae

in october 2010 i met susanna for the first time. she was a couchsurfer i had lined up to host me on koh lanta. koh lanta is a beautiful and often under rated island off the west coast of thailand.
and now, nearly two years to the day i am back on koh lanta with her.
this time i wasn't couchsurfing with her, but instead she helped set me up with a place to stay. she had a friend who was a yoga instructor at a resort on the island. her friend was away on vacation and needed someone to house/dog sit. so i lived in a bungalow over looking the beach on a resort property for a my first week on koh lanta. it was amazing! i literally could hear the waves crashing while i fell asleep each night.

susanna and i with our morning ceasars

when my week house/dog sitting came to an end i needed to find somewhere new to stay. this task was made so much easier because susanna knows basically everyone on the island. she put me in touch with a friend of hers named nikki. susanna told me that nikki was in need of a nanny for her 19 month old daughter layla. in exchange for looking after layla she would provide me with a place to stay. so the next morning susanna drove me over to nikki's place and introduced me and left me to settle in.
so here is the deal.
nikki and neng are a couple. nikki is from england and neng is thai. they have been dating for years and have a 19 month old daughter, layla. over the past four years they have built and ran a hostel together. neng built it from the ground up. recently they decided to break-up and in turn they sold their business to an american/thai couple. the day i arrived was also the day that nikki and layla moved out of their home with neng. it was a very weird environment to enter into. but upon my arrival i met mimi. mimi is a girl from lybia who was also working for neng in exchange for a place to stay. mimi explained how she became involved. there is an organization called help exchange. i'm actually kind of surprised i hadn't heard of it before. basically you get a free place to stay in exchange for doing a little work each day. the work varies depending on the organization. anything from farming, to child care, to construction. so mimi had come to be staying here by sending an email to nikki and agreeing to help take care of layla and help to build some of the cafe that neng was working on.
neng and nikki also have a property just down from their hostel. this property is called the funny farm. neng is in the process of building a clay house. and then turning it into a cafe/bar. aptly named the clay cafe. after mimi explained all of this i was starting to understand. then she told me that there were more people living here too.
there were five of us in total working and living at the funny farm. roman the frenchman, luke the american, mimi the lybian, martin the norwegian and me.

laya

funny farm

my "room" at the farm. my bed is the one covered in a pink mosquito net

the funny farm family

the clay cafe construction

before i got there mimi had been on layla duty. but she deemed layla to be "the spawn of satan", so i took over layla duty when i arrived. mimi was moved to kitchen/clay duty. and the boys were in charge of getting the roof of the clay cafe up. we worked anywhere from 2-4 hours a day.
in our spare time we ate. we ate so much.
in the mornings after we woke up we would all gather in the kitchen and discuss where we wanted to eat that day. depending on what we chose, we would base our morning or afternoon excursions on proximity to the eating establishment. our favourite islands restaurants were the greek taverna, run by greek expat couple, and the red snapper which was a decadent western restaurant run by a dutch couple. roman and martin were both chefs and relished the daily foodie binges.
mimi and i had rented scooters from neng's brother for three dollars a day. so we doubled up on the bikes and took off to explore the island. visiting the national park at one end, and exploring many of the white sand and turquoise blue water beaches.

my shower/laundry station

living on the farm was definitely rustic. we had to make sure to tuck in our mosquito nets each night or we would wake up to find ourselves covered in mosquito and red ant bites. the washroom was small and dirty. to the point that i couldn't bring myself to use it. i showered underneath the tap (photo above) and i would take an early morning stroll into the papaya and palms trees that surrounded the farm to find a new place to squat each morning. we called the tap that i showered under laya's shower. because that black bucket that is beside it is used as her bathtub everyday.

i was neat living with people from all over the world. and hearing their stories. what brought them to this little island, and to this funny farm to help neng build a cafe made of clay. we all bonded so quickly and it was a shame to see everyone go.

our last day at work

after our last day at the farm we all left in different directions. roman headed to laos, martin headed to phi phi to begin his dive master internship, and mimi and i headed north to bangkok for two days. we called it our bangkok 48. we fit as many thai delights into my last two days in thailand as possible. we went to a VIP movie theatre, hunted down a famous mango and sticky rice place, bought illegal dvds, shopped for cheap pharmaceuticals and got one last thai massage.
and that was it. i hugged mimi goodbye and hopped in a taxi.
"airport please"