That was the case with how I ended up at a retreat in Siquijor. B-Rod and I were trying to come up with creative ways to extend our time away together, yet get him home sooner rather than later to study. Nothing was feeling right until I came across a retreat that intrigued me. I sent a quick message, asked some questions, and was instantly set to start in 2.5 days . . . . all before B-Rod even knew I had found anything that might keep me on the island longer. Now, he was free to focus on what he needed to and my adventure would continue!

There were a few things that interested me about this retreat – it included a mix of yoga, energy work, exploring more of the island and connection with an island healer (Siquijor has a reputation as a mystical island where witchcraft is practiced and healers are revered). On top of that the teacher/leader is a Filipina who, though not originally from the island, has made Siquijor her home because she felt an instant connection to the area and land. I’ve done retreats in other countries before, but it has mainly been with western teachers, and though I understand and appreciate why they are holding their retreats and training in these warmer climates, it was nice, for a change, to learn from and support a teacher who is native and local to the country that I am visiting.

So, after B-Rod left, I moved into my new quarters for the next few days. It was a roomy, comfortable, traditional-style wooden hut on the hill which was situated on its own away from other dwellings. This made it feel fairly isolated (perfect for retreat). It had a great deck with a kick-ass view where I spent hours reflecting, contemplating and simply taking it all in.

One thing about the traditional houses which I’ve experienced numerous times – if you are going to have a pleasant experience, you have to come to terms with the idea of making friends with different critters (you are in nature after all!) I had the termites who left proof of their existence for me to sweep up everyday, and the ants that had me hyper-vigilant about making sure all of the food was properly sealed and stored. Luckily, I saw the biggest gecko I have ever seen the first day I arrived (I called him Clyde and talked to him daily) scurrying into the rafters, so that when I saw his daily poop gifts around, my imagination didn’t wander to what other critter friend it might be. One very windy night, outside my place, I had (what I was later told was) one of the dogs who had snuck out with a chain still around his neck. The clatter of his leash against the howling of the wind had me in my place by myself wide-eyed and practicing the art of swiftly working to move my attention away from where my imagination naturally traveled after having spent the evening in the main house sharing ghost/spirit/supernatural stories (it also didn’t help that a brown out happened not long after I heard him wandering around! ) I also had funny and cute visitors like the cow that prevented me from getting into my place one day, and Zeus (one of the cats) that spent a couple of days keeping me company on the deck.

This retreat was the first private one-to-one retreat experience I have ever done. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but it ended up being great and helping me to tap in to myself and things around me in a whole new way that I didn’t expect.

I loved the yoga which ended with relaxing sound bath savasana sessions in the mornings, and the individual, tailored attention I had with the energy sessions.

I loved the balance of doing classes, sessions and learning about different things with the time to be by myself immersed in the solitude of nature I was surrounded by.

I enjoyed eating meals and having interesting conversations with the instructor, Priya, and her partner, Matt.

And I loved that getting to know the island of Siquijor on a more intimate level was part of the program by going with a local guide to areas that aren’t as well known. One day was devoted to this, and I got to spend this day with Jezrel who was born and grew up “in the middle of nowhere” (his words) on the island. He had left to live with family in Cebu for a period of time, realized that city life wasn’t for him, so came back and truly loves where he lives and where he has come from. He was a great resource to ask questions I had and genuinely seemed interested to show me the magic of this island he loves.

He took me to a cave with pools. I was more prepared this time than when B-Rod and I went caving, but did not expect Jezrel to bring candles to light the cave up. It was truly magical! We had the place to ourselves, and I spent time simply floating happily in one of the pools. Later, we went along a bit further walking on a surface that felt as soft as grass, but was in fact guano, as we checked out a bat cave. It was eerie, but still so cool!

He introduced me to the Secret Blue Lagoon which apparently is no longer secret, yet we were once again the only ones there. We stopped for a refreshing swim and appreciated the sounds and energy of nature.

We went to a farm to have lunch where I laid on a hammock in front of the rice fields and ended up having a nap (he did say to rest! )

We visited a healer that he has also gone to before, and I experienced local island energy work.

We went along a nature trail at Bandilaan National Park where we walked among/through an old Balette (Banyan) tree!

And we went up the tower at this same park to see a 360 degree view around the island just in time for sunset. Unfortunately, it ended up clouding over at that time of the day with fog blowing in.

So, instead we did some jump shots!

It was a great day with a great guide learning about the island and Jezrel’s life there.

On my last night of the retreat, Priya and Matt made my day, by not only taking me to the beach for sunset, but also bringing their paddle board out. It was so many of my happy places all mixed into one paddle!

The time to make my way back eventually came and I said goodby to an island I can see myself going back to one day.

Due to flight times, I ended up in Dumaguete for another day. I spent that day doing one of the things I most love to do while travelling . . . . simply BE in the energy and seemingly mundane everyday workings of a place by wandering around with no agenda or schedule.

I ended up roaming the market in the morning and observed people pick up food for the day or week ahead (where I also ended up later to sit down at a central stall for halo halo and lumpia)

I sat under an ‘𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘭𝘥’ banyan tree in the public square watching the morning Zumba class rock it!

I scanned numerous scooters pull up and park so the owners could set themselves at one of the numerous tables serving morning budbud and tsokolate.

And I followed a trail to a Buddhist temple (not common in the Philippines), wandering through a barangay (neighbourhood) that may or may not get many outside visitors.

I ended the day on the boardwalk where the lights lit up, the chairs around food stands got set up, the central stage started sound checks, the amusement park rides came to life and I sat with a coconut shake and peanuts.

It was a great day and a fitting send off for my time in Negros!

Remember how I’m working to flip my script and instead of saying “I can’t make decisions” I’m going to start to see it as ‘I’m contemplating until I can make decisions in my own time with the information I need’ (aka can look like last minute/spontaneous decisions)? Well . . . . just as I was leaving Siquijor and about to embark on the journey home, a thought came to me . . . . what if I took a different route and instead of going directly home, I stopped in the middle . . . say maybe drop into Hawaii first?

Yes, I wanted to prolong my avoidance of cold back home (it is safe to assume that this will always be a given for me!), but I also have a couple of friends in Oahu that I have been so looking forward to meeting. So I threw the idea out there, not actually thinking or expecting it would happen as it was American Thanksgiving at the time and I assumed everyone was busy. However, it turned out the timing was actually perfect for one of my friends who would have free time on those days. So once again, a seemingly loosey goosey plan was set, and I was listed to fly out in 2 days to try to make my way to Hawaii or the backup plan of straight to Vancouver . . . . whichever of the flights ended up working out first!!

After 11 hours of restless off and on sleeping on a plane, I was soooo excited to see my friend G in Oahu! It was early in the day, so instead of a nap, I opted for the option of a hike with her and her son instead.

As we are both nature lovers, G took me to some really beautiful places during my time there. We went on the beach, on mountains, and saw views overlooking the magic of this part of Hawaii which I hadn’t had a chance to visit yet. We talked energy and woo and cobbled together a new moon ceremony just for fun and because it was that time. Overall it was an excellent last minute layover decision that just worked out!

One morning we spent a few hours out climbing up a path to see a lighthouse, had breakfast at the top, then climbed down to some pools below on a trail G had yet to be. Along the way we saw whales in the distance, jumping fish in the pools and a blow hole at the bottom. Wow!!

The only thing I had on my “wish list” when I arrived besides seeing G and another friend (who unfortunately couldn’t get it to work out for a visit this time around), was to eat poke. G took me to a spot she knew, and it was THE best poke!

I was so grateful to G for showing me around and taking me to her places, but when she was working or unavailable, I did a bit of exploration on my own. One day I set out to go to Pearl Harbour. As I had been to Hiroshima earlier in the year, it seemed like a good tie in. I was able to get on the boat to one of the main sites of the USS Arizona fairly quickly without having prearranged tickets. Sites like this and Hiroshima are difficult for me to go to as someone who feels deeply, yet I also believe in the importance of being in that energy and remembering that humans are incredibly powerful and have the potential to not only accomplish great things, but also the ability to inflict deep horror and pain. These places also remind me that though we may want it to be, life is not black and white and has so many intricate pieces constantly going on in the background that can lead to different scenarios and outcomes. It was fascinating for me to see how the different countries and cultures memorialized and honoured these events. But, that is an in-person conversation to have with me if that sort of thing interests you!

On my last day, since I was listed on a red-eye, I said goodbye to G, stored my bag at the airport and headed into Honolulu to check out Waikiki and some tourist spots.

It was nice to see people out enjoying themselves and I ended up having some good conversations with a few people on vacation, but my time wandering there simply confirmed what I already knew – areas like this aren’t really my thing or what travel is for me. It also made me even MORE appreciative and grateful that G was game and had the time to hang out with me, so I could see Hawaii through her eyes and at her spots which was an amazing way to BE on this island.

It’s been an amazing time jumping around various islands in two different countries and cultures that I feel connected to in different ways. I’m grateful for the various lessons and learnings along the way and as always in awe and appreciation for the lands and beings that permit me to wander where I do and the opportunities to feel the energy and experience BE-ing in these various regions!

This has always been a topic of discussion for us, so we’re not quite sure how we ended up going to the Visayas instead. Maybe it was due to weather, or conditions, or the effects of various typhoons that have hit the region?! We were trying to remember the reason just the other day, but . . . . nada!

What we did end up doing was heading to an island called Negros which is where my mom is from. I had heard a couple years ago that there was good diving by Dumaguete and more recently was intrigued by an island called Siquijor which is accessible from Dumaguete. So . . . . off to Dumaguete we went.

Dumaguete

B-Rod and I managed to get on a flight from Manila but were in different boarding groups. I boarded earlier and while B was waiting he noticed someone who was getting on our flight that many people wanted to have pictures with. Of course B asked around and found out this man is a famous Christmas singer here in the Philippines . . . . we were flying with a celebrity!

We only had about an hour and a half after we landed before we got picked up to do what we had originally came here to do – a dive refresher course with a few dives. We were picked up and chucked in the back of a van (one of my fav parts of travel!) and headed to an area called Dauin.

I’ll be honest . . . . I was NERVOUS! We didn’t even realize that it’s been SEVEN years since our last dive! Our Dive Master was amazing and I felt well taken care of and supported. B slipped right back into diving as if no time had passed. I, however, struggled a bit. On our first dive, I had a slight panic attack, had trouble with equalization and questioned if I even wanted to do this. Looking back, this was a similar experience to when we first learned to dive.

Luckily, as I mentioned, our Dive Master was awesome and helped me work through my “stuff” and by the end, I was ready to check out some cool things in the seas!

We spent an additional day in Dumaguete to see what the city was about, and athough it’s not very close to where my mom grew up, I was contacted by family to see when I would be visiting Though this isn’t in the cards this time, we did end up wandering around to some sites in Dumaguete that one of my cousins had recommended in our conversation.

Eventually it was time to catch the ferry to Siquijor. A few things appealed to me about this island – it’s smaller, my “research” pointed to it being quieter, it’s known for good diving and snorkelling, it appeared to have lots of beautiful natural spots to visit, and . . . . it has a reputation as a mystical island where witchcraft is practiced and healers are revered (one of us was very intrigued while the other didn’t really care about this last point )

An hour and a half ferry ride in near perfect conditions and we arrived to Siquijor. The first thing we did was rent a scooter, so B-Rod could chauffeur me around the island! This was a good call as roads were well maintained and quieter, and it gave us easy access to the places we wanted to see while also letting us stop at some really beautiful spots along the way.

The only bummer was . . . . I DO like the experience of getting around by trike!

The next thing we did (because I spotted them the moment we got off the boat) was have some of my fav Filipino foods – budbud (my #1), empanadas and siopao. I say this with respect (knowing we all have different taste buds) . . . but Filipino food is not my favourite. So, to find the things I really do like right away was a bonus!

It also happened to be my birthday! So of course, I had to top this off with some halo halo (my second favourite Filipino food!)

We split our time by staying a couple of nights on the hillside looking over the island towards the ocean, and a couple of nights at a place on the beach (another family recommend). It was cool to have those different vantage points and experiences.

We both marvelled at how pretty this island is!

We swam in pools by waterfalls.

We sat by a 400 year old tree and let fish eat our feet.

We went caving. And though we weren’t fully prepared clothes wise, shoe wise or expectation wise (we thought we could DIY explore, but we required guides from the village who grew up playing inside these caves and knew every stone and where to step at all times while we fumbled along feeling EXTRA awkward!), we were blown away by the beauty.

We hung out by cliffs where people used to be allowed to dive

And we did a couple of scuba dives which ended up being some of the most comfortable both of us have ever felt diving before. We saw some pretty cool things down there including turtles, one of which swam along past us. An added bonus was when a whole pile of dolphins were spotted when we all reached the surface. You know it’s special when even the staff who are out there every day get super excited! The whole experience was one of those times where neither of us took any pics as we were both so fully engrossed in the moments.

Our “plan” when we initially arrived was to do a loop after Siquijor to another couple islands for a few days each. But, before we left, something had come up with B-Rod’s work that not only shortened our time away, but also required him to study while on the road. This was proving to be a bit challenging for him to do, so after a lot of back and forth debating and discussions, we decided it would be best for him to go home early. I would stay (more about that next time), but we still had one more full day left that we got to spend together.

We ended up turning our last day into a beach day. Most of our time was spent at Tubod Marine Sanctuary to swim, snorkel and hang out. It surprised us by rating up there with some of the best snorkelling from the shore we’ve done so far.

Our supper was spent watching the sunset from our hotel balcony which seemed like a perfect way to end this latest adventure together.

The next morning B-Rod headed out bright and early in the hopes of catching a ferry and two flights that day to make it back to (what I’ve heard is) a very snowy

Thanks for more good times B!

With scheduled vacation for B-Rod in November (that we knew about a year ago), we “kind of” planned months ago that we’d go somewhere to go diving since it’s been awhile. We had tossed around a few places including the Philippines, but it wasn’t really until about a week-ish before we left that we started to commit to this idea, and then fully committed and listed on flights two days before leaving.

As there had been a typhoon that had recently hit the Philippines, I contacted one of my cousins (lets call her “B”) to see what conditions were like in the country and if it was even advisable for us to go there. She confirmed that their area and the south would be fine AND it turned out her spouse (let’s call him “G”) even knew a dive master we could do our refresher dives with . . . . PERFECT!

So, we threw some things in our bags and the next day we left.

We had a few hours to kill in Vancouver, so we ventured out on a quick adventure for handmade Udon, then were ecstatic when we got back to the airport and got seats on the flight we were hoping for, which meant . . . . . direct to Manila with no layovers!!!

Despite having been to Manila a few times both as an adult and a child, I don’t really know the city well. It’s usually either a jumping off point to somewhere else, or simply an opportunity to be with family. This time was no different.

Though we ventured out a bit and experienced the chaos and grid lock of the city, it was nice to spend most of our time in the calm, quiet space B & G’s house where everything you needed was within walking distance.

B & G were so generous to pick us up at the airport at an obscenely early time in the morning, house us for a few days and welcomed us to be part of their Manila for the few days we were there.

The original plan was to be in the city for a day of rest, before all of us adventuring to an area where B-Rod and I would do our dive refresher while B, G and their daughter (let’s call her “V”) would enjoy the area. We’d then hang out for another day after that before heading to our next destination. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans when a typhoon bound for the Philippines turned into a super typhoon (the country had just finished being slammed by a previous typhoon) and our time in Manila turned into waiting out a storm.

So once again we were back to not really planning and taking things day by day.

Fortunately, we very much enjoy B, G & V’s company and were happy to make this about family time and reconnecting since the last time we got to spend time with them was 10 years ago!

Some of the things we got up to while hanging out included . . .

• getting out a bit to experience the streets and grid lock of Manila

• experiencing the full on Christmas cheer that has probably been ongoing since September

• Trying out a jump shot (though our timing needs a bit of improvement!

• having our first taste this trip of “in the Philippines” Halo Halo

• watching B-Rod be a mosquito hunter and taking pointers from B

• going to one of their coffee shops by the airport and watching planes take off while B-Rod and G continued to nerd out on planes

• despite B-Rod’s initial resistance, we learned to play poker and had lots of fun!

All of this along with the many good chats and laughs we had made for a good time of hanging out and simply being with family.

*** unfortunately, it wasn’t until I was leaving that I realized, my cousin’s teenage daughter “V” had managed to escape having ANY pictures taken with any of us!

When the skies cleared, we said goodbye, and made our way south where I have more family ties . . . . but more on that later.

“Wow!! That’s cool!!”

B-Rod’s response is usually the same . . . .

“It’s just a job, and it’s actually not that cool.”

I feel like they’re both right! It’s a job where your “office” is being able to look down below through the big windows at various scenes and get a different perspective of the world. That’s cool!

Yet, it’s also a job that can lead to burn out, involves being away from home a lot, navigating different beds and environments, and is not quite as glamorous as people might perceive it to be.

As I love flying, I sometimes forget about the work/grind aspect of doing it for a living. So, when B told me he had a longer layover this month and wanted to know if I wanted to tag along, I said yes for the adventure aspect, but also for the reminder to see what life on the road is actually like for him since this would only be the second time in 10 years I’d be going with him to work. Not to mention we’d be going to New Brunswick . . . . a province I had never been to before! So, off to Moncton for 48hrs I went!

I first made my way to his base airport where I was sure to visit the short story machine a good friend had told me about a while ago!

B-Rod said hi before he got on the plane to go to work, then I stopped in his office before I found my seat (and made sure to NOT press any buttons . . . . . I DID control myself Putter!! )

And then it was just a regular red-eye flight . . . . except I knew the guy who was making the announcements!

We landed early in the morning and the original plan was to pick up the rental car B had pre-booked, but we were both tired, so we ended up at the hotel for a nap and slept longer than we intended. When we finally made it to the rental car office, the only car they had left for us to take was . . . . .

Not exactly the small zippy car we were expecting/hoping for, but he did the job and made us put another one on our list of vehicles we would NEVER own! Hank is waaaaaaaaaayyyyy better!!!

New Brunswick was experiencing a heat wave before we got there. The day we landed and our first full day, it rained most of the time. Our second full day it was back to heat wave status, so we got to experience both worlds.

Our plan was to simply drive around and figure things out along the way, with the exception of one must do item!

Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy

This is something we had talked about doing for years and now we finally got the chance. We ended up going twice. Both times at low tide, but once on the rainy day and once with plenty of sun.

Tides in the Fundy area are the highest in the world

It might have been partly because we were seeing it for the first time, or because it was less busy because of the weather, but I was surprised that the rainy day was the one that felt the most magical to me!

So many different faces and personalities in all of the rock structures!

This is such a cool area that I would never tire of visiting!

Another highlight of our short time in New Brunswick was a nighttime multimedia show that had been indirectly recommended to me!

Lumina Night Walk

A friend had recently told me about a night walk in Whistler, BC that she highly recommended and described as an evening light/art/multimedia show/walk. I had filed it to the back of my mind hoping to possibly make it there sometime this summer.

Our Moncton hotel room had a magazine whose cover caught my attention. I read the article to find there was a light/art/multimedia show/walk that was fairly new close to Moncton! When looking into it further, I found that this night walk was done by the same company that did the one in Whistler. They do these shows all over the world. Of course we had to go!!!

It’s a similar idea at all of the various shows, but each of the places has a different story. This one was called Akadi Lumina and illustrated various aspects of the Acadian culture.

Such a cool experience and highly recommended!

Lobster

Of course it was recommended that we have lobster! Someone that B-Rod had flown with previously told us to go to a specific place. The other pilot that B was flying with on this shift had gone the last time he was in Moncton to a different place that was recommended to him, and another couple we know where recommended a completely different spot. The common factor was all of these eateries were in the same small town! So off to Alma we went!

Our meals were good, but we both came to the same conclusion that we already suspected. B-Rod finds shellfish for the most part meh, and I like crab more than lobster. At least we’ve now come to definite conclusions!

Wanderin’

A lot of our travels involve simply wandering with no real firm plans to see what shows up. This time was no different, but instead of walking, we simply drove and stopped when one of us felt called to explore something more closely. Or, I walked around and wandered when B-Rod needed extra time to rest and recover to prepare for his next flight.

Surprise Hang Out

On our last afternoon, we were leaving the Hopewell Rocks about to head back to Moncton to have our last meal in the area when we heard B-Rod’s name called.

Turned out it was a couple of friends of ours from Medicine Hat! On the one hand, it might not seem so weird and random to run into them – Both B-Rod and C fly for the same company. But, I couldn’t help think of all the things that had to come into play for all of us to meet there. B & C both happened to fly into Moncton on the same day within 15min of each other (one from Calgary, one from Edmonton). They both happened to convince their wives to tag along with them to work for that specific pairing. If we would have left 2 seconds sooner, or they would have arrived 2 seconds later, we would have missed each other. Turns out we were staying on the same floor at the hotel, but never ran into each other, etc., etc., etc.

Of course, we met up with them after and enjoyed our last meal in Moncton together! It was also cool for me because the next day I was flying back to Calgary which means B wasn’t flying me back. But, I still got to personally know who was in charge of the plane I was on!

Thanks for taking me to work B. Maybe I’ll get to do it again sometime!

We did an out and back route that took us on three different canal systems. Our one end point was Llangollen, and because we ended up having some extra time, went past Stoke-On-Trent (our drop off point) to cruise a bit of the Calden Canal for our other end point (I’ll explain that later)

We had the boat for 14 nights and stayed overnight in various locations.

We had a bit of paranoia about locking the key in the boat when we left it to wander on land and wondered what we would do and how long it would take people from Black Prince to get to us to give us a spare set of keys because we had left the base soooooo many days ago. Yet, in the span of two weeks each of our end points only covered a distance of about 82km. Realistically, if we had locked the key in the boat, we’d call and someone could probably get to us by car in about 20 min!

So it was interesting to me that I dug it so much. At one point, near our mid-way mark, as we were drifting off to sleep, I said to B-Rod . . . “Is it weird that I love this so much?!”

Slow Down

As someone who for a very long time held the story that I was “behind” in life, met the societal conditioned benchmarks of “life success” later than others and was often overwhelmed in a western world that demands things NOW, transformation quickly or must “always have a goal to strive for and hurry hard to get there” mentality, I think the pace of narrow boating has been something I have always been craving.

You go in knowing that things will be slow, and yet other boaters, the nature of locks, and the ability of the boat and how to navigate it asks you to . . . . . s l o w . . . . . d o w n . . . . e v e n . . . . . m o r e.

I believe in the saying ‘the journey is more important than the destination,’ but slow travel on the narrow boat really forces you to truly experience this.

And so our days on the boat moved slowly, were fairly repetitive, but felt very fulfilling at the end of most days. Brian was often the driver and I would either chat with him in the back or sit up front. We spent our time taking in and appreciating the simplicity of nature and our surroundings.

We would also often call out two things to each other. The first call you could hear coming from our boat was “LOCK!!!!” (which meant one was coming up and to get ready! )

The second thing we would often call out to each other was “”BABIES!!!!” because springtime on the canals has a lot of them!

Other animals of note included

And Then There Were Three

Because we ended up with a bigger boat this time with extra beds, we mentioned to different friends that they should join us. We knew it was very last minute, so didn’t really expect that we’d get company. But, as we started making our way back from Llangollen, we woke up one day to a message from our friend J-Rodg. While we were sleeping that night, she had boarded a flight and was on her way to London. She wanted to know what train station would be the easiest for us to meet her at to pick her up!

After some calculating, we found a spot that would take us all day to cruise to, but would be somewhat convenient for all, and we were now on an exciting mission to meet up with our friend!

It was fun to have J-Rodg along to share our boat space, introduce her to narrow boat livin’ and the ins and outs of all we had learned so far with driving, locks, mooring, and all the other boat terms we were now familiar with

She brought some fun, but she also brought the sun, and the weather significantly improved with her arrival (or was it summer solstice that did that?! )

She helped us to slow down even more, and got us out to more walks into different towns to explore and cross things off her list.

Interestingly, near the beginning of our trip I had come across narrow boat “job pins” at a chandlery (shop selling boat supplies). I knew which pin was mine, but couldn’t decide on just one for B-Rod, so I ended up with three. How convenient that there were now three people for three pins!

Even though it was only for a few days, it was nice to have company. Thanks for the good times J-Rodg!!

The Hand

After J-Rodg left, we had a few days to get back to base, but we were ahead of schedule and would be back a couple of days early. When this same thing happened last year, we went a bit further down the Trent & Mersey canal to a town called Stone which we really liked. We decided to do the same thing this year and spend more time in Stone.

Except, that we saw on the app and heard from other boaters that the lock that we would need to go through to get to Stone was closed by police due to “suspicious activity” As we got closer to the lock, we started to hear stories that kept getting more and more elaborate as we got closer and closer.

Police were called for “suspicious activity” –> a fisherman caught a glove on his line —> there was a hand in the glove the fisherman had caught —-> the police were sweeping the area —–> a body was found in a boat

The lock wasn’t opening any time soon, so we went to a potteries museum that we had wanted to go to last year but had been closed (it was very cool), then got back on Mabel and took the turn just before the closed lock to go down the Caldon Canal which we had gone down last year.

The Caldon is often recommended as a good canal to start with and I’d agree. It was quieter than the canals we had just been on and it is a very pretty, nature-y one to do.

Because we ended up on this canal, our way back to drop off Mabel felt like a full circle moment. The last lock we went through before getting back to base was not only the first ever lock we did on our own last year after picking up our boat, but it is a lock in town that we had been standing by the day BEFORE getting Lucy (our last year boat). While looking at this lock back then, a boat had gone through, and when they learned that we’d be starting the next day for our first every narrow boat adventure, she taught us there and then by talking us through and having us operate the lock.

AND . . . when we finally made our way back to base, who was sitting there also waiting to be dropped off?! . . . . . . . LUCY!!!!

Thanks for the good times Mabel! You are a good girl!

And remember “the hand” that prevented us from heading over to Stone? We learned from the guys at base that the real story was that a fisherman had THOUGHT he saw a glove with a hand drop into the water while he was fishing. There WAS a sweep of the area, but no hand and no body were found.

AND . . . . because there were a few locks closed while we were there, Black Prince had a few boats that had to be abandoned by people, but needed to come back. The guy that was filling up Mabes with gas just before we left could hear/sense the excitement in our voices about our journey and said “Just throwing this out there . . . . do you have another week to spare? We currently have a boat in Manchester that needs to be brought back. Are you interested?” We were GUTTED! YES we wanted to move that boat, but B had to get back for work, and I also had some matters that needed me back in Canada soon-ish.

We cursed the missed opportunity, and left the same way we had last year . . . . knowing we could have happily spent more time on that boat in those canals!

Road Trip

At the very beginning of our trip when we stayed in Oxford, I had posted some pics online. Just as we were leaving to pick up Mabel, I got a message from an online friend telling me she lived very close to Oxford. It was too late for us to meet up, but I let her know I’d be in touch if we ended up in Oxford again. I had originally hoped to spend a bit more time in the UK after our boat trip, but for various reasons realized that wouldn’t happen this time. But . . . . I COULD prolong my departure for one more day!

So as B got ready to head back home, I got in touch with my friend to see if she was interested in a meet up. Not only was she interested, she proposed a full on ADVENTURE!! Of course she is my kind of peep!!

J offered a lot of her time and day for me, volunteered to be the tour guide/shuttle driver and had so many creative ideas and suggestions of things to do and see. Top of the list, I wanted to see one of her fav places! So we made that plan and decided to see where the rest of the day took us.

Our first stop was White Horse Hill. Unfortunately, they had it blocked off so we couldn’t walk on the chalk outline of the horse (J had never seen it blocked off before and was a bit disappointed), but the view of the countryside was spectacular, especially with cloudless blue sky, and it was still cool knowing we were right there!

The next stop was the “main” event . . . . Avebury Stone Circle. J came prepared to give me the full English experience and we sat under a tree overlooking some of the rocks with a thermos of tea and biscuits, pondered what these trees had seen, chatted, laughed and simply enjoyed the magical energy of the place before taking our time to wander amongst the stones.

We also took a short break for lunch with a ghost!

As we did more wandering, I completely understood why this is one of her favourite places, wondered why it’s not as well know as Stonehenge (well . . . maybe it is?! Maybe I just didn’t know about it ) and vowed that I would be back to spend more time here someday because there was more to see and it has such a good and interesting feel/energy to it.

From here, J pulled out the list she had made of ideas for us (have I mentioned how sweet she is!!) and we decided to drive to the city of Bath. We chatted along the way, and she pointed out things like different architecture styles, what certain towns we went through were well known for, and when we passed by Kate’s (of Will and Kate) university. She also answered my many questions such as how do I respond to the question/greeting “You alright?” or what do people really think of the royal family, or what IS the difference between the UK and Great Britain while also teaching me about ‘elevensies’ and the milk in tea debate

And then we arrived in Bath.

My list of places to return to in the UK is growing because I need to spend more time here!

We ended our adventure with a Bath bun (again something I didn’t know about before ) in the oldest house in Bath.

Thank you sooooo much for this day J! With your playful, childlike, creative, adventurous energy . . . . . of course we were going to have a fun filled time together!!

As I sat on the train heading back to London to get ready for my flight the next day. I reflected and contemplated on the last few weeks. With a full heart, I watched the sun set over another amazing adventure with the opportunity to connect further to a country I truly enjoy being in, to the canals, to nature, to amazing peeps and to myself. See you again soon UK!

Last year, we experienced EXCEPTIONAL weather. But this time, as the time for B’s vacation approached, the weather wasn’t looking quite as “vibrant.” Questioning if narrow boating would be the same in drizzly, mizzly, “quieter” weather, we wondered if we should make different plans.

Two days before we decided we’d head out, we reasoned that we’d just go to London for a couple days and if conditions seemed miserable we’d head to sunnier climes.

One day before we were set to go, I surprised us both by turning to B and saying “I think we both have it in our mind of being on the boat. You know we’re doing it, right?”

Decision made, last minute boat booked and off we went.

We had a couple of days before we were scheduled to pick up the boat at Stoke-on-Trent. Since we were going to arrive into London earlier in the day, we thought about making our way out of the city and towards our destination. We knew we didn’t want to stay that long in Stoke, so I looked at cities that would be on the way. An hour before we boarded the plane, Oxford jumped out at me as the place.

What did we know about Oxford? Not much! But as we flew off to the UK, that was where we would now be spending our first few nights.

Oxford

This city was soooooooo cool!!! The energy was amazing and walking among the historic buildings and on streets knowing that people had built these things centuries ago with so, so , so many people, from so, so, so many different time periods had also been walking these same streets gets me every time! I don’t have to even know the specific history and dates to feel a sense of awe in that sort of energy.

It was so easy for me to understand how many people have found inspiration from simply being in this place! And though the main thing we did was wander the streets in awe and amazement, we did also learn a few things.

Things we found fascinating about Oxford . . . .

• Oxford is often described as the ‘city of dreaming spires’
• It escaped bombing attacks during WWII because Hitler wanted to make Oxford the capital when he defeated Britain.
• It’s reported that there are more authors per square mile in Oxford than anywhere else in the world (eg. J.R.R. Tolkien – The Lord of the Rings, Lewis Carroll – Alice in Wonderland, C.S. Lewis – The Chronicles of Narnia, have associations with being inspired and writing their stories in Oxford)
• Places in Oxford served as inspiration for Hogwarts and many scenes for Harry Potter movies were filmed in the city.
• Oxford University is estimated to be about 922 years old which makes it the second oldest in the world (University of Bologna is older by about 8 years)
• Oxford University is made up of 43 colleges

Some highlights of our time in Oxford included . . .

St. Mary’s Tower

The tower of University Church of St Mary the Virgin dates back to 1280 and is the oldest part of the church. The number of people allowed up at a time was limited and we understood why when it was our turn. It was a tight squeeze up the staircase that brought you to very narrow corridors (had to be comfortable getting very close to strangers in order to pass each other) with the most amazing views over the city.

Church Service

So this isn’t necessarily a highlight, but it is a funny story (B-Rod may beg to differ ) Each of the different colleges seems to have their own church, and somehow I heard about 45 minute choir performances at different ones on different nights. I thought it would be interesting to listen to music in these historic locations. So, I found one happening at Merton College, one of the oldest colleges of Oxford, while we were there.

It was one of those setups where the seating was on two sides facing the centre, and we ended up seated at benches furthest from the door. To leave would require walking through the centre in front of everyone in the room. It started with singing, so I didn’t realize immediately that I had unintentionally trapped us into a church service. But after 45 minutes, and then an hour, and then an hour and 20 minutes and finally an hour and a half passed and there was not only singing but also a sermon and all the other church service things, I knew I had taken us to the wrong event!

Christ Church College

I was very interested in the Harry Potter aspect of Christ Church College (the dining hall inspired Hogwarts Hall and some scenes from the movie were filmed here), but they also had an audio tour that was very informative, so interesting and gave a sense of student life and working at this particular college.

Finished it off with a visit to a pub that dates back to 1381 and had a bitter that allowed me to continue with the Harry Potter theme.

Oxford was AMAZING and so easy to get to from the airport that we talked about it possibly being our ‘go to’ first night stay when we end up in the UK in the future.

Mabel

For various reasons, we ended up picking up our narrow boat from the same location as we did last year. B-Rod was the one who nerded out on what route we would take, but did have to change it slightly when we arrived as one of the locks we were possibly going to go through right away was closed for repair for the next couple of weeks.

Our boat from last year, Lucy, was perfect for two people at 45 ft. long. Because we had booked last minute, a smaller boat like this wasn’t available, so we were introduced to Mabel who was slightly bigger at 60 ft. long with two additional beds and a slightly different layout.

The handover was quick as the manager remembered us from last year (so didn’t have to do as many of the briefings) and we needed to get through a tunnel right away or we would have less than an hour of cruising time and be stuck at the beginning of the tunnel for the first night (this particular tunnel requires a reservation at certain times to go through and only has certain hours everyday where it can be accessed)

Our journey was action packed right away (or as action packed as a form of transport that moves at walking pace can be) with a deadline and a need to get to destination. Half an hour into the journey it started raining . . . . . maybe going through a tunnel to start wouldn’t be so bad after all!

When we arrived at the Harecastle Tunnel entrance, there was only one boat ahead of us. When we were both informed that the previously mentioned lock was now open, this boat immediately turned around to go the other way through the lock (because of the closed lock their plan had been to get to their destination in a round about way, and the opening of this lock would now essentially save them 5-7 days of cruising time)

So, now not only where we doing this tunnel (which is 2.66 km long, takes 30-45min to get through, and gets narrower and narrower at certain parts) for the first time, we’d also be doing it by ourselves!

Our first week on Mabel ended up drizzly and cold a lot of the time. I pulled out my toque and wore it often. We turned on the heaters for the first time ever and snuggled under the provided wool blankets a lot (were these even on the boat last year?!). B-Rod had to pull over a couple of times when the rain got too heavy to continue. The assumption we made that this was simply “usual” UK weather was busted when we noticed everyone talking about it, and a friend from England informed me that it was the UK’s “wettest summer on record yet.”

Despite all of this . . . . we still LOVED it (being a sun fuelled person, this still surprises me)!!!

Among many things, we especially LOVED . . . .

• being in nature, the lushness of the greenary, waking up to the sound of the birds and hearing their songs throughout the day

• the historical significance of the canals and locks (it was interesting wrapping our heads around the idea that these are older than Canada!)

• that locks were still fun

• that we refined the skills we had picked up last year, started to learn some nuances and tried different things

• the social aspect with fellow boaters and volunteers both at the locks and along the way

• finding cool pubs either along the canal or short walks into various towns, and loving/appreciating the pub culture (it seemed more like a family/friend gathering spot (ALL ages welcome) as opposed to just a place to go to simply drink (like it sometimes feels like in North America))

There was a routine and rhythm we developed, and it was kind of nice to have this consistency while still travelling and being in (slow ) motion. Yet there were also uncommon and unexpected occurrences that came up along the way.

Like the time an angry swan chased Mabel, biting at her rudder and we didn’t know what to do.

Turns out you don’t throw bread at it trying to get it away from the boat (only motivates it more!) and instead you stop and pull over and wait for another boat to pass by . . . . angry swan will chase that boat instead!

Or the time we showed up to our first staircase lock before volunteers were on duty. We got started, felt like things were going good until Mabel stopped moving in one of the locks. We took stock, scratched our heads a bit, but eventually worked it out and now have a better understanding of the even bigger staircases we want to tackle in the future

Or how even MORE MAGICAL narrow boating is when the sun comes out after long periods of cruising in drizzly, mizzly weather.

Or entering Wales for the first time and going over a World Heritage Site Aqueduct in the morning with no one else around!

Wales

Though we were hoping to do a circle route this time, we ended up doing an out and back one again. The end of the line would be at a town called Llangollen. We’d cross the border from England to Wales on an aqueduct, go through a smaller tunnel, then cross another longer aqueduct before arriving at the town.

We had met a couple along the way who told us to GO EARLY. They warned us that it gets busy with boats and people later in the day and that they had almost decided not to actually do the aquaducts because of the busy-ness, but were glad they did. So . . . . at 6:30am we set out.

The Chirk Aqueduct is STUNNING! It’s on the border of England and Wales, and we both commented (and noticed) how things seemed to change INSTANTLY when we crossed the ‘imaginary line’ into Wales.

Next came the tunnel.

Then the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (a Canal World Heritage Site) and the highest navigable aqueduct in the world.

AND . . . besides seeing one person out for a run . . . . we had these sites and the waterway ALL . . . . TO . . . . OURSELVES!!!!

We kept going and moored in a spot that gave us easy access to walking into Llangollen. Because we left early, we got to the town early and got to spend the whole day here. We wandered the town, had Welsh afternoon tea, and had some great conversations and interactions with people from town or visiting from various other places in Wales.

This was also the first day that it was sunny all day which made for a great hike up to the ruins of Dinas Brân Castle with a pretty amazing view of the town and valley below.

The English countryside is beautiful, but this area in the Welsh countryside was MAGICAL and had an almost mystical feel to it.

AND . . . . it was Sunday, so we ended our day at a pub for our first UK Sunday roast.

We both loved it there and briefly considered staying an extra night (and if we had more time, we would have), but as our half way point was approaching, we figured we should make our way back and take advantage of the little bit of extra time to go a bit slower for the journey back and to give space for anything unexpected.

We left in the early afternoon, and the way back across the aqueducts was busy (as we had been warned it would be) and we were so glad that we had gone early the day before.

As we were going across Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, one of the Canal and River Trust volunteers and Brian ended up having a chat. They talked the whole way across (if you know B-Rod, is that really surprising? ). . . .B-Rod here. . . to clarify . . . . I was trying to take in the views and the surreal notion of cruising a boat almost 200 ft in the air! He was yakking to me!!!

At one point, they struck a deal (that’s a story to be told in person). But the part I can share is that B’s part of the deal involved making the volunteer a cup of tea. Let’s call the volunteer ‘Colin’! Colin had to finish up some duties, but told us to park close to the side of a lift bridge. Because of miscommunication among B and I, we ended up in a spot that made it a bit awkward for other boats coming upon the bridge. So, B made tea and went off to look for Colin, while I stayed behind to lift and lower the bridge so as not to overly inconvenience oncoming narrow boaters. While B was away, it got so busy and I was cranking the bridge up and down so many times that people walking along the path started to ask me questions about my job (not in a joking way, they were genuinely interested and curious). Also, . . . . did I mention while I love locks, lift bridges are not actually my fav?!

When the rush died down, I went to check on the guys to find that giving a cup of tea had turned into a full on tea party with snacks, chats and laughs! Fortunately, I got to join in for a few minutes before Colin had to get going again.

As we got back onto Mabel and started to cruise back to England, we knew that all of these experiences from the past couple days were simply pointing to the fact that more time and a more in depth exploration of Wales WILL be happening sometime very soon!!

After almost a week on and we were both very happy that we still had plenty of more time to spend on the canals.

Wanderer

Maybe my desire to wander came from my mom who I would also identify as a wanderer. Maybe it came from my desire to ‘find my place’ in a life experience where I have come from so many different “parts” that it’s been difficult to classify or identify myself as just one. Whatever the reason, I know that wandering brings me alive, fills my cup, consistently illuminates new awareness and understandings of myself and the world, and constantly results in magic in my sphere!

So, when our friend J-Rodg contacted us to tell us she had unexpected vacation coming up in just over a week and wanted to bring us on an adventure if we were game, of course I jumped!! Unfortunately B-Rod didn’t have the flexibility to make it work, so . . . . . Girls Trip!!!

The one and only stipulation for this adventure was that I had to make my own way to meet her in Montreal for a specific date. Because I wanted to guarantee that I’d be on time, I started making my way to Montreal a bit early and figured I could spend a short time wandering that city as well.

Our meet up was in Montreal with our intended destination of Marrakech in Morocco. The Marrakech portion was very loosely planned, and while there, and last minute we added another place in Morocco to wander. So this particular adventure turned out to have three parts which ended up having three very different themes/feelings to them.

Part 1: Montreal

It’s been many years since I’ve spent time in Montreal, and I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time there. So, my intention was simply to wander around, but I also had a “great if it happens, but no biggie if not” list of three classic Montreal things: eat poutine, go to the Notre-Dame Basilica and have a bagel.

From the moment I landed in Montreal, things just felt . . . . . off.

After I left security, I was walking behind a guy walking a dog in the airport. The dog stopped suddenly, squatted and took a right in the middle of the busy concrete jungle of the airport. (“Interesting” coincidence . . . . on my way back through Montreal on the way home, after we left the plane and stepped into the airport, we walked past a detection dog who had also just taken a in the busy concrete jungle airport!)

This pretty much summed up the vibe I got from Montreal this time. Not to say that Montreal’s a “bad” city and I’d never go again. I actually would visit the city again. I just know and have worked enough with wandering and energy to understand that not all places will feel right all the time. It could be a place thing, a timing thing, a me thing, a sometimes thing, a forever thing or simply a mismatch of various energies, but for whatever reason Montreal just felt off for me this particular time.

Still, despite the weather (I did get some sunshine, but it was rainy for the most part), I did enjoy wandering around the old part of the city AND I checked off all the things from my list!

Checking things off “the list”

My highlight was DEFINITELY the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. This place took my breath away and left me in awe which, for various reasons, I honestly didn’t expect. I had to simply sit for a while and take it all in. I could have sat there for hours and would go back to Montreal just to be in the energy of that place!

Part 1’s overall theme . . . . Montreal = a weird “off” energy

Finally the time arrived to meet J-Rodg and begin our adventure together!

Part 2: Marrakech

When J-Rodg proposed the adventure, she had a couple places she was interested in going to. Marrakech was the one that stood out for me as it is a place that I have always wanted to visit. She looked into the ease and possibility of getting us there and once she was fairly confident we could make it happen, a few days before we left we booked a place to stay.

Because her airline only flew into Casablanca our first order of business . . . figure out trains to Marrakech!

We knew we wanted to stay in a riad which is “a building with rooms and common areas around a central courtyard . . . [that] have existed in Morocco for centuries.” Because we had booked so last minute, we ended up in a riad outside of the medina (more opportunity to figure out local transport!) Ours didn’t look like much on the outside, but was colourful and warm on the inside.

We didn’t actually mind being out of the medina and in a more local neighbourhood, our room was comfortable and the staff was mostly friendly. What confused us a bit was how we were kind of left to ourselves completely even when we asked for specific help with certain matters. There were a few times we were uncertain about things and simply stood there saying . . . . huh.

Medina

Being in the Medina was one of the major draws for us originally going to Marrakech. I had told J-Rodg about my recent-ish discovery of free walking tours, found one and off we went!

There are different souks (markets) within the medina (walled inner, often ancient, part of the city). Ismael took us to a few souks including one that focused on leather goods.

Around the medina

We were both pleasantly surprised that a couple of our expectations around the medina hadn’t been met! We had both anticipated it to be crazy busy with tons of people. Though it was busy and crowded at points in certain areas, it was nothing like what we had both envisioned it would be. We also weren’t hounded by sellers quite as much as we expected which was refreshing.

It also surprised us that at the end of the day, after the tour and wandering around on our own, we didn’t feel the pull to go back to the medina. We had thought that we would go back to wander and explore a few times throughout our stay, but that one day seemed to satisfy our curiosity and interest . . . . huh!

Ait Ben Haddou

I had seen a picture of Ait Ben Haddou and thought it looked interesting. When a friend recommended we go and J-Rodg was game, we decided since we had such a short time, we’d simply take the easy route and go with a tour in order to travel the 3+ hours to get here.

It was definitely a cool place, we got to see and experience being in the Atlas Mountains and the scenery along the way was stunning!

It wasn’t until we decided to go to Ait Ben Haddou that I discovered that it had been used as a place for filming a part of Game of Thrones. So for an GOT watchers out there, Ait Ben Haddou is “Yunkai: one of the great cities in Slavers Bay, that Daenerys lays siege to”

I also discovered that Ait Ben Haddou had been used to film scenes for Gladiator (the Russel Crowe movie). This I found out through people on our tour. The thing I was reminded about tours, this time around, is that not only can the tour guide make or break the excursion, but the people you are thrown together with for the day can also do the same.

On this particular day we were grouped with a van that was mostly filled with young Italian guys . . . . who were constantly late . . . . and often loud and boisterous . . . . and not necessarily considerate of others on the tour who weren’t in their group . . . . and were OBSESSED with Gladiator.

I strive to be grateful for the little things in life. On that particular day, I was grateful for the opportunity to get to this site in Morocco, AND I was grateful to have noise cancelling ear buds!!

Gardens

J-Rodg stated that she never tires of gardens, so as Marrakech has a few, we visited a couple. We found ourselves at the Secret Garden and Majorelle Garden. Not only were they beautiful, colourful and cheery, but they also tended to have little spots where you could tuck yourself in and find some moments of peace.

Hammam

Of course, I had to go for a scrub down in a place that is known for scrub downs! No matter how many times or in how many countries I go for a naked exfoliation, it is still a bit nerve wracking going in when you’re not quite sure of the order or rule of things. Luckily this particular hammam had women that would grab me by the hand and lead me to the next stage/step in the process. I left feeling lighter, cleaner and grateful for the sisterhood spanning cultures that has (and scrubs) each other’s backs!

Food

It had been a very long journey to get to our first night in Marrakech, so we opted to eat at our riad. This proved to be the most underwhelming and overpriced meal we had during our whole trip. It was also our first introduction to tagine. Tagine is a staple in Moroccan food and has been referred to as a stew like dish cooked in cookware which is also called tagine. The top was always taken off right away, so I never did get a picture of the conical shape.

The next morning at breakfast we were talking to a French couple staying at our riad. Without mentioning our meal the previous night, they told us about a really good restaurant find they had made close to our place.

We ended up there TWICE! It was possibly some of the best eats I had while in Morocco AND it was super cheap . . . . . huh!

We had the chicken pastilla BOTH TIMES!! Who knew that a chicken pie with phyllo dough, chicken, almonds, icing sugar and cinnamon would not only work but be a taste sensation!!!! huh!

My sampling of Moroccan salads and the fruit were also highlights of my eats in Marrakech.

Part 2’s overall theme . . . . Marrakech = huh (said with a different emphasis or punctuation mark depending on the context and/or situation we found ourselves in)

Just before we left J-Rodg’s work schedule had changed slightly which ended up giving us a few more days than we expected. While we were in Marrakech, I kept hearing about this little town on the coast with a cool vibe. We decided to check it out and spend our last couple of days there.

Part 3: Essaouira

We hopped a bus in Marrakech and three hours later we arrived to this cool little town. Once again we stayed in a riad which didn’t seem like much on the outside, but on the inside it was colourful, comfortable AND this time the people were sooooooo warm, friendly and welcoming. We were also excited about the deck area from which we could see the ocean!

In Essaouira we simply just chilled out! It was smaller and easier to navigate, and people were more laid back than in Marrakech. It was very easy to just wander and relax here.

There were a few things Essaouira had an abundance of . . . .

Seagulls

Cats

They were everywhere and were free to roam, wander and go absolutely anywhere they wanted.

Sand

Wind

Essaouira is heaven for wind and kite surfers because wind blows here most of the time! It’s known as the “Windy City of Africa” and definitely lived up to this name while we were there!

Once again, It wasn’t until we decided to go to Essaouira that I discovered that it had also been used as a place for filming some of Game of Thrones. This was Astapor or Slaver’s Bay, home of the unsullied. Does it look familiar GOT watchers?

We tried a few new eats in Essaouira and all were very yummy!

On our last day, within a few hours before we were set to leave the city to make the long trek back to Casablanca, J-Rodg and I were sitting at a random place for tea. I was simply watching the world go by when I noticed someone a few tables down. Could it be that I knew this person? But I thought she was currently walking the Camino in Spain. It was so uncanny, I had to go up and talk to her to chat and verify my suspicions.

Turns out that it was in fact her!! The crazier part is she is someone I know from an online community, so this was our first time meeting in person. Crazier, crazier part is she is from Vancouver, so we only live a few hours away!! How truly magical and amazing is that?!

Part 3’s overall theme . . . . Essaouira = most things are better in Essaouira

I had always wanted to wander to Morocco and am grateful for the chance to get to do so. There are many things I enjoyed, but I particularly loved the different colours and textures everywhere in the country.

Thanks so much for the good times J-Rodg!

This has also been the case, in my experience, when I set out on an adventure on my own. Despite having numerous opportunities now of travelling by myself in several countries, and knowing that I genuinely LOVE my solo adventures, the period before I set off STILL produces nerves, anxiety and doubt.

So, when B-Rod left to go to Tokyo leaving me behind in Kyoto to figure out my next path, I was having this stirring of emotion exacerbated a bit because I genuinely didn’t know where I would go the next day (I had a few options, but hadn’t made a definite decision).

In the meantime, B-Rod and I were keeping in contact and messaging about our experiences. We were both staying that night in capsule-type hotels. It was B’s first experience and he had chosen a place based on “sort by lowest price”

I ended up in a different kind of capsule called a “pocket hotel” which was essentially a tiny room for one.

My last night in Kyoto I decided to go out for okonomiyaki which a friend had recommended to me as something to eat in Kyoto. I set my sites on a place, sheepishly walked in the door, was welcomed in, and after the initial uncertainty of if I spoke Japanese or not, was handed the English menu and through points, hand gestures and other ways to communicate was offered suggestions and recommends. They warned me it would take at least 20 minutes to prepare, and though I was happy to sit there simply observing, eventually an American couple (the husband had been stationed in Japan in the army more than 20 years ago and spoke Japanese very well) was sat next to me and we spent our dinner chatting and sharing stories. My solo adventure, like the ones before, was going to be just fine because everything always works out!

I got back to my place, decided where I would go the next day and had a cozy sleep in my lil’ room.

The next morning I hoped on the Shinkansen (bullet train), watched the scenery race by, got a message from B-Rod of a single picture to show what he was doing with his last day in Tokyo, . . . .

. . . . and I found myself here.

I unintentionally timed things so well, that I got off the train, walked to my accommodation where I was able to drop off my bags before check-in and continued walking straight to a meeting point for another free walking tour.

Our tour guide was Akiko, and it was another EXCELLENT introduction to the culture, people, food and history of the area.

Most of our time was spent in Peace Memorial Park and, thanks to her detailed and researched information and the impact of the place in general, I dedicated a whole other day to exploring and being in that area on my own.

Her share that I took advantage of immediately that night, was her food recommend.

Seeing as I had had Osaka style okonomiyaki in Kyoto the night before, I took this as an opportunity to do a comparison with Hiroshima style okonomiyaki immediately!

Okonomimura is a building of okonomiyaki restaurants in Hiroshima which has 4 floors and over 20 small okonomiyaki restaurants. Thankfully, I was also given the recommend to go to Hassho because that’s a bit too many choices for me!

Okonomiyaki is basically like a Japanese omelette or pizza (or combination of the two?!) The base is made from flour, egg and soup stock and often includes cabbage and pork, but you can basically add what you want in the pancake mix or to layer on top. They are made on a grill in front of you and is made on the spot so takes a bit of time.

While made of the same ingredients, but prepared a bit differently, in the battle of Osaka vs. Hiroshima okonomiyaki for me the winner was Hiroshima for no other reason that I can pinpoint except that maybe it just tasted better that day?!

Of course Hiroshima will globally and forever be known as the first place where a nuclear weapon was used. What struck me was how quickly and adamantly the city seemed to be to use this event and all of the stories that came out of this period of time of literal hell on earth (some of the side effects still happening today) as an example to choose a different path – the path of PEACE.

Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945. On August 6, 1947, just two years later, along with a memorial and time of mourning, the city held a Peace Festival. It was here that they declared that the epicenter of the bombing from then on would be declared “the epicenter of world peace,” along with signing a peace declaration (which can be read here)

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park 広島平和記念公園, is next to the epicentre of the bomb and was built on what had once been a busy residential and business district, but in mere seconds after the explosion had became an open field. It surprised and somewhat took me aback at how very peaceful this park/place actually IS. Yes, I could feel sadness, sorrow and horrors, but it felt a lot less heavy than I expected it to feel, and I believe that it’s because this area was rebuilt with the very intention that peace, and not simply holding the focus on the bombing, would be at the centre and focus of the rebuild.

The Atomic Bomb Dome was 160m from the location of the bomb and one of the only buildings in the epicenter that wasn’t completely destroyed. Citizens of the city decided to keep the structure as is for a reminder of the incident. In 1996 it was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site and is a symbol for the motto “No More Hiroshimas”

The Rest House was another one of the few structures that survived the blast. It was restored in 1982 and renovated in 2018 back to its original shape. It houses the tourist information and various exhibits. The basement was kept in tact and serves as a small museum where Eizo Nomura, the lone person who survived in the building, was down getting papers to do his work for the day when the bomb exploded.

The Children’s Peace Monument is dedicated to the children who died in the bombing and has an inscription that says “This is our cry, this is our prayer: for building peace in the world.” The statue on top is based on the story of Sadako Sasaki who died from radiation from the bomb. “She is known for folding over 1,000 paper cranes in response to a Japanese legend. To this day, people (mostly children) from around the world fold cranes and send them to Hiroshima where they are placed near the statue. The statue has a continuously replenished collection of folded cranes nearby.“

The Bell of Peace (biggest one of three) encourages people to ring the bell for peace and it was cool to hear it ringing and vibrating at various points while walking through the park.

Ground Zero is not actually in the park grounds and is on a nondescript street beside the hospital that was rebuilt after being destroyed by the bomb. It was so quiet, so surreal, and so sad.

The Memorial Cenotaph houses the names of all the people in Hiroshima who were killed by the bomb, along with a sheet that states “many victims with their names unknown.” During the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony new names of victims who died during the past year are added.

The Peace Flame was lit in 1964 and has been burning continuously since then. It will continue to burn until all nuclear weapons on the planet are destroyed.

And these were just some of the MAIN monuments, structures and memorials in the park. There were soooo many more, but as I mentioned earlier the whole area resounded with an aura of peace as opposed to feeling weighted down by sadness. Maybe it was because of the abundance of greenery and flowers, or simply the intention that was placed into the creation of it.

Having said that, my aim was to go to the museum after a few hours in the park, but it was just too much to take in and I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t actually sure if I was going to go to the museum at all, but after a day away from the city spent in another area, I came back to the museum and am so glad I did.

The museum was so well done. It was sad, and it was real about what the event looked/felt like, the aftermath and the struggles, some of which continue to this day. Everyone deserves for their stories to be told, but some stories no matter how difficult NEED to be heard.

Hiroshima has two city slogans: “the tragedy of war” and “prosperity through peace” I love how Hiroshima has used this to remember and direct their energy and focus towards a future of peace vs only looking at a past filled with pain. It’s very easy, to look at the world we live in now and wonder if us as a species and humanity in general has even learned anything from all of this. The optimist in me wants very badly for Hiroshima’s wish of a nuclear free world to become true despite the stats that show yearly we’re heading in quite an opposite direction. What actually brings me hope is an awareness I have had very recently . . . . no matter what we humans choose to do (or not do) . . . nature will be just fine. So while humans tend to veer towards complicated and divisive, following the aftermath of our meddling and control (however that ends up looking), nature will simply do what nature does – put ALL of it’s energy into regenerating, renewing and creating new and different beauty even if from destruction.

The weather wasn’t the greatest while I was in Hiroshima, and there were a few (sometimes quite heavy) rain periods. When looking at the forecast there was one day that was forecast to be rain free, so I chose that day to head out of the city and to the island of Itsukushima.

Itsukushima is more commonly known as Miyajima which means shrine island, or island of the gods and has been considered a holy place throughout a lot of Japan’s history. It’s well known for it’s “floating torii” and Mt Misen.

Torri gates are often found at the front of Shinto shrines and I love their symbolism! They represent the transition from the mundane to the sacred. The “floating torri” is in front of Itsukushima shrine and appears to be floating based on the tides. When I arrived it was in a period of floating!

The population of Miyajima is only about 2,000 but is a heavily visited island of mainly day trippers. I knew it would be busy, but I had also heard it is quite beautiful and there was a hike I wanted to do to Mt Misen. There are two ways to get to this highest point on Miyajima – by walking or by ropeway. Some people take the ropeway up and then walk down. Call me cray cray, but I like walking uphill more than I like going down, so up by foot and down by cable car it was for me! I think this also helped me avoid the crowds that the island is known for. I got there early enough that I was able to explore a temple that was at the foot of my walk with very few people around. On my walk up I often felt like I had the forest and views to myself. By the time I came back down it felt like a lot of day-trippers had already come and gone. It was perfect!

Wandering around Daisho-in Temple

My favourite part was the statues with red caps and sometimes bibs. Of course there are many and different explanations that I found about this, but the easiest version is that red is the colour of expelling demons and illness and so I’ll simply leave it there.

The walk up to the top of Mt Misen was great. It was quiet, peaceful, a chance to commune with nature and had some wonderful views. It was, however, A LOT of stairs and did I mention it’s fairly humid in the area? I was a hot sweaty mess by the time I got to the top!

Stairs, after stairs, after stairs, and a jump shot wondering how many more stairs . . . .

. . . . . until I finally made it to the top. Worth it!!

Taking a different way down in order to get to the ropeway, I come accross Shinkido Hall aka Eternal Fire Hall. “Here, in 806, [a monk] Kobo Daishi undertook ascetic practice for one hundred days on the mountain. The fire lit here has supposedly been lit for over 1,200 years and it was used to light the eternal flame in the Hiroshima Peace Park.”

A couple cable cars to get back down

And back in time to see the torii no longer floating

It was a great day in Miyajima and I’d love to go back again to at least stay overnight next time!

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Hiroshima and though I could have stayed longer, it was time to start making the trek back. But first on the way from there back to Narita to fly out, I was excited to make a stop at a friend’s farm. I met F during a program and later in a training we did together. I loved her playful, childlike energy and actually forgot that she lived in Japan. Luckily a mutual friend of ours reminded me of this and alerted F to the fact I was there. She invited me over and I got to spend two days with her, her husband and pets. It was sooo special!

During the day F would spend some time working while I wandered around her peaceful countryside and explored the town nearby. Eventually we’d meet up and go for a walk, go to the onsen (public bath house which I was soooooo happy to finally get to!!), or simply sit, have tea and chat. She has been living in Japan for the past 24 years, their children were born and raised there and we had so many interesting conversations about the culture of Japan, their life on the farm, the experiences of a foreigner in Japan, family dynamics, relationships, and life in general. I was so welcome and well taken care of, and it was two days that truly filled my soul!

At the farm

Japanese countryside

Wanders/discoveries around town

And, of course, we jumped!!

Thanks so much for everything F!!!!! I can’t wait for our paths to cross again!

Of course, I can’t forget about the food!

The “standards”

The seasonal

The snack

The OMG’s

My flight out (which was looking very iffy for me to actually getting on) wasn’t until the evening, and I was emailed in the morning that it would be further delayed by 2.5 hours. After doing a bit of research to figure out how to spend my time, Narita became my FAVOURITE airport when I discovered there was a free shuttle from the airport to a nearby onsen (hot springs) where I quickly planned to spend the day.

A full day (on a rainy day I might add) spent soaking in tubs, getting a Korean scrub down, sweating in saunas and reading and sleeping in the nap room was THE best way to spend the day before a flight out (spoiler alert . . . . I made the flight!)

I freaking LOVED my time in Japan!! Will I be back?! Hells Yeah!!!!

Thank you Japan! You rock!

So, B came home from work, packed his travel bag and the next day after a number of hours, we successfully found ourselves at the Narita airport!

For me, travel has not always been just about the experience of seeing and doing different things and being surrounded by different cultures (though I do love all of those things), it’s also always seemed to involve a type of internal journey of self-awareness and collected lessons. This trip has not been an exception and is reminding me of the lesson of time and perspective.

Coming from and living most days in a culture that doesn’t have the most positive attitude towards aging, it’s often easy to focus on what appears lost as I get older. Yet, on these latest wanderings, I’ve realized another advantage to an increasing age is the perspective that comes with time.

As we landed in Japan and started to spend some time here, I remembered a dream that I had had when I was younger of living in this country. From the time I was a kid, I had been intrigued by the culture and traditions I saw from Asia. I studied Anthropology in university, focusing on East Asia (Japan, Korea and China). Since it was Japan that most piqued my interest, how excited was I when, as I was graduating, there was a program that not only involved teaching in Japan, but included a cultural exchange element to it? I KNEW that’s what I was going to do when I graduated. Except . . . . . my application wasn’t accepted. While a few friends and my boyfriend at the time got the call that they were being invited to go, I was crushed. I couldn’t help but interpret this as something being wrong with ME, and now I had no plan or idea of what to do next in life!

It’s so interesting how this period which was soul crushing at the time was something that I no longer even remembered until landing in the place where I once thought I would live. With the passage of time, what might have once been a focus on the pain of that memory ended up, during this trip, being an experience where I was constantly reminded of, and excited by, the things I had learned in my studies long ago that were now coming back to me even though I hadn’t thought about them in years!

Life is strange!

During the time that I was studying and had Japan on the brain, for various reasons Kyoto had always been a place I wanted to go to. So, when B-Rod and I landed in Narita, we went straight to an airport hotel with the only “plan” being that the next day we would figure out how to get there.

While Kyoto was on my wish list, B-Rod was excited about the idea of taking a bullet train. With a loose plan, but two wishes fulfilled, off to Kyoto we went.

First, we got our tickets. This involved three small paper tickets (even though we were only going to ride two trains) which all went into the ticket slot at the same time somehow (we never did quite figure that part out and how/why it worked! )

Next, we picked up a couple of ‘Ekiban‘ boxes. The Japanese word ekiben is made up of the kanji symbols for “train station” and “boxed meal.” So, basically it’s a bento box snack/meal/eats for the train ride. There are ekiban shops at most train stations. The interesting thing is that eating is allowed on the Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train), but for the most part not allowed on any other form of public transportation in the country.

With our ekibans in hand, we found our way onto the platform just as a train arrived. Though we weren’t quite sure if it was our train, B-Rod hopped on asking some random person if this was the right one. We were told it was and trusted (though maybe not fully believed) it was, and off we went.

Except . . . . .

Just as we were getting comfortable and marvelling at how cushy this bullet train thing is, we heard the announcement that our class of tickets were located in the first three cars. We were sitting in the 8th. We got up, and made our way back to where we were supposed to be as the seats got a bit more basic and a bit less cushy

Still, it was a comfortable way to travel for the next four hours, cool to see how fast we were going, fun to discover what was in our bento box, nice to watch the scenery flash by AND we were on the correct train!

There are many things we’ve loved about Japan so far, one of which is definitely the people! When we arrived in Kyoto, we dropped our bags off at our place and set out to aimlessly wander. A great thing about Kyoto is the amount of green space in the city, and we were fortunate to be situated right by Kyoto Gyoen National Garden. The moment we walked through the gates to leave the traffic and step into nature, we were greeted by cherry blossoms!! How exciting!!!

We then made our way to over to a bridge, and as we stopped to look over the scene, a Japanese guy asked if we would like him to take our picture.

We got to talking and he was telling us about how he was learning English and asked if he could tell us a story he wrote. He went on to read us a cute story, but I won’t lie . . . . B-Rod and I were both kind of waiting to see what the catch was. There was none! He just wanted to share, connect and practice his English. We ended up having a great conversation with Hank (his English name of course) and he helped set the tone for the rest of our time in Kyoto.

The rest of our first day in Kyoto, we simply wandered the streets heading for the Geisha district, caught the glow of lanterns at night and walked along a river path on the way to our place to crash for another night after many, many miles of walking.

Recently, we’ve discovered free walking tours in various cities (though technically listed as free, these tours are donation based) and so far the ones we’ve been to have been amazing. Though we are good at the walking around part and discovering things, it’s nice to have a bit of knowledge and context about the cultural and historical significance of the lands we are wandering on. I found one for Kyoto, so off we went.

Our tour guide, Dominic, was from Switzerland and had lived in Kyoto for the past year studying Akido quite intensely. I was a bit surprised when a non-Japanese person showed up to lead the tour, but he was very knowledgeable and quite passionate about Kyoto, the culture and the people (and I do LOVE being around people who are passionate about what they are doing).

Though the tour was listed as a 2.5 hour tour, it ended up going on for an extra hour. But, it was GREAT! We got to places that B and I might not have discovered or even gone to on our own (dismissing them as “too touristy and crowded”), got the lay of the land and a feel of the place.

After the tour we had some eats (Dominic also gave us a recommend for some AMAZING food . . . . but you’ll learn about that later! ) and intended to go back to some of the spots we liked on the tour, but ended up lost and finding different things instead!

A HUGE highlight of our time in Kyoto was a hike we did that was recommended by a good friend. The Kurama and Kibune trail winds up to a temple with various shrines (Shinto) and temples (Buddhist) along the way. It was so peaceful and is considered a very sacred area. It wasn’t until later that I found out that this area is considered to be the birthplace of reiki!

First, we took a subway out of the city centre and then transferred to a cute little train which carried us away into nature!

Taking the direction we did (it is a loop trail), the hike started off with stairs lined with lanterns and various temples or shrines you could spend time at if you wanted to.

Loved seeing more cherry blossoms at the top when we got to Kurama-dera Temple.

There were so many offerings of different ways to pause along the way!

The way down was less manicured, but just as peaceful.

This hike was !!! Thanks for the recommend friend!

Another adventure we had which is difficult to write about because it is STILL so confusing to us is the time we went to Pachinko. We were waiting for a food place to open for supper, so we had a bit of time to spare. As we were walking, I spotted this building . . . .

B got excited. I’d never heard of it. So . . . . off we went.

It was an “Interesting” experience of flashing lights and noise and confusion! B-Rod had two different staff members helping us and trying to explain things. We got a pamphlet with the “rules” and still didn’t get it. B kept asking them “How do you win?” “Do you ever win?” “How do you stop playing?” until eventually the $10 we’d put in the machine was gone in the blinking of a bunch of lights, a lot of noise, some bouncing metal balls and a ton of head scratching! Basically it felt like our experience in Las Vegas – put in money, lose money, walk away knowing you won’t play again because the gambling experience/curiosity has been met – except in Vegas we didn’t walk away utterly confused!

Finally, and often one of the most important in our wanders . . . . the FOOD!!

We’ve tried what we know but also what’s been recommended to us. Sooooooooo gooooooooood!!!

One friend recommended the Sakura mochi. Sakura means cherry blossom, so these are only available for the brief time the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Everything is eaten with this including the leaf. I love mochi and am glad I tried it. I did try eating it with the leaf, but that made it a bit too bitter for my taste, so I enjoyed it more without. It was good, wasn’t my fav, but would still recommend giving it a try.

Numerous friends who have lived in Japan highly recommend 7-11 for decent cheap eats, and of course they were correct! Spam musubi made B-Rod very happy and gave him inspiration of how to make his future musubis at home.

Remember Dominic from our free walking tour? He recommended a ramen place and directed us on the specific ramen to try. We had to wait awhile to get in, but met some awesome people while we were waiting. When we eventually got in and started digging in . . . . . OMG YUM!!!

Another recommend we got was from Hank our ESL friend from the first day. This sushi place was our last supper together in Kyoto and it was amazingly perfect. How do they get so many different kinds of fish to melt in your mouth?!

With B-Rod’s schedule, we had a week in Japan. The original “plan” was to go to Tokyo for a couple days after Kyoto and head home from there. I had started pondering a few days in and eventually decided on our last day in Kyoto that I was going to spend a few extra days somewhere else in Japan before heading home. So, while I got a new place to stay in Kyoto for an extra night to sit and work out ideas and logistics, B-Rod headed to Tokyo for the next couple of nights. We had planned to go to the Nishiki market at some point, but just never had the time. How convenient that my new place ended up being right next door?! Market food for our last eats together in Japan it was!

Japan has been AMAZING! The people are wonderful, incredibly kind and helpful. The culture is rich and interesting. The scenery is stunning and the temples and shrines are colourful and peaceful. There’s a calmness I find to the people here and the country in general. I know there is the stereotype of workaholic businessmen, overly crowded areas and a rushed pace, but I also see that there are so many opportunities and places that people can stop to slow down here if they choose to.

Cheers and arigato gozaimasu Japan! We will definitely be back again!

If you had six months to live, what would you want to do with the time you had left?

My answer was immediate . . . .

Travel & Connect

To me that meant continuing to explore and experience the energy of other places, their ways of life and people who live there, and also connecting with family, dear friends (long time connections and those newly met), nature and myself.

It wasn’t until others started sharing their answers that I started to doubt if my immediate gut response was “good enough,” if I needed to aim for something “better,” and if I should, instead, think of what I could do to leave the world a better place (believing at that time that only “BIG” things make a difference in the world!)

It has taken me awhile to get here, but I now realize that my gut is usually right, my heart gives the first response and there are MANY different ways people can contribute to making the world better. And so . . . . the last while I’ve chosen to focus and give priority to my answer from that day NOW of travelling & connecting instead of waiting until I only have a “certain” amount of time left.

Which made it easy to say ‘yes’ when B-Rod had a few days off and suggested that we go somewhere. The ‘somewhere’ this time around ended up being Paris.

We had both only been to this city before as a hub to get elsewhere, and the most either of us had ever spent in the actual city was the one time I had an afternoon to wander around a bit. Based on what we could see with flights, it looked like we’d be able to get there fairly easily with no incidents.

So with the decision of a destination made, we listed on flights to head out the next day. No matter how many times we do it, we find that the statement ‘standby travel is not for the faint of heart‘ is true! It can be the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, effortless and easy, or super stressful and doubting if you’ll actually get where you want to be. On that particular day our trip started on an extra high note where we not only personally knew the captain who would be flying us over, but we also had an opportunity to have a comfortable, good sleep on the flight (which of course Rocky took advantage of and B-Rod wishes he could)

Having done little to no research before leaving (that’s not necessarily new ), knowing we would only have a few days and the only thing on our “must do” list not having tickets available until the middle of the month, we simply planned to do what we usually do when we travel . . . . wander around and find good food!

As we had booked a place to stay while boarding the airplane, our first order of business when we landed was to figure out public transport to get there and check in.

Our home base for our few days there was very close to the train station and had easy access to the places we planned to wander (though most places within Paris seem to have this same easy access) It wasn’t an overly touristy area and was nice to watch locals pop in for a coffee and smoke before work during the mornings we sat at our neighbourhood cafes for petit déjeuner. When we went on a tour a couple days later, our tour guide basically told us we were staying in a shitty area, but we never felt unsafe and appreciated being away from the crowds.

Having secured a place to stay, we set out to simply wander. which brought us to . . . . .

Near the end of our day, before we were ready to head back to our place to crash, we found ourselves in a square. It was one of those places that just has a certain magical?, mystical?, sacred?, all of the above? type of energy. We sat in the middle taking it all in for a bit before turning to each other and saying “this must be something!”

Well . . . . . it turned out to be the Louvre!! So, yes . . . . it was something!

The majority of our time over the next three days was mostly spent wandering which seems to be a perfect way to spend time in Paris. We didn’t always know what things we were passing by were, but simply being in a city with such history, architecture and culture is always cool.

The weather was hit and miss, but it didn’t deter us from walking many miles! There also wasn’t a lot of colour in the city (which I attribute to the time of year), so when the sun WAS shining, the bursts of colour felt extra special!

We did briefly consider taking a boat tour along the Seine, but none were running at the time as the river was flooding which also meant we weren’t able to walk along the banks. But, we did walk along a canal and were super excited (in a very nerdy kind of way) when we came across a set of locks!

Usually when we travel to a new city we learn to get around by public transport, but it was just so easy and interesting to walk and see things that this is the way we mostly got around. We did take e-bikes a few times, and it was such a quick, convenient and fun way to get from point A to point B that we never did bother to figure out the bus and subway system.

A friend had recommended checking out the Montmartre area. So when I discovered free walking tours in different neighborhoods, we chose to do the tour in this part. The guide was great, and it was a nice change of pace to know the significance of some of the things we were passing by!

The only other activity we booked was a food tour which we did in the Marais district. Again, we got a great guide, had some good food and got to hang out with a particularly cool Australian couple in the tour with us.

Some of the other food highlights we had included . . . .

Remember how at the beginning of this post, I mentioned a program I was in that posed a question that in a somewhat indirect way guided me to this trip to Paris for the weekend? Well, in a fun twist of fate I was contacted by an American buddy I had met in this program because she saw on social media that I was in Paris. The gist of her message was “Hey! I’m in Paris too!!!”

I got her message late afternoon on the day before we were planning on leaving. So, I replied back something to the effect of “If you’re an early morning person AND if you’re free AND if we happen to be staying in neighbourhoods fairly close to each other wanna meet for coffee before I head to the airport?” I shouldn’t be surprised that despite all those “if’s” things worked out and we got to meet, have coffee and jump for the joy of getting to be in Paris together!!

• Travel
• Connection
• Merci Paris!!