Where have I been?

When it comes to a blog, the old adage “no news is good news” does not apply.


It’s been quiet here because life has been out of control. I have just ten days left before I set out on my adventure!


Here’s the Cliff’s Notes of what’s been going on:


– The saga of packing: I had to pack up my entire apartment by myself in about four hours as I didn’t have enough time off my jobs to do it properly. Needless to say I threw out about half my shit, you’re welcome Salvation Army. It was a nightmare and way too overwhelming for me. I have never packed by myself as an adult (in 10 years…what??) – when I first moved out to a condo for university my parents helped me, then when I moved from there out to Vancouver my dad helped me, and the four times I’ve moved in the four years out west my boyfriend helped me. Needless to say, said boyfriend (now ex but still my best friend!) was on the receiving end of several phone calls of me either complaining or crying while trying to pack and talked me through it (thanks B, you’re the best!) I am the queen of unpacking but packing is my nemesis.


– The saga of moving: Moving day (aka sending my stuff away in a storage pod) came and this also got my panties in a knot – they would not deliver the pod on a weekend and I had no friends to help me move on weekdays, plus I had to take a day off work. Plus side – I offered the kids at the gelato shop $50 each to help me move and so had two strapping 19 year old lads carrying my stuff and packing up the storage unit, versus the $400 minimum it would have cost me to hire movers. Score! They even helped me finish packing as I was not even done by the time the storage unit came and by that time was just throwing crap in boxes haphazardly. Going to be hilarious whenever I unpack all this stuff…


– The saga of the wetsuit: I originally wanted to order this Henderson wetsuit online from the States and get it cheaper than here, but decided to support my local dive shop and order it through them. They ordered it but two weeks later called me to say it was backordered and arriving soon. Another two weeks went by and I finally called them last week and asked when it would be arriving as departure day is looming and I don’t even know if the size I ordered will fit. They called the company and apparently it is backordered so far that it will not come in time before I leave. Great. So no wetsuit and I’m out of here in two weeks. The only other long sleeve shorty they could get was the one Bare makes and luckily their warehouse is in Langley (a city near Vancouver) so they could get one next-day for me. I am hoping it arrives today so I can go try it on! I didn’t want to be so picky about a wetsuit but I figure if I’m going to be getting in and out of it 2-4 times a day every day I wanted a step-in with long sleeves, so that cut down the options quite a bit. Keep your fingers crossed for me that this one gets here soon!


– The saga of the Roatan bags: long story short, I could not fit all my crap in them. I found this out AFTER I sent everything to storage. So everything that didn’t fit had to be given away or thrown out. I’m a notorious overpacker but I felt like I really needed all the things I wanted to bring… I’ve been to Roatan twice already this year and I know what I can get and what I can’t get. So this might be a lesson in “making do” once I get there, because I definitely do not have everything I wanted to bring.


– The saga of being a gypsy hobo: After the 27th, I had nothing in my house because I had sent everything to storage… so I ended up sleeping on the floor two nights, on a pile of towels like a dog. I’m not 18 anymore and can’t sleep on the floor! So I begged my friend to let me come stay at her place early. I feel bad imposing on her for two weeks but I needed somewhere to stay and other friends were bailing on me left and right. So I am a ghost in her house now…I leave before she gets up and don’t come home until she’s in bed, so hopefully it’s like I’m not really staying there. I don’t even cook there or anything (hello eating out every meal… not as fun as I thought it would be).


– The saga of no phone: I managed to find someone to take over my cell phone contract for $120 (YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!) I was so worried I was going to get stuck paying this stupid contract while I was in Honduras, and to get out of it was going to be over $600. I found a guy to take it over for $120 and now I am free AND I get to keep my iPhone 4S! Yay! But he wanted the contract transferred right away, so I have been unable to phone/text/use 3G data for the last few days. It’s incredibly weird; everyone should try it sometime. I got to the bus stop yesterday and went to text the bus to see when it was arriving and when I realized I couldn’t, I was stumped. How would I know when the bus came? Well, I just sat and waited. Not rocket science, people! It’s strange not having everything at my fingertips and not being instantly accessible but I like it for the most part. For the part when I walked home after the bar at 4:30am and realized I left my keys locked in the gelato shop and now I was stuck outside with no keys and no phone…that part, I didn’t like so much.


– The saga of what the hell is going on in Roatan: so my friend / mentor in Honduras who I’m supposed to be living with, and who convinced me to do my dive courses at the place she works which isn’t even in the town I’m living in, and runs interference for me all the time in West End because I get myself into all kinds of trouble there… just told me a few days ago she’s going back to the States in September. Like 3 weeks after I get there. I am freaking out about this part a bit. Not only am I going to miss her like mad, now I don’t know if I even have a place to stay as I was supposed to live at the house she shares with some people, or who I’ll be at the dive shop on the other side of the island all day with. I know I was using her as sort of a security blanket for this trip which I shouldn’t do, but I needed her push and I was counting on (and budgeting for) her being there. Wahhhhhhhhh!


– The saga of quitting my jobs: no saga here actually. It was awesome. And everyone at both jobs has been amazing – so supportive and happy for me. I was surprised. Not one single person so far has said, “wow, that’s a terrible idea…why are you doing that? What about your job? What about your RRSPs?” Nope. Everyone is stoked. Even my dad, and he hates everything that I do. That just confirms to me that I’m doing the right thing!


– The saga of the funds: budget post coming tomorrow. I’ve hit my goal and on track to leave with an extra few thousand dollars which I am thrilled about!




And the other reason I haven’t been around is that my family had to say goodbye to a very important member of our family recently – Riley, one of our dogs. Her and her sister Ginger have been the center of our family for 15 years now and I’m pretty sure my mom likes them better than my brother and I (and I don’t blame her!). Riley had been having seizures with increasing frequency and intensity since the beginning of this year and her little brain and body couldn’t handle it any more, and my parents decided it was best to send her off. It was my first real taste of things happening that I needed/wanted to be at when I was too far away to get there (my parents live in a different part of Canada than I do) and it was really difficult for me to be so far away while my mom was so upset. I wish I could have been there so she didn’t have to be the one to see Riley go but I am glad my dad was in town to help her (he’s an Air Canada pilot so travels all the time). I hope I don’t experience this again while I’m traveling but I know that is part of choosing to be on the other side of the world.

Riley is on the right with her sister Ginger… I couldn’t even find a photo of them apart, they have been together every day since 1997. My favorite little monkies 🙂