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I started writing this post on Labour day, September 2nd, 2013. I'm finishing it on the 7th, not because I got writers' block, or anything of the like, just because getting settled in took longer and more effort than I had thought it would.
Having ruminated on this for a while, I've realized that, far more than New Year's day, Labour day has traditionally meant the beginning of a "new year" for me. When I was young, it meant a return to school, to see my friends again, commence learning again, and a return to, for lack of a better term, the norm. As an adult, I still find it affects me more profoundly than New Year's, partially because it's always felt that way, partially because I'm a hockey fan, and the season starts in the fall, and goes until the summer, and partially because it marks the point in the year where the weather starts getting colder, the days start getting shorter, and the allergies finally show signs of subsiding.
It's been a full three weeks since my last blog post, which would have been the 19th of August, and two weeks and a half since I ended my trip on the 22nd, after having spent an extremely relaxing three days up at the cottage, which was a real shift from the hustle and bustle that had been my life for the previous month. In a way, I've spent that time becoming readjusted to a life where I don't need to pack up early in the morning, say goodbye to hosts, or sign out of my hotel in order to commence my day. I can wake up, go downstairs in my robe, make myself a coffee, eat some cereal, read the newspaper for a bit, and then return to my computer, where I spent the majority of my working day, as well as the majority of my social time. In some ways, it's been excellent getting back to this. It's comfortable, it's really great to know that I'm going to get a good cup of coffee in the morning as opposed to either playing small town roulette (where you see a "food" sign on the side of the highway, and stop, not having any idea exactly what KIND of food or quality of food you'll be getting,) or making sure you plan your trip around where the next Starbucks is, and it's really good to get back to my physical activity. I've missed playing hockey something fierce.
In another, more obscure way, however, it's become odd. My schedule for most days now says things like "Work" and "Go to grocery store" and "Hockey game at 8:15," instead of saying things like "10 AM, train to NYC," "Visit Central Park," "Go to the Field Museum," "Visit a glacier," "See Old Faithful" and, of course "Climb a mountain in my car." For a month or so, I've played a role I like to call "Super-Tourist." My "Super-Tourist," however, is not comparable to what others might consider "Super-Tourist." I visited as many places as I could possibly cram in to my one or two days in most cities, and visited with as many people as I possibly could over the course of the trip. I didn't accomplish close to as much as I had hoped to, of course, but you really can't expect to when you're not spending that much time in every city you visit. I didn't often drink alcohol, I didn't consume the finest foods, or stay in the nicest hotels, I didn't buy a ton of souvenirs, and I didn't meet any exotic women, apart from a supper in Chicago which was altogether too short for my liking. That is, unfortunately, what you get, when you try to play the role of "Super-Tourist" on a $5000 budget.
For my final accounting of the trip, I ended up spending about $4800, or a little less, over the course of the trip. I would have spent a little more near the end, but, having lost my credit card in between Vancouver and Kananaskis, I lost most of my wiggle room as well. Of that $4800, about $1400 was spent on gas and auto repairs, about $950 was spent on hotels and hostels, about $1000 was spent on food and drink, and about $875 was spent on various and sundry attractions, toll roads, and a couple of movies on my days off. That leaves about $500, which is what I ended up spending on gifts, snacks and various unexpected expenses, such as purchasing a travel phone charger, or a replacement set of earpads for my Sony headphones.
In total, I travelled 12,700km, or about the equivalent of 8000 miles. (For those of you who still remember 80s scot-rock, I'm now more travelled than The Proclaimers.) I visited a total of 21 places, Major cities and stops for the night stated, actual places I slept in near major cities due to the decreased cost of hotels, or availability of friends and family noted in brackets:
New York City, NY (Wilton, CT)
Philadelphia, PA
New Stanton, PA
Chicago, IL (Lakeview, IL)
St. Louis, MO (Columbia, MO)
Kansas City, KS (Shawnee, KS)
Colorado Springs, CO (Limon, CO)
Rawlins, WY
Yellowstone National Park, WY (Deer Lodge, MN)
Spokane, WA
Seattle, WA (Kent, WA)
Vancouver, BC (New Westminster, BC and Surrey, BC)
Kananaskis, AB
Edmonton, AB
Drumheller, AB (Airdrie, AB)
Calgary, AB (Okotoks, AB)
Regina, SK
Winnipeg, MB
Minneapolis, MN (Hastings, MN)
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Gravenhurst, ON (Miller Island, the middle of Lake Muskoka)
I visited five provinces and eighteen states in three time zones, and necessitating almost an entire cycle around my car's internal clock every time I went a time zone to the west, thank you very much Toyota:
New York
Connecticut
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Missouri
Kansas
Colorado
Wyoming
Montana
Idaho
Washington
British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
North Dakota
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Ontario
I visited with friends or family in every single place I visited with the notable exception being Philadelphia, pretty much all of the western US (Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Washington), and Sault Ste. Marie, ON, and I met a whole bunch of new people who I now consider friends as well.
I will also provide a summary of things I did on the trip in a separate post, which is three pages long and too large to append to this one.
Getting back to my life has not been a surreal experience, other than the fact that it was another change in such a short period. If anything, it's added a dimension to the perception that I already have about my life. If you know me, you'll know that I'm not a huge risk-taker by nature. I like things to go as they're planned, and although I don't necessarily fear the unknown, I also don't necessarily strive for all that many new experiences. Taking myself out of my comfort zone has been an interesting experience, since it's so different than what I would normally choose to do with my summer. Throughout the planning of my trip, I had voices in my head telling me that it would be a bad idea to do this trip now, that I had so many sporting commitments, that I needed to rest up from my shoulder injury and that my work on my game and databases shouldn't take a back seat to personal enjoyment.
I'm glad I was able to silence those voices for at least a portion of the year so I could have all of the amazing experiences I did over the summer. There will always be things I wished I went back to do, and things I had hoped I would get the chance to see, but I think that I really needed to do at least a portion of what I did this summer in order to give myself some distance from my life, at least for a little while, and really realize that my life is what I make of it, and not what I let myself believe is allotted to me.
My trip wasn't transformative in a profound way, it's not as dramatic as a butterfly emerging from a coccoon or the seasons changing. In a way, my trip has been the start of a new year of my life. When you wake up on New Year's Morning, nothing is different. It's still the same as it was when you went to sleep the previous night. You still have the same job, the same partner, the same responsibilities, privileges, joys and sadnesses. But in a slightly deeper way, there IS something different about a new year, whether or not yours starts on January 1st. There's a renewed sense of optimism, there's a knowledge that although nothing may have changed over the past 12 hours, it probably will over the next 12 months. In some ways, that's how I feel about my trip. I'm still the same person I was when I left, but I know that because I went on the trip, I will make different choices, follow different paths, and embrace different opportuinties than I might have, had I not taken it.
I'm very glad I did end up going on the trip, and meeting all the people I did, having all the experiences I did, and seeing all the things I did. In fact, writing that sentence has made me realize the two most important words I could possibly use to describe the purpose, the reality, and the heart of my trip:
"I did."
- comments
Amber As I am not as eloquent with words, the way you are... Like. :)