When you travel, if you've done any kind of travelling, there is this really interesting phenomenon that inevitably happens. If you're lucky, and you're doing it right, you tend to meet a lot of people. Whether they are strangers on the street or at a museum or tourist site, they may also be people that you stay with or even fellow travellers staying at your hotel, resort, or hostel. You meet these people and after a few minutes you've gone through the usual run-down of questions: where are you from, what brings you to (insert name of place you are here), how long have you been travelling, where else have you been or plan to go, what do you do back home?
You know, the basics. And as you're getting a feel for one another one of two things will happen next. You either part ways, sometimes for a variety of reasons - one of you is moving on to your next activity or event, or sometimes that basic introductory chatting is all you need from one another. The other thing that happens, if you're lucky enough, if you play your cards right, you make a new friend.
When you travel, odds are, at one time or another you are going to be in close quarters with strangers and that forces you to do one of two things: ignore said strangers or make friends. Within a few minutes, hours, days you make some of the best friends you may ever meet in your life. Because the conversation extends past where you're from or what you're doing there and crosses into topics like politics or worldview or even completely random, inconsequential topics like that infamous Oscars selfie or that time someone thought they were rolling a joint on the street when in fact they were just rolling a cigarette. Okay, maybe it wasn't just that time. In fact, it's every time. And after hanging around with my fair share of Europeans I have seen that most smoke "rollies" versus a pack bought at the gas station. So, the looks they get when making a cigarette while waiting at the bus stop is almost priceless.
You learn about your new friends lives back at home and what they do for a living. You learn about the music students that they teach back in Scotland and how your new friend attends all her students performances, even if they're outside of school hours. You learn that your friend once worked with "Buddy" - the Cake Boss himself. You learn about your friends broken families back in the UK but how everyone is rooting for them on their travels. You learn about divorce and the struggle to find an identity from your friends in New Orleans. You learn about a relationship with God that has directed your new friend from Oklahoma to where she is today. You learn about a genuine love for Halloween from your friend in Connecticut. You learn all sorts of things from how a firehouse works to stages of pregnancy and planning a wedding from your friends in Wyoming. You learn about the art behind tattooing from your friends in Fresno. You learn things about people that you may have only met a day ago that you might not ever know about friends you've had your entire life. And it's amazing.
When you're surrounded by strangers, you have two choices - you either make friends or you don't. When you do make friends, you make fast friends. A condensed friendship that has to live its life in a matter of days or weeks or sometimes even hours. And when those hours, or days, or weeks are up you have say goodbye. It might not hit you right away because you've gotten so used to having these new friends around that the reality that it is entirely possible that you will never see these people again for the rest of your life, by the time that sinks in, it's already too late. Because you've said goodbye but you didn't really accept the fact that that goodbye meant forever.
In honour of two of the people I became closest with on the second leg of this trip heading back home to England today, I would like to recognize the goodbyes that I have had to say already. The many, many goodbyes. And the inevitable ones I will have to say in the coming weeks. It's a crazy phenomenon how spending so little time with people can impact your life but impact it does. And impact they do. Wishing my friends Beth and Jem safe travels back to Hebden Bridge, England and here's to hoping that this goodbye won't be a forever goodbye.
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Who The Health Cares
I heard of the impending implementation when I was in Washington, D.C. in September. I listened to the arguments for and against when I was in Florida in October. I witnessed a rage-fuelled rant about how it was ruining the country when I was in Minnesota then Alabama in November. I was questioned about the differences between Canada and the US (by a five year old) when I was in Oklahoma in December. And I continue to hear the ramblings, the arguments, the pros, the cons, as I make my way from Montana to Arizona and to California - to name a few.
It's been going on for months. The banter, the rage, the short-sightedness of an entire country. And, I for one, am rather sick of the whole thing. I know this post probably wont be too popular with many of my readers, especially the ones residing south of the border. But, it has to be addressed. I am tired. I am exhausted, rather, of hearing about health care. I am riddled with bullet wounds from the crossfire of debates as to why it is such an horrendous thing, or how does Canada manage to do it differently. You know what, America, I'm over it.
In order to make this post short and sweet, I am going to say one thing: President Obama, how dare you. How dare you try and do something that is going to make your country better, a better place to live - for everyone. How dare you try and make it so that surviving cancer doesn't mean you have to take out a second, or third, mortgage on your house in order to pay medical bills. How dare you try and make having an appendectomy mean you won't have to get a second, or third, job in order to put food on the table. How dare you try and make the aftermath of a broken leg or surviving a car accident manageable so that these victims don't survive only to end up with no where to make surviving worth it.
How dare you.
It's been going on for months. The banter, the rage, the short-sightedness of an entire country. And, I for one, am rather sick of the whole thing. I know this post probably wont be too popular with many of my readers, especially the ones residing south of the border. But, it has to be addressed. I am tired. I am exhausted, rather, of hearing about health care. I am riddled with bullet wounds from the crossfire of debates as to why it is such an horrendous thing, or how does Canada manage to do it differently. You know what, America, I'm over it.
In order to make this post short and sweet, I am going to say one thing: President Obama, how dare you. How dare you try and do something that is going to make your country better, a better place to live - for everyone. How dare you try and make it so that surviving cancer doesn't mean you have to take out a second, or third, mortgage on your house in order to pay medical bills. How dare you try and make having an appendectomy mean you won't have to get a second, or third, job in order to put food on the table. How dare you try and make the aftermath of a broken leg or surviving a car accident manageable so that these victims don't survive only to end up with no where to make surviving worth it.
How dare you.
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Oops, I Did It Again!
Back in October when I was in Florida, some of you may remember me mentioning the awesome family that I couchsurfed with in Kissimmee. The ones that took me in, fed me meals, gave me a nice warm bed to sleep in - okay maybe the warmth was just a natural result of the Florida weather, but anyways, they took me to Gatorland (for free) then took the selflessness one step further by making one of my dreams come true. They arranged it so that I could visit Disney World absolutely free. I never asked for that. But, out of sheer kindness, they made the dream of a stranger come true. They also saved me about $300-$400 dollars, which is epic when you're travelling on a budget. I am forever grateful for the kindness of this family. One of the greatest acts of selflessness I have ever encountered and I love the drama it adds to the story every single time I tell people about: the time I got to go to Disney World for free.
As you may remember, after an excellent four nights spent with my Aunt and Uncle in Mesa, AZ, I made my way to Las Vegas, Nevada. Sin City. VEGAS, Baby! A place that most people go for the entertainment, the gambling, the bright lights and big city. Where most guests splurge on a ritzy hotel, I sprung for the $17/night Hostel Cat. On this, part two, of The North America Project, it would be my first stay in a hostel as I had managed to couch surf or stay with friends/family from Montana through Arizona.
When people ask me about hostels and about couchsurfing, which do I prefer, how do they work, are the hostels clean? Do I ever feel unsafe couch surfing? My answers are always the same: I have never felt unsafe couch surfing. A few weeks back I had written about my experience in Missoula, MT and how my host is a reporter that was, at the time, doing a story on couchsurfing. In case you're still wondering how this whole thing works, this may help answer your questions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU36tX4qYpI&feature=youtu.be
- my few minutes of fame on the local news in Missoula!
When it comes to hostel versus CS, there is a very basic trade off. With hostels, you have more time to yourself and are free to make your own agenda, you also make your own meals, and meet larger groups of people. When you couchsurf, you may only meet your host(s) and most of the time you want to be considerate of their schedules and rules so that may mean not going out for drinks or reduce the party/social aspect of a stay. However, when you couchsurf, you immediately have an expert of the city at your finger tips. They have advice on where to go/not go, alternatives to what you may have planned, ways to save money, all the insight you would find in a concierge service at any ritzy hotel, for free. Therefore, I don't really have a preference when it comes to hostel versus couchsurfing. Both methods have allowed me to meet some ridiculously incredible people. What may influence your decision is how much you may want to go out partying or stay out late in a particular place versus getting the local experience.
In regards to the other question, the hostels I have stayed at have all been clean and well run. My favourites are The Downtown Hostel in Nashville (no surprise there), the HI Hostel in Washington, DC, and Hostel Cat in Las Vegas, NV - it may be no surprise that these hostels are also where I have made friends with some of the most incredible people.
Speaking of incredible people, early on in my week-long stay in Vegas, I met a dynamic duo, brother and sister, Beth and Jem from Hebden Bridge, England. For the duration of our stay in Vegas, we were inseparable. When they departed for California two days before I did it was like breaking up a band. Luckily, we were both headed in the same direction and knew a reunion was a must in a few days when we would both be in the Los Angeles area.The day that Beth and Jem left is also the day that I met Nicola, a nice girl from New Zealand that was staying in my dorm. While she was out exploring all the Las Vegas strip has to offer, I noticed that lots of her luggage was Disney-themed. I knew we would get along. Later that night we got to talking and it wasn't long before we realized we were both heading in the same direction - her to Los Angeles, me to Garden Grove. I offered her a ride, and then she invited me to be her guest at Disneyland in California for free! You see, Nicola has been working for Disney Cruise Lines out of Florida for the past two years and as an employee, you receive free entry to the park as well as three guest passes.
It didn't take much convincing that the four commonwealth friends that met in Las Vegas should be the group that go to Disneyland together. As I sit here writing this, even I still cannot believe that it took me twenty-five years to make my Disney dreams come true and within five months I had somehow managed to visit Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California, entirely for free. Entirely, through the kindness of others. Thank you!
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| Lauren, Jem, Beth, and Nicola at Disneyland |
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Problems of The First World
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were trying to travel around North America alone, blogging, basically using technology as your medium to get from one place to the next. You use your computer or cell phone to look up driving routes, plan a to-do list for the next city you're going to visit, upload pictures from your camera, book hostels or try and find a host on Couchsurfing. You use your computer to blog, stay in touch with friends and family, it has all your important information and documents. Then on the very day that your university has promised to post the 2013 income tax information forms online you decide to drop your computer on the ground and it won't turn back on.
Suddenly all that blogging and uploading of pictures, accessing documents and e-mails becomes virtually impossible. Sure, you can try it on a phone but you'll quickly learn: not everything is mobile compatible.
So you get out your GPS, another extension of your technological communication with the world, and you look up the nearest Apple store. In a city you've never been before you hop in the car and hit the road. You pull up to a gigantic, outdoor outlet mall with temptations like Forever 21 and Bath and Body Works, to name a few, staring you right in the eye. But you restrain. You walk into the Apple store only to find out that they are being renovated and their computer department is not open right now. The employee gives you the address of the next nearest store and you, again, hop in the car and are on your way.
Pull up to yet another mall, with just as many - if not more - temptations as mall number one. You walk inside and check out the map to see where the Apple store is located. When you arrive at the store it's 10:30 a.m. and the employee tells you that they next appointment they have available isn't until 1:45 p.m. and you're more than welcome to shop around in the mall and then come back.
That would be a great idea, my friend, if I wasn't travelling on a budget. And suddenly you're starting to have flashbacks to that horrific experience you had at the Apple store in St Louis. You remember, the one where they tried to sell you a phone even though you had no way to make it work. You roll your eyes and in the back of your mind you say a little prayer that this time it's going to be different.
Would it be okay if you just hung around in the store until it was time for your appointment, you ask. Afterall, the Apple store offers free wifi. At least you can kill time on your iPhone. So you pull up a chair and start browsing things like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and then the gentleman that is working "triage" as he likes to call it comes over to help you. You tell him that its no big deal but your appointment isn't until 1:45. He insists that he will try and help as much as he can in between customers that are already checked in. And he does.
One trial and error after the next to diagnose how a less than 1 foot fall could result in a computer that won't power on. One after the next, nothing seems to be working. So this guy, this nice guy, takes your computer back to the "techs" and they see if they can't figure something out. All the while you're sitting with conflicted feelings because you're extremely grateful that this stranger is doing everything in his power to prevent you from having to sit in those awfully uncomfortable black, wooden stools in the Apple store for another 3 hours. Yet, at the same time your stomach is doing back flips because deep down you know something is seriously wrong with your computer and all you want to know is: how much is this going to cost me.
The diagnosis comes in, and it's not what you're hoping for. It never is. The techs in-store cannot figure out what is wrong with the computer and they are going to have to send it out to the depot to be fixed. Now, the problem is that tomorrow you're leaving Arizona for Nevada so that 5-8 day turn-around-time on repairs poses a problem.
Again, without hesitation, the employees of this store brainstorm a solution. They'll send the computer out from their store and then have it shipped to where you're going to be staying in Vegas. Awesome! This is moving along relatively painless. You exchange information on where you'll be staying, then you give them your billing address and credit card so that they can charge that $326.00 (US) for the repair. In a few minutes your new friend, the Apple store employee, comes back with some bad news. Because you have a Canadian billing address our system won't accept your card as a form of payment.
Well, of course not. That would have been too simple and that just really isn't the type of luck that you have. Then, once more, these Apple "geniuses" brainstorm a solution - I will buy a gift card for the cost of the repair then once my computer is fixed the depot will send it back to Arizona. Once back in Arizona, the store will pay for the repair using the gift card, then they will ship the computer to Vegas from the store. Amazing.
Now your only question is: what if the machine can't be fixed? What if the depot gets your computer and they try everything and the machine can't be fixed. No problem. If the computer cannot be fixed we will refund your $326.00.
Can I get that in writing, you ask.
All before 1:30 you've gone through the back-and-forth of trying to solve this computer problem. All before 1:30, on a day you were supposed to be relaxing around the pool, not spending a dime, you've dropped almost $350.00 (US) on yet another unforeseen cost. A cost that is doing quite the damage to your travel budget. As you walk out of the store, out of the mall, empty computer case in one hand, written promise of a refund in the event that your computer cannot be fixed in the other you know: you haven't suffered a problem until you've suffered a First World Problem.
Suddenly all that blogging and uploading of pictures, accessing documents and e-mails becomes virtually impossible. Sure, you can try it on a phone but you'll quickly learn: not everything is mobile compatible.
So you get out your GPS, another extension of your technological communication with the world, and you look up the nearest Apple store. In a city you've never been before you hop in the car and hit the road. You pull up to a gigantic, outdoor outlet mall with temptations like Forever 21 and Bath and Body Works, to name a few, staring you right in the eye. But you restrain. You walk into the Apple store only to find out that they are being renovated and their computer department is not open right now. The employee gives you the address of the next nearest store and you, again, hop in the car and are on your way.
Pull up to yet another mall, with just as many - if not more - temptations as mall number one. You walk inside and check out the map to see where the Apple store is located. When you arrive at the store it's 10:30 a.m. and the employee tells you that they next appointment they have available isn't until 1:45 p.m. and you're more than welcome to shop around in the mall and then come back.
That would be a great idea, my friend, if I wasn't travelling on a budget. And suddenly you're starting to have flashbacks to that horrific experience you had at the Apple store in St Louis. You remember, the one where they tried to sell you a phone even though you had no way to make it work. You roll your eyes and in the back of your mind you say a little prayer that this time it's going to be different.
Would it be okay if you just hung around in the store until it was time for your appointment, you ask. Afterall, the Apple store offers free wifi. At least you can kill time on your iPhone. So you pull up a chair and start browsing things like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and then the gentleman that is working "triage" as he likes to call it comes over to help you. You tell him that its no big deal but your appointment isn't until 1:45. He insists that he will try and help as much as he can in between customers that are already checked in. And he does.
One trial and error after the next to diagnose how a less than 1 foot fall could result in a computer that won't power on. One after the next, nothing seems to be working. So this guy, this nice guy, takes your computer back to the "techs" and they see if they can't figure something out. All the while you're sitting with conflicted feelings because you're extremely grateful that this stranger is doing everything in his power to prevent you from having to sit in those awfully uncomfortable black, wooden stools in the Apple store for another 3 hours. Yet, at the same time your stomach is doing back flips because deep down you know something is seriously wrong with your computer and all you want to know is: how much is this going to cost me.
The diagnosis comes in, and it's not what you're hoping for. It never is. The techs in-store cannot figure out what is wrong with the computer and they are going to have to send it out to the depot to be fixed. Now, the problem is that tomorrow you're leaving Arizona for Nevada so that 5-8 day turn-around-time on repairs poses a problem.
Again, without hesitation, the employees of this store brainstorm a solution. They'll send the computer out from their store and then have it shipped to where you're going to be staying in Vegas. Awesome! This is moving along relatively painless. You exchange information on where you'll be staying, then you give them your billing address and credit card so that they can charge that $326.00 (US) for the repair. In a few minutes your new friend, the Apple store employee, comes back with some bad news. Because you have a Canadian billing address our system won't accept your card as a form of payment.
Well, of course not. That would have been too simple and that just really isn't the type of luck that you have. Then, once more, these Apple "geniuses" brainstorm a solution - I will buy a gift card for the cost of the repair then once my computer is fixed the depot will send it back to Arizona. Once back in Arizona, the store will pay for the repair using the gift card, then they will ship the computer to Vegas from the store. Amazing.
Now your only question is: what if the machine can't be fixed? What if the depot gets your computer and they try everything and the machine can't be fixed. No problem. If the computer cannot be fixed we will refund your $326.00.
Can I get that in writing, you ask.
All before 1:30 you've gone through the back-and-forth of trying to solve this computer problem. All before 1:30, on a day you were supposed to be relaxing around the pool, not spending a dime, you've dropped almost $350.00 (US) on yet another unforeseen cost. A cost that is doing quite the damage to your travel budget. As you walk out of the store, out of the mall, empty computer case in one hand, written promise of a refund in the event that your computer cannot be fixed in the other you know: you haven't suffered a problem until you've suffered a First World Problem.
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