I am very slowly evolving into a morning person. I didn't always like mornings---at all. Ins and outs I can pinpoint the moment I realized that maybe I was missing out by sleeping in. The shift in my attitude about early mornings changed in the early 2000s when I was forced to go out. I... Continue Reading →
The Case For Being Unprepared
There are two main categories of people: A) Those who plan everything, all the time. Research. Research. Research. Details. Plan A. Plan B and C, and D, and even E. You get the picture. B) And then there are those who just go and wing it. No plans, just moving along like a cork in... Continue Reading →
Blessings of Travel
Last night from the balcony of my bedroom in Thessaloniki, Greece, I felt a familiar calling from the long-ago times. I looked over the neighborhood and the city with its stacked dwellings---a very different vision than the city I'm from in Canada. The buildings in front of me felt older than they actually are. I... Continue Reading →
Reflections on a Swimming Pool
Puns The title of this blog post is a shameless pun and it is so very intended because life is about having fun with the little things...annnnnd the big things....annnnnd everything in between. I accept that you may have rolled your eyes. You may have chuckled. I hope that you can forgive me and continue... Continue Reading →
When Two Places Feel Like Home
To all immigrants, newcomers, refugees, or anyone who has discovered what it is to love more than one place, this one's for you. This year's holiday observations feel a bit deeper. I just took it all in because I became amazingly aware of what a gift it was to even be on a holiday after... Continue Reading →
An Open Letter of Gratitude to Greece
Dear Motherland: Thank you for your sizzling sun and unapologetic winds. Thank you for your complicated curvy streets and narrow passages. Thank you for your complex and diverse fragrances of honeysuckle, jasmine, roses, spice, food, compost and exhaust. Thank you for your diverse history with layers (literally) upon layers of architecture, revealing histories, peoples, conflicts,... Continue Reading →
Conversations on Memory
Sometimes dialogues hit just right. They teach. They compliment the moment and open doors that were shut. They can be something more than the basic how are you's and I'm fine's. Recently I had a dialogue with a friend that left me with a wistfulness I hadn't felt in a while. Maybe it was the... Continue Reading →
Traveling Then and Now
How we did it then In early adulthood I began tending the seedling of wanderlust. There was a process in those days that is quite different than how travel occurs today. It looked like this: I'd either call or pop in to a travel agency. The individual would look on their computer and log books... Continue Reading →
Mountains, Microbreweries & Middle-age: Part 3
Hospitality Our trip through the mountains took us from luxury accommodations to a pretty basic experience. In fact we packed pillows and sleeping bags in case we needed to sleep in the vehicle, which we were willing to do as we didn't book any rooms in advance. How freakin' Gypsy of us! The high-end My... Continue Reading →
Mountains, Microbreweries & Middle-age: Part 2
The Magic Moments All the bits of this trip were a collection of twinkling stars spread across western Canada into the Okanagan creating a constellation of shiny moments. Clicks and Links is the logistics of the trip but travel is so much more than went there and did that. This post is about the magic... Continue Reading →