Leaving behind the family vacations, or at least mixing them with more travel opportunities, began when I entered high school. I traveled a lot, now that I think of it.
Grade nine - Dad and I went for a six day theatre tour in London England - we stayed in Picadilly Circus (the same hotel he stayed in in the 70's when he was rescued from Serbia by the British general who smuggled him back to London). We explored, enjoyed the rain and went to the theatre. We saw 'An Inspector Calls', Blood Brothers, The Lion King, ok and one other which I forget.
I also spent a week in Quebec performing with my high schools dance theatre workshop.
That same summer we took a family roadtrip out to PEI. We spent a night in Montreal, a couple days in old Quebec city and then New Brunswick and PEI. (yes I saw Anne of Green Gables House - yes, all my dreams came true).
Grade 10 - Family vacation to the Dominican Republic - a change in our traveling style, but for my first time at a resort I rather enjoyed it. Different when you're only 15 - more playing board games by the pool, eating fries and getting sun burned. (how unappreciative).
Plus yet another week performing with the dance workshop - this time in New York. Although we performed right downtown Manhattan, we stayed in Queens and we didn't really see any of the tourist attractions. And so... in
Grade 11 - we went back. Shayda, Mom and I spent Thanksgiving Weekend in New York City. Mostly this involved shopping. I also returned to Costa Rica this year with the grade 11 world citizenship class. We spent two weeks working in a tiny village, revamping their community center and spending time with the locals.
Grade 12 - As the teaching assistant for the grade 11 class I got to go on the service trip again - this time to the Bahamas. We spent one week working in an AIDS hospice, and the next doing a literacy and moral education program in a primary school.
March 27, 2006
Photo Submission: Costa Rica and Belize
Costa Rica - the next family trip after Mexico was a one-week family fun filled vacation through Costa Rica. We made it through the rain forests down to the pacific coast. The highlights probably being our construction of crab zoos on the beach and zip lining through the rain forest canopy.
Belize - one of my favourite places that I've visited, Belize was beautiful and jam packed with adventures. Starting on Ambergris Cay we spent Christmas snorkeling and swimming and exploring the island via golf cart (which I crashed). Next we settled down in a lodge in the rain forests where dad and I went on a rafting trip. The highlight though was our next stop at Cave's Branch - spending nights in small cabins in the jungle and the days going caving. One day we entered on inner tubes, the next by repelling. We also spent the millennium here listening to a mariachi band on the deck with other guests, including some crazies our parents befriended and had us refer to as uncles. After a day on the coast to the south we decided to return for more caving (encouraged by the escape of a rapist in the area that had our mother a little on edge). Finally we found time for a day trip to Guatemala to see Tikal - the largest ancient mayan ruins. We saw the view of the opening scene of Star Wars here. And Ben and I took this awesome photo - check it out - you need to enlarge it to truly appreciate the timeliness of this shot, and the moral dilemma that went into capturing it.
March 26, 2006
Arizona, Mexico and Iceland
While I was home this weekend cleaning out my room I found the journals I wrote on every family trip. I hate journaling, but seem to have been quite a clever kid :P
Here's a few excerts:
Iceland ... thats my writing - I was 8. nough said
Here's a few excerts:
Arizona 1997 ... obviously an exciting adventure for me... I kept track of our daily actions, horses names, and the things I learned. I also kept an incredibly detailed inventory of everything I bought and how much it cost. like i said - clever.
Mexico ... when I really want to emphasize something - I add diagrams.
The sentence that is incomplete at the top was: "We met 2 people working for Kellogs. They asked us our favourite cereal, I said fruit loops because I know thats kellogs and I like it"
me @ 10 years = clever
The sentence that is incomplete at the top was: "We met 2 people working for Kellogs. They asked us our favourite cereal, I said fruit loops because I know thats kellogs and I like it"
me @ 10 years = clever
Iceland ... thats my writing - I was 8. nough said
(Ben and I at the Grand Canyon)
February 26, 2006
the beginnings of my thrill seeking
So I'm revamping this travel blog - hence the disappearance of all postings. But maybe I'll find a way to fill in the gaps.
Over the break my family was enjoying another silence over dinner when my brother suggested we share our favourite family moments. After another lull, I asked if anyone remembered when my mother had fallen out of the car (approximately three days previously) - this of course was immediately overshadowed by the time she had fallen out of a restaurant booth. It troubled them that they couldn't remember the exact details - luckily I could help out, since dad had called me the next day to relay the incident to me. In Australia. Moving around the table, my mother copped with a reference to all of our trips. And so we began reminiscing about Iceland.
My parents have attributed my 'traveling bug' to the mistake they made taking me along - starting with three early trips to Florida. Where I started off sleeping in the drawer and was gradually promoted to sleeping on grandpa's porch with him over the years. Promoted, or banished, as I later found out he was quite the snorer. Although I don't remember Walt Disney World, I do remember climbing Grandpa's orange tree and riding big old bicycles around the trailer park.
Iceland was our first real family trip - complete with new backpacks, cameras and a pep bar for each of us. From Reykjavik we rented a car and drove the perimeter of the island - staying in youth hostels and grass huts or camping along the road, learning to speak Icelandic/islenka, and pulling off the road whenever we felt like it, from the mountains, volcanoes and smoking lava fields to the dry deserts, black beaches with icebergs and the numerous waterfalls and glaciers. As we drove there were vast expanses of dark moss, dry soils or windy fields until you'd come upon high rising mountains or rocky outcroppings with waterfalls. We'd drink from the ice cold streams, we all bought sweaters of itchy Icelandic fleece and collected rocks and geodes.
(picture)
Iceland is also where I got my start at thrill seeking, learning to love living on the edge. My dad would often pull over and send us off running around fields or climbing over rocks to expel our energy before getting back in the car. The best of these was when we came across a field of tall, overly buoyant, moss - a field reminiscent of a never-ending trampoline. And so we ran, bouncing and jumping with glee until i fell, my leg disappearing into a crevice. At this opportune moment my dad chose to share that under this moss were crevices so deep they had never been fully explored, the depths of which were still unknown.
Another day my dad we stopped on the shore alongside a row of fish drying racks. My sent us running into the field, but keeping my brother close to his side with the video camera ready. As we soon discovered this field contained the nests of flocks of terns.
Over the break my family was enjoying another silence over dinner when my brother suggested we share our favourite family moments. After another lull, I asked if anyone remembered when my mother had fallen out of the car (approximately three days previously) - this of course was immediately overshadowed by the time she had fallen out of a restaurant booth. It troubled them that they couldn't remember the exact details - luckily I could help out, since dad had called me the next day to relay the incident to me. In Australia. Moving around the table, my mother copped with a reference to all of our trips. And so we began reminiscing about Iceland.
My parents have attributed my 'traveling bug' to the mistake they made taking me along - starting with three early trips to Florida. Where I started off sleeping in the drawer and was gradually promoted to sleeping on grandpa's porch with him over the years. Promoted, or banished, as I later found out he was quite the snorer. Although I don't remember Walt Disney World, I do remember climbing Grandpa's orange tree and riding big old bicycles around the trailer park.
Iceland was our first real family trip - complete with new backpacks, cameras and a pep bar for each of us. From Reykjavik we rented a car and drove the perimeter of the island - staying in youth hostels and grass huts or camping along the road, learning to speak Icelandic/islenka, and pulling off the road whenever we felt like it, from the mountains, volcanoes and smoking lava fields to the dry deserts, black beaches with icebergs and the numerous waterfalls and glaciers. As we drove there were vast expanses of dark moss, dry soils or windy fields until you'd come upon high rising mountains or rocky outcroppings with waterfalls. We'd drink from the ice cold streams, we all bought sweaters of itchy Icelandic fleece and collected rocks and geodes.
(picture)
Iceland is also where I got my start at thrill seeking, learning to love living on the edge. My dad would often pull over and send us off running around fields or climbing over rocks to expel our energy before getting back in the car. The best of these was when we came across a field of tall, overly buoyant, moss - a field reminiscent of a never-ending trampoline. And so we ran, bouncing and jumping with glee until i fell, my leg disappearing into a crevice. At this opportune moment my dad chose to share that under this moss were crevices so deep they had never been fully explored, the depths of which were still unknown.
Another day my dad we stopped on the shore alongside a row of fish drying racks. My sent us running into the field, but keeping my brother close to his side with the video camera ready. As we soon discovered this field contained the nests of flocks of terns.Something that reminded me of both Iceland and a blatant disregard...
http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=13
http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=18
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