The Spike That United Them All

Once thing that always surprises me about the US when compared to say Europe is our lack of transit infrastructure.  Sure both continents have a rail system, but over here in the US it seems that we are still light years behind our European counterparts on rail transportation.  So that got me thinking about this week's post; it's more of a location than a city now, but Promontory, Utah is where both coasts of the US finally met for the first time under one rail line.

Promontory Summit is where the Transcontinental Rail Line finally became one on May 10, 1869; the area is now under the care of the National Park Services and the site is said to be in the middle of nowhere, a few dozen miles away from the nearest towns.  Unfortunately, as the years went on, the famed point of transit unity was left to fade away due to newer and more efficient ways to surpass the Great Lakes.  All that stands there now for the most part is a visitors center, an engine house and two replica locomotives that face each other just as they did the day the last spike was placed in the ground.


I know that this site for some may not be much, but it's an important part of American history.  I've always been a sap for climatic points in the evolution of countries and cities and this trip would be no different for me.  Only thing that I'd like to note though is unlike the rest of the spots I've chosen, Promontory Summit is really just a day trip; I'm breaking away with my week long minimum stay on this occasion.  Perhaps I could include this little excursion as a part of a greater trip to Utah.  Thoughts?

The one thing you won't see though is the infamous Golden Spike; this was the official spike that united the rails and made the transcontinental connection possible.  Hell you actually won't see anything from the original construction up there anymore.  The Golden Spike now resides at the Stanford Museum and all original rails were taken up for the war effort in 1942; so the two replicate trains actually lay on about 1.5 miles of recreated rails for tourists and posterity. 

I know that this post may not have sparked the interests of all adventure seekers, but this time around I decided to go with more historical significance.  How cool would it be to say that you once stood at the point where both halves of the United States were brought together by one golden token?

Be Our Guest

So as my college years have faded into the backdrop of life, so have my days of heavy drinking.  Don't get me wrong now, a good drink or two is always a great way to pass the time; if you're a lightweight like me, two drinks will do just right.  Yet imagine having a delicious beverage in 23 degrees (f) while inside a structure that is annually changing and revealing the artistic designs of those lucky to participate in its rising.  Ladies and gents, I'm talking about the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden.

This freezing watering hole was first born from an ice exhibition in 1989 and has grown to not only become a unique destination, but has even caused a few other cities to come up with hotels of their own.  I remember watching "Die Another Day" and seeing the scene in which an ice palace was used; I instantly became hooked.  Like all things Hollywood, I really didn't think it existed, but low and behold, Sweden is where it's at.  Now when I look back at seeing that hotel on film, I always wondered what would I have to bring to stay comfortable.  The specific hotel in Sweden does offer you a whole array of clothing, yet you're strongly advised to bring a decent amount with you.  You also have the option of sleeping on a real bed or an ice block; let's face it, some folks just prefer alittle padding while they snooze.  To state the obvious, there are workable toilet facilities on the property so you don't have to worry about any frozen emergencies.


Something that truly appeals to me about this whole sub zero edifice is that every year artists and their ideas are approved so as to keep the design of this complex ever changing.  Honestly I don't know how many days I'd stay there, being that the indoor temperature hovers between 17 and 23 degrees (f).  When you compare that the outside temperature of the area hovers around -34 degrees (f), that interior frost doesn't sound so bad. 

What would ever possess me to go to some place so cold???  I wish I could tell you.  The appeal of this ice hotel works just like my other odd travel destinations; I just want to experience it!  I want to know what it's like to be in a spa in sub zero weather or drinking vodka in a solid ice glass.  Sleeping on ice blocks to some may not sound comfy, and I'm not going to say I'd settle for the block option every night, but it's something to experience. 

This destination, just like my other ones, is meant to open my eyes to life and to realize that sometimes it's not what we experience, but how we experience it that matters.  I'll be the first one to say it: I'm not a resort or a camp out at a hotel the whole trip kind of guy; yet I'd be willing to make this place an exception.  Although I'd be staying in a hotel, which is contrary to my usual travel plans, relaxing would probably be on the bottom of my list.  While there, one is able to explore the vast land around, and do things such as dog sledding, horse back riding and my favorite, witness the Northern Lights among other things like the public art exhibit during day time hours

. 

So even though this freezing structure may not be to everyone's liking, it definitely seems to be high on my list of oddball destinations.  The one thing that this trip would do to me, is that it would force me to actually have to organize my excursion on a realistic time table.  Don't forget people, the most important word in this ice hotel is ICE, so to truly experience the popsicle aspect of this destination, traveling there between December to April is a must. 

It's a pain to actually have to bend myself around Mother Nature's timetable, but I guess I can do it this one time.  Perhaps this trip will be a metaphor for my life; one can be spontaneous and do what they want, but at some point we all have to grow up and learn that there are times that we must respect the necessity of others.  Oh where will this rabbit hole lead?

A Cold Winter Sun

So first off, I'd like to apologize for not posting last week.  Between my lack of tech awareness ending in shutting myself out of my router and some extraordinary timing of events, I couldn't post on Friday.  I was thinking about writing my entry on Saturday, but I'd rather remain consistent and post every Friday; if by chance I miss one, then on to the next week.  Ok, time to move this along.

So this week I wanted to write about a place that many of my friends are surprised that I haven't gotten around to yet: New Orleans.  Buuuuuuuuttttttt with Snowmageddon 2014 in Atlanta, I decided to go with a colder and more random place: Attu.  Not Apu, or Tatu, but Attu.  Where is this random place?  Well if your curiosity is tweaked, it is the furthest most western point of the whole American continent; it is so far west, that it's actually considered to be in the eastern hemisphere.


Now let me tell you about this little gem of a land.  It is the largest island in the cluster of the Near Islands, that make up part of the Aleutian Islands near Alaska.  Confused yet?  Here's the kicker!!  This place has a wide variety of tourist attractions and lodging for people to enjoy.  Hotels: zero.  Hostels: zero.  Inhabitants: zero.  Military explosives: many.  Explosives?  Say what?!?  This island is as isolated as you can get, yet at the same time, it's almost impossible to get to.  In other words, it's an adventurers wet dream!

A very brief history of this landmass is as follows: it was discovered in 1742 by Russian explorers who counted only 175 Aluets at the time.  As time's past by, it's believed that 2,000-5,000 Aluets roamed the island before any European intervention; then World War II happened and the Japanese of all places decided to invade Attu.  In the end the US, after evacuating nearly 900 Aluets and shipping them to civilian camps, defeated the Japanese and that battlefield now is considered a National Historic Landmark.  There is actually a monument that the Japanese erected, with the permission of the US, that stands on Engineer Hill, the site where the Japanese were finally defeated.  Since the war, it's been divvied up between different US entities.  As of 2010, the few inhabitants (around 20) that lived, worked and played at the LORAN station left once said building was decommissioned.

So why in the world would I ever want to visit such an isolated place?  First off, it is ultimately the last place that you can wave good bye to the sun.  That's right!  In St. John's you can be the first person to see the sun rise, and in Attu be the last person to see it set; so just to complete that whole solar cycle it'd make sense for me to do this.  Now... transportation.  That my friends can be tricky and EXTREMELY expensive.  The first thing you need to do is get permission by the US government to even step foot on the land; and I mean to literally take one step on it.  Did I mention there's no airports?  Oh yea, the only way to get there is to take a boat from Alaska or its other surrounding islands that can equal out to be as far as 1,100 miles in distance.

So once you get your permission, assuming that you DO get it, next would be to check out your health insurance plans.  You may think I'm joking, but no sirree.  Make sure you've got some top notch insurance, because again, there's NOTHING on this island.  This place is the ultimate survivor scenario.  Oh before I forget, make sure your insurance covers emergency evacuations and such.  Just a heads up.  Once all that red tape is settled, we can talk about money and supplies.  Again, there's nothing out there, so pack everything you can think of that you'll need to literally survive. 

Even though this desolate rock seems to hold many hidden adventures, the only thing that can really be done there is bird watch (atleast legally).  Ah yes!  That's your ticket in to this natural paradise!  You must camouflage yourself as an avian aficionado, unless you really like birds, then you'd fit right in.  This is where the money comes into play; depending on what package deal you choose, a trip out to Attu under the guise of bird gazing can run you between $2,500 - $7,000!!!  But don't worry, they will feed you apparently, so that's one less thing you have to worry about.  Check it out for yourself: www.zbirdtours.com

When I came across this place, it seemed like a pipe dream to me.  I would love to go here, but the red tape, mad money I'd have to spend and ohhhhh the random WWII explosives I may come across might be some obstacles....  But they're only that: obstacles.  When the time comes to scratch this location off my bucket list, I definitely plan to do my best to somehow get in on this little slice of life.  For such a small and isolated territory, at some point it played a rather crucial military role sprinkled in with an intriguing historical back story; that alone is reason enough for me to visit it.  On top of it all, I can finally say that on this continent at some point, not only have I greeted the sun, but also have waved it goodnight as it goes to rest for a few lunar hours.  

The Union of Fire and Ice

So alot of places I want to go to seem to be considered a bit off the wall; this icy location is no different.  With temperatures that range between the twenties and up to high sixties on a warm day, Reykjavik, Iceland is a must see on my list.  What's there not to love about this city?  There's beauty, history and even elves if you believe in them. 

For those who may not know it, Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland whose name means "Cove of Smoke" due to the geothermal steam that rises from the Earth there.  There's always been a story about how Iceland came to have the name it has today, but it's never been verified.  Rumor has it that Erik the Great stumbled upon Iceland and Greenland, but to keep others mostly Europeans away from such a tiny paradise, he gave each country their respective names in hopes of luring people to Greenland instead where inhabitable land was scarce.  I've tried to find some kind of proof of this legend, but still no success; I guess that in the end, it'll always be one of those stories told by  high school teachers to curious students. 

Reykjavik is considered to be one of the safest cities in the world, but if you do the math, with around 120,000 inhabitants it can't be that dangerous right?  Yet I did find something very curious; Iceland as a country has no rail system due to the sparse population of the towns, but the number of vehicles per capita ranks among the highest in the world at 522 vehicles per 1,000 residents.  So all is not lost for those of us who come from more car-friendly realms!!!  Even though I love backpacking through towns and countries, I guess with visiting Iceland, a four wheeled adventure would replace my usual rails or shoes.  Needless to say I've discovered some beautiful treasures that this city and country have to offer.

To enjoy this little chilly island paradise though can get a bit pricey; even up from a year in advance, a round trip airline ticket can run between $1,000-$2,000!!  Now if one wants to be more adventurous, there is a cruise ferry that departs from Denmark once a week to Iceland, if you go to their website http://www.smyrilline.com, you can see all the different packages they offer.  Just remember one thing, getting to Denmark will be pricey as well.  BUT I've done crazier things and if I truly wanted to make this a real adventure, I would probably fly somewhere into you Europe if Denmark was out of financial reach, make it some way to the Danish state and ferry it over to Iceland.  As much as I would like to do that though, my pockets would have to run really deep seeing that renting a car once I get to Reykjavik would be a must. 

However you decide to get to this curious little town, there are some things that would have to be a must!  As a good starting list for the capital, I'd like to offer you two places: the Imagine Peace Tower and the Icelandic Elf School.  The Imagine Peace Tower, for all the hippies out there, is a giant beacon of light located on Vioey Island created by Yoko Ono and dedicated to John Lennon in hopes of spreading the message of world peace.  The beacon is so bright that it can actually be seen from the capital itself!  I know it's not technically within the bounds of Reykjavik, but I thought that this was definitely curious enough to merit a mention.  

The Icelandic Elf school is also a very curious thing to mention.  Although to some of us it may sound crazy, but elvish folklore runs deep in Icelandic culture.  This school actually teaches about the 13 different types of elves that inhabit the island along with "hidden people".  Now to avoid any confusion, the "hidden people" look just like us except they're invisible, while the elves come more from the humanoid species and start at a miniature 8 centimeters.  If this wasn't curious enough, it's also believed that there are gay and lesbian elves; so the rainbow even stretches out into the magical realm.  Just for my own curiosities I'd definitely want to check out this school; for those of you who were wondering, yes they do offer a curriculum about these magical characters.  I intend on getting my certificate when I go to visit, that can be earned within half a day.  Multiple surveys have been done over the years to gauge the Icelanders' belief in elves, and as recently as 2006, 26% of Icelanders believe in them while 80% take notice of such possible beliefs.  80 and 26?  Math is a bit quirky, but perhaps magic defies traditional percentages.

I only named these two things because I thought that they seemed to ring out as unusual sites to see, but Reykjavik does also offer quite the healthy nightlife with surprisingly an ample gay population.  Alcohol tends to be a bit expensive it's been said, so most people pre-game before leaving their homes.  If clubs and bars are not your flavor and architecture and museums don't rank high on your list,
then one thing that will blow your mind will be the sheer natural beauty of the island.  Something that perhaps isn't well known about this little rock is that it is a volcanic island, so the vast earth made beauty of the land is a MUST!!!  You can see the various fjords, icefalls and volcanoes among others on your trip.  I discovered that there are even bike tours that one can take to see the various landscapes the country has to offer.  Just remember, if you've got no bike, a car will have to be in your budget; the country is gorgeous but in between point A and B there's a whole lot of space that although beautiful, still needs to be crossed.  Vroom vroom!

I know this entry was supposed to focus on the Icelandic capital, but with so many little curiosities I came across and so many possible adventures, I couldn't help but mention other parts of the country.  As much as I'd like to do this trip soon, my spontaneous and fiscally irresponsible side would like to come up with a creative way of getting there via the ferry from Denmark; flying direct can be so boring.  On the other hand though, it seems like this little frozen yet plush treasure can offer more than enough adventure for two to three weeks.

 I'll have to consult the elves for some advice on this one. 

The Wicker Man Has Cometh

CLANK!  That's the sound of the first of many stones to come that will begin to fill this bucket.

I decided that there would be no better way to start my traveler's bucket list than to kick it off with Burning Man!!  No this isn't some kind of STD nor do you need any cream to take care of some rash.  Burning man is week long event that happens once a year out west.  From August 25th to Sept 1st, a town appears out of thin air in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada; it is the festival to end all festivals and definitely sits at a high rank on my list.

What is Burning Man you may ask?  Essentially it is a gathering of people that come once a year, construct a city out of thin air to celebrate the energy of art, love and altruism, only to leave as if no one had ever been there to begin with.  Some think of it as just a giant art Woodstock with drugs, sex and debauchery.  Others say it's just a community gathering of like minded people who wish to unite for one week under the theme of harmony.  Some even look at it as just a crazy waste of space.  Who's right?  Well I wouldn't even try to tell you.  What can't be denied is that at the end of day, Burning Man is the epitome of self expression and truly something different for every individual that attends.

I've always wanted to go for atleast four years, but I'll tell you one thing... it's not that easy or cheap to get there.  First off, the tickets are a couple hundred bucks; so if you can pony up the dough than you're one step closer.  Just don't forget about the other costs.  For those who like to travel in herds, well flying over and renting a car may not be that bad of a deal.  Yea the plane flight may be pricey, but atleast the car and provisions can be split up pretty well.  For those like moi, who like to road trip, well set aside some cash for the gas and time to get there.  Even though I love road tripping, unless I'm able to go with atleast another person, 2,500 miles is a bit of a drive, but hey I said that about St. John's NL too.

Once you figure out how you plan on getting there, be ready for one rustic adventure.  Burning Man isn't a place where you stay in hotels by pools while you commiserate with other folks; it's a rough and tumble week of tents, porta-potties, minimalism and so on.  After speaking to folks who have gone and survived, I've been told that it's far from a resort paradise.  Folks have told me how they've had to cover their cars to prevent damage from sandstorms, burning their feet on tent anchors, to bringing flashlights and gallons of water.  I've heard so many possible wacky scenarios come from this event that some friends find me crazy for wanting to attend.  So the next logical question then would be, WHY THE HELL WOULD I EVEN WANT TO GO???

Ok first off, why would anyone who actually knows me bother with that question?  Don't ask why I wouldn't want to go, but more so, why would I?  I mean this event strikes at the core of any bohemian.  It is the utopia of self expression!!  For one whole week you get the opportunity to strip yourself of so much BS and become in tune with not only nature, but a mass of people who seek that same ounce of temporary escapism from the monotony of our constantly connected life.  You get to see art exhibits from people who have worked all year to show them off for just one week; think of it as the artistic equivalent of Rio's festivals!  No one is there to impress others, hell you even end up bartering amongst other visitors to survive the week.  To top it off the whole thing ends with the burning of a giant wicker man all in the name of artistic liberation!

To some this may look like a week of hell, being away from our daily comfortable grinds surrounded by strange faces, but to others it may lead to the gates of a heavenly world full of love, art and simplicity.  You will never know until you try it, and this crazy man right here has this week in his cross hairs.  I want to experience this communion of art with life, and to truly live among those who seek to share their love, passions and thirst for freedom if even for just one week.  Do you?  Only one way to find out.

If this whole event strikes some kind of chord inside of you and you want to find out more information, please feel free to visit Burning Man's official website, www.burningman.com for all your curiosities and questions.   Also, the pictures in the gallery are completely worth your time to look at, the one's in this post come from there.

52 Stones in the Bucket

So 2014 is approaching and I'm sure we all have our lists of resolutions at the ready to kick in after our hungover New Years day.  One of my passions for those who may not have caught on by now is traveling.  Adventures and backpacking to me are like a drug; I need an even better one every year to give me that high I so often seek.  For the last five years I've been traveling all over the place, from the busy streets of Chicago to the ever changing roads in Western Europe, and have enjoyed every second of it.

The funny thing is that every year I pick a random place(s) to go to and just do it, no questions asked.  I set aside the money that I hope will cover my trip and I just head out by whatever means I have at my disposal.  Budgeting for trips in my case is a double edged sword; not only do I need to save for what will become my annual caper, but also for my "oh shit" moments which tend to happen without fail.  As long as I can cover my trip, that extra backup stash is usually paid for over the following months after arriving back; covering my travels AND what seems to be my odd luck at getting caught in some really unusual spots is just too much to plan for.  The question isn't if something odd will happen, but how much it will cost me.  My clumsiness or "traveler's luck" will never deter me from my annual getaway!

If I've learned one thing from my journeys is that having atleast one goal always helps.  My last trip to St. John's Newfoundland saw the accomplishment of one of my goals: to be at the furthest eastern point of the whole American continent.  I still had fun and soaked it all in, but I went with a very basic objective.  With that in mind, the thought came to me: why don't I make a bucket list of places I want to travel to?

 So here I am, the new year approaching in a matter of hours and I'm already planning my '14 trip... actually my next 52 trips.  I've decided that one thing I want to do this upcoming year is to write about one place or region I want to visit every week in hopes of making my "Backpacking Bucket List" BBL for short ;-)  The one requirement that these upcoming destinations will need, is for me to have a week at the least, to visit them; I don't think anything can be seen or experienced in less than a week, unless you're a robot or some super human who needs no sleep.

So starting Friday the 10th of the new 2014, I'll begin my wish list of locations with the hope that it will inspire others to join in on the world of adventure; if anyone else has any ideas or locations as well, I hope that you'll leave me a comment or suggestion to make it on the bucket list.

Happy 2014 to everyone and much love to you all!

And I Will Walk 5,000 Miles - Finale

Well after the turkey day festivities and a few more pounds gained, I can finally finish my story.

So where was I... Ah yes! It was a dark and... Ok scratch that, let's just start with this...  I looked into the rear view mirror as St. John's slowly disappeared behind me.  I opened my sunroof, blared some music and sped off into the horizon.  Two hours had flown by in a flash and I stumbled across a sunset I couldn't miss out on.  Off this gravel filled inclined exit I sped, somewhere between St. Johns and nowhere.  I pulled onto this road to snap a great picture, when SCREEEEEEECCCCHHHH, BOOM!!!  Trying to dodge a dog, I braked and swerved right into a four foot ditch.  The situation didn't sink in until my engine cut off and I got out of my bruised automobile.  I took one look and panicked!!!  Out in the middle of nowhere, on a street with about seven houses, here I was on the verge of tears.  I'm not one to cry, but so many thoughts went through my head.  Would my car make it home?  Hell, would it even crank?  How was I going to get my car out of this ditch?  So I did whatever any person on their last few frazzled nerves would do... I ran to every house to get help.

After knocking on about four houses, one man was able to call the police, while another family invited me in for coffee.  I was truly amazed at how relaxed everyone was; apparently they have all experienced the wrath of ditches and have walked out seasoned veterans.  The police soon after show up, and after seeing that there was no foul play on my part, THEN calls in the tow truck.  Once the car gets pulled out, another neighbor arrives and has the car towed to his garage; I was lucky enough to find out that a mechanic lives on this isolated road.  A long story short, my car was soon there after bandaged up, headlights taped in place and my bumper promoted to copilot and ready for the road.

This whole situation taught me something: the never ending kindness of strangers.  No one had to help me.  No family had to invite me into their home for coffee.  No tow truck driver had to tow my car out of a ditch for free.  No mechanic had to help me patch up my car and use his phone to call my insurance.  The amount of kindness that was shown to me made me feel so odd; all I had in return to give anyone were my hugs, sincerest gratitude and whatever coins I had in my pocket.  All that was said to me was, "Welcome to Newfoundland."  Welcome to Newfoundland indeed.

I got back on the road but after that incident I took it a little slower, making sure that my one companion was still working well.  I quickly came to realize that I had to avoid night driving because the headlights were pointed downward and I didn't know how she would handle the sheer force of the wind.  I ended up staying the night in a motel near Gros Morne National Park.  The next morning after I woke up and grabbed my gear did the true impact of my car hit me.  There she was, mud and dirt covered, the license plate caked under so many layers of dry earth, with her bumper still stowed in my passenger seat. I felt horrible looking at her, but I gave her a gentle pat on the hood, some words of reassurance and we were off to Gros Morne.  At this point between desolation and home, my car was my only friend.

Gros Morne is a national park in Newfoundland that is a MUST see.  It is by far absolutely gorgeous, with mountains and coastline as far as the eye can see.  It was a shame I could only stay there for half a day; this park needs atleast three days to see it in its entirety.  At one point I hiked to the base of Gros Mountain, but had to turn back because of the fog and time; I wanted to leave with sunlight on my side and boy was I glad I did.  The mountains were so majestic in the background and the land so peaceful, but unfortunately the setting sun was my cue to get going to Port Aux Basques.

As I headed to the port I was listening to one of the few intermittent radio stations talking about a storm and winds as fast as 90mph.  I thought I could beat it all and make it to the port on time.  The ferry was set to leave at 11:45p; I arrived at 6:45p.  By the time I had made it to the dock, the fog and rain were so strong that I could barely see ten feet in front of my car.  Until I saw the port lights, I had spent the previous few hours keeping my anxiety under control.  I already struggle with driving on roads with no visible side terrain, but now I was driving on a road with less than ten feet of visual distance in front of me and I was slowly losing my marbles.  Thankfully I made it to the port, but the ferry captain kept us docked over night due to the storm.  Tuesday at noon we set sail back to the mainland; the ferry was being rocked back and forth like a
toy boat by the intimidating
power of Mother Nature, while most of us got sea sick.  I've never been one to get sick at sea, but this trip did it for me.  I knew that once we hit the mainland, it was downhill from there.

BAM! Went the ferry gate bridge exit, and I drove off to my next focal point: US customs.  I must say customs agents tend to eye road tripping travelers with caution.  Of course, me showing up 1:30am at the US border in a car that looks like it had survived a war zone and myself deaf from the elevation change, I'm sure didn't bode well with the agents either.  "Um yes officer.  Please ignore my shit kicker of a car and all its various pieces in my seat along with my castaway looks.  I swear I'm not a drug smuggler."  Needless to say, after surviving the gauntlet of questions and subtle accusations that I was a drug dealer, I sat by and watched my car get manhandled yet again, on a quest to find some kind of narcotic.  Apparently, one can't be bearded and long haired without raising the ire of authorities.  Well after that most intriguing of moments and with my sanity barely intact, I sped back into my homeland and continued my journey onward.


After a week of being home, my mind is still raising.  I learned many things on my short journey that I would like to share with you.

1)  Driving almost four days straight alone takes a huge toll on a person.  If you're not ready for it, don't do it.  I usually travel alone due to my unconventional ways of adventuring through life, but in this case, it would've served me better to have gone with someone.  Even though some folks may find it hard to believe, traveling on the open road for prolonged periods of time can really impact the human body.  No regrets here though.  And watch out for dogs!

2)  Repeat after me: UnderSTAND.  Got it?  Ok now repeat after me once more: NewfoundLAND.  This was the first lesson I learned from the natives; it was sort of a running joke with many I crossed.  Most people knew I was a tourist just from the way I pronounced the province.  Avoid being designated an out-lander right away by pronouncing the name correctly.  It'll help keep your incognito tourist guise intact for perhaps an extra split second.

3)  Free your mind.  Something that blew me away was the simplicity in which most people live in this town.  It's not about your bank account, how loud your stereo is, your clothing or even how much self importance you give yourself.  Most folks I came to know have been very simple people, from the natives of St. John's to the lovely people who helped me with my car.  Materialism doesn't seem to rank high on their list of priorities.  Perhaps that will change in time, which I hope it doesn't; maybe this city will maintain its integrity and communal values and just continue to thrive. We as Americans can learn so much from Newfoundlanders.

4)  Leave the rose colored glasses at home.  I know that when we all travel we love to see the best and brightest of wherever we go, and that no wrong can be had in this new environment; that is probably not the best way of going about it.  Even St. John's has its problems: number one being drugs and somewhere along there the horrible roads situation.  But you know what?  Everywhere will have issues and imperfections. yet this town has so many great things built into its core.  THAT'S what makes it great!  It's not about the money or appearance that is the ultimate decider in personal self worth, but the spirit of the person and the community as a whole, not the individual.

Do you know that you have a greater chance of being struck by a moose on the road than being shot?  A moose!!!!  When was the last time any of us woke up in our respective cities in the US and NOT hear about some kind of shooting?  Hell, we can't even have Black Friday (for those who are brave enough to go through that) without some kind of violence!  And for what?  The mighty dollar?!? Have we become that materialistic of a society that we stab people over $50 tablets or taze each other for towels?  Just some food for thought.

5)  Absorb it all.   Be like a little kid and absorb everything you can like a sponge.  You don't like the cuisine?  Fine, don't like it, but try it out.  You want to hike some mountaintops?  Do it! No matter whether you like something or not, just experience it.  There's nothing worse in life than to not have tried something when you had the chance.  The world is your oyster on your voyages; treat it like so, and immerse yourself in it.  You won't regret it and will h
ave stories to tell for years to come.

6)  Take your experience and apply it to your living situation.  No matter what you do in life, your financial standing or whatever, I'm convinced that if a voyage has truly impacted you, it'll feed into your spirit.  Perhaps you come back home and realize that there are changes you need to make.  Maybe you don't need that huge flat screen after all to be happy.  Perhaps you'll start conserving energy, make your own garden or even start your own compost bucket.  Whatever thoughts go through your head, it's all a part of growing.  Whether you make any changes to your life or not, you gave yourself the opportunity to see something different, and whether you like it or not, because of that experience something in you inevitably will change.

Ever since I've been back, I've felt that my spirit for adventure and life has grown stronger and hungrier.  Yet I too find myself in a situation that I'm sure many others can relate to: the house, dog and job.  Questions have been swirling through my head since my arrival back in Atlanta.  A lot of "what if's" and "what abouts", but in the end, I know it's for the better.

7)  Finally... remember that it's all an adventure.  Life in itself is an adventure, and so are our travels.  Not only do they come with laughter and smiles, but also with tears, anger and frustration.  Adventures reveal a lot about ourselves, and sometimes they push us to limits that we've never wanted to be pushed to.  I've done a lot of backpacking and have gone to many a city and hostels, but never once did I ever feel so alone and anxious at times as I did on the nearly deserted roads of northeastern Canada.

Again, it's part of the whole package.  I survived my trip, my car was a bit bruised and as a consequence so is my wallet...

But all I can do is smile and be happy that I was fortunate enough to take this adventure, meet the people that blessed me with their spirit and be able to share the story of my journey in hopes that it can impact the life of another as it did mine.

Signing off,

A Simple Wanderer