Tag: Year away from home

  • Leisurely long days or never-ending nights?

    Leisurely long days or never-ending nights?

    We are about to hit the wall of darkness. Already it is dark in the morning as the work day begins. Soon it will be dark for the journey home, as well. The daylight block of time will get shorter and shorter in the run-up to the winter solstice. It feels foreboding, even menacing to…

  • Giving up almost everything I know for sure, to travel the world

    Giving up almost everything I know for sure, to travel the world

    Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.    -Lao Tzu As we near the end of 2017, here are some of the highlights, the steps we have taken leading us to our Christmas…

  • One suitcase, my biggest fear for the year

    One suitcase, my biggest fear for the year

    We are nearing the end of our 9th week away from home, living from one suitcase each. I thought it was going to be way more challenging. It was easily my biggest fear, worse than getting sick, (happened to me at age 24 in Thailand), worse than not-so-nice hotels, (too many to count in the…

  • Best In The West By A Damsite

    Best In The West By A Damsite

    As I drove into town, I laughed out loud at the town slogan for Bassano, Alberta.  The phrase ‘damn sight’, used as an adverb has the colloquial meaning of ‘a lot; a great deal’. For example, “I’m a damn sight more clever than he is”. This turn of phrase is a blast from my past,…

  • The countdown has begun

    There is something significant about having a big paper calendar marked up with important dates. Rather than a digital version, I mean. The printed version is so much more permanent, looking back at you whenever you walk into the room. The digital record is easily minimized or closed altogether. It needs constant courting, some action…

  • Think like a beginner to find the best deals

    I’ve been planning, scheming, making lists, budgets and researching everything for months. I’m even having dreams, (some may call them nightmares), about details yet to be taken care of. One of the most difficult parts of the lead up process, to our big year away, is not having specific deadlines. There are so few restrictions…