One Year Ago

Its been a year now since I flew down to NYC for a week of volunteering and sightseeing in the Big Apple.

I was going to go again this year, but you know...life happens, and so now I'm working on other things at home and watching some photos of this year's trip go up on Facebook.
I won't lie to you, it kind of really sucks, and I'm feeling pretty bummed out.

I'm not whining exactly...consider it more of an explanation for the following deluge of photos, and indulge me for a moment as I reminisce over last year's good times.
I never did finish blogging all my photos of the trip anyway.

Feeling pretty stoked on life at the Rockefeller Center

Group shot!

"You're Fired!"

The Times!

Visiting the Seinfeld restaurant

I got a strawberry milkshake...it was delicious :)

Grand Central Station

Taking the Subway

Wall Streeeeeet!!!


The Team @ Brooklyn Bridge!

Visiting the World Trade Center Memorial

Crowding onto the ferry to catch a glimpse of Lady Liberty

Having fun with the mascots in Times Square! 

Don't let the smile fool you, I'm actually terrified of mascots.
I mean LOOK at him. He's ATTACKING me.

Night skating in Central Park: magical!

Trying not to get run over

Riding a snail in Columbus Circle

"Everyone look like a celebrity!": This was one of those obligatory greenscreen tourist photos where you have to pay for it in Guest Services afterward.
We just took a photo of the photo instead. hee hee...

Bell ringing at the Christmas Kettle, and handing out suckers to the kids!
 (NYC has THE CUTEST children in the world. Scientific fact.)


Waiting in line to see "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway!

The show is about to start! The Chandelier is under there! THE CHANDELIER!

Katharina enjoying an authentic NYC chili dog after a busy morning of sight-seeing!

New York Cheesecake has NO CRUST, therefore it is GLUTEN FREE!!!

Well dear reader, thank you for putting up with me as I mope tonight. It was actually really fun to look at all these photos again. Such good memories :)

Packing Up

The last few posts were written all at the same time, late at night when I needed a break from studying, and then staggered over the following weeks. If not for that, there would have been complete and utter silence on this blog because it has been so hectic since the end of March!

First came the end-of-semester projects which are such a delight.
Then, the last week of classes, followed by a short busy weekend, and then four exams in four days!
Right after exams were over, the family cruised down to Langley to spend Easter with a crowd of cousins, aunts, and uncles, which was a lot of fun!
Since Monday I have been frantically trying to organize my brain and my life in preparation for my departure tomorrow...

Karissa and I are packing up and heading for good ol' PG in the morning, signalling the beginning of our second season as camp cooks for the treeplanters! I'm excited, but also feeling very busy. I haven't been able to accomplish all the prep I had hoped to be able to complete before arrival, but I will have some time before we actually head out into the bush on May 2, in between the training courses, grocery ordering, and meetings.

I'm mentally preparing to face the reality of early mornings for an entire three months, but the trauma is lessened by the fact that I will have a much more comfortable bed this year. More on that later!

I hope to be able to post a bit more during the season this year, now that I will (hopefully) be able to manage my work time more efficiently with all the experience from last year under my belt. So keep your eyes open for some updates!

For now, I need to get back to packing and prepping!

Confession Time

Hello. My name is Jill, and I have a problem.

It started when I was young. It was always laying around at home, and I was probably only 4 when I tried it on my own for the first time. There was a readily accessible stash in the basement, and I didn't hesitate to help myself. My mother facilitated my addiction by regularly bringing me to the local library. At first it was the fluffy stuff like the Mandie books, and the Animal Ark series...it seemed harmless at the time. But it wasn't long before I started indiscriminately devouring anything I could get my hands on. My preferences were L.M Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, and Laura Ingalls Wilder, with a dash of fantasy like The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Phantom Tollbooth.

In more recent years my condition has become more serious. Dystopian fiction, epic fantasies, autobiographies and memoirs, whodunnits, classics, YA fiction, even nonfiction, has made its way into my hands. But its not enough just to read the books anymore. I needed to collect them. Read them, again, and again. Loan them to my friends.

After (literally) keeping my stash in the closet for many years, last year I did the unthinkable and bought a bookshelf. It was basically full the moment I unpacked the boxes that had been hidden away. But I couldn't stop buying them. The second-hand bookstores call to me, and I struggle to leave before purchasing at least one old friend or new acquaintance. The bookshelf is full to bursting, but I can't stop. The books are starting to pile up beside my bed, on my desk, and at random places on the floor. This isn't including the books I've loaned out. Their places on the shelf were quickly filled. And I have a list of books that I have yet to track down and add to the collection; many a series that needs to be completed!

So as if that isn't embarrassing enough, guess what I did today?

I bought 5 books at the thrift store, and 3 new textbooks for school.
And I don't know where to put them.

It's time for another bookshelf.

(What have you been reading lately? Hook me up with some good new material!)

Random Bits

1. I got the job! I am the head cook for a treeplanting camp starting in May, through til the end of July. Its going to be a real challenge, and probably frustrating and hard work for a lot of the time. I am focusing on the fact that it is "only" 3 months and it will put me through school (I'm trying to get through without student loans). I also get to see more of BC! Yay!

2. Right now I am unemployed. No one wants to hire someone leaving in 2 months. Not even Booster Juice. Sad.

3. I have to learn how to be a frugal student. I've been working full-time for too long. Full time student-ing is going to be a harsh reality. Is it possible to be thrifty and still eat well? I've never been very good at thriftiness, and I love to eat. (I should elaborate- I also eat gluten-free, and organic when possible...which makes it a bit trickier. No ichiban, unfortunately)

4. I re-entered the thrift store scene, after losing faith in it a couple years ago. I emerged successful, with 7 good quality items, each under $8. Things I needed, and liked. Then I went to the mall, and had a heart attack. I feel I might have also regained a sense of perspective. New clothes are stupid expensive.

5. Today I was told by a new acquaintance, quite emphatically, that I "do NOT" look my age. On one hand I suppose that could be flattering, and a quality I will be grateful for when I'm even older. On the other...being decidedly baby-faced is a bit disheartening.

6. I've been watching Sherlock (the BBC version) on Netflix. In fact, I finished the last episode tonight. I hate finding shows I love on there, because when they end I always feel a little sad, like I'm never going to find anything that will compare. Any Sherlock fans out there? Isn't it fantastic? I can't believe it took me so long to click on it.

7. I love my cat, Loki. I'm going to miss him when I leave. And I'm not sure what he will do without me. Sigh.

8. We are studying sleep, circadian rhythms, and altered states of consciousness in Psych this week. I've never seen so much class participation before! I think its because, unlike identifying the parts of the brain or describing psychological perspectives, sleep is one area that is very applicable to university students. Our professor urges us to get lots of quality sleep. I like that kind of homework.

9. I feel strongly about 2 things: abolishing the time change, and implementing a 3-day weekend. Ok, and I think an official siesta would be beneficial as well.

10. I really, really, really, don't understand why we do the time change. No one has ever been able to give me a good explanation, and I think most parts of the world don't even do it. It seems like a lot of trouble with very little advantage.I say it must go!

Ramble done.

2013

Well, I can't say I've got off to a very aggressive re-start on this blog, but the next semester is closing in and that means I will soon be looking for a venue for procrastination. This just might be the ticket.

Since I won't be doing a lot of traveling over the next couple of months, I'm hoping to expand the blog topics to some more of the things I love...food, for instance. I love food.
You'll probably hear a little bit about what I'm learning at university too...it actually can be quite interesting. I'm beginning to understand why some people go there and never seem to leave. That was always a huge mystery to me before..."wait...you're paying heaps of money to be given deadlines to write about things that hurt your brain? oooook...whatever floats your boat." Turns out hurting your brain can get some pretty awesome results. The world really starts to expand.
Loki might make an appearance or two.
And I might revisit the old Europe trip photos and continue on with the original purpose of this blog :)
But I think we can all safely assume that the scope of this blog is going to broaden a fair bit. Probably not for the better, but hey, the whole specific topic thing really wasn't inspiring me.
Happy New Year!

Falling Back Into Routine

Dear Readers, I hope you enjoyed the few snapshots of Woodsman I was able to schedule over the last week or so.
I have just returned to the Interior after 2 months on Vancouver Island, and things are about to get more "normal" around here. I'm currently job hunting, and quite possibly moving out in the next 2 weeks, but in the meantime I hope to start working on posting some more about my trip to Europe! It already feels like that was ages ago, but with the help of my journal and looking through some photos, I should be able to remember quite a bit about it.

Keep watching for new posts!

Jill

No Go Zones

I was looking at the map today, thinking of all the places I want to go.
Which is almost everywhere.
But not quite.
India, Colombia, Mongolia, and most countries in Africa are not really high on my list, if they are there at all.
That is not to say that if someone planned a trip for me and I knew I would be safe, that I would refuse. I don't think its in me to refuse going anywhere. I'm just saying that its possible that I'm easily freaked out, and these places have a very weak draw for me.
However, this list used to be a lot longer. Departures has certainly made me look at the world differently, and changed my preconceived ideas about places like Brazil, Ethiopia, and Cuba, but my adventurous spirit can only soar so far....

What is one country that you would NOT visit?

Booking Ahead vs. Wingin' It

I am not really an experienced traveler.
When I was 15, I went to Guatemala with a large group, and basically all the planning was done for me.
When I was 20, I went to Ireland for nearly a year, one month of which was spent actually backpacking. In that instance, I researched bus routes, and toted along "Let's Go: Ireland!" for ideas on where to stay/eat and what to do. I made a few arrangements to stay with friends along the way, but other than that, I booked nothing ahead. In the end it didn't matter because it was early in the season (June), and while Ireland IS a tourist destination, it doesn't get quite as busy as other places in Europe.

The Big Backpacking Adventure of 2011 is 3 weeks away, and I've been getting nervous. If you don't already know where I'm going, I won't spoil the surprise for you. I will say that it is going to be different from Ireland in that I'm anticipating the tourist hordes will be much more intense.

The advice I received was to book at least the first hostel I'm staying in, so that I wouldn't get off the plane and have to find a place when I was all jet-lagged. Makes sense to me, so I did.
Then, as I looked into things, it seemed like a lot of places were already(!) filling up. In fact, in one city I am unfortunately visiting on the weekend, there seemed to be zero availability at all! I'm guessing this has to do with a festival or concert or something that must be going on during the same dates, but it was a very scary and frustration-filled day when I decided I needed to book that place in advance! (When I thought I had finally found the Hostel O' Dreams, it actually filled up before my eyes....)

After that experience, I kind of snapped. Suddenly it was of paramount importance to book everything I possibly could, before I landed on foreign ground.

Hostelbookers.com has no idea who I am,
but I have used their site a lot over the past weeks, and I find them very useful.

However, my travel bud has gently reminded me that we do want some flexibility (we weren't going to book anything ahead, originally...), so I'm trying to restrain myself from booking anything more, at the moment.

Have you ever been traveling? What time of year did you go? How important was it to you to book ahead, and how did that work out in the end?

Travel advice and stories are highly encouraged here at RBF....

I'm Hooked On...

Its such a great show.

On one hand it makes you feel like you are right there, bumping along a dusty pothole-ridden road in South Africa, or sky-diving in New Zealand, or eating fried tarantulas in Cambodia...

and on the other, it inspires you to get off your tush, and go experience some of these things for yourself! (I'll pass on the spiders.)

Basically, Departures is about 3 Canadian guys in their 20's who decide to take a year off and travel the world, filming it along the way. They go to some really awesome off-the-beaten-tourist-track places, like Iceland, Sri Lanka, Ascension Island, Libya, Mongolia, Jordan, and Ecuador.
I'm currently halfway through the second season, they've just left Madgascar, and are headed for Chile!

While they are in these places they do some nifty hikes, eat local food, and often stay with the local people if possible. On top of this, they have so many international contacts, it seems like every other episode they are doing something crazy no normal tourist would EVER get the chance to do...it makes it feel like such an authentic travel experience, and its SO interesting!

The cast/crew is made up of Scott (the walking travel encyclopedia and pro navigator), Justin (the class clown, big-talker, and animal whisperer), and Andre (the camera-guy, and the man I will someday marry).

Don't let the fact that it is Canadian-made lead you to believe it is somehow a low-budget show with crappy production value. I swear the cinematography will blow your mind! Every episode just makes me go "WOW!", and realize just how beautiful and diverse our planet it is! My (quickly Googled) research tells me that it has won Best Documentary Series from the Canadian Golden Sheaf Awards (2008), and 2 Gemini awards in 2010 (Best Photography/Best Editing).

Lucky for my addiction, my brother and sister-in-law own all 3 DVD sets, and have kindly lent them to me to devour. For those of you with cable, Mike tells me you can catch it on OLN or city tv. And then there's always icefilms.info for everyone else.

WATCH IT.

Its the Best.

Postcard Passport

Hey everyone!
I'm working on putting up a slideshow of photos for you all. So far, these are all pre-Regis adventures, and most of them are taken within BC....but who says you have to leave the country/province to experience "travel" adventures? I think its awesome that BC is so beautiful and diverse! Plus it makes me feel like I've actually been places...

Enjoy! There will be even more exciting photos coming up in the next couple months....be very excited!

PS. Photobucket is the WORST. Anyone know how to use a different program to host blog images? I would very much appreciate some interweb wisdom (I feel like such a geek using that word...hee hee!)...