Canadrian

After 8 months of travel, I have decided to come home. Don't get me wrong, I adore travelling, with the constantly changing environments, ability to meet new and very interesting characters, the exposure to new cultures, etc., it can be EXHAUSTING!! Seriously, I travelled largely by hitchhiking, which can be described as the ultimate test of ones' patience, not to mention faith in the kindness of complete strangers. Picture it, standing or sitting for hours on end, waiting, waiting, WAITING! Watching one person (Read empty cars) whiz by you spewing toxins and noise your way can be tough. Especially if you are travelling solo, as I did for the final three weeks of my travels. It isn't very encouraging seeing this one person one car trend, especially in Morocco and Portugal, countries most people would associate ... read more

Currently, I write this from Sesimbra, about 40 kilometres south of Portugal´s glorious capital and largest city, Lisbon. I had previously spent a week in the south of the country, in the Algarve. Many of you may be familiar with Portugal; we have quite a large number of Portuguese descended residents in Toronto (and Cambridge). It is a country living in the shadow of it´s larger, and more economically influencial cousin, Spain. Portugal is still struggling to find it´s identity within Europe and the World. They have recently (in the 70´s) emerged from the shadow of dictatorship.The country was closed to the outside world. They are now faced with problems such as movement from rural areas to cities, and as a result, farms that have been within families for generations are falling into disrepair due to ... read more