After various tearful goodbyes & expert frenzied packing completed - I headed off to Lund, Sweden on August 21st. It was a perfect summer in the Okanagan, surrounded by family, friends & sunshine - making it that much harder to say goodbye. But it was time. Time get out into the big world again. Kelowna - Seattle - Copenhagen by plane Copengagen - Malmo - Lund by train Lund Central Station - Skanevagen #18 by automobile It was a sunny & windy day in Lund when I arrived, jet lagged & sweating. A wave of uncertainly as to why exactly I had come to this place washed over me while I waited at the Station for Eva to pick me & my overweight luggage. Now that a few days have passed, I am feeling more stable ... read more

Forget for a moment two ply toilet paper and memory foam, forget lululemon, GPAs, skinny jeans and side bangs, forget sudoku, hairspray, saturday night live, and yam rolls. Forget your insecurities, facebook account and broken finger nails. Now fill your heart and mind with a desire for change, a desire to eliminate injustice, to right wrongs and struggle for your people. Fill your heart with love and value for the smallest most important things in life. Let all your illusions about NGO work and ´third world´conditions go and meet yourself in a place where things like teeth whitener and botox don´t matter. Although we only spent three days in Comalapa, Chimaltenango with our friend Rosenda (who we met while she was in Canada travelling with the MOJOMAYAS) we learned an awful lot in those short days. ... read more

Once the final exams were handed in, the Christmas stockings enjoyed and a few days at the ski hill complete - there were only two things left for a under-graduate graduate to do - enter the so called 'real-world' and find a so called 'real job' - or hop on an airplane and explore a new part of this marvelous planet. Of course I have decided to do what any rational person would do in my shoes - fly away to Mexico. For the past week I have been in Playa de Carmen with the Troock family, relaxing on the beach all day and over-enjoying tequila and delicious mexican delights all night long! We stayed at the All Riviera Hotel on Calle 2 in Playa, which was right on the beach and main tourist drag. The ... read more

In BC when you drive for an hour you will find yourself, most likely, still in the same province, let alone country. In Germany, and most of Europe, this is clearly not the case. Last Friday, after work, Alwin and I hopped into his car and drove just one hour (120km) south of Munich and the surrounding flat plains into the beginning of the glorious Alps in Austria. It reminded me of driving West of Calgary into the Rockies - minus the cowboys. It was amazing how quickly the landscapes changed. We stayed at a campsite at Tiersee in Kufstein (about halfway between Innsbruck and Salzburg). The first night was quiet at the little lake side camp site, until about 2:30am when our neighbours and their trailor started rocking. A strange Hungarian type of Yoddling ... read more

Holidays in Spain Two weeks ago I left Victoria, left Kelowna, flew far away from Canada and arrived safe and sound in Deutschland. And then, shortly after, Alwin and I jumped on another airplane and flew to Madrid, for 10 days in Spain. Our days were not necessarily filled with typical Spanish things like bull fights, paellas, and flamenco dancers - but we did indeed explore some very different, very marvelous places in Spain. Madrid: Within the first few hours we had visited some most impressive sites, found a lovely place to stay at a pension owned by two twin smoking viejas, a great tapas bar, a lively jazz club, and met a professional quick hands pickpocket wallet thief on the metro. hijo de .. The weather was marvelous, the Photo Espana exhibition took us ... read more