Written March 21st 2011. I remember writting this all down previously, but cannot find it anywhere!!! Decided to avoid cities for the time being and head north to Midland. I've heard a lot of good things about Toronto, but I like the small towns better. I have a dozen new X's on my map from my time in St. Jacobs, starting with a beach in Collingwood/Wassaga Beach (I think). The lake looks more like an ocean, all that's missing is the salt air. Next is Midland where most of the buildings appear have been painted. Then onto Mysterious shrine and Sainte Marie among the Herons. Two restored settlements from American history. Te second is much more interesting and has actors living out the roles of villages. Shame I got there so late in the day. I ... read more

From Grimsby I took a map of Ontario and a desire not to go back. It was a good map and the receptionist dotted it with X's for me. I headed West towards London. Not sure where my first stop was, but it was a beach on Lake Erie. It appears in my photos before London and I remember stopping there. I remember writing something down about all the memorial benches, but I don't remember where. There was a fake sand beach and palm trees that were brought out in the warm weather and moved inside during the cold weather. London was dead and industrial and a hostel Chris Hull had recommended was closed and looked to have been for a while. London had no life to it, maybe because of the Thanks giving. I left ... read more

I'm writing this on the 20th March 2011. After breakfast I ask the receptionist to draw some more X's on my map and she highlights a scenic route across the state, Route 20. I spent the day travelling along this road, stopping at picturesque American towns (green lawns, white picket fences, etc) and enjoying the sunny weather. Unfortunately as it started to get dark (read: as I started to get tired/hungry) I found myself in the middle of nowhere. I remember driving through one small town (four houses and a dinner) and thinking that even though I was getting tired I would wait for the next town. The next town was smaller and dirtier and so on. Eventually I pulled over to look at my map, guide book and sat-nav. The map didn't show anything near ... read more

I'm writing this on the 20th March 2011. The blog for this trip might not be entirely accurate, I'm not even 100% sure of the dates. I wanted to write down as much as I can remember so that I have a written record. Maybe I'll come back and add more at a later date. For the moment I'm assuming that I flew out of Heathrow on October 6th and landed in Boston later the same day. I know it was late when I touched down and I have a credit card receipt for a hostel in Boston for the 7th. The only thing I can remember about the flight is how nervous I was after I had checked in. That was the moment I realised what I was doing. I had just given my small ... read more

22/03/2011 - Cut and paste from something I wrote at the time. The following morning I got up, showered and… Wait, I forgot to mention Japanese showers, they have showers the same as us but instead of shower cubicles they have wet rooms, it's great. Also, their baths are sit in jobbies and their toilets have lots of electrical buttons for sprays and well I don't know what else and I was happy not finding out. I had sushi for breakfast with Maki’s dad, who’d just gotten back from a conference which is why he hadn’t been about the day before and we headed out for the day. First stop was a Japanese department store so that Maki’s family could buy me souvenirs to take back with me (Saki, Saki drinking vassal and some green tea). ... read more