Blogs from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, North America - page 3

I'm home! When I chat with my friends and fam re: what I missed while I was gone... it seems like I didn't miss much at all. When I think back over what the past 3.5 mo have entailed for me and everything I've seen, it's really amazing. My trip FAR exceeded my expectations in every possible way - I honestly had the best time ever!! Now it's back to reality........ Back to where I left off...... The Contiki group dynamic changed considerably after the South island trip was over as quite a few ppl on the tour were only doing the S. island and got off the bus. On the other hand, quite a few newbies got onboard for only the N. island week of the trip. There were about 25 of us I'd say ... read more

I booked my trip yesterday - so it is official, I'm leaving on my big trip in exactly a month. I'm sure that my departure date will come before I know it. I have a lot of getting organized to do prior to leaving as well as finishing up my contract job at SCJ so hopefully everything will come together. I hope to continue to enjoy what's left of the summer with my friends and family here at home... I'm obviously going to miss everyone a lot especially I'm traveling solo. Wanted to set up an online journal as I did for my Europe trip. I enjoyed keeping the Europe journal and heard a lot of positive feedback from friends and family back home who actually took the time to read my entries which was nice ... read more

I wrote the following article in order to spread awareness on what is still occuring, not only to Tibetans, but to Uighurs, ethnic minorities, and even citizens in the People's Republic of China today. While I am not actually there now, travelling is about being there and about how you are affected by, how you affect, people from the places in which you travel. So, these people affected me a great deal. And I can try to help affect their shameful circumstances. Besides, I did kind of travel... to Toronto...just over an hour away... that's travelling. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, an incarnate lama from Eastern Tibet, will pass yet another year in his Chinese prison cell, location unconfirmed. He’ll spend a solitary Tibetan New Year’s, or perhaps he’ll have the company of his captors, because he had ... read more

Hello future readers, So here I am, one month before my trip. Well... one month, 6 hours, and 15 minutes until take off if you want to be specific. There's no Kitchener on the options for where I am, so I'll have to make due with Waterloo. The last time I checked, though, Kitchener was bigger than Waterloo... hmm... Anyway. I wanted to start this now to have a look at it and see if I really want to use this while I'm traveling. I'm able to upload pictures to it, so that's a big plus for me as I've got my digital camera and all. I've been looking for a place that lets me add pictures, but is free, and I finally found it. I'm currently supposed to be writing my Travel and Risk essay, ... read more

Well, when I got my teaching job in Cairo, Egypt, back in February, I knew that the time would go by fast, but part of me hoped not that fast. Today is the day I leave Ontario behind, and make my way to the desert for "many new adventures," as other people have put it. Right now, I'm just anxious to get over there - to get my super heavy luggage on the plane, to (hopefully!) pick it up in Cairo, and start to get settled. I am quite looking forward to this experience, and living here should have prepared me physically for the move. The HUMID Ontario air should have prepared my body for the heat of Cairo (maybe less sticky) and the smog-infested air of this province should have primed my lungs for the ... read more