Up far too early with this eternal sunlight down here and my knee is so stiff I can barely move it. After knocking Michelle around for a while trying to get out of the tent I finally made it to the washroom and main hall for breakfast. Coffee is a wonderful thing and again I had my staple of white bread and cheese. Gooooooooo travel diet, the eternal meal in Latin America for veggies! We all pitched in to help Christian 2 pack up our campsite and we got on board the boat for 10:00 sailing back across Lago Pehoe. Everyone helped with my bag as well and we all sat on top deck enjoying the view. Short public bus ride to the start of our supposedly scenic and informative walk to the Information Centre. What ... read more

The (Bates) hotel continues to not impress; both Michele and I had beds with a top mattress that slid off towards the floor causing a 45 degree angle of sleeping. We both woke up half on the floor half on the bed. Positive? Water pressure was good. Left the hotel at 07:30 to commute on local bus (but not chicken by any standard) with one pit stop (read banos!) thankfully. Arrived at Torres del Paine National Park entrance, and scrambled for a marathon walk to see the waterfall and some lovely views. Unfortunately it literally was a marathon pace and I was struggling to keep up with my bad knee. It was too much too fast I fear and my leg has been going downhill since then. The boat ride across Lago Pehoe took half hour ... read more

Day 2 - December 18th Not sure where day 1 ends and day 2 officially begins but we will wing it. Flights were uneventful, however traveling business class will tend to do that (thank you Laurie!) How the hell I'm going to survive economy on the way home I'm not sure, but then again it's not like I have a choice. DFW is a boring airport to kill time in I must say it needs a little something something. Even the people watching lacked luster. MIA was an interesting excursion to say the least. I realized that unfortunately I had to exit the secured area to get to terminal J, which apparently is on the other side of Miami. At the same time this sweet young lady was discovering the same so we ended up walking ... read more

2 weeks less a day I leave for my 'bucket list' trip to Patagonia and Easter Island. I'm finally getting excited and a little nervous and am thankful for work (for once) to keep me busy. Piled currently on my living room floor is all the stuff I think I need to bring. Of which I'll cram, shove, condense into one wee 60 litre pack. Then I'll take out half of it, add more money, more Lonely Planet guide books then I need and hope I'm good. Ah, the joys of trying to travel as light as possible. Except carry on. That will have my camera, change of clothes, hiking poles, book, ipad, documents, and medication. and several snacks for my 26 hour journey aboard flying metal, because we all know how well they feed you. ... read more

Never one to not take on a challenge; when my company offered us an incentive to whomever sold the most and reached set targets by mid July would win a "Gavin-a-licious" 2 day trip to Moab, Utah, how could I not try? So, needless to say; I was one of the winners; 19 of us in total from around the globe, along with 2 other of my Canadian Team members and WOW is all I can say for now! Dee and I left LA after training with Andrea and Paul and had a lovely 06:00 departure on our flight via Denver. So yes, folks that means a 04:00AM wake up call. (insert swear words oh so effectively here). Dee and I stumbled our way to LAX at the lovely hour of 04:25; only to arrive to ... read more