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Published: August 9th 2009
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Ok so where was I...
So I arrived back in Vancouver after 6 months away, living in beautiful places. I only just have enough arms to carry all my luggage! I'm sure my arms have stretched since I left Scotland.
I arrived knowing of a hostel located on the south bank of English Bay in an area called Kitsalano. This sounded like one of the nicer areas of Vancouver and it was here that I decided to try and make home.
So, I checked into the hostel with the last of my shiny dollars knowing that I had to find somewhere to live and some way of making money by the end of the week or it was pretty much back on a plane home to consider what to do next.
Then came several days of frantic flat searching, viewing, deciding, job interviews and chaos and before I knew it I had a job and had arranged a flat to live in and it was only Thursday... two days spare!
I managed to find work as a rock climbing instructor. When I say instructor I really mean holding the bottom of the rope while kids climb, but
it paid me some money and thats what mattered.
The house I found was in a basement, living beneath the land lady. She had some really crazy rules and from about day three I was out to bend as many as possible.
Another week or so went by and I had decided that I needed to get another job as climbing shifts were getting a bit thin. I dressed up and walked the streets armed with a fist full of CV's hoping for something to come up.
I managed to stumble upon a bike shop, which is managed by a Scotsman! Bonus. He had a mechanic job available and I decided that I could make up enough knowledge about bikes to pass as a mechanic and so I was hired.
In the space of two weeks I had managed to arrive in a new city, find a house, and two jobs. Wow time to chill.
Towards the end of May two of my friends got in touch to say that they were coming to Vancouver for the summer and wondered if I would like to move in with them, to a flat that they had found. No crazy land
lady, and no petty rules, and its a 2 min walk to work. I'm in.
And so from the start of June i've been working as a bike mechanic for Ace Cycle in Vancouver and living at 2536 Waterloo St and all is going good.
However over the last month or so I have been starting to feel the itch of adventure. And its an itch I have to scratch. Here is the plan...
On the 21st of September I am going to fly to Los Angeles armed with a bike and camping gear. I then have a flight from Vancouver to Edinburgh on the 25th of October. The challenge/ adventure? To get from Los Angeles by bike to Vancouver.
It is a 2500 km journey that will take me along the Western seaboard of America. Through California, Oregon, Washington and finally to British Colombia and Vancouver.
I plan to ride for 5 or 6 hours a day and think that it will take about 30 days to make the journey.
I have a huge shopping list and am working as much as possible to be able to afford it all. I do now however, own
a brand new road bike which will be my chariot and which i spend a lot of my time training on.
I have also applied for jobs in France for the up and coming winter, I have decided to spend another season surrounded by white fluffy snow before growing up (at least a little), its a very addictive environment to be in. Anyone is more than welcome to come and say hi.
So thats my news for the moment. Sorry that I have been so out of contact for so long. It was nearly impossible to get on the internet over the winter, and after that in Vancouver. Until I bought a laptop to communicate with the world on. Now this is my portal to the wider world!
Hope to hear from you soon and i'll keep you updated with my news
Love
Aly
P.S. Check out my pics, i'm about to upload them, if i can figgure out how!
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Mum
non-member comment
Ta
Hey Aly It was good to chat last night and now to see your photso. Dad is taking us for a tour of the west today as Jeni wandts to see her picture of Buchaile Etive Mor in real time. Weather not so nice today, Im waiting for the call from Mona again to help her see your blog. Thanks for doing it Love Mum xx