About

It seems that a visit to the About page is a popular stopping spot for my readers. I feel like it needs to be updated – not that I’ve changed but I’d like to give you more of a sense of who I am.

I love to travel – but that’s obvious since I have a travel themed blog.

I’ve been all over the world – to all continents but Antarctica and to a grand total of 53 countries. I’ve always got some sort of an adventure planned – even if it’s only a weekend. I thrive on change and travel provides that.

John and I on top of Kilimanjaro

I love a good bike ride.

Some would consider me hardcore but I beg to differ. I don’t own click in bike shoes and prefer to bike in my Tevas. I’d rather take a flat tire to get fixed than to do it myself. I love a short ride to a cafe to break up the day but love the sense of accomplishment when I’ve completed a big ride  - like the first ever Grand Fondo in Whistler I did last fall. I’ve discovered the joys of biking for weeks on end with only a set of panniers for luggage. In the next few years I have a goal of biking with my husband for six months from Scandinavia to Turkey – staying at B&B’s and small hotels along the way.

Hiking makes me happy.

Hiking takes you to places that most people don’t visit. I love the solitude of the wilderness and being one with nature. I love the odd wildly epic day. But I also love a walk around Vancouver’s Stanley Park with my husband and dog. I like backpacking. I’d love it if I could do it carrying only a day pack – but then it wouldn’t be backpacking. I prefer to hike in good weather but I can suck it up and put up with some adversity. The mountains and desert call me.

Sea Kayaking scares me….sometimes.

I adore sea kayaking. I relax on-shore in a way that never happens on any other trip, probably because I am totally unplugged from the world. John and I have explored much of the Vancouver Island coast and up into the Broughton Archipelago for a week and more at a time. I have kayaked waters that roared but I vow never to do that again. 2011 saw only two kayaking trips – one around Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior and one to Blackberry Point on Valdes Island in BC.

White shell beach in the Broughtons

What else makes me tick?

• There’s something I find very satisfying about digging in the garden. I have a big one right now and spend some time almost every day in it – weeding, planting, designing or just thinking.

My spring garden

• Cooking is great – if I don’t have to do it seven days a week. Breakfast is my favourite meal. I could live on almond butter, buckwheat honey and banana sandwiches.
• I’m a coffee addict. I love searching out new cafes and trying their lattes. Thomas Haas in North Vancouver is where I take myself for a treat – a latte with a double almond croissant. Heaven on earth.
• Reading gives me great pleasure. It’s a rare day that I don’t read just a bit.

Random Facts

• My husband is my best friend. There aren’t too many couples that say that after 30 years.
• I have a son who is a financial type and works across the country in Toronto.
• My daughter lives and works in Vancouver. She and I have shared several adventures in the past few years including hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc and I joined her for a month on the Tour d’Afrique several years ago.
• I have a dog I call a Caribbean Cocktail – a stray from the island of St. Maartens. She’s the smartest dog we’ve ever had.

Our dog Torrie - with a Christmas bow

• I’m a jack of all trades and master of none. Over the years I have worked as a geologist and a registered professional dietitian; I have owned my own flower shop in Niagara-on-the-Lake and for over 15 years I ran a company that sells products no one steals – equipment for sampling groundwater. It’s still around and doing well.

And I think that’s enough about me.