Merry Christmas!!

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone that has a chance to look at my blog a very Merry Christmas!

It's a time for family, travelling and enjoying each others company.

Isn't that what happened over 2000 years ago in Bethlehem?
People travelled to be together, to enjoy each other's company, share in a meal (or libation) and be with family.

Remember: "Jesus is the reason for the season".
Cute I know, but it's something I think we forget about.

Last evening I attended the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert at the Air Canada Centre.
It was awesome.
If you don't know the TSO it's not the TSO you may associate with Toronto, it's a fusion rock orchestra that takes well known Bach or Brahms and literally blows it up. There are pyrotechnics and flames and lights and it's just WOW!
The first part of the concert is a narrated Christmas story.
It was really effective and made you really think about why we are here on this planet and what we should be doing with our lives.
The 13,000 + people in attendance thought it was pretty neat too. There was a real sense of quiet and calm at the end of the Christmas story. Very neat to experience.

This afternoon I am off, with The Mother, to the usual visit to Lambeth Ontario for the Christmas Family gathering. Christmas day is spent with 25 + other family members over turkey, and the fixings in a little hamlet of Shedden, just west of London. There is much coming and going and presents and wrapping paper and catching up (some cousins I only see once a year at this event). It's fun, intense and crazy all at the same time. The Mother has spent Christmas with this side of the family since the beginning of time (save for a couple I think) and this is tradition.
This is one of the things that Christmas is all about. Tradition and being with family.

The Man is working Christmas Day and Boxing day, as he has since time began so to give others the chance to be with their families. I think that's such an amazing thing to do and a really, really nice gesture. Our Christmas is a day later on. We decide on the day and we have our own traditions and our family (Ubu LOVES opening presents).

So from my families to yours I wish you the best of the season.
Merry Christmas!

The Silence of Snow

There is a certain silence in snow.
Profound?
Let me back track.

It's the week before Christmas and EVERYTHING is going crazy.
The people, the malls, the travellers, the communters.
You name it.
Just have a look around.
Everyone is frantic.

Then it snows.

Everything has to slow down, lest it run into, over or just down because of the speed at which is was going.
One little snowflake multiplied by a ka-zillion causes a bunch of humans (and animals too I suppose) to slow down.
Even stop (because the roads are closed for it's too dangerous to continue).
Then, with stopping, there's silence.

We walk slower because of the snow.
We still wonder at the fact that these little flakes of frozen water are descending from on high.
How we still test our breath to see how long it lasts in the cold air when it's snowing.
Though the wind blows, seemingly a little more fiercely, when it snows it's all quiet when it does.
A different kind of silence.

As I begin to imagine my tour for next year I am reminded that much of it might be in silence. I will have to road, music or what ever else I may use to occupy my brain while I travel. But this is a solo journey. Most of all it will be interesting to be in chosen silence.

Right now, most of my day is with noise. Lots of noise.
My job is noisy (walk down the hall of 6 Bond North during our lab operation hours and you'll know exactly what I mean).
The other techs and I tend to be noisy, recently it's be cause of the chocolate high we've been on because of Christmas treats.
Really, I've never been known to be a quiet one.
My commute is noisy. The bus is noisy, the people on the bus are noisy (mostly talking on phones) the subway is especially noisy. The downtown streets at rush hour are noisy.
What's it like to be quiet?
What is quiet, really?

Over the past couple of years I've been practicing (oh boy is it hard to practice sometimes) the art of being quiet.
Not having any music, the radio sports program I listen to when I get home, or the 680 news before bed and just being quiet. I'm doing something, like reading, a crossword puzzle or surfing the web but I'm quiet.
It gets hard to do sometimes. We seem to need noise in our lives. I'm not sure why.

Sometimes in the quiet I'm much more productive than when there is background noise.
Sometimes I'm tired so without any noise I go to sleep. Oh dear.

I'm so looking forward to hearing things that we'd consider part of silence. Like the flowing water sound of a creek in the mountains near Prague. Maybe the sound of a canal boat going down the river through Prague. Or the sound of the ocean moving against the piers in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Or my horse at the Three Bars Ranch taking me up a mountain side.

Those are all silences I hope to hear.

Quietly, on to the next....

Another Booking!

I now know where I'll be in part of September of 2011!

The Three Bars Guest Ranch outside of Cranbrook BC.

One of my bucket list things. Something I've always wanted to do.
Go to a dude ranch.
Don't really need to herd cattle, though that would be interesting to learn, but want to spend some time wandering in the moutains on horseback.
Always loved horses and love to ride.
Maybe because I was born in the city.
I love the moutains and horses and the outdoors.
This ranch offers it all.

As I read through the requirements and amenities I discovered that I need cowboy boots or something similar.
Well, if you know me, my body type just doesn't lend itself to cowboy boots.
Really!
Thanks to my inherited bow legs (thanks dad) and shortish stature (I'd love to think I'm 5'5" but know I'm not) the addition of cowboy boots is simply laughable so what to do.
Alas, Three Bars RENTS cowboy boots.
Phew!!
Yes, there will be pictures when the time comes but for now I leave with you the image of what it would look like. EEWWW.

Today is Saturday and I've taken a day off.
Really took a day off.
Worked on a few Christmas cards to send out but other than that not a whole lot.
Though rested I can't see doing this nothing part for very long.
Due to some bad weather coming in tonight The Man and I decided that I should stay in Toronto to attend a family dinner and not have to worry about trying to fight through a white out to get back.
Hence a day off.
I know a year is a long time. It's a lot of days.
But I also know that I need to have some things (many things?) lined up to do. Resting is nice every so often but I'm not going to let the days go to waste!


More later...

BOOKED!

Well ladies and gentlemen it's finally happened.

I'm booked!
I fly to Frankfurt on April 13th in the evening to catch the train to Prague. I should be there later in the afternoon on the 14th of April.
Then I fly back to Canada on the 30th of April.
This is something that been in the works for simply years.
Though I don't have the tickets in my hands yet, the agent is looking after all the logistics for me.
Wow.
That's all I can say at the moment.

Over the past few days I have been going through all the paper in my life.
It all started with a friend D wanting some binders for courses she teaches.
I have many binders. So many I didn't really know how many.
Oh dear!
It's amazing how much we do electronically and how much we didn't years ago.
So, I started going through the piles of documents, safely stored in binders in bins in the basement.
Some were 15 years old.
Oh dear.
After 4 recycling bags (the big ones) I have reduced my paper foot print significantly.
Now I'm thinking that I when I go away, I want to come home to a nice neat place.
I know some of you are laughing.
Neat?
Okay, so neat for me.
I'm not getting rid of some of my nicknacks. They all have meaning.
I have reduced them significantly though.
I'm proud of that.
The Man bugs me about that, especially since I "nicknacked" his entertainment centre with decorations last weekend. :-)

Christmas is coming. I don't usually decorate in Toronto much, save for a few lights and some bows and things on the blinds to jazz it up.
This year I've decided to do a little more as I don't know how long I'll be in here next Christmas, I may only be passing through on my way to another adventure.
I have my glass sleigh out, Christmas lights all over the place (in the kitchen too!) and the cactus plant has garland around it.
It's starting to snow outside, just lightly but that helps with the whole decorating mood.

As each milestone comes along I think that I might not be around in Ontario next year to see it.
What a feeling. Where will I be? What will I be doing?
At this point, who knows.
It will all come together.

Next booking is for Three Bars Ranch.
They are calling me back next week to confirm the time and duration I am selecting.
Again, it's all starting to come together.

My manager, K , saw me the other day and she said again how excited she is for me.
Seeing her joy and the support of my friends (thanks A for the suitcase, it's gonna be perfect, hmmm, wonder if it's been to Germany and the Czech Republic before) makes the planning all that more exciting.

There certainly is a sense of relief having the travel plans made more concrete.
Phew!

Off to find more decorations...

A New Toy and Bookings

This is the my first post using my new MSI netbook.
This is the little toy that I'm going to be taking on my travels.
It's really nifty. Small, lightweight and easy to type on.
And it has a camera in it for Skype.
One more thing to figure out! It'll be fun to try it out.
The netbook is just a wee little computer but has so much memory (for pictures and stuff) that I'll be able to install all sorts of fun stuff on it too.
The keyboard is a little smaller than a usual one but actually seems easier to use!

My manager at work has put through the official documentation for my leave.
(Thank you K!!)
It's really going to happen!
I'm really going to do this!
Wow! Now it seems really real!
Oh boy.

Tomorrow I will be booking my week at the dude ranch in Cranbrook.
I save $200 if I book by November 30th. That's tomorrow!!
It seems like some of the plans are so easy to think about and wonder what should I do but now it's coming up to actually booking things.
Makes it very permanent. Very nifty.

I'll be emailing Connie to book my flight to Prague tomorrow too. No time like the present. Get it all done and organized and I can start to tell folks what I'm up to in real terms with dates included.

The next thing is send a list of the things I want to do in Prague to my cousins. There are so many but I have narrowed it down, I think...

I got a travel magazine from California last week. Man, is there a lot of stuff there. I think I could spend a YEAR just in California. I still want to see a Sea Lion and hug a huge red wood. There's so much else though.
I might find that with a lot of states though.

By one month, Christmas is over and it's nearly New Years.
In 5 months I'll be in Prague at this time.
In 6 months I may have my new vehicle.
In 8 months I will be on the road seeing the sights.

Unbelievable!

Pictures...

Plans continue to develop. It's a slow process but I know the days will move along and then my departure to Prague date will be upon me!

My cousin V sent me some pictures recently via email.
I love pictures.
It brings me closer to them, the country and to what I'm going to see.

She sent me a picture of a cottage in the mountains that my father worked in.
I didn't know he did that.
I think there is so much that I don't know about what he did in his life before Canada.
I am so looking forward to learning about that.

Dad told me many stories but I know he left much out, perhaps to protect me, perhaps to protect himself from reliving it.
I know he had struggles, I know he had triumphs.
I know I'll learn as much as I can about all of those things.
I can't wait!

I will take hundreds of pictures.
I want to take it all in.
I want to remember it forever!

There is also a picture of my cousin golfing in the mountains.
This is exciting!
I think I might have to pack my golf shoes!
Imagine!
Golfing in the Czech mountains!
The Mother will be jealous.
I don't care how poorly I play, I'll be in the MOUNTAINS GOLFING! Wow!
I wonder if the courses will be open in April when I am there?
Hmmm,
Another question to ask.

As the days are long with their lack of daylight it's so nice to have something great to dream about!

And so it continues....

Toys on the List, so far...

As I begin to peruse the travel books and brochures that I have so far for the road trip I think about what "things" I'd like to have along with me.

Well, I need to keep the blog up so I need a computer or access to one.
Add a netbook to the list.

I will be taking a bizzillion pictures I assume.
The Man currently has me in training to take the camera EVERYWHERE and take pictures.
I can always delete the fuzzy ones later but I can't do that if I haven't taken the picture.
Good philosophy...
So, netbook will be handy there.
Might need another disk for the camera.
Add that to the list.

What if I take so many pictures that I want to save them on something else.
Add a larger capacity memory stick to the list...
Oooh! Sale on 8 gig thumb drives at The Source.
That's now off the list.

What about auxilary transportation while I'm on my road trip.
Hmmmm.
A bike!
Great!
Not great if it's hanging on the back of the vehicle for a multi-thousand kilometer trek.
Get a little bike.
Huh???

Research folding travel bikes.
Ah! they do exist!
Go to the local bike/sports store.
Get advice. Go to bike store at Bloor and Spadina that specializes in folding bikes.
Ah ha!
Thinking that a small folding bike (some come with a carrying case!) will fit behind the seats in the back seat of the vehicle.
Very nice idea....
Won't be off roading but will be able to "go for a ride". If I want.

Looked at luggage today in Winners. Still don't know what to do there... Back pack or suitcase type thing for the Prague Pilgrimage.

That's on the list too.

Oh yeah, and hiking boots, and good hiking socks (many pairs),
better get some crease free travelling pants (sounds like a movie to me),
oh yes, and some Czech money; Crowns I think they are... I better research that more...
I think I'll need a list of at least one laundromat in each province and state (I guess I'll have to do laundry at some point along the way) ,
a map of the Oregon trail,
a Cool-a-tron (to keep things cool on the road trip), we used one on the last Girl Guide trip I was part of out east.
and the list just keeps growing and growing.  

I tell you I just don't know how people travel "at the drop of a hat"...

OOoh, a hat! I'll need a hat....
probably a touque too....

EEEEKKK!

On Retreat

I think everyone should have the opportunity to retreat.
The word says it all.
R-E-T-R-E-A-T

Go away to somewhere that is either different than your regular life or just retreat into yourself for some reflection, renewal or a personal time out.
I decided a few weeks ago to do that and made a reservation at a perfect spot for a retreat.

One of my special places on earth (other than Southampton Ontario) is Ste. Anne's Spa and Inn near Cobourg, ON. You just have to walk in the door and the scent of the whole spa experience hits you and you immediately start to relax. I do anyway.
For the first time ever I decided to stay overnight. Actually, two overnights.
I figured this would be good practice for my travels in the next year that will be done solo.
Can I cope just making idle conversation with those around me? Or just sitting silent and listening to those around me chatter?
No problem there. Passed that test.

Actually I spent a few days just reading, relaxing, enjoying a long hike in the woods and hills around the spa. I read a book! I was empowered. I was pampered. It was great!
For most of the time I didn't speak to anyone, other than placing my order in the dining room for a meal.
I spend my days talking, mostly to strangers, in my job. It was sooo refreshing to just sit back and listen to the world around me.

As I walked through the forest early Sunday morning, the frost was still clinging to the tips of the branches of the cedars, I realized that I need that "nature break" in my life or the concrete world will get to me. Many of the travel books I looked through I was drawn to the "natural wonder" section of the book. This is where my focus will be for my trip I think.

As I sat in one of the andirondak chairs on the south lawn at Ste. Anne's listening to the world getting ready for winter,  I thought what a great scene it was. Dressed for the cool weather I just sat and watched Lake Ontario in the distance and the rest of the outdoors just be.

The retreat concluded, as all breaks do, with a trip back to reality. I made this trip a nice gradual one by avoiding traffic (as best I could) on the way into Toronto. Dropping my things in the apartment and promptly lying down for a snooze in the sun on my futon.

Tomorrow will be another day....

Reading Material....Tons of it

Well, after sorting through websites and advice and thinking "what if", I decided that a travel agent would be the person that will help me the most in the planning and moving towards booking this adventure.

With my CAA membership card in hand The Man and I dropped in to check out if they were busy at the local CAA store on the weekend. They weren't! Yay!

So, after explaining what I was after, C, the agent, entered all my information in to her snazzy computer and she has my plans in her sights.
This is a relief that I have someone professional making all the inquiries and bookings for me.
I guess I just got overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to do this all myself.
Interestingly though, she seemed to overlook the comments that The Man was making regarding going first class.
Was it our appearance? Did I not stress it enough?
Hmmm
I will email her and let her know that I'd like to travel in some level of luxury. Maybe in the train to Prague? Maybe in my flight over to Europe?
Just interesting that she was trying to find the "best deal". Which, I don't mind, but interesting perception.

This weekend, on my personal retreat weekend, I plan to scour through as many travel books as I can, sticky notes in hand and my "Book of Lists" handily at my side as I put together a Must Do/See list for the cross Canada trip.
The books that I have ordered from the different provinces have begun to arrive. Saskatchewan was first and then PEI. I figure Saskatchewan WANTS people to visit so they're just jumping on any request.

My cousin, A-M, has put me in touch of a former room mate of hers that organizes Heli-hiking tours. Very, very cool! Fly up to a very remote part of the Rockie mountains, hike with a guide, get picked up again and back to the lodge! Wow! Very exciting stuff.

The arrival of the travel guides has really started to make this trip a reality for me. Now I have concrete stuff to make PLANS with.

Wheeee!

Finding the Right Direction

Plans continue to come together and though the "I want to see/do" list is getting longer the questions mount up too.

I've researched a "dude" ranch or guest ranch as they are also known. This one's in British Columbia!
It offers morning and evening rides, meals, evening entertainment of some kind (like a Wrangler vs. Guest volleyball tournament!), a bar, fly fishing instruction (never done that), trap or skeet shooting instruction (never done that either) and a horse for the duration of the stay.
The horse is "mine" for the time I'm there and I learn to tack it, brush it, feed it and muck out it's stall.
It really sounds rather neat.

I've also be looking at the Oregon trail and the drive down the west coast to California. I'd like to go to Big Sur, the Red Wood forest and see a sea lion in the ocean. 

As you can tell the concrete jungle is getting to me and I'm imagining seeing the "wilds" of North America in the next while. There's so much to explore.

Many folk have offered ideas of things to see and they get jotted down in the trip book to be researched and thought about.

Last week, with the help of the internet, I asked for tourism books and travel guides to be sent to me from all the provinces and many states. The mail box will be filling up soon I hope.

As many people have suggested that I book things for my trip on line it all seems rather foreign and out of touch to do it that way. With time on my side I'm going to go to a travel agent and as them to sort it all out for me. The big stuff anyway. The driving trip I can manage much of on my own.

I'm narrowing down my travels in Europe and would really like to take a train through part of it.
The Alps would be fantastic to see by train I think and with my love of the mountains it seems to obvious to do that. Now I just have to figure out from where.

So as I continue to look forward I'm seeing a plan slowly start to come together.

Here we go!

To Be Free...

As I travel on a crowded subway to and from work or look around the busy streets of Toronto I wonder what it will be like to be free.
Free of the commitments of work,
of HAVING to be there.
What will it be like to be free of the congested travel of the subway?
Will I miss the chaos?
Doubt it.
Will I miss the convenience of "having someone else do the driving"?
Maybe.

Last weekend I travelled to Niagara Falls to play a couple rounds of golf with a good friend B.
She is a good golfer.
I'm passable.
It was fun.
The weather was perfect.
The plans worked perfectly.
My golf score wasn't great but...
it didn't matter.
For 2 days (3 if you count the day off after the trip) I was free.
I was a tourist.

I have to get into tourist mode.
I spend my weekends with The Man and the beloved dog in a touristy area of Ontario but we aren't tourists. It's our life there. We have commitments, friends, places to live. We don't act as tourists. We organized, plan and strategize our time together, as it is limited. I have to get back to the crowded city....where I don't always feel free.

To be a tourist is to be free!
Interesting concept.

In the coming year I plan to investigate this concept FULLY!

Where will I be?...

When I plan something as big as what I think I have in store for me I am already putting plans together for NEXT year at this time.
Will I be in Ontario?
Who knows...

As we watched the "Thanksgiving Classic" from Winnipeg I thought "that would be fun to go to next year".
Hmmmm

Someone, on the weekend, suggested I be in California on New Years Day 2012 to go to the Rose Bowl.
Hmmmm
(Can you tell I'm a football fan?)
Where to start? Where to end?

It's such a strange feeling to be "unscripted" in my plans.
All my life I have been scripted in my agenda, times, schedule, departures and arrivals.
What's it like not to have an agenda?
To go somewhere and see something just because you can.
Most people I know NEED to have an agenda to feel they are contributing to what ever they are doing or being. I've fallen into that trap. It's very strange to know it might not be that way in the coming year.
Selfish?
Everyone is telling me this adventure is one of a lifetime.
I have to keep remembering that...

So far all the plans have been fitting in so well. I have contacts in Texas, Florida and Arizona..
Hmmmm
Someone told me tickets for the Phoenix Coyotes games are only $20.00.
Hmmmm

But I digress...
The book of lists is getting longer.
Then my co-worker lent me a book on Prague.
Oh my!
There is so much to see!
The lists continue to grow.
My Prague cousin has told me that they have plans to show me all the places that were significant to my father.
Wow!

This is GREAT!

Questions, Questions....

My mind is constantly whirring, thinking, planning, "what if-ing". I have months to go before I leave for Prague and then my road trip but there is so much to think about.
I have started a "Book of Lists". There is too much for my little brain to hold.
EEEKKK!!

First off I have discovered what it will take, financially, to keep up my pension at work.
When I've put in this many years of service, I don't want to lose it.
Then benefits. What do I need to do to keep those up while I'm on my Pilgrimage?
Right, check that off the "investigate" list.

Little things like do I need a visa (the document, not the card) to travel to the Czech Republic?
What about Czech money? Where do I get that?
OH my brain's overloading.
One thing at a time....

When I set up this blog I meant it to be a report on my pilgrimage not only to Prague, Czech Republic but also my travels across Canada and the States.
There's so much to plan for that too.
I like to have plans set down, for the most part, I like to know what I'm going into.
But
I've never done anything like this before.
I'm glad I have time to figure it out.

A member of my extended department at work just came back from 3 weeks travelling the east coast. I need to pick her brain. What was good, what wasn't?
Another friend told me about a Boston Beer Festival held in June.
Oh my...
I need to add these all to the list.
What would I like to see? What are my "must do" events and attractions?

Some folks have asked if it's hard to know that I'm going on these adventures but they're not happening for some time.
I say, that's perfect!  I need the time to make the best plans all work out and fit in as much adventuring as I can.

Oh yes, I want to go to a working Dude Ranch in the West too!
More to figure out....

Making Contact

It never ceases to amaze me how the world is so small when it is connected cyberly. In the past 2 days I've had two friend requests on Facebook from my cousins in Prague. This is amazing!

My aunt responded to my email letter and it seems like the whole family is very excited about my impending visit.

Years ago my cousin V. and I used to write long letters on that really fine, thin, tissue paper like air mail paper and tell each other what they were doing.
We've fallen out of touch. She married and with children and me school and working.
In one moment, one click of a button (send) we are connected again. On Facebook I can see pictures, as they can of me.

I get the feeling that we are not that far apart and when we meet we will find that we are very close. Perhaps we even look somewhat a like.

A number of years ago I met my cousin T. and his wife when they came to Canada. I still remember seeing him for the first time and how he looked like my Dad with a full beard (I have one picture of that from the 40's). It was eerie. We had a fabulous time visiting.

My list of things to check out and have in place is growing. Having so long to plan is not a bad idea. Things like travel insurance, backpack or suitcase, take the cell phone or not and what highlights I want to see in the Czech Republic.  I don't want to miss a thing.

And so it continues....

The Gift

I have been provided a gift. One that is incredible and sad all at the same time.
This gift is going to give me the opportunity to do things I never thought possible.
But...
It's scary all at the same time too.
First of all I'd like to thank a few people for their support and encouragement through this process.
My CLM at St. Mike's and my colleagues there.
My friends and family for giving me ideas and tips.
and
My man for already worrying about me as I begin my Czech It Out Pilgrimage.

You see I am half Czech.
(The other half "O Canada"!, thanks Mom)

My father was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (as it was then known) in 1925.
He escaped and through various channels arrived in Canada in the early 50's.
He never returned.
He passed away in Southampton Ontario in 1979.

I am going on a pilgrimage to return to his country, his city and his family.

I hope to see things he saw, be where he stood and be with his family in their homes.
I will take his spirit there and join it with the niece and nephew he never met in their adulthood and share stories and pictures.

I will do my best to keep this up to date with the challenges and celebrations that come with a plan like this one.

But the Pilgrimage doesn't end there.
I'm half Canadian too!
I proudly wear (permanently) the Canadian flag on my person, as well as the Czech flag.
I'm going to see this county from one end to the other.
PEI to Victoria BC.
Prairies and mountains and lakes and fields. (Oh I hear a song coming on).

It will be an adventure!
It will be a challenge!
It will be a Czech It Out Pilgrimage!