Goodbye Vancouver!

Well I am pretty much packed. I cleaned what I could, and weighed my bag a million times (it varies but says I am half a pound within the limit). Tomorrow I have to go to the bank, and take in my license plates to buy my theft insurance and get credited for this month's driving insurance. Hoping to break even...

So this six week visit has come to an end. I feel very strange right now. I just checked in online for my flights... I have a window seat for both! Yay! It will be daytime while I am arriving and departing from London, so I get to see the city again in aerial glory :)

The past few weeks have been good despite the sleeping problems and occasional moodiness. Honestly, I think it has to do with the amount of caffeine and sugar I've consumed while here. I've drank more pop in the past six weeks than the past year!

I've taken my camera(s) out for some photography around town, but haven't really posted much yet. I made a back-dated post about NYC. Here's some more!

East Van on a cloudy day, walking around with Mac and the dog



In summer these streets rock









Kat, James, and giant cat



I knitted this!



Kendra and her cute rabbit



My street



Distant mountain seen from Langley



More Langley



Played with this one, also on my street. You can't really see my mountain too well in this one :(



Sexy leopard car!





at the cemetery I used to go to









If you go over a part of run-down fence behind the cemetery, there is this really nice field with a view of Langley Township. I revisited.











These next ones are from last weekend!

Mike on the bus in Vancouver



Van street art :)



friends @ Body Modification Shop/Art Gallery/Venue



Swa making sexy face



RIP Cobalt



Olympics shut down Granville so now there are more buskers and art installations!



city by day





Granville by night





I don't know if we were allowed but...





I have never seen so many Canada flags

What I am Packing this Trip

I weighed my bag and I was a few kilos over the limit, so I am currently typing with one shoulder to the phone with British Airways to ask if pencil crayons are allowed on carry on luggage.

Ah, after half an hour or so they answered and said yes! I am totally good for weight now. Phew. My arm is sore from holding the phone to my ear so long though. Fortunately they didn't answer when I was on the toilet, or when it was flushing :p That could have been awkward.

This round of packing has been more fun than last time, although more challenging. More choices, and more limits. Since I will be looking for work I want to bring stuff that will be good for handing out resumes etc, but I still want to have fun stuff and travel stuff. Plus it's an all-weather deal again... I am trying to remind myself that I could literally bring an empty suitcase and buy a whole new wardrobe there, but I already have so many clothes... do I really need to bring back a ton more? Especially when I am trying to conserve money.

I was hoping that after a year of limited clothing choices my shopping urges would diminish... but I kept looking at shops the whole time wanting to buy things! It never went away, which makes me wonder if liking lots of clothes is just part of who I am... Or that it's something I need to work on for another year.

Either way this is what I have packed so far. Big things I am planning on wearing on the plane. When I have the final cut I will edit accordingly:

• black long jacket
• hounds-tooth jacket
• rain jacket
• scarves
• owl mittens
• fedora
• furry hunter hat
• black v sweater
• purple sweater from Italy
• grey sweater
• Skulls Skates hoodie ( <3 )
• black long sleeve
• white cotton long sleeve (for Egypt) 
• white beaver long sleeve (thanks Jon!)
• green T shirt
• Bassnectar T
• black T
• brown tank
• black fitted sleeveless
• black halter
• checkered sleeveless
• grey business vest
• red dress
• checkered dress
• tutu!
• bee costume!
• green pants
• brown checkered pants
• jeans
• veggie pants
• black business skirt
• blue skirt
• green skirt
• purple skirt
• jean capri
• black cotton loose capri
• scandals
• heels
• boots
• travel shoes
• travel towel
• umbrella
• sleeping bag
• jewellery
• work stuff (massage)
• yarn
• knitting and crochet hooks
• feather crafts
• pencil crayons
• small watercolours
• book and paper stuff (work, legal, and craft)
• UKELELE
• LED hula hoop!
• SLR camera
• small camera
• electronic stuff
• 2 big purse, one small furry one
• small backpack (carry on)
• normal travel backpack (doesn't really fit as carry-on when full :( )
• gifts
• incense (not allowed to burn it at home so maybe I can finally use it)
• phrasebooks

 As you can see, I am having problems letting go of my stuff again. I just spent five weeks at home getting used to all my clothing and toys again... it's hard for me to just leave it all behind again so soon! Thus I am bringing a big load of silly things I love to keep me happy, entertained, and comfortable! I found a BUNCH of old photos that I have been scanning and loading onto my little hard drive too, so I will have lots of home memories like the time Marti, Taylor, Andrew, and I all went to Victoria and had an EPIC adventure!



and messing around the toy store with the girls



or dressing my male friends in my clothing for a show!



Sorry Marti but I had to. Technology is great sometimes :)

What I Packed Last Trip

Ok so I have been packing my house and my suitcase for a few days now... lots done but lots to pack still.

Currently it is looking like this:



Constantly changing my mind about pieces and rearranging, although remembering the hula hoop and travel shoes made rearranging things a lot harder so I think it will be decided by Sunday.

I found an old "checklist" of what I brought last time in my backpack, although I'm sure I'm forgetting things in all of these lists:

• maroon pants
• veggie pants
• hemp long sleeve
• green yoga tank
• striped T shirt
• black zip up hoody
• black & gray sweater
• brown skirt/shirt
• brown dress
• backless "dress" thing
• leather utility belt
• bathing suit
• gray leggings
• green hat
• purple scarf
• socks & underwear
• travel towel
• umbrella
• locks
• toiletries
• electronic stuff (phone, camera, etc)
• paper stuff
• first aid stuff
• raincoat
• fleece elf coat
• yarn

I acquired:

• black T with back showing
• turquoise halter
• green pants
• blue leggings
• feather craft stuff
• yarn
• gray T shirt
• leopard shoes
• socks
• black button up sweater
• purple tank
• long shorts
• yellow dress
• long black dress thing
• boots
• purple sweater

I got rid of (sent home) these along the way:

• black & gray sweater
• black T shirt with back showing (superglue incident not by choice)
• brown dress
• leggings
• purple pants
• umbrella (by accident)
• make-up
• black hemp shirt
• turquoise halter
• self-knit scarf (too bulky)
• leopard shoes
• long shorts
• yellow dress

 Looking at the numbers, I managed to come back with minimally more clothes, plus I had been getting rid of other stuff too other than fabric. It all fit in here...



... which is now covered in way more patches. Soon to be even more covered :)

Less than a week now until I am leaving again :-O

Itinerary Revisited

Ok so I did not do all the things I was planning on doing in one trip. Instead, I spent a year traveling here:

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I went through parts of the USA, Canada, and Europe. I could spend another year traveling through each place alone and still not see everything. I realized that while the thought of being permanently nomadic is still very appealing, I need places to rest, live, and work along the way. Otherwise I will be too tired and poor to take in all the beauty.

So my next trip is Berlin. My itinerary is as vague as my last one... Still want to make it to all those places but all in good time! Right now, I am going to attempt to patch up my savings account while doing trips around Europe and Africa. Anywhere close really... Middle East, Caucasus, etc depending on if/when I find work in Germany...

I have to come home after this year though to re-activate my license in time (don't want to rewrite the boards) so this round there is a time limit.

Packing Procrastination

Here I am in Vancouver, not packing up my stuff.

I am still experiencing problems sleeping, but I have at least two massages tomorrow (possibly more) so I have to try...

Packing is not going so fast. The suitcase is still empty, but I guess I after a year of living out of a backpack I am allowed to put it off until the last week. Thing is, I have to pack up my whole house again too so that is going to take time. If I don't know what I'm taking, I can't pack up the rest so I am going to have to get on it soon. I've been finding so much stuff lately, like my foxes:



This is my first day without a German lesson since I started! It wasn't planned; I just forgot to bring the headset out here and I can't start a new unit without speaking. I did finish the whole first disc of Rosetta stone yesterday though!! Plus, I watched Inglorious Bastards again tonight so I at least listened to the language... recognized more words compared to the first time watching too so that felt good.

My lack of packing and heavy drinking has also allowed me to finish a several-years-long occasional project of mine! I am super happy to see it done!



I still have the pattern and lots of floss left over since I ended up buying this pattern twice (fucked up the first one). Should be enough to repeat; you know how they always give you extra anyway...





if you want to try you are welcome to the supplies :)

It even ended up in a recent photoshoot of mine for stock photography, so maybe one day my cross stitch will be famous hahaha

Stanley Park Photos

I have been reunited with my SLR these days, so I took a drive around Stanley Park and took some photos of Vancouver :)





















These reflection shots are my favourite.... completely unedited too! There are more of them on Flickr :)

























Since I have changed the layout of this to be more photo oriented, I don't want to post EVERY single picture from my Flickr on here... but I will elaborate on that later...