Ugh, this semester is almost over, thank the Universe!  Man it has been a trip for sure.  

What from having the idea of losing my job due to the economy hanging over my head among other things and culminating with breaking up with the woman I fell in love with and me moving out of our apartment I think I'm ready for a vacation!

Ahh yes so the semester is closing and I will have a 16 day break before my first summer session.

Exciting, now what is a Journeyman Wanderer/Ponderer to do?  Go to Canada!

I am going to clue everyone (no one?) that is reading this to a little secret, I like going on trips, not just trips though but adventures.  Maybe it's because I grew up riding my bike from city to city, or the fact my mom is a flight attendant, I don't know.  Nothing gets me as excited as the thought of going somewhere new.   

What do YOU do when you go to a new city?  Do you go to the same old touristy places and the flashy restaurants where the servers sing to you and write their names on the table?  I surely hope not!  There is a show that locals give to tourists, it's the same old song and dance that they give all the tourists that float through as they try to get your money.

That is what it comes down to, if you go somewhere as a "Tourist" you will NEVER see the real people.  I once read that if you go somewhere as a tourist the natives dance FOR you but if you go and walk through the communities as a person you will dance WITH them.

What is the difference?  How do you become a person and not a tourist?  Well it's really not very hard.

First off dump the ego, dump the flash, get rid of all the thoughts that you have about the people and the place that you will be visiting.  Never go somewhere with preconcieved notions of how a people are going to behave.  Don't sterotype, if you do you will be written off so quickly that your head will spin.

So there is my Travel Doctrine.  Now what will I do with it?  Well my plan is to jump on a plane and head to Vancouver.  What will I do when I get there you ask, well I'm not really sure.

I do know that my goal is to NOT pay for lodging.  For a week.  I might end up sleeping in a park or Squatting at UBC or meeting random people and staying with them.  I don't know!!!!  

This trip will go down along side the 33 hours I speent in Maui and the 24 I spent in New Orleans, which was really nice and is where the picture is from.

So wish me luck guys and don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone a little!  You'll never appreciate things as much or have the possibilities if you don't.