ephemera

ephemera:  what a beautiful word. 

 

also known as:  

 

the various assorted suddenly found again surprise reminders

 of places past that put a big smile on my face. 

 

How's that for a run on sentence?



Last minute decision and it turned out to be a great one. 
Otherwise not much to do in Charlottetown on a Sunday.
Not normally a fan of musicals but it won me over and blew me away.
Highly recommended. 

 

Monod Sports, Banff AB.
They send a Thank You card signed by everyone at the store with each order.
The store has a long history with supporting mountain rescue programs.



Yummy reminders of Reykjavik.
Swiss Mocha and a couple of "Laki" cookies
to enjoy on the trip back to the airport.

 

If you want to eat here (The Clam Shack), be prepared to line up in what seems to be
a perpetual line of a dozen or so people -- Moves fast and gives you time to study the menu!
Their "lunch boxes" are quite filling (to me) and their lobster roll won again this year.
Preferred the covered benches facing the water vs the picnic tables facing the line up / street.
Chatted with a lovely couple from Boston who just decided to drive out that morning for some clams.

 

Future Travel

The gates have officially been opened... D wanted to let everyone know that although this down time was longer than previous, he knew it was going to happen.  I'm not feeling antsy to go away immediately or anything -- Far from it actually.  Just cannot turn my mind off from exploring and learning, even if it doesn't lead to anything concrete. 

A bit ashamed to admit I've burned up more hours researching new to me countries and logistics in the last week than I actually spent working.  Which led me to start my work week feeling as if it was already Thursday... Completely self inflicted. 

For me, it never hurts to understand how different regions of the world goes about doing things.  It might come in handy some day.  I just tuck away the knowledge for when an opportunity or desire surfaces and I'll already have a head start, or at least an idea if I'm interested or not. 

I'm happy though.  Have learned a whole lot, ruled out a couple of other places and approaches for now and although the current prospects frighten me a little, I have booked 2 hotels in the anticipation of new adventures.  Until I actually plunk down money on the flights, it isn't necessary firm but the picture of possibilities in my mind are getting stronger and clearer.  I'm slowly psyching myself up (and out) about it. 

I'm limiting myself to 3 trips next year (We will be heading out west also but I don't consider that a "real" trip, instead a visit home) so the goal is to make them extra special.  It's a bit of a tall order as I've done some real peak (to me) discoveries recently.  And I don't mean financially going all out either. 

A better descriptor would be I'm aiming to push myself in a different way next year.  To stretch myself mentally and emotionally.  Despite always seeming to have a strong need to thrust myself "out there", I do feel I live in a bit of a protective bubble.  Time to start shaking things up gently.  We'll see how this all ends up going down.  It's easy to feel oh so brave in front of a screen. 

Food & Travel Update

I'm pleased to report that my food allergies did not impede my ability to enjoy my time in Barcelona.

My food emotions hit bottom in Venice last summer when everywhere I looked there were things I should not eat.  It was getting out of hand because I was turning every bite of food into a life or death thing when I was not anaphylactic to anything.  It was turning me into a freak.

To the point where I would almost starve myself instead of buying something to eat because there weren't any "good" choices.   I remember finally breaking down and buying something from a bakery in Riomaggiore at about 2:30 pm having not had lunch, knowing if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to eat until past 6 pm with all the ferries I was supposed to catch. 

I came home and told D that my travelling days were numbered if I could not see around the negativity.  I was questioning why I would continue to spend money and time to go when I could not eat the local specialties.  Sights alone didn't feel enough then. 

Even last Dec, when it came close to the time for our return to Munich, I was on the fence about whether I'd just ditch the trip.  D would have been fine going solo as he loved the city.  I just didn't need another reminder of what I couldn't do anymore.  I saw it becoming a lifelong disability.  When it is something you do on average 3 times a day for as long as you live, it's a big part of living.  And I felt myself denying its existence and fighting it mentally. 

We are nine months later (2 years since diagnosis) and I feel much more at ease mentally about the whole thing.  Part of it because we've had 9 more months of our new reality eating and feeling the cumulative benefits of staying away from certain foods.  It is also acceptance of what is.  Hard for me.  But incredibly healing when I am able to.  It took a lot of work to get myself to a better place emotionally as I saw it massively shrinking the enjoyment of the rest of my life. 

D has shown great progress with his allergies.  He can eat eggs again but not dairy, which he wouldn't if he could anyways having learning all he has about the stuff.  I seem to be able to tolerate small doses of wheat but still get stuffed up and itchy when I eat something with egg or dairy in it a few times.  I will enjoy an ice cream or a pastry when I'm away without being harsh with myself.   

Only had to take an antihistamine twice while away -- A record.  So I'm slowly starting to believe maybe I'm actually healing too -- A wonderful thing if it is true. 

Ironically the first meal I had upon arriving home set me off.  We stayed in the city that night as I flew in later than usual.  So we had a late dinner at an area restaurant.  I thought I ordered something safe but stuffed right up worst than after anything I ate in Barcelona (2 ice creams and 4 pastries). 

Really bothers me that food here can have so many things that have nothing to do with what it is.  Next time, I sticking with sashimi.  Other than the obvious soy sauce, it ought to be clean of milk, dairy, egg, wheat, nuts etc, right?!

Expedition Mindset

***Breaking News:  We just experienced a magnitude 4.8 earthquake!  Our Icelandic experience helped prepare us for sensation.***


The Greenland influence was all over this trip.  I couldn't help taking what I saw there, the expedition mindset and applying it to my life. 

If you haven't read the article The Executioner recommended, please do.  It is excellent.  What I wouldn't give to be that good.  I belong in the other camp, which favoured lightness and speed.

I've been travelling with just carry on for years (can you believe this last trip marked my 26th time to Europe?!  Me neither.  If D didn't ask me to tally it, I wouldn't have realized.) as I hate waiting for luggage especially after a long flight.  So how to improve?  By reducing weight further from a technology standpoint.  I went on this trip with a total carry on weight of 8 pounds, thanks to a new lighter pack that got delivered in the nick of time.

The last 3 years has seen the electronics part of my packing inflate with laptops, tablet (The initial attempt at improvement.  D has since hijacked the device.), phones, chargers, adapters. 

I decided on this trip to try using my Wi-Fi capabilities on my Blackberry for checking in for flights, email and for photography (5 mega pixel).  So, if you were wondering why all the photos looked chopped off and a bit boxy, there's your reason.  I wasn't able to get it to zoom or widen.  Likely just user error.  But the weight savings from not having D's camera or our tablet was worth it.

If you are considering doing the same, make sure you disable the roaming if you don't have an oversea data plan.  We've read horror stories of people coming home to thousands of dollars in charges. 

My phone didn't work well on the browser front at all.  It kept getting overwhelmed and conking out -- Blackberry Bold 9700, 3 years old.  Very slow and frustrating.  I had to ask D to check in for me for the flights home.  Trying to pull up weather took ages.  If you want to test your Mobile's browser capabilities, try pulling up the full sites of Delta, Air Canada or The Weather Network. Finally my Ipod is the original type so it weights a lot compared to the newer smaller styles.  

Because I was at the end of my 3 year cell phone contract, once I got home, we went to see what my options were for a device that could take the place of my phone, ipod, camera, and can function more like a computer. I opted for the Samsung Note II.  I can even edit my spreadsheets with it. 

Of course afterwards, I find out the next one may be coming out later this year...But so far so good.  We've both been very impressed.  It feels familiar because it runs on Android, just like our tablet plus I can write notes on it.  It is large so I use a headset to make calls. 

Guess this means I'm working another 3 years (This phone serves as my business line).  Signing this second contract wasn't as traumatic as the first one even though it is costing me $20 more per month.  I found out that the older Blackberrys compress data so they recommended upping my data plan to what "regular" smartphones use so I don't get dinged with extra charges.  And from what we are seeing so far (my new phone tracks data usage), they are correct. 

While we were at it, we explored newer TurboHub options as well as providers as our contract for that ended recently as well.  It is still the best option for us while at the cottage and serves as back up when Internet at home isn't working.  D has to have reliable Internet to be able to work from home, cottage or out west.  We happily pay extra for that privilege. 

This post has been brought to you from our new RocketHub.  D's currently working and we have 2 laptops and both cell phone browsers running (for testing purposes) and it is working like we are at home.  The real test will be when everyone else comes up for the long weekend and are using their devices...Happy Victoria Day Long Weekend Fellow Canadians!

2013 Travel

We are one step away from firming up our travel for the year.  Crazy I know, as it is only Jan.  This year's theme is "more relaxed".  No running around to 3 different countries in 2 weeks doing recon work.  I'm ready to settle down and enjoy more.

Last year I over did it (using turning 40 as an excuse) and got pretty tired out.  Happy but weary.  This year will almost (one small exception) be the exact opposite.  We will be renting apartments and staying put.

First up will be the Czech Republic (solo trip).  My last international flight seat mate (older lady I had to help get up and down) I wrote about last year left such an indelible impression on me, I had to follow through to visit her home country. 

One point.  Don't get caught like me.  Flight sales in Jan tend to be cheaper than in Dec, no matter how convincing their advertising may be.  I could have paid $65 less for my flight had I waited a few weeks.  Not a huge amount but when optional upgrades to economy comfort class cost $268, it could have gone towards that. 

I know nothing about the Czech language so will do some very basic work before I depart.   D really wanted to come on this trip because of the beer...But he will not give up his last 10 days worth of skiing and the next trip for beer...

Until I started my research on Prague, I had no idea how much culture there was there.  I've already bought a ticket to see a ballet and am tempted to go to the opera as well. 

If I get really lucky, I may just be able to avoid a major European snow storm during my transit days.  CDG, LHR and AMS are having a "fun" time right now. 

Upgrades!!!

I am super pumped because I just found out one of my flight segments was upgraded to First Class courtesy of Skymiles!

Not all of my flights are eligible as some classes of planes do not have a first/business class cabin. I place this perk in the "getting free stuff" category. I paid for economy.

The other segment of this westbound leg has been upgraded to economy comfort. Normally you would have to pay $100 for this. And I'm not even going to bother checking what it would have cost to fly first class because it is likely in the $1000s.

Not bad at all for a free program.

I'm off for the next couple of weeks. Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Pre Vacation Busyness

You know what the sure fire way for me to get even busier at work is?

Book a vacation.

Then referrals and clients start coming out of the woodwork. I only have time to see one new client before I go and have just referred the 3rd one yesterday.

Sometimes the missed business bothers me but if I focus on it, I would never go away and that's not an option.

The flip side is the extra craziness leading up to my departure which does a more than adequate job of exhausting me and making a vacation sudden necessity.

I can empathize with those who feel dread at vacation time in anticipation of the amount of work they will come back to.

Walking Away

I've been banging my head against the wall trying to schedule a couple of out of town courses as well as ceasing delivery of local free newspapers (been working on this one since Feb).

The pieces are just not falling together well. I've got D working on it now because I need to let it go before it drives me even more bonkers. Maybe I'm not meant to be taking those courses this year.

On a healthier note, I've been working out on my exercise bike again. It is nice to feel the blood pumping. Work has been at a low moderate pace and I like that it doesn't tax me too much. It's looking like a pretty ideal level for me.

Apologies to those well versed in Hawaiian but I am having a heck of a time keeping all the cities and islands straight and what there is to see there. All the different mountains and town names are getting mushed together in my brain.

I'm behind in my trip planning. Don't even have my airport transfers sorted or booked yet and I'm scheduled to leave in a couple of weeks.

Efficiencies

I'm pretty pleased with how my business procedures are right now. It's quite efficient. Over the last 3 months I've managed to shave off another couple of hours from the admin section, making it 6 hours/week.

Over 95% of people make their appointment online which cuts my phone time way back. When it comes time to renew my cell phone plan, I'm choosing a much smaller one for sure which will help reduce my business costs.

As much as some people like to complain about the inefficiencies of our government departments, I must say, those comments do not seem to apply to the passport division. My new passport came back today! That was fast (under 2 weeks!).

Next I will be updating my Nexus card info and supplying it to the airlines for my various upcoming trips. It seems like everyone needs your info in advance nowadays.

Passport Renewal & Health Checks

I decided to renew my passport sooner than originally planned because I had the time last week. In anticipation of future travel plans requiring tourist visas, I requested a passport book with extra pages for $5 more than the regular price.

It ended up costing me $92. Money well spent, in my opinion. Total came to just over $100 including my passport photos. And I'm good for another 5 years. I chose to keep my cancelled passport as a souvenir.

This past week was full of appointments. I got my teeth cleaned and my eyes checked (finally!) after 5 yrs. Teeth and eyes are both good -- Phew!

We are really lucky to have extended health care that covers 80% of most check ups. My eye exam cost $98 and my teeth check and clean came to $99.

My final Naturopathic appointment is this week. I started eating the foods I've avoided the past 5 months to see what effect they have. Eggs and dairy do bring on nasal allergies within a couple of hours so now I know.

Travel Languages

I'm not leaving anything to chance this time. When D and I went to Berlin, I left it up to D to learn enough useful German.

When push came to shove, D froze and started speaking French which didn't get us very far. I don't want a repeat of the stress of putting together words from our phrase book trying to book a cab for 5 am.

People told him he needn't bother because everyone spoke English. Not true. We didn't meet anyone who spoke English to us. Not even the cab drivers. And the restaurants we went to didn't have English menus.

I've used those "All Audio" courses before with success and I've started with the German one. D has decided to use Rosetta Stone. Between the both of us, we ought to be more successful this time around when we get to Munich.

Because we'll be heading back to Amsterdam too, I also want to learn some Dutch too. D's passing on this one. I managed to order french fries in Dutch the last time but failed miserably with ordering an ice cream cone.

Scandinavia

I've spent some time looking at this site by Hurtigruten. Their trips to Greenland are inspirational! A place I'm looking forward to visiting someday.

But first thing is first. I'm going to complete my visits to Scandinavia with a trip to Norway this summer. Planning to do some hiking and will likely be moved to take many many pictures as I sail through the fjords. Wish this trip could have included Svalbard. (I want to see an Ice Bear...)

This will be my "big" trip for 2012. Big referring to cost. Scandinavia isn't known to be cheap. But at least I will only need one currency.

The Amsterdam Story

D's boss is apparently still laughing over a story he told him about me in Amsterdam. I thought I had written about it but searching back here it appears I hadn't.

Also found out my subject tags and history search didn't work that well either but that's a different problem for another day.

The story begins in Berlin when I discovered and fell in love with a yogurt made by Movenpick. It tastes like whipped cream and my favourite flavour was mandarin orange/lime combo. I'm sure my cholesterol level shot up with each tablespoon but I didn't care.

In a land where you could buy a pint of beer at a grocery store for .35 euro, spending a few euro dollars per small cup of yogurt was a bit of a stand out. And again, I didn't care. I ate as many as I could. I don't drink milk but am a serious lover of whipped cream and cream in general.

Fast forward almost a year later when we visited Amsterdam and stayed on a houseboat. Imagine my delight (I believe I even let out a small scream of surprise) when I saw a large container of the dutch version of the Movenpick yogurt. Same coloured container, with the same print of the mandarin orange and lime slice on the front. I bought 2 each only costing over a euro each --cheap!

As soon as we got back, I tore open the tub and started scooping it down. OMG, did it ever taste good! D tried a couple of tablespoons and agreed it was so creamy and yummy. In my mind, I was trying to figure out where I could find a houseboat to buy and move to Amsterdam.

I was a 1/3 rd of the way down the 900 ml tub when I said to D I was going to dig down to the bottom to get to the fruit to balance out the creamy taste. So I dug and nothing. There was no fruit. I had manage to almost consume half a tub of whipped cream that tasted like the Movenpick yogurt.

It never occurred to me to google "slagroom" until now. I just assumed it was whipped cream and used up the rest of it (and 2 more containers) in my morning coffee (I don't drink morning coffee but happily did so as a whipping cream delivery system as D called it). Apparently I was doing a dutch thing without knowing.

Travel Tales

I'm writing from our hotel room. Our flight landing was aborted yesterday due to fog. So we spent the night at a hotel graciously provided by the airline.

As usual, there are the people who insist on complaining. Our new flight won't leave for a few hours so we'll be able to enjoy lunch here before departing.

D and I have somewhat confirmed our next trip in the spring. We will be returning to Germany and the Netherlands for 2 weeks.

I am awaiting the rental contract from the apartment rental company. Flights have been booked. Because it is spring, prices are higher. You pay more for warmer weather.

What balanced the higher flight prices was finding newer apartments more competitively priced making the over all trip cost reasonable.

Travel Necessities

My passport is nearing its expiry date. In my research into faster ways to get it renewed, I stumbled upon this super visa service site which not only helps you get travel visa (for a fee of course) but has the handy chart of the world's visa requirements.

Check out the requirements for a Brazilian tourist visa for fun...

Because a lot of countries have requirements that your passport validity must extend 3 - 6 months past your departure date, I always feel like I am getting jipped 6 months. This time around, I'll be cutting it closer.

When I come home from Hawaii, I'll have 6 weeks to get a new passport before my probable next trip -- Nothing booked yet but I'm looking.

Now that I've studied the world visa chart, I've decided I'm going to tackle the countries that don't require a complicated or expensive or time consuming visa application first. Mentally I'm lumping countries into easy, moderate and hard.

It would be great to find a similar chart for travel immunization and combine the two to get a realistic view of what it will take and the real costs of going to those places.

D's First Prepayment

D's post tax bonus showed up today and we are pretty happy about it despite the large tax bite (about half). Once the 2012 tax season rolls around, we'll get some of it back from the overpayment.

We applied most of it (I like round numbers) to "the car portion" of the mortgage. I prefer to keep the two separate in my mind. It was D's first prepayment experience and he now knows what it feels like to make a decent dent into the number. He liked it.

There was some back and forth as D debated whether he could afford the time off to come with me to Hawaii. In the end, he didn't want to use up so many holiday days (11) for this trip (Hawaii is not in his top places to see) so he is holding out to see where I go next 'cause he's pretty sure there will be another.

Pretty Christmas Views From Ski Condo

A New Year

We were really glad to have gone out at Christmas time. Originally the plan was to stay home and have a quieter time but this past season was the quietest we had primarily due to the economical slow down.

We experienced minor amounts of noise and just moderate crowds vs previous years where there were slews of kids running up and down the hallway. As selfish as this sounds, we enjoyed it. Tried a couple of new restaurants this year.

There were enough people to make the resort festive but not so much we got irritated. I'm sure the resort would have liked to be busier. We'll be back in about a month to help out the local economy.

Our new year's eve was spent on the plane home. We found a restaurant open for breakfast on New Year's day and ate a good meal there, followed by afternoon movies. Great way to begin another new year.

The only coming home surprise was a mailbox stuffed with mail. We paid to have our mail held (to give the illusion we are not away) so D is going to look into speaking with someone about what happened, how to prevent it, and getting our money back.

1st Trip 2012

The first trip for 2012 has been booked. Destination will be Hawaii for a couple of weeks. I've never been and am excited to get an overview of the islands.

I'm quickly finding out that helicopter tours are what people rave about and are the scenes from which people think of when Hawaii is mentioned. Not surprising, they are the most expensive tours. I'd like to take some surfing lessons. And eat some great local food.

Can't believe it has already been a week since I last worked. It hasn't felt like that long and it will be another week before I return to work. Not going to rush the time. I'm enjoying not having a schedule. This year was full of running around.

Settled In

I've been out west for the last couple of days. Takes a day or two to roll with the rhythm of this place. The snow is squishy and easy to ski on.

It will be a green Christmas back home with local ski resorts not at full opening yet. I feel bad for those businesses because they are relying on holiday business and I know a few kids who were looking forward to the holiday time ski and snowboarding camps. Not to mention the tobogganing and tubing fun.

I'm also wrapping up final 2011 expenses with what's left of income. We are anticipating some more expenses next week ie. new convection oven and pillow for me. On the list for this location was a new TV but to our surprise, we found out it wasn't the TV to be blamed for the bad picture.

It was the quality of the cable here. They must have fixed/upgraded it because the picture is much better so no new purchase needed. We are rocking a 22" CRT from who know how long ago -- came with the condo.

Merry Christmas to my fellow bloggers and readers. Here's to another great year!!!