Just NB

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Let's see if I can do the math here... In 24 hours, the Louis' girls will take a 7 hour flight to Paris, an 11 hour flight to Tana, and a 1 hour flight to Tamatave (Louis is meeting them in Tana and they'll spend the night). But, they don't leave until 7pm tomorrow, so really they leave in 27 hours, plus a 7 hour time difference....so that's 34 hours...plus the layovers...and the night in Tana....geez, I can't figure it out without having to add some accruals or something... Google is good for everything: They leave tomorrow night (their time) and get here on Sunday around 11PM (in Tana). So as of this post...only 2 days, 6 hours, and 41 minutes until they arrive in Madagascar (but not actually because THIS IS MADAGASCAR so I'm sure their flight will be delayed). (But close). Maybe life isn't falling apart after all.

I haven’t written anything interesting on here for a while because I had a whole lot of interesting to say. And if I’m totally honest, I don’t even know if I like it here anymore. I don’t know if I’m happy here. I don’t want to freak out my family that reads this, but I’m really unsure of what the next steps in my life are going to be. (Also, you can’t worry because you know whatever happens I always end up on my feet). Here’s what I know: I know that Louis would like to do another project and I know that I absolutely have no idea what I would like to do. His contract ends March 2014 (my current one ends May 2013), so he’ll stay at least that long. I think. I’ve considered not trying to renew (we all know the dramarama that comes with the contracts) and having a long distance relationship for a year. I’ve considered staying here another year (given the option). I’ve considered quitting and going back to Canada, live off of my savings and take an entry level job somewhere, just somet...

I've made my decision for January . This travelling thing is only going to last so long, so I'm going to take maximize the sh*t out of my travelling and go to Vietnam. Although I would have preferred to stay with Duvine , they don't offer many tours in January. So I'm using Butterfield & Robinson (which kinda seems a little extravagant, so I'm not sure what kind of co-cyclists I'll have). The plan is to fly from Tana to Johannesburg (because of flight times I have to spend almost an entire day there, which I hope to use as time to get a haircut & pedicure), then to Hong Kong, then to Hanoi. I would arrive in the evening, have the next day to myself, and then start the tour the day after that. I'm really looking forward to the lower mileage. We average around 25km/day which is about 15-20km/day less than the Piedmont tour is. Also, I see a lot of "flat countryside" and "fields". Hills can be good to break up the day, but ...

What started out as a " A blog to capture my travels, pictures, emotional breakdowns, and amazing experiences while I live and work in Madagascar and experience new places. " became a whole lot more than that. I post about my travels, certainly a lot of pictures, probably half of my emotional breakdowns (interesting to think back that I'd know I'd have them and want to write about them??) while working in the jungle and experiencing new places. I also blab on about random crap. Some happy. Some sad. Some that makes little sense to anyone else but me. I don't write a lot about a very big part of my daily life, and that's Canada. A whole lot of stuff happens while I'm away - like the daily lives of everyone I love and care about. I've had to learn how to miss people withouth it making me cry all the time. I think the first six months were the worst. And at the 8 month mark. Oh, and then there was Christmas 2010 -  that was pretty messy!!!! I've s...

I think I'm some kind of travel planning addict. All of my 2012 travel is planned and booked, and I'm moving onto 2013. (I'm trying to take the possibility of my contract not being renewed out of this equation which is next to impossible). My rotations dates fall end of January and end of March. For my March vacation, I've already decided to go to London and then onto Russia with a friend. For my January vacation, I'm at a bit of a loss. 1. Canada is very cold in January and I am VERY not used to it anymore. I know, I know, I sound pathetic, but seriously? The dry and the cold is like a gazillion times tougher on me than I ever could have imagined. 2. I wouldn't have seen my family since September 2012. If I didn't come home in January, I won't see them until May 2013. That's 8ish months. I've done that long before (I think), but I'd need to figure out how I can still feel a bit more connected to Canada than I currently do. I've real...

Ahh....the last day. I think I was pretty much ready to go home, even if Italy had been soooooo wonderful. We had a great breakfast and then were sent on the train (I hate the train I hate the train I hate the train. One day I will learn not to hate the train). And then that's when the chaos started. I was all like, "Ahhhhh, this is so great here, I have a new appreciation for life because of this trip. I'm not going to get excited and I'm going to stay calm and happy....". I got to the Milan airport to learn that all flights to London had been cancelled. I waited in lines. And then more lines. And then more lines. And then I got shipped on a shuttle to somewhere else (I think Italy has 2 airports but they are far apart), I got yelled at by a flight attendant for being so late (um...sorry, it's your company that sent me here!!) and then boarded the flight. I didn't take pictures but they served us freaky-freaky food. Clotted cream. CLOTT...

So Day 4 on the trip I was a drunk sloth . And enjoyed every minute of it. I slept so well and woke up pretty early, ready for breakfast. They had fantastic fruit, yogurt, nuts, all kinds of wonderful things that I just think are so incredibly fantabulous. I saw my guide eating (he had taken out one of our tour guests that wanted more mileage for the day - what a nut job!!) and just decided, that, yeah, I was pretty much done with biking. I loved the hotel, I loved the little town, and I loved not having pain every time I sat down (okay, I still had pain, but not like 'sitting on a bike seat' pain). I decided to eat breakfast, have a nap, and then go exploring.  So...this is a pretty small village, and my exploring didn't last very long. But I got out walking and taking random pictures (MUST STOP USING AUTO FUNCTION AND LEARN HOW TO USE THIS FREAKING CAMERA!!).  I would take pictures every time I saw a sign like this in case I got lost, I c...

Day four started off fantastically. I was a little sore from my massage the night before, but once I went and saw what they had for breakfast....I quickly forgot. That's fruit, REAL yogurt (like with fruit and honey, not sucralose and banana flavor), a cappuccino, and a WHOLE wheat croissant. A whole wheat croissant? I can get croissants here, or whatever, and I'm never like, Ohhhh, that's soooo good. This whole wheat croissant was amazing. Even a little more amazing with a kilo sufficient amount of Nutella. The second hotel had a dog. Who was soooo chill. I could totally relate. I couldn't get him/her to move. Which fits in well with the rest of the theme of my day, because... I stopped cycling. I cycled for maybe an hour or so? And then, I just had this like, feeling, where I was like, "I kinda don't to bike anymore". I totally proved to myself that I could kick ass and ride the bike as long as I needed to, but after three days and 100 or so km,...