Ventura

The beach and pier along the shores of Ventura.














Hollywood

Los Angeles

I officially feel like I am on the road.  I feel like a vagabond alas' once again.  After arriving to a beautiful, warm day in LA yesterday I was able to make my way to Ventura to visit Shauna.  Shauna, FYI it takes about 5 hours to go from LAX to Ventura if you use public transit.  If you know the system I am sure it could be done much faster, but I'm a tourist I took my time and got on and off a number of times.  Shauna was able to tour me around Ventura and it is a really beautiful city at day and at night.  It is nestled between the ocean with a lovely broad beach and these jagged mountain like hills.  Tonight I'm in Hollywood checking the place out.  I am taking requests if you want a picture of your favorite star's names on the Hollywood walk of fame.  I'm off to Universal City.

Avoir

Well I'm off.  Flight seems to be on time.  Will find out soon enough.  Still don't have my passport so my first week may be interesting as I make my way into Mexico.

Logistics

Logistics, this is one word that I am currently not enjoying.  The paperwork to meet entry and exit requirements to a number of countries has been giving me a few troubles.  Most countries policies are no hassle for the ordinary vacationer who simply plan on flying in, staying for a week then flying home.  The method of travel that I am using (via buses and a few flights) has been difficult in providing proof of onward travel arrangements since at least for the buses I would rather not buy the ticket until shortly before I leave for my next destination.  It should be interesting how it will work out over time.

Routes and Packing

Now that I have most of the essentials for traveling I'm starting to get everything ready for the road.  Right now I can get everything into my 40 litre pack without any trouble, but I am sure I will start stuffing in unneeded things just to make the pack heavier.  The route I plan on taking is starting to form certain paths and I am getting a few dates here and there for a couple flights that I will be taking along the way.  The exact towns and villages I will spend time in are still unknown, but a few major attractions that I plan on spending time at are starting to appear.  Hopefully in the next two days I can have a fairly well detailed Plan A route mapped out.  If I will stick to that planned route who knows?

Halifax

When I last was in Halifax back in mid December there was a fair amount of snow and many of the lakes where frozen over.  Now getting well into January the snow is gone and the lakes look like you could go for a swim in them (tempting at least).  Personally I love the warmth we have been getting, it's a great change to the ordinary drabness that the month of January produces. 

Crazy Pills

My doctor gave me some Lariam (an anti-malaria pill) the other day to try out. The reason I have to try it out is that some people who take it go crazy, literally! They start hallucinating, don't sleep well and have crazy, vivid dreams. Thankfully I haven't gone crazy yet (or have I, would I be able to recognize it in myself if I did). I will let you decide that on your own.

Central and South America

If you have heard the rumors, it's true (no I'm not engaged or married).  I mean the rumors about me heading South for the winter.  I have a flight booked to Los Angeles then from there I will commence my journey into Mexico and will steadily continue making my way South.  Today I received my shots and got my prescriptions so i am ready to get on the road.  The only little minor detail holding me back is that I don't have my passport as of the writing of this blog entry.  It is suppose to be here by early next week.  As for travel plans other than where I am flying to and flying home from I don't have any particulars of what my travels will entail.  I hope to be able to keep my blog up to date while I travel so check it out once in a while.

A Black Hole

A Black Hole of thought and contemplation has engulfed me over the past few weeks.  A great variety of ideas, meditations and thoughts have been pondered over till the early hours of the morning for many days and many night.  Finally I have been set loose from this Black Hole of contemplation and placed back into this real world of mass communication.

Sugarloaf

How can something that makes people so sore be so much fun? I was over skiing & snowboarding at Sugarloaf for the past few days. The weather was excellent and the snow conditions were great for this time of year.