Canada
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Sḵwx̱wú7mesh [Squamish] from the sky
Hi friends, I hope you all had as good of a summer as I did, though it is coming to an end. After coming back from Europe, I was supposed to spend two weeks in Squamish with Lisa, Felipe, and Matt before road-tripping through Washington and Oregon for the summer. I was craving the ocean, the sound of waves, and the feeling of surfing. However, Squamish is a vortex filled with beauty and adventures that is really hard to leave. I am writing this post after spending the last three months surrounded by the mountains, rivers, forests, and seas of the Squamish Nation. I was extremely lucky to meet Lisa…
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Veut, Veut Pas, I Say Goodbye
Hey friends, I hope you are well. It has been an emotional roller-coaster for me. First, I visited my mum and her family in Washington DC. My sisters and Michael, my brother-in-law, surprised me by coming as well. While revisiting some of the big institutions of the country, we also reconnected with family members we never really knew. We got very lucky to spend time with some wonderful women who shaped who my mum has become and impacted our lives without us knowing. Spending time in this country, with people who had met my grandparents and who loved my mum as their daughter, was a very intense identity reconstruction for…
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Eileen does not like the Canadian West Coast
Hey friend, Lisa and I have gone on quite a few adventures since the National Parks. We traveled through Revelstoke and sipped on delicious maple syrup gin while bathing in natural deserted hot springs. Tall pines and waterfalls were just the cherry on top! Exhausted by all the traveling, I stayed back in Whistler for a few days. There, I enjoyed some wonderfully sunny days and a lively ski town with loads of tourists. I don’t know if it’s the 9 months of living in somewhat remote places, but I did really enjoy seeing crowds of people strolling through shops and pedestrian streets. I also met three Australian guys who…
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The Alaska to Canada Convoy – 2,500 miles
Howdy howdy friend, I left Alaska a month ago today and have travelled over 3,000 miles since. The Athletes Convoy and I drove from Palmer to Valdez through the Matanuska Valley and its beautiful mountains and blue rivers. Addie, Brock, Ryan, Ben, Slava, and I bought talkie-walkies, tested them on Fred Meyers’ parking lot, interrupted a serious cross-country race parental follow-up, and used them throughout our trip to organize our undecided group and take part in endless, probably useless debates. Our jumping-around at construction halts got a flagger to name us the Athletes and my slow-moving Eileen was nicknamed Mama Duck for leading the herd. After a little detour by…