15 seconds of fame in Halifax…As per last post, I had been trying to recruit friends to go to the Polar Bear Swim at Herring cove 2009. Unfortunately it was a massive white out blizzard the morning of the New Year. I woke up with coffee strapped me like an IV and called up the crew. Nope. Nope. Completely snowed in? You are how far? Nope. Fine. No crew. My brother in law Matt and I shoveled for 20 minutes. I got my bathrobe ready and we drove very slowly through the white out to Herring Cove. When i got there there were maybe 8 of us, and we could drink all the red bull we wanted…as we were oddly sponsored? Total maybe 20 die hards (of the usual 75+) showed up, and I …I was jumped number 2. Mom pictured above passed me the towel. The next morning I got a text from a polar bear alumni Stephanie who said I was famous.
I. am. Halifamous….boom.
life is a blog.
After following blogs of traveling friends over the past 5 years and reflecting on my own, I have noticed a few trends I will call the Blog n’ Go Curve:
- The mass email announcement of blog, “a way to keep in touch”
- The first message stating welcome
- “Only a few more days, here are pictures of the Good Bye party”
- “I made it! Internet is hard to find”
- Big long updates with many pictures and detailed itineraries
- “Life is interesting and exotic here, I have already made these friends”
- Less updates, less pictures
- “Life away is tough, I miss home, This place is weird”
- One really big reflective update “this is a meaningful experience”
- Less updates
- Short recaps
- Long time with no blogging
- “Sorry I have been out of touch, been busy, I will be home soon”
- “Wow its been a year since I made this, kind of forgot, I’m doing something else now, here is a funny link related to my former life”
And so it goes…
In a way it relates to the Sargents Curve or, Cultural Adaption curve. We all go through it, with new jobs, relationships and it is very obvious with traveling volunteers in a year placement. The exciting up and downs -> the honeymoon -> the straight down everything is miserable -> and the final everything isn’t so bad and I can deal with it/ or I cant deal with it so I go back immediately to what i can deal with (fight or flight/ adaption).
In my experience with wacky volunteers, the full curve will happen between 7-9 months. If you end up with only 1-2 months you leave on the end of the honeymoon, and at 4-6 months you leave possibly at the worst time when everything seems not to have worked or things just start working without any progress. So, if you want a full learning intercultural work experience 7 months + is minimum in my view. As for blogging, if you have stopped travel blogging it could mean you have adapted well enough that your traveling life doesn’t seem too superficially amazing enough that you have to tell people how different it is - which is good, but bad for your parents and their friends who want to check for updates of your life as you have forgotten to call them to tell them you are alive.
without permission, here are a few travel blogs that keep I check in on, Chris and Glens blog are updated regularly (they keep traveling or are just that interesting)
This guy has been traveling the world by foot, he started out at the bottom of South America and walked all the way up to Alaska, ACROSS the ice into Russia. The sad part has been the past 2 years, where he made it to Russia but because he did not enter at an official port (shock!) , he had to return to Alaska and do it again. I think this put a major damper on his trip and he is now desperately seeking funding.
I met Chris while studying at the University of Otago in New Zealand. The first time I met him was the first week of binge drinking activities for new students - on my 5th night I told him I was going to take a break and he said “Geezz… and you call yourself Canadian???” He is one of the most traveled peers I know and does a fine job at updating his life online, great photographer too.
I recently saw the short film Treevenge, somehow related to Glen Matthews (i forget how?), local up and coming haligonian filmie I suppose would be the correct title. He keeps his blog regularly updated and, dare i say, quite witty, humorous and timely (timely?). Not sure how I ran into this blog as I have never met the guy - but there will be a time when I introduce myself and give him the creepy “I mentioned your blog in my blog” speech. creep.
4 months after left Joburg, I no longer can say I just came back from Africa.
-My life , far from Zambia. Snow, rain, ice. Ups, downs, waiting. Work, relax, boredom, Work. New, friends, old friends, great people. Family. Snow, rain, ice.
This month will decide a lot of things, or I will find out news that will encourage me to make brash decisions. I will hear back from The University of Toronto where I have applied for M.ed in Adult Education and Community Development. Two unbelievable jobs will tell me thumbs down or thumbs up for an interview. Scholarship thumbs way up or inexistant. Or perhaps possibly a real full time job will appear out of thin air in Halifax - as I hear the non profit business is booming in a recession.
Need a photographer? find Jeff mccrossin - thanks for the snow tea and photo Jeff -
What else.. speaking at Dalhousie University about Development through Sport this thursday…wrote an angry article 7/10 comments disagreed with on Taking it Global here …and I try to do something cold every cold week - ice climbing, hiking, snow shoeing, down hill skiing, cross country skiing, winter surfing…All these things are very possible in Halifax and close.
Nova Scotia at its coldest
KC and Julie whisper in the winds off Penant Point, outside of Crystal Crescent Beach
Outside of Wolfville where Acadia Unversity is found. Mud Cliffs and out of focus lends - photos from CailinOneil
Williams Lake, this has been a mighty winter for skating. The empty lake I swim near my house.
My new girlfriend. Sadie Catherine Stockwell - 18 months. My sisters child is precious. She spent 2 weeks with me at home. Everyday I would force her with tickles to say my name ” sayyyy NIIIICOOOO…say it…say NIII…COOO”…..everytime the same thing. a smile. a point. “Doh Doh!!”