For whatever reason, it seems like all I’ve done lately is a pile of traveling. And don’t get me wrong, a good deal of it has been for personal reasons, which is usually a lot of fun. But I just sort of realized how fortunate I am that a) my job frequently sends me places that are rather cool, and b) I somehow manage to save enough money that I can do some traveling on my own.
I thought I’d compile a short list of a few of the places I’ve been in the last few years, along with some photos and possibly a link or two to a blog entry. This actually seems like it might be fun, so it will probably be a bit long.
I originally went to Costa Rica since I was the best man in my friend Jeff’s wedding. We spent most of the time boogie boarding and eating nachos by the beach. The wedding day was actually a bit funny, because we were on the beach all morning, and then it was like “oh yah, I guess we have to go do that wedding thing real quick.” Great time though, and it was one of the best vacations I have ever been on.
In addition, Michele was one of the prettiest brides I have ever seen, and was the first one I had ever had the pleasure of photographing with my digital SLR.
There was a big telecommunications interop event in Tokyo last year, and my work sent me and two other guys to represent. Most work trips are usually stressful since there’s usually some kind of customer problem, however this one was fairly laid back and we ended up doing a lot of cool things. We hit one club that was open until 6am that was fairly wild.
Because I’m a movie buff, and I like Bill Murray and Scarlett johansson, I made a reservation a few weeks before the trip to have dinner at the New York Grill, which for those of you who have seen Lost In Translation, is where a good portion of the movie takes place. The bar is 52 stories above Tokyo in the Park Hyatt hotel.
Nearly two years ago I was attending an event in San Jose, California. My girlfriend at the time decided to meet me down there, at which point we rented a car and set out on a little adventure. We eventually made our way down the Monterey Peninsula, which was one of the prettiest drives I have ever been on.
One of the highlights for me was the seventeen mile drive, which takes you along some pretty scenery, the Lone Pine, and eventually the Pebble Beach golf course, where I bought my dad a few souvenirs.
I spent a week visiting Nokia in Finland back in March. Part of that trip involved hanging out in Helsinki, which is of course the capital. I was there mostly by myself, so I didn’t really get into too much trouble. It was rather chilly at the time, but the architecture was really amazing, as were the girls wearing short skirts in -10C weather.
I originally assumed I would be visiting the Nokia office in Helsinki, but when I arrived it turned out that there was sort of a miscommunication, and that I would have to get on another plane and fly to Northern Finland. Having spent some time in Whitehorse, I knew what to expect being that far north. It was fairly cool being a stone’s throw away from the arctic circle again. Oulu was a rather small town, but there was plenty of beer to keep us occupied. It was sort of cool to see everyone, while completely hammered, get on bicycles and head over to another bar, even though it was like -10C and snowing. I guess that’s how you get around there.
On my way back to Canada from Europe in March, I decided to take a little pit stop and see London for my first time. I only had half a day, but I managed to get in most of the popular tour attractions. I would have really loved to spent some time in St. Paul’s Cathedral, but I just couldn’t swing any more time.
It was a fairly cold and dismal day when I was there, and pretty much everyone I encountered was rude to me. I didn’t take it personally, but I’ll have to head back sometime before I really can say too much about London. I met a few people in the Dominican from London, and they were super awesome people who told me to come visit sometime.
This city really needs no introduction. Having spent my entire childhood in a rather small town, watching movies typically featuring New York, it had always been a dream of mine to visit it. So last summer I decided to grab a cheap flight and head out there for four days, completely on my own.
I found a cheap hostel downtown and spent most of my time exploring Midtown and Lower Manhattan. While some of my vacations typically revolve around sightseeing and relaxing, it’s fair to say that this one basically revolved around drinking.
My hostel was about a ten minute walk from Times Square, which made it fairly central to all the main tourist destinations. It was my first (and most likely last) time in a hostel, and it was a fairly weird experience that I don’t think I’d want to do again.
Being the nerdy and unusually charismatic person that I am, I somehow managed to acquire a whole pile of cell phone numbers from locals on my first night in the bar, so I spent a lot of time pounding back shooters and attempting to speak passable french to some locals who thought it was the coolest thing ever. I even met a bunch of Irish guys who, for whatever reason, thought Bryan Adams (affectionately known as the ‘Groover From Vancouver’ in Ireland apparently) was the best thing since sliced bread
I spent a good portion of my time during the days there just wandering around Central Park. To be honest, I pretty much fell in love with the city when I was there, and was a bit sad to leave.
I’d love to go back sometime if I can ever convinced my company to send me for something.
I love camping, and I really wish I had more time to go camping each year. In fact, my camping gear is basically always in the back of my car in the odd event someone calls me and says “let’s go.” Last summer I decided to take my new car on a road trip, and somehow ended up in Banff, Alberta.
I filled the campground up with a bunch of booze, and ended up hanging out with a group of Japanese people that were a load of fun.
When I got tired of camping I met my friend Joyce in Calgary and partied with her for a little bit, ultimately hitting a little town called Inveremere for a dragon boat party.
Back in June, my buddy Matt was house sitting a fairly nice house with a pool in Las Vegas, NV. On a whim, he decided to host a private party for some of his friends and a handful of fans in the area. Rebecca and I flew down to hang out with him for a few hours on his birthday and listen to him perform a few songs from Hospital Music.
Afterwards, Rebecca and I bounced around the strip for a few hours, eventually settling on a bar where I could work over an $18 margarita. It was insanely hot, somewhere around 40C in the early evening I believe.
Well, I live in Vancouver, so it’s not like a traveled to get here. However, this fits in nicely with talking about Las Vegas, since I first met Tony Pierce in Vegas at Matt’s birthday show. Shortly afterwards, Tony thought he’d come up and check out all the snow in Vancouver
On the night of the fireworks in Vancouver, I had a mini get together at my place and then we all headed down to the beach (which is only a short walk from my pad) to watch them.
I awoke early in the morning in Las Vegas and grabbed another plane, heading to the west coast again to spend a few days with my friends Jason and Sheila. I unfortunately got some nasty cold on the plane ride over, and ended up leaving early because I was feeling terrible.
I’m no stranger to Ottawa, having spent my first two years out of university living in the high tech sector there. At the time, I was part of a team of engineers that manufactured fiber optic components, many of which now make your porn and MP3 stealing possible. I recently ended up back there for my friend Rob’s wedding, and it was a really great couple of days that totally made me miss living out east. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think in general people are just a bit friendlier out there when compared to Vancouver. It was the first time in a long time where pretty much everyone I ran into gave me a huge hug (I’m a big fan of hugs), even people I hardly knew.
At about 2am on the night of Rob’s wedding in Ottawa, I had to leave so that I could make a 7am flight in Montreal which would ultimately put me in the Dominican Republic. I was actually going to get a $20 bus at around that time, but drunken Boris and a few other people convinced me that we should all get a limo and party all the way to Montreal. So, instead of a $20 limo, we all sort of split a limo to Montreal. Of course, Rob (the groom) packed it full of beers for us on the condition we take his little brother with us and show him a good time. Mission accomplished.
Prior to my injury last November, I was actually supposed to attend my friend Bob’s wedding in Mexico. However, due to the first round of surgery on my eye socket, I was forced to cancel that trip (and subsequently lost my entire $2000 I had spent on it). So, it had basically been about two years since I actually had a real, relaxing break. I had originally decided to spend a week just traveling around Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal on my own, but had a few friends ultimately convince me that it would be rather depressing. So, I ended up booking a last minute all inclusive vacation to the Dominican Republic.
I really didn’t know how the trip would turn out, since I didn’t really go with anyone in particular. However, I had a really great time, and met a lot of cool people from all over the world. It was a bit more low-key than I envisioned, which ultimately was probably a good thing.
Well, Seattle is pretty close to Vancouver, so I guess it’s not really that exciting. That being said, I got pretty exhausted from working earlier this year and ended up taking a week off. I didn’t want to go very far so I hit Seattle for a few days and explored.
Funny story. A few weeks before that, a recruiter from Seattle contacted me at work and asked me if I wanted a new job. Thanks to the power of google, I found out a bit about her, and had a pretty good idea that she was a drinker. So, when I showed up in Seattle, I gave her a quick call and told her to meet me at the bar with bells on and recruit away.
Anyways, we ended up drinking pretty much all night, and somehow ended up being friends. She was nice enough to courier me a pretty awesome basket of flowers on my birthday this year.
A few months ago, I was going to check out Matt’s Vancouver show with a few friends, but ended up somehow getting pneumonia instead. Over the course of six days, I somehow went from feeling really good to having a partially collapsed left lung, which obviously caused me to be hospitalized. I unfortunately had to miss the show, and spent a few weeks off work getting my system back up to working condition.
After checking the tour schedule, I realized Matt was playing in Toronto at Massey Hall during the same weekend that the Toronto Blogslayer was occurring. So I decided I would head down and check them both out.
If I could pick a single event in my mind that would represent this year, it would be watching that concert from stage right along with Raymi, Patrick, Dale, Sarah and Phil. It was such an incredible experience, and it’s pretty much forever etched into my brain.
Afterwards we ended up at Christie’s place for a Halloween party, although I don’t think I actually met Christie there (way to go Raymi). I remember spending most of that night on the patio out back, somehow convinced it was going to give way and plunge us all to our death.
The next night was of course the infamous eyeball smashing night, where I got to hang out with Chad, Raymi, Phil, Tony and Christie mostly.
It was a wicked (and very quick) weekend, and I’m definitely looking forward to heading back in about six weeks for another round (hopefully this time I’ll be completely healthy and in full on drinking mode).
Looking back over the course of the last two years, I got to see a lot of interesting places, and meet a lot of very cool people, some of which I’m thankful to call friends now. For a guy who hates stepping on airplanes, I sure have gotten around. I actually thought this entry would only be a few sections long, but once I got started it just started snowballing.
Take advantage of your travels for work while you can! Do it while you’re still young and able! :-)
Well Duane I must say that you have been very lucky to have the opportunity to step on the ground of so many beautiful places. I am envious for sure. Although I have been to Banff. The springs are amazing. I have a very dear friend who works for Sony in Japan and I am excited to visit him here one day. I just want to mostly go for the funky clothing style and the temples. My friend tells me that it is truly a beautiful place although it is so big. Hidden little gems. I definately prefer places such as England, Ireland and Scotland. Love castles. Not much into sitting on a beach, getting heat stroke,lol. Have fun and happy travelling. Where is your next adventure?
Japan is beautiful, but Tokyo is pretty crazy.. I was there nine days, and I was actually looking forward to getting on a plane again so I could return to my “quiet” apartment in downtown Vancouver. Tokyo has like 12 million people, and everything is bright, loud, and most things somehow sing to you.
The next adventure I do for myself, other than New Year’s in Toronto, will probably be Europe next summer. I’ve never really spent any time out there. I’m hoping to take two weeks off and go explore Italy, Spain and France during that time.
Yes with 12 million people, I definatelty would be ready to get on the next plane out just to get some peace again too. Even Vancouver is too much for me,lol. Were you able to see alot of Tokyo? You say that some things somehow sing to you? What memory comes to mind when you say that? Europe will be a great place to see and explore, and just think of all the wineries you will have to visit, he he. Have fun and safe travels Duane.
I saw a lot of Tokyo. The conference was in the Akihabara district, and my hotel was in the Tokyo Dome region. I went to the Ginza district for dinner one night, Roppongi for beers and night life, Shinjuku-ku for dinner at the Park Hyatt, and shopping near Shibuya Crossing, which is one of the busiest districts anywhere (see here).
Lots of things sung, and people would shout greetings at you all the time. The transit system I remember as being particularly vocal.
Sounds like you had a great time. I bet the nightlife was non-stop. Saki all around? Did you get to ride the bullet train? (Shinkansen). Very fast I hear. It is great to learn about the culture of others,very interesting.
I’m actually heading off to Tokyo next Saturday after a few days in Shanghai. It will be my 4th trip to Japan. I’m currently finishing off my stay here in HK. I think there’s a difference in the crowds of people here in HK and that of Tokyo.
I’ll actually be staying at a friend’s place in Minami-Azabu. It’s not far from Roppongi. I hope to make a day trip to Nikko. While there are certainly a lot of people in Tokyo, there seems to be a orderly “flow” to things there. It’s kind of hard to describe really. I thought I would feel overwhelmed the first time I went, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. :)
The train system in Japan is most interesting. I think it’s the main mode of transportation for many people there. If you ever get a chance to go there again and ride the Shinkansen, check out the station masters and the railway staff. They seem to have a particular routine they exercise with each and every train that arrives and departs. An interesting movie to check out related to the Japenese railway is “Poppoya”. I think you’ll recognize the actor in the lead part. :)
Duane, you’re going to need more than 2 weeks to properly see Europe! :)
Yah I know, unfortunately I only get three weeks of vacation year, that’s why I’m limiting it to only three countries if I go.
I am jealous of a few of your travels. Helsinki is high on my list of “must visit” places.
I would start planning that European trip now if I were you. Try to maximize your time there. But then again, sometimes I can be very anal about trip planning (although not this time around, strangely enough). :p