Another Week Closer

Now that I'm leaving in 3 weeks I finally got around being more of a tourist in Vancouver and walked around the seawall and all through Yale Town. I've just never had any reason to go before, but with my aunt and uncle in town it was a good excuse to see the sights. Last week I also made it out to the IMAX at Science World to see Bugs! 3D - a very informative trip.


I'm STILL waiting on my work visas; apparently the British High Commission has been taking their sweet time approving immigration paperwork since the last terrorism scare. I've got plenty of time before I really need it all sorted out, but the sooner the better.

My tentative plans (pending the approval of my visas on time) are as follows:
Oct 10 - London
Oct 18 - Dublin
Oct 30 - Eindhoven
Oct 31 - Amsterdam
Nov 3 - The Hauge/Rotterdam
Nov 4 - Antwerp
Nov 5 - Luxembourg City (Hamm Cemetery and Sandwieler)
Nov 7 - Brussels
Nov 9 - Ghent
Nov 10 - Bruges
Nov 11 - Ypres
Nov 12 - Fly from Brussels back to Dublin

Hopefully in my first trip to Dublin I will be able to open a bank account, find a few promising jobs and scout out a place to live for the winter.
I know I haven't even started these trips, but Spring plans are already in the works . . . I'm thinking about starting in Portugal, then moving East through Spain, France and Germany, more on this once I finish the first leg.

P.S. If anyone has suggestions about were I should go in the places listed above, please let me know.

No More Cellfor

So that's what real life is like, huh? I think I'll pass for a little while yet. . .

Finishing 4 months of work in a production lab (Cellfor) I have come to the conclusion that one summer is just about as much as I ever want to do. Don't get me wrong, it was a great temp position and the people I worked with were great, but the sheer repetitiveness was a bit much to take.

After finishing my last day (Aug. 31st), and with my car already packed, I headed straight to the ferry. A mere 4 hours later I was pulling up to the 'rents house for a quick 2 day visit before driving back to Vancouver to move Tyler into residence and see everyone from UBC.
As a bit of dumb luck the Arizona Wildcats were playing the T-birds my first night down - we finally made it to the gym at half-time and snuck in (no offence to UBC, but I don't really want to pay $15 to see the birds get torched, which they did).

A few more days of lounging, visiting and a trip to MEC (to pick-up some stuff for my trip) rounded out my weekend before heading home. Right now I think I've got all the financial details worked out for Europe, but am still waiting on the British Consulate to send my passport back along with my work visas. By the end of the week I plan on organizing what I'm actually going to bring with me, then attempt to fit it into my 70L bag . . . anyone have tips on how to pack light for a 2-year trip?