Monday, August 22, 2011

In Victoria!


Hey everyone, yes, I have arrived in Victoria! It was a long three days of train, then sky-train, then bus, then ferry, they bus with 2 big bags and a bike, but I made it! During the travel from train to ferry I received much help from many awesome other travelers who helped me with my bags and bike, seeing that I was struggling and in need of help. So, people are awesome. With a few mixes up with meeting times (my friends don't have a phone and the train was 4 hrs late) I finally arrived in Victoria, met my friends at the bus station and enjoyed the awesome meal they had prepared for me!
Yesterday I went for a long walk and serendipity arrived upon the park (Moss Hill Park) that I went to with my family when I lived in Victoria when I was 12 yrs old. It was fabulous, and the view was out of control! I love the ocean.
After my walk, I went back home, did some emailing and left with my friends to food not bombs with my friends, a block party, and china town! It was a great day. But its not over yet...

I then went for a run, had a wonderful dinner with my friends(I love eating with people) and went outside to contemplate the stars, and life while sitting in the hammock in the backyard.

And now its today. Thanks for listening, today is about getting ready for the bike trip! We have already had intense conversations, and now for buying of equipment. During the tour I will try to keep you updated with happenings via this blog as well, however, hopefully I will make a few more posts before the tour begins!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Plane or Train

As many of you know, I am soon going to be heading to the coast for some sweet bicycle touring! I am super excited, yet today I forced myself to face the pearals of plane vs train. Unfortunately I missed the opportunity to get the crazy cheap train tickets (~$130), which would have made this decision a no brainer. There are many factors wieghing into this decision, let me break it down for you:

1. I have a bike which I am going to be taking out with me, therefore the cost of checking a bike matters (however, I discovered, both train and plane charge $20)

2. Monetary cost. I am monetarily poor(in other ways I am rich, but money I have little of).

3. Environmental impact. I love the environment. Its a sexy beast and I want to inflict as little pain as possible within reason (i.e. if the plane cost less then half that of the train, then I may op for the plane, cuz well, I am poor. I know thats feeding the devil...but!!)

4. Seeing canada. I really like the fact that on the train we would get to go through the rockies!

OK! So there are the options, after doing some research I discovered that the plane was ~$260 while the train was ~$360, so $100 diff. As well, I discovered that to take the plane would mean I would be emitting 10 times the CO2 as if I took the train, euw! Finally, airports are NEVER central to a city, so there would be added costs of taxi or shuttle, making the price difference probably closer to $50. For those of you that know me, I think you know what I have decided....

TRAIN IT IS!!!
Chew chew, beautiful rocky mountains, sleepless nights, and conversations with fascinating people in the bubble car here I come!!