Where are you from?

Varadero, Cuba

Without getting into the difference between where you're from and where your home is... I found interesting to compare people's answers to Where are you from? whilst travelling.

I decided to ask my "readers" and got:

4 Home country

2 Home state/province

3 Home town

1 Lie

I personally answer Canada. Simple. Everyone knows where that is. Sometimes I also specify my province, Quebec, just so they know I actually speak French or if I'm in North America since there's more chance they'll ask Where in Canada? anyways... but don't mention the city unless asked. And I certainly wouldn't lie! I do wonder who is the one person who voted A lie to my poll...

I can understand people who answer New York, Paris, Los Angeles or Tokyo for example. All big and well known cities around the globe... but I don't quite understand an answer such as Nantucket.

My definition

If I had to describe travelling....

A travel experience is all about the memories we create, based on events, the people we're with, the taste of food, the different smells, the overall feeling and so on. Sometimes, when all those elements come perfectly together, we believe we've found paradise. Sometimes, the scenery and everything else is so overwhelming that we never want to leave, by fear of never finding the same experience elsewhere... 

A Simple Hello

From Bula to Aloha. Sometimes it's harder to get used to your own culture than someone else's...

I arrived home from a year abroad, but really, it was more like i was back from being away for 5 years with a yearly visit to check on my loved ones. I was feeling the travel vibe, feeling good, eager to share my new experiences and catch up with everyone.

Flags on beach - Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Walking down the streets, I would almost say Hey! or How u doin'? to passerbys, forgetting that I was now back in frenchie land... so I went in for a cheerful Bonjour instead. It came out all wrong and the stranger looked confused, obviously wondering if we knew each other, and then annoyed with my pointless intrusion. If saying Bonjour didn't sound so odd all of a sudden, I might have tried it on someone else, but I decided to stick to smiling, hopefully saving me sore embarassment. Even that tured in a "hit or miss" game. I'd either get a hesitant smile or a What's so funny? look.

I found myself wishing everyone would just say Hey, like I had gotten used to whilst away from home!

An icicle

Icicles - Lake Louise, AB, Canada

This is a Valentine's Day Special since "love" almost won the poll last week and love is still in the air today.

Some people are compared to onions, because you have to peel their layers to get to know them. I dated an icicle. And I really loved him...

A city I have visited: Sydney

And the winner of the poll is: A city I have visited. Thanks for your interest!

I chose to write about Sydney, because it's one of the places where I have spent the most time and one that I have fallen in love with. But it wasn't love at first sight, here's the story...

Downtown Sydney and Opera House - NSW, Australia

This is it! I am standing here, camera in hand, facing the water with the Harbour Bridge to my left and the Opera House to my right. This is what it's all about. Discovering everything I could only see in documentaries or pictures before. This is being at the total opposite side of the world. I was impressed... for about a day or two, then it wore off. But it was already too late to change my mind, I was settling in Sydney, looking for work and hoping for the experience of a life time. Surely there had to be more to this city...  And there was, there definitely was. It took me a while, but I fell in love with Sydney, with Australia.

Back to Reality

We've all heard it before: "I'm now back to reality..." or "I need to get back to reality..."

Road to Hana - Maui, Hawaii

It usually comes from friends, family members, colleagues... anyone who's just back from vacation. Any time we hear this, we know the person has been somewhere nicer or has been doing something better, which has simply come to an end.

But what does it actually mean, to get back to reality? Were they actually living a dream or a fictional life for a while, and now it's over? Or is their life such a pain, that a small getaway seems unreal to them?

I guess this is one way of looking at reality... I think it's the wrong one...

My Winter Wonderland

A "Photo shoot" in my backyard

February 7th 2011

Just a little thought

Clouds in the sky - Costa Rica

Time does fly...

I was thinking back at the time when I used to live in Vancouver, it feels like yesterday. And although I know it wasn't actually yesterday, it shocks me to realize it was 4 years ago. It now seems like such a long time, 4 years is a lot... And it has gone by really, really quick. Way too quick! It seems that it's not too long ago I was flying around, carelessly... exploring a beautiful city, going on roadtrips as much as I could... falling in love with Whistler...

Great Expectations

Before hitting a new destination, we always have expectations, preset ideas of how great it's going to be. So much that sometimes we think it's not good to expect it to be too great, as if we'd only be asking for disappointment. But when we hear a lot of good things about a place, and when the pictures look so perfect in our research, we can't help but expect a magical experience...

Nacula - Yasawa Islands, Fiji

The best surprise? When everything you've heard and seen about the destination turns out to be exactly, perfectly, undeniably true.

Colours of the World

Hyams Beach - NSW, Australia

The world is like a beautiful photo album... The more colours there are, the more interesting it is; same as the more diverse it is, the more surprising it becomes. Pictures with similarities tend to be grouped together... but I think it's all the more exciting when you mix it up!

I'm sure that anyone would agree that a photo album would be very boring if all the pictures were the same. We need colourful pictures, taken from different angles, in different places, to make it worth looking at. 

You know it's a very good album when each picture has its place and is equally remarkable as every other one.

But unfortunately, some people would admit to loving the white sand picture showed here, and would actually be proud of it... but then would not recognize the beauty of the red sand photo or the depth of the black sand one.

New Life - New Things

As I said, I'm starting a new chapter in my life: back to my roots, new job, new lifestyle, new priorities etc. So I also need to explore and/or develop new hobbies that I already like, hence me starting this blog. And I also decided to take on photography. 

Like many others, I enjoy admiring pretty pictures, but I also want to decorate my future home with my own travel pictures (as big as they can print!). I want to be able to capture, not only the beauty in the world, but most importantly the emotions each picture emits, so that my home shows my own journey through life. Like art, I want each image to be my own interpretation of the moment. I need to learn how to master each special effect and secret trick so that I can share my experiences with everyone around me...you know what they say: Une image vaut mille mots!

My First Blog

I've been writing for years.. about my personal experiences, feelings, thoughts... and I've always kept every word to myself.
But now, I'm starting a new chapter in my life, so I thought I'd change my writing habits as well! This is actually quite stressful! I have never had anyone read and judge my stories...
I'll do my best to keep you entertained and updated on a regular basis, but please do let me know what's working or not...