Brock { Abroad }

I just took  a long bike ride through Rotterdam to say goodbye. I even took some photos of the brute beauty. The train ticket is bought. The bag is packed. I find myself yet again in another moment of movement. Read the rest of this entry »

First of all, a very Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating , and a Happy Holiday season to all you readers out there! This year, I am solo for my first holiday.

From Manhattan to Monaco, Mumbai to Montreal, I traveled far and wide and did it all… Solo!… But my first holiday–alone?

It started slowly hitting home in France, but once I got to Paris where snow and glazzle and dazzle could be found galore– it hit– my first holiday alone. It’s not exactly the most fun without your family during the holidays, but I am grateful to have a room of my own for the next two weeks as I plan for the year ahead. Coincidentally, I am in the exact position I was over two months ago. I think they call that ‘coming full-circle.’

It’s a lot colder now and there’s been record snowfall in Holland so far this season. I don’t really mind as I stay inside all day hibernating. The sense of place I feel when coming here gives me an extreme amount of confidence as I look back on the obvious progress I’ve made in the past few months. Where, most of the time, I was also solo. I really think it made a difference.

See my list below to learn why you need to go solo.

There are moments where I find myself, most likely, with a friend I’ve had for years or perhaps a friend I’d traveled with before who feels like a life-long friend after having hitting the road together. These are people who tend to really “get me,” who can pick things up after years without noticing,  and with whom I can be at my absolute craziest without even getting a flinch. These are people who have also occasionally  driven me crazy from just spending too much time tethered together. Because, as we all know:

too much of a good thing is, well… not good anymore. That’s when I say… Adios, Amigo!…

… and then I strap on the bag and keep on keepin’ on!  Here’s a pilgrim’s list to:

Traveling  Solo: Really, you need to give it a try… Read the rest of this entry »

Reykjavik was a long, rainy, fairly cold, and very expensive 24 hour visit. (even though it’s a recession there, I still have the dollar…) I instantly made a friend from my friendly neighboring province of Ontario who I spent the day with wandering around the provincial city that 60% of Iceland’s 300,000 people inhabit.  After warming up in one of the many geothermal pools located in Iceland and getting a shower, we made plans to go to the Reykjavik International Film Festival opening night, still currently taking place. It was difficult to make a connection with the contact I’d made from couch surfing, but by six p.m. I was contacted by his roommate to inform me that Asgeir had fallen in love and was currently touring the ring of Iceland with his new girl. Nonetheless, the invitation still stood and I arrived to their home after the film, Another Planet, based on the hardships of youth in developing countries; instantly I was offered a beer by a fellow couch surfer, a girl from Rome, who had been staying with the four boys for a week. What ensued was a broad conversation around world politics, hypocrisy, mushroom cultivation in Iceland, psychology, and more topics so off-topic that they ended up relevant. I didn’t go to bed until one or two in the morning and had to leave by four to catch an early flight. But, thank you Oskar for the bed and for killing your television to silence the mass media hysteria; it’s what makes my mother think the Middle East is somehow more dangerous than anywhere else in the world.

There’s something very thrilling about arriving in a city; whether it’s a city you know and love, would love to know, or somewhere in between. I knew I loved Amsterdam after a brief visit here back in 2006, but was excited about coming back. My first plan of action was to call Bobby, my Bulgarian host.  I took a moment to listen to a street musician, or “busker”, and even stopped to smell the tulips! I was unsuccessful. There was a coffee shop next door that wafted out the delicious aroma of a plant that may not have been as pretty as those tulips, but definitely had its own charms. I looked down to my watch. I was in complete disbelief! Three hours had passed since I began staring down all the slim buildings that graced the canals lined with bicycles, bikes, bars, babes, and boys alike.
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