birthday/bon voyage!

this saturday (the 20th) was my going away and birthday combo bbq! it was perfect. the weather, all my friends and family, the food, and my AMAZING beautiful cake! and my floating remote control shark... WHAAAAt. i had seriously the best time ever and i am so so thankful to everyone who came and those who couldn't come but i knew were thinking of me that day. i also had an amazing birthday day which was sunday the 21st. my friends from TO and i all went downtown and sat on a patio and had some apps and a cider. we just walked around the market enjoying each other's company and the sunshine. after a while, amy, alex and victoria decided to start the drive home to beat the traffic, so we said goodbye which made me sad because it is the last time i'll see them for a while! alex is planning a trip to se asia in the wintertime, so hopefully we will be able to meet up, and amy is thinking of coming to australia in the new year so that would be ideal! so they hit the road after a lot of epic hugs <3 

my flying remote controlled shark, frank!

me and my birthday cake

all of my beautiful friends

my lovely family!

cake closeup - tasted as good as it looked!

tilley hat my mom got me and everyone signed :)

amy, myself and ness downtown for lunch on my birthday

then it was russell, ness and i left just walking down the street when we saw a sign in a local tattoo shop window. friendship infinity tattoos $50 per person, minimum 3 people. we just looked at each other and were like, yup thats happening! me and russ were super down for it, but ness was a bit nervous because her mum had basically told her that if she gets a tattoo that she is in big trouble.. so we went next door to urban outfitters to walk around and contemplate the decision and this happened: 

this is actually the coolest photo booth i've been in because after it prints out (three sheets so we each got one!), you get a code to go on the website and then you can share it on all the social media channels! it is really smart thinking on urban outfitters' part, and the ad geek in me got super stoked when i saw it :P it also records a video of you in the booth.. so funny!

so ness decided that she was gonna do it, and i was sooo pumped! we were talking about different places that we should get the tattoo done, and after some consultation with our artist dave, we decided on the back of our elbows. she got it on her right and i got it on my left so when we stand beside each other they are on the same side :) russ got his on his ankle and it looks RAD everyone go to Ink City next time you're looking for some new ink. dave is an amazing artist and a really cool guy. #tinytats 

two elbows and a foot! finished product

nessie's first tat!

russ doesn't look so impressed

wicked

besties 

all in all, it was an amazing birthday, and i feel so lucky to have shared the weekend with so many of my family and friends! i had an amazing time, and got lots of great pics that i'm going to print and bring with me so i can look at them when i get sad! 

speaking of pictures actually, on tuesday this week, mckenzie and jess from my work took me to the photo studio to get portraits done for my birthday! we pretty much didn't plan poses or anything, but they turned out so amazing! the one where we were all stacked was a  joke because we saw one with a dad, mum and child posed like that and thought it would be hilarious, but it actually turned out to be one of my faves! excuse the fuzziness, i just took photos of photos on my webcam haha

 ... i love my friends hahahaa

ok so i have enough for about 5 more posts but i won't continue blabbing haha i will write again on the weekend maybe. theme: surfing. 

i'll leave it at that for now :) thanks again to everyone for an amazing birthday weekend, i love you allllll!!!!!

soph xo

if i were any more organized...

... i could probably run a travel agency. but seriously, i just spent 2 hours going through all of my crazy army supplies, dividing into a 'take' pile, a 'leave behind' pile, and a 'if i have room i'll take' pile. unfortunately, the six bags of glow sticks didn't make the cut. although i took three of each colour (blue and green) the rest i plan on using next weekend at my bbq :)

i organized two of my drawers into categories: toiletries and random other stuff. i put things in my carry-on bag already like my toothbrush and toothy tabs to brush my teeth since i'll be travelling for 24 hours. some kleenex, my travel pillow and blanket, my medication i'm bringing including photocopies of each prescription as well as the pharmacy receipts. i included my crank flashlight, emergency blanket, signal mirror and whistle in case of any emergency situations. as i wrote previously in another post i'm not nervous about flying, but this is the longest trip i've ever been on so i just want to make sure i'm super prepared for any situation that might come my way!  

it is getting a little bit crazy though... i mean, i put all of my documents (passport, international drivers permit, photocopies of prescriptions, confirmation pages printed out for flights and hostel etc.) into a friggin waterproof plastic zip bag in my carry on! i suppose it is all good to have everything together and organized, but i think i'm using this as a way to deal with my anxiety and nervousness a little bit lol if nothing else, this trip has definitely helped me realize my control freak-ish tendencies! i can't control everything that's going to happen to me in aus, but i can control my belongings, what i bring, and how it is all packed and organized. i know i sound like a nut, but it's really helping me to feel better about everything. i only have a few more things to do and then i'll be ready to go, so it's nice to not have to run around like a chicken without my head only a few days before i leave! i'll be able to relax and make the most of the last few days with my friends and family instead of doing last minute errands :)

i know that no one cares about all of this mundane stuff, but i enjoy documenting my process of getting all ready for this trip, and i think it helps me to take note of it and express my feelings into the world rather than just keep 'em all up in my head! so thanks for letting me rant!

on a more exciting note, i had a great conversation today with my pal bryanna, whom i will be meeting in perth (or rather, she will be meeting me, around the 18th). we talked about our plans and surfing and buying cars and working, and basically what the next 3 or 4 months of life are going to be like for us. i am beyond excited. honestly didn't think i could get more excited and then we had that conversation haha! so that was really nice to talk to her :) she is touring around europe right now (hard life!) and off to portugal tomorrow. safe travels B! 

anyways, just wanted to do a quick update and write some stuff down... i'm going to bed now! hope everyone had a fantastic weekend <3 

one month....

yep, i really did have to go there. the hair, that tan, those shorts. . . so majestic. this video is cheesier than a grilled cheese sandwich made on cheese bread, sprinkled with parmesan cheese, but i feel this is the only example i can find of the expression of my feelings of excitement. i mean, that dude is serious about flying off into space! 

as i start this post at 12:07 am on july the 11th (obviously a little eager about the one month mark) i just don't even know what to feel/say anymore. i am sending out an apology to everyone i work with, and all of the members at our gym who come in and hear about my trip on a daily basis, whether they want to or not haha. i just can't stop talking about it. i have almost everything i need now, just waiting for my new laptop case and plug adapter to come in the mail. my uncle gave me a ton of epic survival supplies including 4 bags of glowsticks, so obviously i was delighted. i am now pretty much equipped to camp out in the desert, start a fire in the rain, survive subzero temperatures, signal a plane passing overhead... and open a bottle of beer with my multi tool (gotta keep the priorities in mind LOL) 

i am getting pretty sad about leaving all of you guys though. thankfully, a bunch of my friends from toronto are coming up next weekend and all my friends and fams are getting together for a farewell/birthday bbq. text me for the deets ;) i am very very much looking forward to that. time is going by so fast it is actually crazy! i don't know if it's just because i have this aug 11th date in my head, or if it's normal, but it feels like just a few days ago that i bought my plane ticket! exciting stufffff! 

so far for the rest of my time here, i have some friend time scheduled, my bbq, a cottage weekend, and a few girls days with my momma (thinking about going to le nordique!) i'm going to be working right up until i leave, probably til the 9th, so i can see all of my morning ladies one last friday morning :) other than that, i will just be doing the gym thing, chilling at home and hanging out at the lake with my fam. gotta save as much as i can! my travel insurance ended up costing a bit more than i thought, so it affected my budget a little bit :P gotta have it though!

i also booked my first three nights stay at a hostel in a suburb of perth called fremantle. i will be staying in the sundancer backpackers hostel it looks sooo chill! also this town looks amazing. they have this wicked market on the weekend with tons of local arts and crafts, fresh produce and handmade soaps and stuff. like the carp farmers market x 100 lol! i'm also planning on doing a daytrip to rottnest island. it's a short ferry ride from freo, and the island is small enough that they offer bike rentals so you can bike around! there is also apparently really good snorkeling and surfing there too. and there's these lil guys....

quokkas! they are these adorable little furry animals, about the size of a cat, and they always look like they are smiling!

when i first heard about them, i knew they were in australia, but i didn't know where. imagine my excitement when i found out that they live right on this island super close to where i am going to be!!! i'm definitely not leaving freo before i see one haha so cutee!

our plans are pretty up in the air from there. we might head down to margaret river, or maybe to a little town a bit more south east called denmark. either way, my goal is to get my 88 days of regional work done right away so i am eligible for a second year visa if i want one. then i want to travel around a bit and come back in january for the grape picking season! but really, who the heck knows what will happen? and that's the excitement of it all! 

anyways, i'm going to hit the hay. thanks for reading and supporting me on this crazy journey! love you guys lots! 

peace and good vibes <3
soph

gearing up and geekin' out

hello dear friends! this post is going to be an update on some more gear that i have acquired for my adventure! only 64 days to go, and man are they flying by fast!

last weekend, my mum and i made a trip into westboro, to hit up a traveller's paradise, Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). it had been a while since i had last been, so there was a ton of stuff i needed to get. the main things on my list was to find a good daypack, but like what usually happens, i got pretty excited and ended up leaving with a lot more than that! 

first of all, i did find an awesome daypack, the MEC brand high jinx daypack. at $24, this pack was a bargain. it is really light, can be folded down small when i'm not using it, and has a chest and waist strap which is great for support. the associate who helped me also mentioned that it will be good for se asia, where people may try to pull your bag off your back (of course, this little naive traveller didn't think of that at all!) it is a bit deeper blue than in the picture, matches my backpack pretty well, and can easily be worn "double turtle style" with my backpack as this lovely traveller demonstrates

another thing that i got was a first aid kit. i'm really hoping not to have to use it, but better to be safe than sorry. i got an adventure medical kit ultralight/watertight .7 kit for $22.50. this kit has enough supplies to last 1-2 people for 1-4 days. i really like the fact that it is waterproof. i had considered getting a drybag for my computer after reading another traveller's blog about her tour boat sinking on the way to an indonesian island, but i rethought that because if i got every little thing that i thought of (because all i do is research and overthink things) my bag would have no room for clothes and my bank account would be empty! haha

the next thing i got was a XL size personal PackTowel. this towel apparently absorbs 4x its weight in water, and it's super light and antimicrobial. it feels like a sham-wow. hopefully, it works better than a sham-wow lol! it was $25.75.

next is a pacsafe anti theft money belt. it's water resistant and has a slash-proof strap, which is a good thing. obviously, i didn't think strap slashing was a thing until i saw the slash-proof strap. southeast asia is going to have a field day with me. faaaaaack. at the price of $26, i hope that it lives up to its promise!

i also purchased a bungee cord to use as a clothesline/whatever i may need it for on the road. it was $2 and is rasta colours, so that makes me happy :) 

this lock that i bought is a pretty cool idea, i've never actually seen one like this before. it is a retractable cable lock ($10.50). the cable comes out 24' and is for locking bags together, or to a stationary object. i think this will be really handy for train rides and stuff so i'll be able to catch a little shut eye, while knowing my bags are safe! still probably going to buy a combination lock for lockers in hostels.

then we went across the street to the expedition shoppe. i was looking for some sandals i could wear for walking etc. when i didn't want to wear my vibrams (which is never, let's be honest i could live in those shoes!) i had it pretty engrained into my head that i wanted birkenstocks due to my hippie soul, but listening to my wise mama, i looked at all the options. not gonna lie, a lot of them were kind of geeky looking, and for those of you who know how weird/crazy i dress, for me to say something looks geeky, it must have been bad haha. i ended up with my birkenstocks! i got a pair of brown arizona classic hippie/jesus birks (no leather for me!) they fit like a cloud. i've been wearing them every day since and i'm just so happy with them! i got a small blister on the bottom of my foot the first time after wearing them for a lot of walking but it went away within hours. i definitely recommend them to everyone! they were about $100 including tax. my feet are a size 7 and i fit perfectly into a size 36. 

the next day, i stopped into LUSH in the market and picked up a solid shampoo (vegan, packaging free, lasts up to 80 shampoos), a carrying tin, and a pack of 40 toothy tabs, which are solid, vegan toothpaste tabs. they look sort of like a rocket candy. i bit one in half to try it out, and that is all you need. so i will get 80 uses out of that package! its packaged in a little box made of recycled cardboard, and the tabs taste sort of like lemon and rose :) so yummy! all of that was about $23

 

so that was last week... i was super excited to get all of these things! way more then i intended to get at one time, but i guess it is better to cross off as much from my list as i can so that i don't have to worry about it later! now pretty much all i need to get is a new wallet (mine still smells like chocolate vega from when i spilled it at the gym - oops!), my netbook computer which my mum is getting me for my bday, and an adapter for the plug for said computer! i've been looking into travel insurance, which is a must, but it is way more expensive than i had thought! i was budgeting about $500 for a year, but the most affordable one i've been quoted is almost $800! eek! so it looks like with that purchase, a few nights hostel stay once i get there and last minute toiletries etc, i am juuuuuust going to squeak by into Australia with my support funds and a few bucks to grab a sandwich at the airport. lovely. good thing i am cheap baaahahaha! 

so, if anyone has any advice on travel insurance, or knows where to get it for supa cheap, hit me up in the comments section! you guys rock! thanks for reading, and can't wait to keep sharing my journey with you :) 64 days!!! 

peace ☮ ☾ ♥

soph

everything i got, plus a trusty roll of duct tape!

leavin' on a jet plane

as most of you guys have probably seen on facebook, and can tell by the countdown on my blog, i booked my plane ticket! it was right after i did the new post yesterday, i realized that it was about time i looked into doing this thing. i just took a quick peek on skyscanner and kayak to see what flights were available. the ones kayak was bringing up were immediately out of the question. the least expensive one was $1700! noooope! i was hoping to pay more around the ballpark of $1200. 

i basically have been checking skyscanner everyday for the last few months just to get an idea of flights. most of them had really long layovers (like 17 hours in vancouver, or 9 in guangzhou china!) and as much as i would love to pull an anthony bourdain and experience another city on my layover, i figured as little travel time as possible would probably be best. especially since it is going to take 2 days to get there! 

i was just bopping around on the internet... and i came across this flight. it was perfect. perfect day to leave, perfect layover cities and times, priced in my range. my mum was having a nap, but i woke her up and said, rather dramatically, "mum, i think i found my flight." i asked her to sit with me while i booked it, as its pretty much the most expensive and life changing thing i've ever bought. we chomped on cherry larabars and snuggled with daisy sitting on my bed and i busted out my visa card and booked that sucker! 

i am officially the owner of a one way, non-refundable ticket to australia! i leave ottawa august 11th at 1pm, and arrive in perth at 3pm on august 13th. i fly from ottawa > toronto > la > melbourne > perth. the longest flight, obviously being la to melbourne is almost 16 hours! i'm not a nervous flier, but i have to admit, 16 hours with nothing but thousands of feet of sky and then thousands of feet of ocean underneath me intimidates me a little bit. i know it's going to be fine, but it will definitely be the longest flight i've ever been on! 

needless to say, i am super excited for this, and now that i have an official date to count down to, it makes it that much more real! i am hoping to have a combo birthday/bon voyage bbq at some point in july to see all my friends and family for one last shindig before i go! i'll definitely let everyone know the details for that as i plan it :) i'm going to miss everyone so freakin' much! 

just wanted to update everyone on what's going on! thanks for all of your encouragement, it means a lot! 

loads of love
soph

immunized, airplane rides, and first goodbyes

happy long weekend to everyone! have a few updates on the trip, first beginning with some gear.  a while ago, i was looking into getting a sleeping bag. i found one that i wanted from canadian tire. since my lovely aunt works there, she could tell me when it was going on sale, which was actually coming up. i had the date saved in my phone to go pick up the sleeping bag, but my aunt said she would buy it for me! so that was really nice of her and now i have a great sleeping bag to snuggle in when i'm camping on the beach :) it's a baffin barrel bag that is good until -5 degrees (really hoping it won't get that cold in australia though! lol) 

daisy helped me test it out, i think it will be very comfortable haha

i was also on the hunt for a new digital camera. my old one has seen better days, and i wanted something that i could use in the water. my photographer pal jess helped me find a good one. i ended up getting a Fujifilm XP100, which is waterproof up to 33 feet! i got a great deal on it at henrys for 189 which included a flotation strap so it will float if you drop it in the water, a case and an 8GB memory card. i ordered it online, and received it the day i went up to vanessa's cottage for the weekend, perfect timing! i haven't tried it's waterproof-ness yet, it just seems so wrong to me to bring electronics in the water lol but it's supposedly waterproof up to 33ft. i'm hoping that works out. here are some photos from the cottage - the weather was terrible, but me vanessa and victoria made the best of it! what a great visit we had <3

very attractive cottage outfits ;)

YA-YA!

the following week, i had an appointment at the travel clinic to get some immunizations for my travels to southeast asia. from the research i had done, i was expecting to have to get 4 or 5 shots, and pay about 400 dollars. not too stoked on either of those things. i went in for my appointment, totally psyching myself out because like most people, i hate needles. i don't quite remember when my last one was, but apparently it must have sucked because i was so scared! the nurse who did my appointment with me was super awesome, very knowledgeable, and totally understanding of my limited budget. she explained all of my options, including a 600 dollar rabies shot (which i probably should get because you guys know me and animals haha can't resist a cuddle) and two 200 dollar shots for japanese encephalitis, a rare but extremely deadly disease passed along through infected animals then mosquitoes, on to humans. since i don't plan on being around many pig farms in se asia, and the fact that all of those shots would have almost been equivalent to my plane ticket, i decided not to get them. i also found out i was up to date on my tetanus shots and mumps/measles/rubella, so i only needed a grand total of ONE vaccine. imagine my excitement! i told the nurse how nervous i was about the shot, injected into the muscle of your arm. she said she was good and that i wouldn't even feel it. she was right. in two seconds it was done and all of that anxiety was for nothing. i gave her a huge hug! my bill came to 150 for the appointment and the vivaxim vaccine, which is a combo hep a and typhoid. my arm muscle hurt like a mofo for the next two days, like i had been  doing lots of weights haha but it's worth it to be able to travel with peace of mind! anyone planning a trip, go see the fine folks at the west ottawa travel medicine clinic, they rock! i also got a prescription for some anti-malaria pills and a general antibiotic which i will fill right before i leave for aus.

speaking of leaving, i haven't booked my flight yet (i know, i know!) but am planning on booking it this week. yesterday, i was coming home from new brunswick and realized to myself that the next time i am at the airport, i will be leaving for australia! a couple of weeks ago, my friend billy found out he got an awesome job at a resort in the town of saint andrews new brunswick on a contract until november. he asked me if i wanted to drive down with him and help him move. of course i said yes! we left on friday, stopping in montreal for a bit to visit with his friend and then stopped for the night in a random town in quebec. the drive to nb is only 12 hours, but since i couldn't do some of the driving because i don't know how to drive standard, we decided to break it down into two days. we arrived in saint andrews on saturday afternoon and got billy all settled into his temporary room while the hotel and staff accommodations are under renovations. then we walked to "downtown" aka one little street by the waterfront. such a gorgeous little typical east coast town. it was so nice to smell the ocean again! we found out that there was a music festival going on that weekend, so we went to see some live bands that night and met some really cool people! we also met this guy who was hitchhiking across canada, so we chatted with him a bit. it was pretty exciting for me because i realized that in a few months, i'm going to be in his situation (hopefully i'll have more than 30 cents to my name though!) i gave him a couple bucks to get a hot dog, putting those good sharing vibes into the universe. hopefully when i'm in aus, people will help me out too if i'm in a tough spot :) all in all, we had a great time driving down, and exploring saint andrews! i didn't want to leave. i know billy is going to have an awesome summer there. it was super weird saying bye to him at the airport, because i'm not going to see him for a long time :( it didn't feel like i was really going away though, probably because it doesn't seem quite real to me that i am yet! they say once you book the ticket, it becomes real... so hopefully very soon we can get an actual countdown started on here and count down the days together! 

billy is so excited to drive for 12 hours

montreal traffic

new brunswick!

palm bay hula girl

moose warning! they were all over. we did see a moose, we named her martha :)

seven hells! are we in westeros?

diy camper on a trailer

get shucked!

lil baby getting his bib tied on

finally got his lobster dinner

wharf in town

so that is it my friends, another update. looking forward to buying my plane ticket, and the few pieces of gear i have left to get! im thinking of getting a pair of birks for the situations when vibram five fingers shoes wouldn't work (are there any situations like that really though? haha) anyone have any experience with lots of walking in birks? make me some recommendations! love to hear any feedback. 

peace, love and long weekends!

soph