At work again!!

About five day after I arrived in Banff I started working at the Banff gondola.
it is a lift to get tourists on top of sulfur mountain, one of the mountain surrounding Banff.
the lift run all year long but only for sightseeing, there is now ski slopes from there.

I started working as lift Operator, and I ask to do also some cleaning around the upper terminal to have a bit more variety in my job.

I really like my job and my workmates.  and working with such an amazing view all the time is just awesome.

And when the weather condition play around the view can be even better.

Living in Banff

I haven't post anything in way too long time, so it’s time for some update !!
At the end of June I arrived in Banff and I found a job very fast, so i decided to stay there and enjoy the summer!!

Banff is small town inside Banff national park it is really nice place to live really in the middle of the nature. I had many time an Elk or a Dear just in front of my apartment, or some Bear walking around my workplace. it is surrounded by mountains so obviously I love it here!!

the town of Banff and the national park was all developed because of a hot spring found on sulfur mountain by the people building the train track across Canada to reach Vancouver. the builder discover the hot springs and it quickly became popular and there for Canada decided to create a national park and build the town of Banff here.

I spent about 6 month here spending my time between work and hiking all around the national park. which was really awesome!

"The eternal traveler syndrome"

It’s been long time since I didn't give you any news, I'll post updates soon!!

But today I just want to share a video I found on internet.

A lot of people make video or blog post about traveling, and most of it feels like people started traveling two month ago and think they know everything about travel. All these video and blogs have many interesting fact, but also some that are disconnected from the reality of a very long trip. And most of them miss the very essence of traveling. but there is always some articles and some video that catch it very well and this video is one of them, it catch the deepest meaning of travel and present it in a very good way. 

It represent very well the way I feel since I came back in Montreal and explain why I left again.

The video is in Spanish with English subtitle, for those who speak only French, here is a translation of the text in French

On the long journey across Canada

My journey to Alberta started on Tuesday around midday. I first took metro then a bus, it took me almost two hours to get to the far end on west side of Montreal Island.
Then again 30 min walk to cross the bridge and find a spot to start hitchhiking.

on the bridge to cross the Saint-Laurent river and get out of Montreal

From there I have been very lucky. After about 10min a car stop, with a young couple from Sherbrook that was on their way to BC, for a similar adventure as me.

Antoine and Magali, they started their trip much faster than me, as they decided to leave just Monday evening. They quickly pack up the car, take care of everything at their places and left Tuesday morning. Magali pass by her job in the morning only to say she quit. And during the trip they both had to call their parents and friends to tell them they are leaving.  That was pretty funny.

As we all heading in the same direction we made the entire trip to Calgary together and that was really awesome.  We always found great spot to put our tents for the night and cook ourselves really delicious meal.
With spent a lot of time in the car of course but we had some very nice break to swim in the lac or to spend the night on random place.

We get along very well with Antoine and Magali we are very like-minded, and have a good taste for adventure. It makes the trip really awesome, I couldn't ask for a better way to cross the country.

Finally they dropped mi in Calgary on Sunday and they move on to BC to do some fruit picking for the whole summer and save enough money to travel to Australia for a while.

For me it's time for a very small break, make some washing and get ready to explore the mountains!!

On a new start!!

So here we are, I decided to leave Montreal for some new adventures. This time, there is no trip around the world, no flight, no new country to discover. I decided to stay in Canada and go to the west to discover the mountains and see what the life around there is.

As I already said and it always makes more and more sense; the best way to travel is always by hitch hiking, you meet amazing people and you get to see much more things on the way. You keep all your freedom with a lot of adventure.
As I realize all along my first trip, planning only gives you boundaries, and don't really help once on the road.
The only thing I had in mind was to hitchhike to the mountains in Alberta and find a good spot to stay longer, find a job and enjoy the mountains and nature around.

From the time I decided to go and my actual departure it was quit fast, about a month. Just enough time to warn my job and my flatmates that I’m leaving, and to say goodbye to everyone. As I had nothing plan it was easy to prepare, I just spend the last week-end to get rid of all the stuff I had in Montreal. Without too much pressure, I was leaving only when I was ready. I was thinking of leaving on Monday, but I have been a bit lazy to prepare my stuff. So I end up leaving Montreal on Tuesday, Direction ... WEST!!

The comfort zone

As I already said before, if you want to travel, the hardest part is always to make the first step, once you step out, everything will go on and looks easy.
There is one thing that prevent most people on doing this first step. You probably already heard about it, the Comfort zone.
The Comfort zone apply to every single aspect of your life, but to keep it short, as my blog is all about travel, I’ll focus more on that part.

The comfort zone is that part of your life where everything seems to be under control, everything looks easy and you can make very long term plan without any doubt. this is a very good things, it provide you with all your basic needs, you can live like that forever. but it’s also what prevent your to move forward. and to reach higher expectations.
Stepping outside your comfort zone is always difficult. you need to left behind something you know and you like, for something you don’t know. it’s always scary, and it’s normal, the fear of the unknown. the fear and failing. people get attach to their comfort zone and usually can’t get rid of it. it act as a “golden prison” it provide you with all your basic needs, but prevent you from reaching all your dream and feeling really accomplished.
It’s a bit like being in bed in the morning when it’s a bit cold outside, you feel so good and warm in your bed that you don’t want to get out in the cold ever. Even if you know you have to, so you can start doing something of your day.

When you are at home you have your life in control, your job, your apartment, all your friends eventually boyfriend/girlfriend, and all your small habit, your routine that you know perfectly and it feel very good that you don’t have to worry about anything. You don’t really take any risk as everything stay about the same, you always know what will happen on the next day.

When you start thinking about stepping out of this comfort zone for going on a big trip over few month/years, you start realize, you have to leave your job, your house, get rid of millions things you bought and you don’t really need. you will leave behind all your friends maybe your boyfriend/girlfriend. you will have to leave everything that you know so well and that feel so easy and comfortable.

And in exchange of all this, you have absolutely no idea about what you will get. You go in a direction you don’t know anything about! you will have a lot of fears. “what if something goes wrong ?” “what if I can’t make it?” of course it feels terrifying, you leave all most everything for something you have absolutely no idea.
That is a huge step outside your comfort zone. that’s why it’s so hard to even think about it!! But the real question you should ask yourself is “what if I make it right?”
You have no idea about where you going. Of course many things will goes wrong and you will have some more difficult time. But that what will make you learn more, and teach you the life lessons you need. And you will also have many things going well and make you move forward. one things is sure you will learn a lot and have an amazing time overall.

To make that step out of your comfort zone you have to find enough motivation to fight that fear. Your adventure side need to overcome your emotional side that will make you want to stay warm in your comfort zone.
Once you really take the decision of leaving, that you accept to left behind a part of your life for a while. You accept the challenge in front of you, and everything else will be easier.

Since I got back to Montreal I get back in my old comfort zone, get back on a job that I know well, with good pay, with many friends around, got an apartment, I own a bed for the first time in 2 years !! And recently, as some of you may already know, I took a new step Outside of this comfort zone… more details soon !!


 

When you come back ...

I think everyone know that it can be hard to come back to a more standard lifestyle after two years of travel. there is so many reason for that; like getting back in a routine, a job, getting much less adventure, and live in a much slower pace; it’s hard to readapt yourself. there is a lot of reason like that, that everyone understand. but the hardest things, only the ones who traveled can understand it.

I know it’s not the case for everyone, but for me I love to share my experience with someone, i don’t like to keep everything for myself, that was one of the hardest thing for my during the end of my trip as i was traveling on my own, and one of the reason i came back in Montreal.
When you travel, you usually feel that everyone is interested in your experience, from the feedback you have from your friends back home and the people you meet. So when you come back you expect to be able to share your experience with everyone. But very quickly you realize that no one really care about it. You end up staying alone with it.
There is always few people interested in it, but theses people are really rare. it’s hard to find them, it’s hard to differentiate people that actually care from people that say so not to hurt you. They are not necessary in you close friends, it can be people you barely know. it’s not always easy to get closer to them, but these people can help a lot.
They can help you, just by listening to you!! You make them happy by sharing your stories, they help you by listening to you and being actually interested in it. It make your experience a bit less meaningless and more useful.
Quickly you realize that not only no one care, but also you can't even talk about it. Some people will take it as being pretentious. you end up having awesome stories that you have to keep for yourself.
traveling was all your life for 2 years, so obviously the first thing you have in mind in any discussion are usually related to this trip. but if you say something about it, people get bored very quickly and think you're bragging. It is really hard to deal with everyone.
So with the time you try to adapt and talk less about it. but it’s actually hard to avoid it, it was all your life during so long, most of the thing you have to say, are usually related. you might end up saying nothing and appearing boring for everyone....  It isn't possible to be back the way you once were, you don’t  even remember how you were before, you don’t know what you used to talk about you don't know what to say that isn't related to your trip
You just have the very hard feeling of being stuck between being boring or arrogant, there is no middle place....


Another thing, during all your travel, you stay with a memory about your old life back in the place you used to live, with the time those memories can change, and appear better than what it was.
 When you come back you expect to come back to that awesome experience you once had. You come back and most things appeared to be the same, most of people still work/ study and live in the same town,  you feel like you will quickly find the marks you once had. But during your time away, everyone else also lived and evolved, they don't go out as they once were, they don't live the same way. You feel like they didn't change during your travel, because everything look almost the same, but they do, and actually you are the one that didn't change on that part you expect to be the same!!
You left at some point, you kind of put your life on hold for a while. When you come back you expect to reset your life to the point you left it. Even if your travel changed you a lot, you need the safety of the comfortable old life you had to find your marks quickly; But you will realize that it won’t work.
People don't wait for you to evolve, they go on with their life. You did too but on totally different part, and you are getting late on aspects of your life you left home that make a huge offset between you and your friends your are 2 years ahead of them for the adventure side of your life from your travel and 2 year late on a social side and making a family.
a simple example some friends will have kids, for you it’s hard to feel how big that is as it’s hard for them to feel how big your trip is for you, they still seems to have the same life just with a kid in it; but for them it everything, your trip is nothing compared to a baby.

All you friend’s life evolve and you were not there, you will never get back the place you once had ! it is really hard to fill the gap and it is impossible to find your marks.