Adventurous: A Preface

There are certain occasions and events in life that we reflect on with utmost fondness. In many cases these occasions become placeholders around which we orient the rest of our lives. It may be a graduation or a wedding or the birth of a child, all these event mark significant milestones in life.

The month of August is set to be a placeholder in my life. I'm living out a dream that causes many people to gasp in jealousy, a dream that has been spurred on by a number of factors including; books read, freedom from commitments, a friends passing, a perfect time for transition and the stars aligning, that is if I actually believed in that sort of astrology bunk.

Let me start with a book. A book that will change your life and the lives of those you pass it onto. I was an adventurous person before I read thus book, but I was restrained by patterns that had developed in my life. The book is Donald Miller's "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" (www.donmilleris.com). The basis of the book is this: We are drawn to stories. The elements that make up a good story, make up a good life. Live your life to write a good story. This book would create an economic disaster if it were required reading in highschool English courses. If we taught our children that there was more to life than houses, cars, and a weighty bank balance, the economy would certainly crash. After reading the book I wanted a better story, not that I was writing a bad story before, but now I wanted a better one.

Armed with ideas of grand adventure I started putting plans in motion. It just so happened that a friend would be in BC for the summer, providing an deal destination for adventure. On top of that this friend's Dad was willing to provide a bright orange 1974 VW Westfalia Camper van as transportation to BC and back.

July 28, 2010 - My last day of work. My employer has graciously bid me "all the best on my travels and future endeavours. Leaving me a day to get my things in order, a day for a friend's wedding, and a day to pack the bus.

August 1, 2010 - The bus, as we have been referring to it, is departing Owen Sound, ON at 5:30am. Terri Brunsting (the lonely female on the trip out), Mark DeVos, Andrew Severs and myself will be putting our faith in the little orange bus to traverse this great country in record time, at a maximum speed of 94.4km/h, downhill, and not much more. The plan, as it stands, is to reach Thunder Bay before we first "pop the top" and bed down in the little bus. At this rate we should be able to reach Calgary in 3 days, thus maximizing the amount of time spent and required to travel through the mountains. If you have any suggested stops along the way, other than gigantic geese, and other "world's largest" please comment and maybe we'll add them into the mix.

When the bus finally crosses this fair country, with it's small 2.0L air cooled engine which develops somewhere around 65hp brand new, two of us (Andrew and Andrew) will join two others (Rachel Herron and Nicola Gladwell) to begin a more eco-friendly leg of the trip, as we spend 15 days cycling from Abbotsford (or Vancouver), to the loving city of San Francisco.

Why San Francisco? Why not San Francisco, is really the only reason I can give. Destinations for cycling trips are less about the actual destination and more about the journey and the accomplishment when you actually arrive. In order to ensure there is still material to write about on the trip I will stop the preface here. The hope is to keep updates flowing through the wonders of technology as we travel, allowing us to share our story, and hopefully it will encourage you in your story.