Afterward, we wrapped our blankets around ourselves for warmth and scurried home over the water.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Picnic at Centre Island
Gail is full of good ideas. Yesterday she suggested we catch a ferry to Centre Island, about a 20 minute ride from the Toronto waterfront. We brought some food, our cameras and some portable speakers for our mp3 players and watched the sun go down over the city. Very pleasant.
Afterward, we wrapped our blankets around ourselves for warmth and scurried home over the water.
Afterward, we wrapped our blankets around ourselves for warmth and scurried home over the water.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Toronto: CouchSurfin' Safari
I'm still experimenting with nomad-ery, trying to find what works best. During my stint in San Francisco, I rented rooms that I found through CraigsList. That worked well, but for Toronto, I wanted to try something different. I decided that for the month, I would couch surf -- stay with locals and move every few days or so.
Why? This may sound cold and calculating, but I wanted to expand my friend network. Traveling is easier and more fun when you know people in the places you're going. The more travelers you meet, the greater chances that they'll know someone, who'll know someone, who can put you up and show you around a new town. I met some really good folks in San Francisco, but in Toronto I wanted to really up the ante. More people!
With my friend Gail, I hit the jackpot. She knows everybody, is active locally and globally, and has extensive knowledge of ... well, everything travel-related. I've stayed with her and with friends of hers. She's shown me around and introduced me to a ton of people. Score.
I also posted a message to CouchSurfing.org's Toronto Couch Needed group with a few questions. A very decent and well-traveled fellow named Rob followed up with me, and I'm currently staying in a guest room in his peaceful feng shui home. Like me, he's a remote-working professional who spent a year traveling the world. His walls are covered with beautiful photographs that he took all over. Color me impressed.
Gail and I decided to road-trip to Montreal last weekend. We got on the CouchSurfing website, found a host there for 2 nights, and had a really fabulous experience. (Hi, Nathalie!) Our host took us in at 3am Friday night, then immediately took us out for fresh Montreal bagels! Nathalie told us all the best restaurants and cafes, things to do and see, and where to get the best poutine (La Banquise, mentioned by name in the Wikipedia article about poutine). Gail and I both have open invitations to stay with her the next time we're in Montreal.
Mont Royal in Montreal.
Couch-surfing hasn't been all roses, though. Late last week I was suffering from extreme exhaustion, and I began to feel that couch-surfing wasn't agreeing with me. But after a few days, it became painfully obvious that I had just caught a stomach bug, and once that cleared up, my enthusiasm for couch-surfing returned.
Even so, I can see that while on the road, I'll need to mix my surfing up with rentals. Sometimes it's just really nice to have your own space. But for building a friend network and getting the most out of a new place, it's hard to beat couch-surfing.
Surf's up!
Why? This may sound cold and calculating, but I wanted to expand my friend network. Traveling is easier and more fun when you know people in the places you're going. The more travelers you meet, the greater chances that they'll know someone, who'll know someone, who can put you up and show you around a new town. I met some really good folks in San Francisco, but in Toronto I wanted to really up the ante. More people!
With my friend Gail, I hit the jackpot. She knows everybody, is active locally and globally, and has extensive knowledge of ... well, everything travel-related. I've stayed with her and with friends of hers. She's shown me around and introduced me to a ton of people. Score.
I also posted a message to CouchSurfing.org's Toronto Couch Needed group with a few questions. A very decent and well-traveled fellow named Rob followed up with me, and I'm currently staying in a guest room in his peaceful feng shui home. Like me, he's a remote-working professional who spent a year traveling the world. His walls are covered with beautiful photographs that he took all over. Color me impressed.
Gail and I decided to road-trip to Montreal last weekend. We got on the CouchSurfing website, found a host there for 2 nights, and had a really fabulous experience. (Hi, Nathalie!) Our host took us in at 3am Friday night, then immediately took us out for fresh Montreal bagels! Nathalie told us all the best restaurants and cafes, things to do and see, and where to get the best poutine (La Banquise, mentioned by name in the Wikipedia article about poutine). Gail and I both have open invitations to stay with her the next time we're in Montreal.
Mont Royal in Montreal.
Couch-surfing hasn't been all roses, though. Late last week I was suffering from extreme exhaustion, and I began to feel that couch-surfing wasn't agreeing with me. But after a few days, it became painfully obvious that I had just caught a stomach bug, and once that cleared up, my enthusiasm for couch-surfing returned.
Even so, I can see that while on the road, I'll need to mix my surfing up with rentals. Sometimes it's just really nice to have your own space. But for building a friend network and getting the most out of a new place, it's hard to beat couch-surfing.
Surf's up!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Gail At Large
I met Gail years ago through Orkut. A sharp, passionate, fearless adventurer, Gail has been more places and led more lives than any 10 people I know. Check her out at Gail At Large. Her blog introduced me to CouchSurfing.org, informs my travel, and inspires me with her beautiful photographs and life-experiences.
I'm incredibly fortunate to have Gail, a skilled photographer and Toronto native, show me around town. My time with her will be documented in her Flickr photo stream here.
I'm incredibly fortunate to have Gail, a skilled photographer and Toronto native, show me around town. My time with her will be documented in her Flickr photo stream here.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Toronto, By Way of Tahoe
Business
In the last week, I've had to rearrange my travel plans a bit to squeeze in a business trip to Tahoe. (Poor me!) So I bid San Francisco farewell and hopped a plane to Reno. A few hours later, I rolled into South Tahoe and set up camp in a lovely apartment with a view of Lake Tahoe to the West and Carson Valley to the East. Amazing.
My client, colleague and friend T set me up with the place and also provided chauffeur service. Riding shotgun in a convertible Porsche Boxter through windy mountain passes at unsafe speeds does a lot for one's outlook. Yay.
Pleasure
Business finished, I flew to Toronto where I was grilled at length by Immigration Services. It seems they didn't like my story about staying in Toronto with a friend I first met online. Lesson learned. Next time, I'll make up a less interesting story. On the plus side, my shiny new passport has its first stamp. My wanderings are now officially international.
Patiently waiting at the airport (and waiting and waiting) was G, an old friend from a prior life and the passionate world-traveler who first introduced me to CouchSurfing. We caught up over beers and nachos at her local pub before retiring to her place, meeting her cats (a-choo!), and crashing on her futon for my first true couch-surf.
More on my impressions of Toronto in future posts.
In the last week, I've had to rearrange my travel plans a bit to squeeze in a business trip to Tahoe. (Poor me!) So I bid San Francisco farewell and hopped a plane to Reno. A few hours later, I rolled into South Tahoe and set up camp in a lovely apartment with a view of Lake Tahoe to the West and Carson Valley to the East. Amazing.
My client, colleague and friend T set me up with the place and also provided chauffeur service. Riding shotgun in a convertible Porsche Boxter through windy mountain passes at unsafe speeds does a lot for one's outlook. Yay.
Pleasure
Business finished, I flew to Toronto where I was grilled at length by Immigration Services. It seems they didn't like my story about staying in Toronto with a friend I first met online. Lesson learned. Next time, I'll make up a less interesting story. On the plus side, my shiny new passport has its first stamp. My wanderings are now officially international.
Patiently waiting at the airport (and waiting and waiting) was G, an old friend from a prior life and the passionate world-traveler who first introduced me to CouchSurfing. We caught up over beers and nachos at her local pub before retiring to her place, meeting her cats (a-choo!), and crashing on her futon for my first true couch-surf.
More on my impressions of Toronto in future posts.
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