Current activity: Packing my rucksack
Current favourite thing: Finding awesome projects to visit and lovely people to stay with
This morning I said goodbye to my housemates (with predictable tears), packed my few remaining boxes into my car and left Bristol (with more tears). The last 7 years there have been the best of my life, and I'm sad to be (temporarily) leaving. The city and the people have brought me so much joy, and there's always so many awesome and creative things happening. I've got a few days at my parents to say goodbye to them and finish sorting out the practical things (that I failed to do due to having so much fun during my last week in Bristol).
So here's an update on what I've been upto:
1) My visa has FINALLY come through after a long and fairly stressful process. Sorry for all the whining. This means I can stay in Canada for more than 6 months though, so it's been worth all the hassle.
2) I've got places to stay for my first few weeks in Canada. I decided to take the opportunity to do a bit of travelling before heading to the farms, so I've got 3 days in Toronto, 5 days travelling round the south of Nova Scotia, 5 days in Halifax, then 3 days up visiting a friend just north of Halifax. For most of that time I'm going to be couchsurfing, and have found some really lovely sounding people to stay with. It's also a really lovely way to see the local side to a city and meet people, especially given that I'm travelling on my own.
3) I've found some awesome projects to visit while I'm there. I'm going through a big period of thinking about what I want to do with my life, and so it seems like an excellent opportunity to go and visit some projects and meet people who might be able to shape my thoughts. Through my Deconsumerism project, I ended up getting interested in collaborative and alternative economy projects (things like couchsurfing, tool sharing, skill swapping), and my loveofit side ended up getting really interested in random acts of kindness and community engagement. So I'm going to follow these threads and see where they take me...
A couple of people have asked me why I'm choosing to go WWOOFing. It's not really a shocking question given that my garden's a mess and I've never actually grown my own vegetables. However, local and organic food is something I've become really passionate about and would love to learn more about.
I'm using WWOOFing as a way to travel, but also as a way to experience a different way of life and live somewhere different. Yes, I could choose to go to Canada and get paid work on farms, staying in hostels or other accommodation. But part of what I want to get out of this trip is the experience of living and working alongside the people who own the farms. WWOOFing is far more about an exchange - during the WWOOFing I did in the UK, I really enjoyed that aspect of it. My hosts really tailored my experience to what I wanted to get out of it. And I shared my skills and knowledge in return by doing some photography, sharing ideas of how they could bring in other income to the farm, and of course, how to make home made hobnobs.
5) I've got rid of all my stuff. And I had a lot of it. It's been a combination of selling and giving away things, but I've found it really theraputic. In fact, it's been quite addictive and full of realisations that things are replaceable, and actually I don't need to own my own individual copy of that book, or that maybe someone else can use my bike while I'm away. I arrived in Bristol 7 years ago with a car full of things, and probably left today with less than that, and a contented feeling that those books that were sat on my shelf are being read, amazing food is being made in my pans that would otherwise have been sat in boxes, and other people are using the furniture I no longer need.
It's strange to think that in 4 days time I'll be on another continent, with just a backpack and my camera. Lets see where the adventure takes me...
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