Top 20 of 2014

It’s funny the differences in culture from Canada to the United States. If you look on my Facebook you’ll see a difference between my friends from the United States and my friends I’ve made abroad. My friends in the States are posting about their office jobs, husbands, and kids. My friends here in Canada and abroad are posting about the perks of travelling, photos of their latest adventure, and where they’re off to next.

I’m not saying one is better than the other. When I was little I told my mom I wanted to travel around the world, but I then that idea faded like most childhood fantasies. Then I grew up and I thought all I wanted was to settle down and raise a family in a nice little house in the suburbs.  But by accident I changed.  I never planned on being on my own, but last year I set off by myself for the first time just to take a few weeks to think about the current state of my life and I never went back.

My mother keeps saying I need to stop and settle down. That I'm Peter Pan. I'm not though. In my previous life I was spoiled and I never did anything on my own including pumping gas or paying a phone bill, not because I have a rich family, but I was sheltered. I'm more grown up, fearless and responsible now than I've been in my entire life.  One day when I settle down, I won't have the freedom or the ability to do what I am doing now. And when my last day and my last breath comes will I regret all the places I never saw, or be thankful for all the beauty in the world that I did get to see? Option number two please.

It is all of this that came into mind on my walk to work today. My mind is a battlefield of in which on one side I want to be home to give my mommy all the things I promised when I was 10, such as a stone house by a river and a house full of grandkids vs. seeing and experiencing the world. Remembering what I've managed to do in one year though reminds me why I'm just not ready to come home yet. So here is my year summed up in 20 highlights.

1. Snow tubing

Mt. Norquay, Alberta

 

2. Dog Sledding

Canmore, Alberta

3. Walking on rivers and lakes 

Lake Louise, Alberta
 

 

 4. Hockey games!

 

5. Montreal, Quebec

It's a spa, on a boat!

 

6. Quebec City, Quebec

 

7. Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 

9. Working on a lavender farm and winery

And learning how to mow the lawn and ride a tractor

10. Tofino, British Columbia

Seeing whales, riding on a sea plane AND attempting to surf.

 

11. Hiking

 

12. Drumheller, Alberta

Where the dinosaurs are

13. Canoeing  

 

14. Camping

And got to hang out with horses

 

15. Petted wolf dogs

 

16. Columbia Icefield, Alberta

And stood on the Athabasca Glacier,
and rode in the only snow coaches available anywhere besides Antarctica

 

17. Toronto, Ontario

 

 

18. Ottawa, Ontario - The capitol of Canada!

 

 

19. Niagara Falls, Ontario

 

20. Went snowboarding

 

 

12 December 2014

Greetings! From my warm and toasty room. I know it has been awhile, but nothing interesting has currently been happening in the Canadian Rockies. It gets warm, it gets cold. All the snow melts, and a week later there's snow up to my knees.

Last week I went snowboarding for the first time ever.

Apparently this is a really great board

I purchased my board off of Canadian craigslist, also known as Kijiji. A new board and bindings would have easily been over $500, but I purchased mine used for $125. When I went to get it waxed the girls at the shop were surprised at how much I had gotten it for. My boots and helmet which were half of the price of gear in the stores in Banff unfortunately did not make it in time to my lesson last Thursday, so I had to rent boots and a helmet. I'm not going to lie, rental gear makes you feel like a dork on the hill.

Anyhow, I woke up early in the morning to catch a bus to Lake Louise which is 40 minutes away from Banff. Although Sunshine Village is only 20 minutes away, the thought about having everyone I know watch me as I tumbled down the hill wasn't very appealing, so I opted for the much quieter Lake Louise.

I had chosen the full day group lesson for snowboarding as it was around the same price as a 2 hour lesson. It turns out I was the only one who signed up for a lesson that day, so I got an accidental, full day, private lesson for half of the price.

I had prepared myself for anything, including a trip to the hospital.  My instructor asked me every time I fell if  I was ok, but only one of my falls actually hurt, the rest just looked dramatic, or were because I had thrown myself down as I didn't really know how to stop.

Although initially the thought of sliding on one piece of wood seemed unnatural and scary, when I got on the hill I was fine. My instructor Shannon was really great and there were no injuries at the end of the day.

Everyone kept telling me to be prepared to be sore. I didn't believe them as my falls didn't hurt and my muscles hurt more after bootcamp, but I did end up basically paralyzed the next day. The following days were painful as it was an effort to even put on my clothes. But at the end of the day I had a good run. I planned on returning to the hill this week, but due to our recent warm weather, most of the snow has melted, and that which remains is an icy death trap. Not conditions for a beginner snowboarder unless she was to go flying and face planting on ice.

The new face of pro-snowboarding? Probably not. 

Aleskimo

Winter 2014

Ontario!

Time is passing by so quickly. Two weeks ago I was in Ontario on a 5 day vacation, and now I'm back in Banff and only 2 1/2 months away from leaving from good. It's a mixture of excitement and sadness building up inside of me. I thought I would be one of those seasonal people and never expected to build a life here, but I have. I'm excited to see what will be beyond the bubble, but scared to leave everything I have.

But anyways, back to my trip. Thanks to my main job I was able to get 5/4 star hotel rooms in Ontario for the price of a hostel. In 5 days I managed to fit in Toronto. Ottawa, and Niagara Falls. 

Here are some of the highlights. 

Toronto

After living in Chicago I found Toronto to be average. It wasn't my favorite. I've been there, and I'm in no rush to go back. Here were a few highlights though: 

Steam Whistle Brewery

For $15 you get a 6 pack, free samples of freshly brewed beer, and a brewery tour. The tour was pretty interesting. Steam Whistle was created by three friends who were fired from a brewery together. Initially they were going to name their beer Three Fired Guys and if you look at the bottle you'll see "3FG" imprinted on the bottom. They also have a green initiative and recycle their bottles and get more uses out them than the average beer. 

Steam Whistle Brewery 

Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

I went to the aquarium on Halloween night. It was pretty amazing I have to admit. If I lived in Toronto I would buy a season pass. The moving walkway through the underwater tunnel was my favorite, as it allowed for sharks and other sea creatures to swim around and above you. 

Jelly fish at the aquarium 

Ottawa 

My only regret was that I spent more time in Toronto than Ottawa. Ottawa is a place I would definitely go back to. From Toronto I took ViaRail which was a bit over 3 hours. The station was conveniently next to my hotel in Toronto and was comfortable and faster than traveling by car. 

Canadian Tire Centre 

Down the street from my hotel in Ottawa was a bus that went directly to the Canadian Tire Centre from downtown Ottawa. The seating was decent throughout the whole stadium, even the nosebleed section looked comfortable. Also the game I went to, Ottawa Senators vs. Chicago Blackhawks was awesome. Go Hawks! 

Byward Market

I went to Byward Market after the game for 24 hour milkshakes and the next morning for some breakfast and early morning photos before I left. It was a really cute area with restaurants and bars, and also proper delis and bakeries which I love. 

"Obama Cookies"

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls a lot of touristy aspects to it, and a lot of money spending, but the Falls are pretty amazing. 

Embassy Suites Fallsview 

This was one of the largest hotels I've ever been to and after working in hospitality for the past year I do have to admit I found the service a bit average. The booking I had made was lost by reservations, and then they ended up charging me the entire deposit after I had long left Ontario and claimed they hadn't put it through and then upon calling back they admitted they accidentally charged my card. They also say they are giving you a falls view room when you book and then when you get there, they say you have a partial view but you can upgrade to a full view for an additional $40. 

But! since they lost my reservations I was complimentary upgraded to a Junior Suite with a full falls view and ta-da! I have to admit the view was pretty spectacular. 

Morning view from the room

Hornblower Niagara Falls Boat Tour

I initially thought the boat through the falls would be a little bit cheesy, but it was so worth it. I got horribly wet and so did my camera and coat despite the poncho, but being right up in the falls was spectacular. 

So that was it! In my last day I went on a boat, taxi, train, and plane and made it back to Alberta in one piece. 

This Week..

This week in Alexis history, I rode by deer and elk multiple times on my way to work, worked two jobs. rode through the rain on one side of the bridge and was hit by snow on the other side, was in an earthquake...

That's right, on Thursday afternoon I was laying there on the couch, reading a book, when suddenly there was a shake. I had assumed it was a giant truck rumbling by, but apparently there was a legitimate earthquake in the middle of the mountains in Canada.

Don't worry. I'm perfectly safe. The fact is most people thought it was a large truck, or rumbling from the train. The quake wasn't long or strong enough to shake anything but the leaves off a tree. It's something I can mark off of my list of things I've experienced though!!


In the meantime I don't have any photos of recent adventures, since there haven't been any, so please enjoy this photo of a wonderful pumpkin:

429 Days

A majority of my blog is about the amazingness of traveling. The easy part is when your feet are going, it's when you stop moving that things become hard. 416 days ago I came to Banff. Nowhere to live, 1 friend, no job, no clue about what to do. And then I built myself a life here. Year one was amazing, everything was new and magical, I made so many friends who quickly became family, and I learned so much about myself and became stronger than I ever knew I could be.

It's year two that is starting to become a struggle. My adventure at the beginning of summer was amazing, but coming back to Banff afterwards has been difficult. Few stay in Banff for more than a season, and all of my friends left at the end of the last one. Settling into a normal routine where nothing is fresh and new like it was the first time around makes it hard, and realizing that if you had to sink into normalcy you'd rather be at home, makes it even harder.

I went home recently and cried for 3 days about leaving back to Banff to finish out my contract. It wasn't until I was home that I realized I missed a lot of the comforts of home, but mostly my mama. If I could have it all I would, but unfortunately you can't be a backpacker and bring your mommy with you everywhere.

So why do it then? Why stay away from home? These are questions I ask myself from time to time. These are questions that make me doubt myself and consider going home. There are times when I am sad to be away from home, away from my family. But then I realized how blessed I am to be living the life I am living. If life's journey hadn't taken the paths it did, I may have stayed in a small town in Midwest for the rest of my life, never travelled anywhere for more than a week, and never taken half of the chances or opportunities I have had since I left on my solo journey in Canada, 429 days ago, on 2 August 2013.

There will always be times that I will be sad, I will be homesick, I will miss my mama. But there are beautiful moments where the sun is shining and I look around me and realize that I am the luckiest little girl in the world to have this as my backyard and to have all the opportunities I have, and I am entirely grateful for it all.

Sulphur Mountain, 3 October 2014

Hello October!!!

Lake Minnewanka 

XOXO Alexis

Back to B.C.

The top photo is from exactly one week ago, the bottom from today. The difference? Snow!

That's right, snow has already fallen in Canada. This is what it looked like on Monday in Banff:

Let's go back though to a week ago when I was travelling down this same road for the last week of summer, when winter was still supposed to be a few months away. 

I feel asleep for most of the car ride, as I always do in cars, and opened my eyes in time to check in for the campground at Beaverfoot Lodge in British Columbia. The woman at the lodge was surprised to find two young, eager campers at her doorstep as it had been raining for a week. And upon entering the campgrounds we found ourselves alone. Almost. After setting up camp and wandering around the property for an hour we returned to find the grounds had been taken over by the horses.

After awhile the horses moved on and the clouds and rain moved. Hoods up and sticks poking the fire to keep it going, we waited for it to pass, which it did. When the clouds finally passed we were treated with a final glimpse of the sun before it said adieu.

The following day we made our way up to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, reknown for it's powder during winter and mountain biking during summer.

Fortunately we had free passes for the lift and gondola (perks of working at hotels!), and so while my friend went off biking. I went up hiking. 

The hikes range in level of difficulty, but it's the steepness that will have your bum sore on even the easy trail.

While the gondola takes you 7,700 feet, the lift only goes about halfway. Both options have spectacular scenery, and as Kicking Horse isn't as known as Banff or Lake Louise, it's a lot quieter. The best part of taking the lift is at the end is Boo! 

In the middle of the mountains is Boo the bear. Boo's sanctuary is surrounded by electric fencing for our protection and his. Although it seems he escaped twice by digging under it, just in time for mating season. After his second mating season Boo had a little surgery, and now no longer has the urge to leave home.

After biking, hiking, and bear watching, it was time for a feed. My original plan was to eat at Eagle's Eye Restaurant at the top of the mountain, but it was closed for a bridal show, so instead we ate at the Double Black Cafe. I had the Pork Belly Sliders, served with hickory sticks and the house salad. I'm not a huge pork person, but the meat was flavourful and tender. Yum! 

She Works Hard for the Money

Greetings friends, family, followers...Mum! It's been awhile, but I've been working hard. I got a second job this week at a certain famous international clothing retailer in town and now plan on working my bum off until my work visa ends in January. As a clarification from my last post, I personally do not partake in the partying aspect of Banfflife. My joke is that if they were to take a sample from everyone in town, I'd be the only one left working.

So while I've been missing in action, I've also been taking part in the positive advantages of living in town. When you work for the larger hotels in town they'll have you do the Banff Ambassador program as part of your orientation, which is a free program available to all residents of Banff. You get the rundown on Banff history and wildlife awareness, and then afterwards you take the Discover Banff & Its Wildlife tour for $5. In return for participating in the program you get the Banff National Park Passport to enjoy all Banff has to offer for free or a discounted rate.

You made it!

One of the offers in the passport is a 2 for 1 soup & sandwich combo at the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House in Lake Louise. The tea house was built in the 1920s and has no electricity or running water. To get there the hike is about 4 hours return. Supplies are brought to the tea house by a helicopter at the beginning of the season and additional supplies are carried up by horseback.

Hiking the Plain of Six Glaciers

The hike there and back is easy, it's straight forward, it's just the increase in elevation that makes it hard to catch your breath. The views are gorgeous, you just have to beware of some parts of the trails as the horses sometimes leave some big presents behind. The only part that was difficult was where one of the trails had been washed out and you either had to queue up to jump stone to stone one at a time or go barefoot through glacier water. Brr. 

2 for 1 Sandwich and Soup

I had the organic cheese sandwich. The sandwich was simple, lettuce, cheese, and fresh baked bread that crumbled under the touch, but it was delicious is in simplicity. The soup was hearty and filling after the long hike up also. 

And now dear readers I must go get ready for my 7th day of work in my 11 day work week, at least it's not another 12 hour day. That will be tomorrow! Until next time! 

Living in Banff

Banff would already be unique on its own as it is known for being a ski/snowboarding town, but add to that, that this is also a national park, and it is a whole other ballpark. Life is different here in many aspects, here are the top 10 reasons why:

1. In and Out: Who your best friend is today, will probably be gone tomorrow. People are very transient in town. Most of the workers love snowboarding or on break from school and seasonal workers, or on 1 year visas and eventually want spend the rest of North American time exploring both Canada and the U.S.A. It makes for an atmosphere of quick bonding, but also a bit of loneliness when your friends keep leaving you. 

2. Mode of Transportation: More people will have a bicycle than anything else due to affordability, and because as transient foreign workers it seems pointless to buy a car. Bikes are a faster mode of transportation around town most of the time due to the fact tourists coming in will block the roads for ages.

3. Commuters: Don't worry about your fellow commuter in the early morning being someone tired and cranky who is trying to drink coffee and apply makeup in the car next to yours. You will catch deer just walking through the middle of town in the early hours, or just hanging out in someone's yard. Just stroll by and say good morning. 

On my way to work in December of last year

4. Wildlife: While the deer may seem gentle as you stroll by them, they, like the rest of the animals in town are wildlife, emphasis on wild. It's important to be cautious if you see or learn of a bear warning or cougar sighting in town. The cougars although rare, are dangerous and out to kill. The bears are mostly just there to protect their young, and where people go wrong is they don't exercise caution or head warnings and provoke the bears. You hear stories around town of people asking what time the animals are let out, or tourist trying to put their baby on a deer. These animals are not in cages and not domesticated. It is an honor to live among them and we need to respect it. 

5. Racks: In the summertime you will have bike racks outside of most shops, in winter time these are replaced with snowboard/ski racks. 

6. Rules: As in no rules. Maybe it's because we're all kids, or kids at heart, on our own with no family or ties to the outside world in our bubble. Combine that with a heavy drinking culture and, well, life is just different. There is a lot that goes on here that wouldn't be okay anywhere else, but it's just part of life in Banff here.

7. Air Conditioning: Is limited and valued. Most houses will not have it, and hotels will only be allowed a certain amount as this is a national park and it is important to maintain air quality. If you're hot during summer, go get a popsicle. 

8. Food Prices: Food is priced for the tourist, not for the locals. Sometimes it is cheaper to go out for a meal, rather than get all the ingredients for cooking up something. Mr. Noodle is the best friend for a lot of people as you can find these dehydrated noodles with no nutritional value at Safeway, on sale for $0.40 a package.

9. Water: No one buys bottled water here because our tap water comes from a glacier. You can't get much fresher than that!  

10. The Views: Probably the best part of living in a national park are the views you wake up to. Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all. 

At the top of Sulphur Mountain

Overlooking town from Mt. Norquay

View from the bridge.

When I was five...

I cut a hole in a large box and pretended I owned my own little restaurant called, "Hot Dogs and More." You can imagine my disappointment years later when I walked into a food court and saw that A&W had stolen my idea and had a large sign that read, "A&W Hot Dogs & More."

When I nine, hair jewels were popular, and I realized I could make them on my own. I had my mum take me to the store and I loaded up on velcro and little plastic gemstones. My little hands spent the next week laboring on creating my own hair gems. Learning from my first set, and perfecting it by my last. I made creative and fun holders to present the gems on, and even spent time wasting paper to create the perfect brochure.

 I think the only person I showed was my mum.

At thirteen I decided I wanted a job, and made a formal resume for my own house cleaning service, which I handed over to my Aunt and Uncle. I got the job.

It seems that it has always been within me to own my own business. I just needed the confidence, which I finally have after all this time. I also need the motivation, which sometimes is easy to forget as you sit behind a desk for eight hours a day.

I am currently reading "let my people go surfing," a book by patagonia owner, Yvon Chouinard. Chouinard never had a plan to be a businessman. He just wanted to do what he was passionate about; surfing and climbing. His first creations were because he needed better climbing gear. And then his friends asked for him to make some for them, and then their friends, and then their friends friends. Everything that came after that was to fulfill a need in gear or clothing, that was missing or that needed to be improved, and 41years later it is a million dollar business. And it all started because Chouinard followed his heart.

There are things we are passionate about, things we are good at, and things we just settle into. Sometimes just because we are good at something, doesn't mean it will make us happy. Sometimes we start out passionate about something and say yes, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, this is it. But we get scared or life wears us down, and one day years have passed, and we've let our dream float so far away that we think it's too late, and never reach out for it again. That's when we settle.

We should all be as lucky as Chouinard to simply be doing something for ourselves and our passion, and have it bloom into something bigger. If I was lucky I would be able to find a business that would allow me to continue to see the world at the same time. I can't predict the future though, I can only hope that I will have the heart and motivation to make something great that is my own one day.

Greetings from Banff!

So after all those adventures I headed back to Banff, and got a job. The adjustment from traveller to office employee was a bit difficult after 7 weeks of freedom. Getting the job was the easy part. I arrived back in Banff on a Sunday, had an interview Monday, and was hired on Tuesday. The two weeks of sitting around until my start date were a little bit hard. I had gotten use to being in new places every few days and exploring, to sitting around in a town that every street corner was already engrained into my being, and it was hard to not find the familiarity boring.

Although I wasn't looking forward to ending my journey, just like Wendy in Neverland, it was time for me to head home. I had done the journey from Vancouver to Banff last year on a 13 hour, overnight, Greyhound bus ride, but I opted to pay double the price, and double my days getting there, on the Moose Travel Network bus, a youth backpacker tour. It started out slow and little quiet as we all got onto the bus a group of strangers, but by the end of the second day we were best friends. The tour stopped at sites I didn't know existed in between the two provinces, we saw waterfalls, beaches, I swam (for a whole 2 seconds) in freezing water, saw dinosaurs, and took a jet boat and house boat ride.

The Log Cabin in British Columbia

I was just a lot of bit jealous when I got off in Banff and the tour continued on around Alberta. I saw their photos on Facebook and wished I could have continued on with them, but all the places they visited were places that I can go to for the weekend. Also I had to go back to being a real girl.

So my in-between play and work time was spent watching the fireworks on Canada Day, July 1st, to going camping in Whiteswan park in my favorite province, British Columbia! To watch the fireworks, instead of sitting in the park like the average Joe, my friends and I took part of a mass march of about 50 or so people, up the side of a mountain in the dark. Don't worry mama, we had headlamps to help us get down.

View from the top of Tunnel Mountain

The following day we packed up the truck and headed to B.C. I spent the majority of the weekend itting around in my swimsuit because it was so hot. Whiteswan is known for it's natural hot springs, the Lussier Hot Springs, but as there were two groups of us, we had to wait for the other group to arrive, and then have dinner. By the time we headed down to the hot springs it was midnight. So we hopped in the truck bed, pointing out constellations to each other, which were easy to spot as it was the clearest sky you've ever seen, and drove down to the springs. There were a few people there already, and everyone brings tea lights down. The water was almost unbearably hot, so I spent a majority of the time with just my feet in the water. The five of us piled into the canoe for a quick float, but the canoe dipped dangerously low into the water, so afterwards we went in twos. The boys went fishing, while the girls laid out in the sun. We smelt like eggs from the sulphur in the hot springs the night before, and I was the first one to brave the waters and dip in the lake for a rinse. The other two girls followed shortly after, but our movement was limited as we tried to find and stay in warms spots.

Gone Fishing- Moose Lake

After soaking in the sun, I headed off to work the next day. Although excited to be bringing in some five dollar bills (Fun Fact: The smallest bill in Canada is $5, $1 and $2 come in coin form called 'loonies' or 'goonies'), the first few weeks of wearing a uniform and sitting in an office, have been a bit slow for me. I have to wear socks even with ballet flats, and I accidentally left my pants in the dryer a bit too long so that now the bottom hem hangs two inches too high above my ankles. 

After having orientation, I started to drink the brand Kool-Aid though. The new company I work for does have really great benefits and I get a free gym and pool pass, so I have no excuse not to be in the best shape of my life. Also during the tour I got to see that there are views like this around my new place of employment:

View from the top, no PhotoShop needed

And with a view like that, how could I not fall in love with Banff all over again?