Diary of an Armchair Traveler ~ Welcome Friends!

When I moved to the Brockville area 17 years ago, I was pretty sure I was leaving heaven behind, and I was sad to be leaving friends and family, favorite haunts and hang-outs and pretty much everything I’d ever known.  It’s a sentiment I have revisited much, and spoken of more often – especially lately.

I told everyone how I’d traded in my Vancouver rainy days duck feet in for a big ol’ snow shovel, and how I’d gotten weather/cold induced asthma as a welcome “home” present.  

I was of the mindset that I’d been cheated big time, and I was pretty miserable about having left some favorites behind like Stanley Park, White Rock Beach, the view from Queen Elizabeth Park on a clear night seemed to go on almost forever - and those are only just a few of the highlights.

Cultus Lake BC - Photo courtesy of tourismchilliwack.com 

White Rock Beach - Photo Courtesy of http://www.cityhdwallpapers.com

What I didn’t know then, was that much like the kids trade Pokémon in their beloved game, I was trading one slice of paradise for another.  Where I’d has Cultus Lake, I now had Lower Beverley Lake, my memories of sitting on the river bank writing in Fort Langley now pales in comparison to the picture postcard view standing by the majestic St. Lawrence, I miss picking up sand dollars on the beach, but there’s something to be said for watching cheese curd being made, and experiencing what our kids always called “squeaky cheese.” 

Let me tell you a secret --  folks in Vancouver *think* they know what poutine is - but until you've gone to visit St. Alberts and had poutine made right there on site with fresh cheese curds ~ you have no idea..  

There are a great many treasures right here in our backyards, plain as the nose on your face – yet they are often overlooked for the same reason.  I get some pretty strange looks at times when I “discover” this or that, and cannot wait to share the latest find.

A recent visit home to Vancouver gave me even more reasons to love my “new” home, and by the time I came home I was no longer referring to the trip to Vancouver as my first trip home in 16 years but rather, I was quipping on how I couldn’t wait to get back HOME. 

Grocery and gas costs were atrocious!  The road upgrades and changes were crazy, and the home that I’d missed so much was a far cry from the home in my memory.  Life had gone on in my absence, but I’m not so sure I am keen on this new version of my beloved homestead. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it my case, it had the opposite effect. 

At the time that I moved to Brockville I had gone from being single, having just made an escape from ovarian cancer by a narrow margin and getting back on my feet to becoming a caregiver and stepmom to 3 active kids,  and wife-unit to my teddy bear who worked over an hour away.   I often felt somewhat like a single parent, though it just couldn't be helped. 

Transitioning wasn’t as smooth as I might have liked, being a full time Mom wasn’t nearly as much like being a caregiver had been.  When med issues came calling again and again, our family struggled with where we wanted to be, versus where we were added to all of the activities of a busy household, coupled with shared parenting across two households.  At this point, I can happily report that for the most part, we all survived.

There was never enough money at the end of the month, or there was too much month left at the end of the money,   either way – we were not a Disneyland family by any means.  Whenever we did have the opportunity, we would get out for day trips, and we sometimes had to get a little creative about making things work - whether that meant packing a bag of snacks in the car, or a cooler for cold drinks, creating mixed CD's of music the kids liked to play in the car so that nobody killed one another before we got there.  

I'd like this to be a spot where mini-vacations, and "stay-cations" run rampant, where back-yard treasures can be discovered for the very first time, or re-visited like an old friend.  A place where family friendly venues and cost-cutting tips for the more budget conscious among us can come together - where a community comes together over the coffee-pot to share a variety of what we've learned along the  way.  

My vision for "Diary of an Armchair Traveler," has been mulling in the crockpot of my addled blond mind for quite some time.  One of many items on my personal "if only" list.  It is for all of us who promised ourselves when we got older we'd get out and see places, but for one reason or another never got the chance.  

For all of you sitting in your office chair or arm chair, wishing you were just about anywhere else..   more than anything, I'd like for you to know that your battle cries have not been in vain!  You have been heard, and you are NOT alone!  

Sometimes the visit might be a far-away dream of somewhere we'd like to see someday, "if only" life didn't get in the way, and other times it will be a venue that can be visited over a day trip or weekend - but always it will be an escape from the chair in which you sit, and for a few moments in time will carry you somewhere else... 

Welcome travelers!