Where's Waldo?

I still have some more wrap up and list type posts, but I am sure you are all getting bored of those! So today, I will talk a little about where I am and what's happening, since I feel like I have been pretty lax in doing that over the last couple of months.

First of all, can you find me in this photo? I will try to make it big enough that you can try! 

Mur de Canuts (photo credit: Bugsy)

In case you are wondering, this is the Mur de Canuts in Lyon, which is a mural depicting the silk workers. The history of this is facinating, and it began in 1466, when King Louis XI set up a national silk working industry in Lyon, consisting mostly of Italian workers, who were known for their silk making skills. However, it gets even better, as in 1834 the workers revolted against their employers, starting one of the first general strikes in an industry anywhere in the world. There was a whole life around this industry for years, and you can still see the remnants of this today, both physically and politically. 

But I won't bore you with too much history! Let me give you a quick update on where else I have been besides Lyon!

Coming Home. In December, I went home from Seattle and spent some days seeing friends before heading up to my parent's house for Christmas. Despite me thinking that a week would be plenty of time to be with the family, I felt like it went fast, probably because in between playing games and visiting, I worked on packing, getting some photos scanned, and seeing a friend whose Dad is quite ill. 

Ornament made by my Mom

Beginning to Travel Again. On Christmas day, my brother and I drove back to the Bay Area, where I stayed with my friend K for the night. On Boxing Day, we flew out of SFO to Frankfurt Germany! We ended up getting a place in Wiesbaden, which was perfect, as we could easily get into Frankfurt, Mainz or other outlying towns from there. We visited Heidelberg, Koblenz, Wurzburg and Rothenburg and had a lovely time wandering and eating and showing the kids how taking the train is fun! 

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

We saw tons of castles, took a train on the Rhine river, and had a great time. The only downside was that it was freezing, literally! The weather was in the 20s while we were there, and it even snowed a little. That did not stop us, it just meant more hot chocolate was needed! I also kicked off my running season on January 1st with an early morning run with L, my friend's 10 year old daughter. She and I were up early every day and usually we would hang out in the warm kitchen, but she was game to take a run on one of the freezing days, so we went and it was great! 

My early morning running buddy

Marzipan piggy

Flying Solo. After the girls left, I headed to Strasbourg, France, where I had a great time buying pastries and wandering around. If you have not been here, I highly recommend it! However, once again, it was in the teens and twenties and snowed, so maybe if you go, go in April, May or October! I continued my running game, and am trying to go a few times a week, and I did that, even in the rain! It is nice to be in a place where I can go back and get warm, which was not always the case when cycling. However, I kind of am jealous of the folks with bikes, as there are tons of canals and bike lanes to enjoy! I may need to get a bike at some point. 

Petit France, Strasbourg

After Strasbourg I went to Dijon. It is a nice little town that I would also recommend. I started to get in a groove, found a good bakery where I could get my daily baguette, and found a nice running path on the Burgundy canals, where I even did my longest run in a LONG TIME, 11 miles! I love being able to pair running with exploring a new place; it really makes the miles go by so much faster. 

Dijon + Notre Dame Church

Lunch Buddies. After Dijon, I went to Lyon. I had a couple of friends meet up with me in Lyon and what did we do? EAT! Lyon is known as the gastronomic capital of France and it currently has five two Michelin starred and twelve one Michelin starred restaurants! The ones we went to were called Bouchons, which are the typcial working class restaurants of the silk workers, and the food was very good! We also did a walking tour, looked at lots of old building, ruins and churches, climbed lots of stairs, found plenty of pastry shops and had a great time wandering around Les Halles (the food market). 

Oeuf mayonaise

So many treats!

Praline tart

Now my friends are gone again, and I am on my own. I have been enjoying trying out the local bike share, getting my bearings a little, wandering around the Croix Rousse neighborhood and checking out the views from the top of the hill (my apartment is near the river). 

Basilica de Notre Dame du Fourvière 

Roman Theater

Plans include lots more wandering and a Saturday market (or three). I am also trying to get at least 10,000 steps (about 5 miles) a day, stretching for 10 minutes a la Nicole, doing daily pushups and getting back into my running routine! I am also doing at least 10 minutes a day of language lessons and I may also go to a weekly French conversation meet up if I can get my act together! It is still cold, in the 20s and 30s, but at least it's not raining! 

À bientôt! Bonne journée!

Have you been to Wiesbaden, Strasboug, Dijon or Lyon? Have you ever been to a Michelin starred restaurant? Do you like marzipan? What daily routines are you doing this year? 

Looking Back: 2024 Money Pie

If you are a long time reader, you know that every year I reveal my spending for the year in the form of my favorite kind of pie, a money pie. Okay, not really; I actually prefer apple with a side of vanilla ice cream, but as I have mentioned in my Money Monday posts, I do think the number one step to financial freedom is tracking your expenses so that you know (a) where your money is going and (b) how much you would need when you retire or (c) what you would need in an emergency if you lost your job or something like that. Knowledge is power. 

Luckily now there are many different ways to do this, the easiest probably would be by putting everything on one credit card and then just looking at their breakdown at the end of each month, quarter or year. However, I love Excel and pivot tables and so I continue to do my recap by using Fidelity Full View to aggregate my spending, downloading that to Excel and then playing around with it in Excel a bit. You could just use Fidelity alone, but I like having some extra info, like what country I was in and whether my meals were breakfast or lunch. That is just me though and most people don't need this level of detail. 

2024 was a strange year for me though, as I was only in a permanent place for the first three months of the year, and then I sold my house, which cost me an arm and a leg, and also made this the year that I spent the most in one year that I have ever spent before. This was despite the fact that once I started traveling, my average spend per month was about $2,600 a month. So this year's recap will be a little different; first I will show you the pie with the home costs included. Ridiculous, right? 

Also, here is a chart showing month by month. As you can see, I sold my house in May, and also had to pay for an (expensive) plumbing job in Octotober. 

Next, I will talk about the costs excluding the home costs, since when I have them in, they make all the other slices way too tiny and skew the data too much. 

From most to least, excluding the home category, here is where my money went: 

Accommodation: 32.31%. This includes Airbnb, motels, hotels, camping, a subscription to the Warmshowers (cycling accommodation swap) network and a subscription to the Trusted Housesitters (pet sitting) network. 

Shopping: 15.85%. This category includes toiletries, clothing, misc. home items & appliances, electronics and books. I also put any cycling related items in this category, which is why it is so high. I spent a lot of money on bike maintenance, bike accessories and gear, and I also got a new laptop. I probably should have put the bike mainenance in the transportation category, but...I didn't, and in 2025 I won't really have to worry about that as much. 

Dining Out: 11.86%. This category includes eating out, coffee, booze and ice cream. This one is crazy, and way higher than normal for me, probably because I had 19 breakfasts, 43 lunches, 42 dinners, 48 coffees and 10 ice creams out, plus various drinks and snacks, bringing my total number of times dining out in 2024 to 192 times or basically once every two days! Yikes!! As a comparison, in 2023, this number was 52 (6 breakfasts, 16 lunches, 12 dinners, 16 drinks including coffee and 2 desserts), so I nearly quadrupled my normal amount. 

When I stayed with or met up with people I often bought them a meal, so the dollar amount is a little higher than it would be otherwise. However, time spent with friends is priceless and so many of them (you!) were willing to put me up, and I appreciate that! 

Groceries: 10.05%. Despite being on the road for much of the year and therefore having to buy groceries in smaller (more expensive) quantities, and more often (I went to the grocery store 162 times in 2024!), I only spent about $700 (or $58 per month) more in 2024 than I did in 2023. Go figure! I would have assumed it would have been a lot higher. I guess only being able to carry so much on the bike kept me from overbuying! Also I definitely dined out more than I normally do, so much of my food cost probably went to that.

Utilities: 8.95%. This cateogry is a new one for me, as I was putting some of these items in the Home category before, or the Misc. category, but now they bascially cover most of my fixed costs, aka non travel costs, such as computer security, credit card fees, phone, computer software, cloud storage, and subscriptions. I do pay a lot in credit card fees, but I used the bonus points from these to pay for four tickets to Germany, so I think it is worth it for the time being. I will reevaluate at the end of 2025 and will cancel any that are not worth paying for anymore. 

Health: 8.59%. This category includes health insurance, out of pocket costs, massages, medicines and vitamins etc. I did most of my medcial stuff before I quit my job, which did cost me a little bit out of pocket, but the bulk of this is from my monthly insurance premium. 

Transportation: 7.40%. This includes airfare, Lyft/Uber, public transportation, car insurance, maintenance, registration, gas, tolls, car rental & parking. Most of the cost here was gas, trains (I took Amtrak three times and Via Rail Canada once) and ride share, because when we were done riding from Canada to Mexico, we were in the middle of nowhere and it cost $250 to have someone pick me up and take me and my bike to El Paso. 

Misc.: 4.83%. This category includes gifts, haircuts, legal fees, tax prep software and education expenses. I had to pay some taxes out of pocket. The biggest expense here was gifts by far; the second biggest was my CFA yearly fees, which cost about $300 per year. 

Entertainment: 0.16%. This category includes music, theater, sporting events, museums, tours etc. However, the only thing I did was one "free" walking tour in Seattle, but otherwise, my entertainment in 2024 was mostly riding through or past places, walking around in towns, or eating, which is covered in a different category.  

So, 2024 was a little unconventional and I am looking forward to seeing what 2025 brings. Just for fun, if I took what I spent for the year minus the home category and prorated it then adjusted it to be over a year again, I would have spent about 67% of my normal spending for the year at home in the Bay Area. This seems a little high so I am wondering if I will spend less for a year of international slow travel than I did for a year of moving every day but camping sometimes. 

What do you think? Do you think I will spend less or more in 2025 than I did in 2024?

In 2025, I will give actual dollar amounts per month and will also break down which country I am in so that I can compare these at the end of the year. I know that some places I plan on being are known for being cheaper, but I am also curious to find out if some of the places that we (I) assume are more expensive end up being cheaper than I thought. 

Do you track your spending? What was your highest spending category? How many times do you think you went to the grocery store and/or dined out last year? 

What I Learned: 24 New Things

Happy Epiphany! Normally if I was home, I would be celebrating this day with a run that used to be the number of kilometers as a friend's age (who is now in his 60s or maybe 70s!), so today I will do the same, but probably many less miles than normal! So, happy birthday John! Today I will run your age in km, drop the zero! 

Every year I like to make a list of the things that I learned over the year or the new things I discovered and for the last few years I have made it a list of the number of things corresponding to the number of the year. (*Side note: last year one of them was "overnight bikepacking." My how things have changed!) So this year I will give you 24 things that are new to me this year, in no particular order! 

1. New to me states. This year, I visited three new to me states, Montana, Wisconsin and Michigan. I really enjoyed all of them, and their specific beauty, as well as the people that I met in each of them. I still have a few left on my list to visit, but I am now up to 43 states visited so far! 

Montana

Wisconsin

Michigan

2. Sleeping with strangers. On my bike trip, I stayed with hosts through the Warmshowers network, which is a network of people willing to host a dirty cyclist and sometimes even feed and entertain them. I met a lot of very nice people through this, but I will admit to being a bit nervous the first time I did it. Luckily everyone was super nice, I got to learn about the local culture, and hear stories of their time on the road (most of them are also cyclists). 

3. Bike maintenance. Over the last year, I fixed about a dozen flat tires. However, this was already something that I knew how to do. What I did not know how to do and am now good at was how to assess certain problems, like adjusting my derailleur, changing my brake pads or replacing my chain. These were not the most exciting new things to learn but they did come in handy! 

Fixing a flat

4. Bike terms. Before this trip, I called the thingy on the back of the bike with all of the teeth on it that the chain goes around a "sprocket." Folks, it is not called a sprocket; it is a cassette. There is also a crank, a bottom bracket, and many other things on the bike that I learned about, sometimes the hard way (I had to replace my bottom bracket, which cost me an arm and a leg!) 

5. Native lands. I rode through so many different native lands, and many of them have information about the tribes there. I enjoyed learning more about the natives and first nations as I pedaled through. 

Map found in Nova Scotia, with my lines of where I went

6. Fun with AI. As you know from some of my posts, I have been playing around with AI a little this year. The best thing so far has been a table of places I could run or hike near my Airbnb with mileage and possible lunch options on the route. I have not tested it out yet by running there or trying the food, but it is a fun way to get some ideas. I am also enjoying making pictures, like this one below! 

7. Pronunciation. After reading Kae and Julie's blogs for a long time and completely pronouncing their family member's names wrong, I finally met them in person and learned how to do it right! Kae's husband is E-van, not I-van and Julie's daughter is May-ah, not My-ah. So now you know. (PS I also pronounced Hermione wrong for a long time in my head, and finally heard it said out loud and was surprised!) 

8. How to use a GoPro. I bought a GoPro in 2023 with the intention of using it for hiking and biking adventures and the first time I used it, I filmed my lap and handlebars for several videos without realizing it. I have gotten a little bit better at it since then, but still find out new things, like last week I found out that there is an "action" mode that I have never used. Oops. 

9. Too many things about computers. You were all there with me when I bought a new laptop and learned way too many things about RAM and GB and graphics cards. Something I have not told you though is that Costco has a 30 day price match policy, so I checked the price and it had gone down $300, and Costco adjusted it for me! 

10. How to ride a bike in the snow. This is not very fun and I do not really want to do it if I don't have to, unless maybe I got a fat bike. However, it was beautiful, even though I suffered! 

Near Burney, CA

11. Video calls make everything better. When I arrived home after being gone for nine months and saw my Mom in person for the first time, it did not feel like I had been away so long. We have a weekly video call and it really made it feel like we had been seeing each other the entire time. I almost forgot that I had not hugged her in nine months! 

12. Any coffee is good coffee. I already knew that I could pretty much drink anything due to camping and drinking a lot of instant coffee. However, in the last year, I have had instant, drip, filter, French press, Nespresso, espresso, Tim's, Starbucks, gas station coffee, Kurig...and more! And sometimes an instant coffee and powdered creamer latte on the side of a trail in the rain can be the best coffee you have ever had! 

Coffee with ice cream in it! 

13. More exercise is better for stomach issues. During my cycling times, I did not really have any issues with bloating! However, once I stopped, sometimes my tummy got a little sad. I think that burning more calories really helped the food to not just settle in the tummy and fester, and I felt so much better when I was active. 

14. People are wonderful. I already knew this, but had a great time meeting up with people for walks before leaving the Bay Area, and then meeting so many people along the way! This just cemented the fact that I do actually like people and that people are good! Sometimes the news or social media makes me feel otherwise, and we all need a reminder that there are good people out there! 

15. Dogs are okay too. I would not call myself a dog person, but I did have dogs growing up and I did love them. Of course, my Dad trained them and so they were well behaved dogs. I have realized recently that I don't dislike dogs, but I do not really enjoy badly behaved dogs, or their human owners. There is nothing worse than being on a leashed running trail and having an unleashed dog run up to you and jump on you while the human tells you that "he's friendly!" However, I have been with some pretty good dogs in the last year and they have warmed my heart (even Jelly, the crazy Cavapoo, has calmed down a little and now we are better friends). 

My brother's dog, Freddy

16. But cats are still better. Sorry dog lovers! I still like cats better. As a pet sitter, cats are so much easier. You can leave the house all day and come back and they are fine. You don't have to walk them; they are often not as needy. However, I did love getting out twice a day with the dogs! But cats are just so much more chill. 

Volunteering with J at Petco

17. Verbal journalling. Since I was riding, I often would use the Recorder app on my phone to record audio while I was riding. I tried to do this every day if I could, and would sometimes also record notes for other people and would send them a voice note of what was going on. This saved me having to rewrite it later after I was done riding. Also my app also transcribes and so later if I do want to write a journal, it will be very helpful. I feel like it was like my one line a day journal essentially and sometimes I would talk for a half an hour and sometimes only five minutes. However, I have started to go back and listen to them and it is very fun to hear how I felt nine months ago when I was just starting out. 

18. BC has free established camping. In British Columbia, if the provinical park campground is not yet open for the season, you can duck under or around the gate and camp there. Also, there are sites called Recreation sites, that are often free and first come first served. However, some of the rec sites are $10 or $20, depending on where you are. 

Sunshine Coast

Chain Lakes

19. People in Ontario have a stronger "Canadian" accent. I kind of knew this, as one of my good friends grew up in Toronto and she says "so-rry" instead of "sari" like we say in California. I also noticed more "ehs" in Ontario than I did in other places. I could be biased though, as the west coast Canadians sound a lot like Californians, so maybe I just did not notice their accent as much. 

20. Routing and rerouting. I did a lot of routing and rerouting on the fly for the bike trip. Even though I know how to map, and do it a lot for hiking trips, this really put me in the deep end of bicycle route planning that I had not really been in before. It probably also taught me that I do not need to prepare ahead of time for EVERYTHING, as often that was not a choice and I turned out okay. 

21. I can live with just my phone. I was without a laptop for a while and although I do not love it, I can do it if I need to. Isn't that funny though, as there have been so many trips in the past where I did not have a computer, and even ones before that where I did not have a phone, and all of them were just fine (remember mapquest? Or having to ask for directions? In French?) It also maked me really happy to have my laptop back when I finally got it. I defintely took it for granted before! 

22. Toilets and hot water are awesome. Speaking of taking for granted, I knew this before but let me say it again, having a toilet and a hot shower is priceless! 

Even this is better than digging a hole

23. New to me Provinces. I had been to Ontario to see Niagara Falls when I was younger, but had never really strayed into the rest of the province, so I will call this a "new" one, and also I made it across New Brunswick (but did not stay the night so I will not count it) and into Nova Scotia! I also explored Quebec a little more, and stayed in Montreal for a couple of weeks! Overall I am happy with the time I spent in Canada and can't wait to go back for more! 

24. How to sell a house. It feels like that was a long time ago, but it was only last year that I sold my house. I am so happy with the realtor that I picked, as I basically got rid of all of my stuff, quit my job, and left, and he did everything to prep the house for sale, including working with all of the contractors, plumbers, inspectors and electricians! I just wrote the checks and he did everything. It was actually not that bad in the end. 

And there you have it! I learned a lot more things, and definitely saw more new places than I could list here, but all in all, I say 2024 was a good year for new things! 

What new things did you learn or do in 2024? 

Best of 2024: Books

Happy New Year! According to Goodreads, I read 173 books in 2024 and DNFed 27, which comes out to roughly 70,300 pages. Here are a few stats.  

Breakdown by star rating:
5 stars (loved/it was great): 8 (4%)
4 stars (liked a lot/it was good): 82 (41%)
3 stars (liked a little/it was okay): 68 (34%)
2 stars (barely liked/it was not that good): 15 (7.5%)
1 star (it sucked but I finished it): 0 (0%)
0 stars (DNF): 27 (13.5%)

Average rating including DNFs: 3.01
Average excluding DNFs: 3.48

As you can see, this year if it sucked, I did not finish it, which contributed to a high amount of DNFs compared to most years in the past. Also four stars was my most common rating, but still there were enough threes and twos that the average was not that great. 

You can find a list of all of my favorites from prior years on my bookshelf page or on Goodreads. 

My two favorite books this year were: 

The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown: As a California native, we heard about the Donner party a lot! Any time we cross over Donner pass, we think of how they had to eat each other to stay alive. Any time we pass by Donner lake, we stop at the plaque and read about their struggles. I have heard it a million times. However, the author has a way of telling a story that just resounded with me. I really enjoyed this book (side note, see below for another one of my favorites by him) and the way he detailed the struggles of the Donner party. 

The Mountains Sing by Phan Quế Mai Nguyễn: This book tells the story of the Vietnam war and more, as seen from the point of view of a Vietnamese native. It is a multigenerational story and starts with the mother in the early 1900s and details the conflicts within both the country and the family as time goes by. Another book by the same author, Dust Child, was a four star read for me but didn't quite make the top cut.

The following books (in no particular order) were all five star reads: 

The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patty Callahan Henry: A teenaged girl loses her sister during the evacuation of the children of London during WWII and she is traumatized for life. Then, as she is reading a manuscript for her job in editing, she reads a story that only her and her sister would know. This sparks a renewed search for her sister and we go through twists and turns to find out whether or not her beloved sister is still alive. 

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell: Who doesn't love a good thriller. I am constantly entertained by this author, and this book was no exception. It is the story of a true crime podcaster who interviews an interesting women, who later turns into a liability and the podcaster becomes the subject of her own podcast. Twists and turns at every corner make this an entertaining read. 

The Women by Kristen Hannah: I probably don't need to say much as this was a hot book this year, but I enjoyed learning more about the women who went to Vietnam to serve in the war. Also the story of how they were treated when they returned, as well as the mental struggles they had in both places were heartbreaking. 

Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown: If you have not heard about the Nisei soldiers, you have to read this book. This details the struggles that the first generation Japanese Americans had when they went off to fight in WWII against the Japanese. Many of them were sent on fool's errands, and they were treated badly by their own countrymen (Americans) even though they were fighting alongside them. 

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt: I already did a write up on this, but in case you missed it, the book goes into some of the issues that the younger generations are having due to the amount of screen time they are using, as well as the platforms and apps that they are using on their phones/screens. 

The Wedding People by Alison Espach: Here is another book that will probably be a best of book on many people's lists. A woman goes to a hotel to kill herself and realized that there is a week long wedding party taking place at the same hotel. She is understandably annoyed, but things take a turn and the end is not what you think it will be. 

-----

The following (in no particular order) were at the top of my four star reads for the year: 

Outlander (#1, #2, #3) by Diane Gabaldon: Men in kilts, romance, war. Need I say more? 

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker: A 16 year old goes missing, and a television network decides to make a reality show about trying to find her. It is written in interview form, which I liked, and also keeps you guessing what really happened until the very end. 

Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford: Basically the Great British Bake Off, as told from a very lovable older woman's perspective. However, we do find out that more lies beneath the surface than expected. 

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell: Basically the Great British Bake Off, but with murder. 

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger: A high profile townsman is murdered, a Native American man is blamed, and the sherrif has to sort it all out. 

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters: A four year old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from a Maine berrry field, and her family searches for her for years. Cut to the future, when a girl named Norma grows up in Maine and doesn't feel like she quite fits in. The author does a great job of detailing the trauma involved, as well as the struggles and love that bring the whole thing together in the end. 

All My Rage by Saaba Tahir: Told from the perspective of a young Pakistani boy whose family moved to America to open a motel, it is a tale of struggles and family and love and regrets. 

Never by Ken Follet: What would it be like if WWIII was on our hands? Follet does a good job of creating an event that many may be dreading. Also there is a woman president. Yay. 

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall: Stories about the taboo subject of abortion and how girls would have to sneak around to try to get someone to help them in their time of need. Alongside this, we also have children that were taken from their parents by force at birth and the stories of trying to figure out later what had happened in those desperate times. 

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: A wealthy teenager goes missing at summer camp, but the kicker is that she is not only the daugher of the camp owners, but her little brother went missing from nearly the same spot many years ago. We spend our time trying to figure out who took her or whether or not she has been killed, and of course there is a twist at the end. 

What was your favorite book of 2024? Do you mostly read audio, eBook or paper books? 

Best of 2024: Travel

I hope that everyone is having a great holiday week! It is that time of year again; let the round ups begin! Here are a few of my favorite places from my travels this year, in no particular order! 

Marquette, Michigan. This is a cute little town in the Upper Penninsula right near Lake Superior. They have a fun little farmers market, good bike paths and a good bakery. What more could you ask for? 

Lake Superior, Marquette

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta. Although I have been here before, I liked it then and I liked it again! This is a beautiful park in the Canadian Rockies and is not quite as busy as Banff or Jasper, so is quite a treat! It has beautiful views of lakes and mountains and often you will see wildlife here (we saw a grizzly bear!) 

Day One of the Tour Divide

Icefields Parkway, Alberta. Yup, two Canadian places in one! It was cold and rainy when I was here, but it was still very beautiful! I also saw several bears here too and had fun camping in some very pretty locations. 

Waterfowl Lake, Banff NP

Crooked River, Oregon. As I passed people fishing and sitting next to their camper reading, I knew I wanted to eventually come back to this place again. It is dry and stark, but very beautiful all the same. 

Crooked River, Oregon

Bellingham, Washington. A fun town near water (I am seeing a theme here) with a Saturday market (another theme) and lots of good food, beer and places to walk. It checks a lot of boxes! 

I love a town that loves beer!

Nelson, BC. Another town near a lake with a nice walkable downtown and everything that you could possibly need nearby. There is hiking, skiing, water sports and more! Oh, and hamburgers and beer (another theme)! 

Nelson Post Office

Fernie, BC. A cute little ski town nestled in the heart of the Rockies. Also the downtown is walkable and the guys at the bike shop were very helpful. I am actually surprised this made the cut, as I actually passed through it twice and had to go to the bike shop both times! Booo! 

Downtown Fernie

Quebec City, QC. I also liked Montreal, but both cities have such a fun international flair and I enjoyed wandering, learning some history, and eating! 

La Fresque des Québécois

Colorado. Yup, the whole state. Actually, for the entire Tour Divide, Colorado was my favorite. I did not really stay in too many towns and a lot of the time I was riding as far as I could and spending most of my town time in grocery stores and crappy motels. However, even though it was hard, some of the climbs in Colorado were just beautiful, and were through forests full of trees, and I could feel the fresh air and I loved it. 

East San Juans, Colorado

Peggy's Cove, NS. The lighthouse here is one of Nova Scotia's most known and photographed lighthouses for a reason, as it sits on a rocky bluff and is surrounded by colorful houses and fishing bouys. Once again, places with water make the cut more often than not. 

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

Obviously there were so many more places that I went this year that were beautiful, and where the people who I met were also great, and I could go on and on (as I sometimes do) but for now, I will leave you with these ten lovelies! 

Where was your favorite travel destination in 2024? Have you ever been to any of these places and if so, what did you think? 

Contemplations Regarding Canada: Quebec

Ooh la la! As you know, I was recently in Quebec, and I noticed a few things about this province that had me thinking. 

Parlez Vous Français? Just like the British think it is hilarious when I tell them I am wearing my fanny pack (FYI, "fanny" is not a butt in the UK; it is a lady's hoohaw), the Quebecois have some funny differences from the French spoken in France. Here are a few examples: 

In France, a danseuse is a classical dancer (danseuse classique); in Quebec, it is a stripper (stripteaseuse). 

In France, a gosse is a child (enfant); in Quebec, it is a testicle (testicule). This could be confusing! 

Let Your Freak Flag Fly. In most of Canada, the residents have the Canadian flag flying in their yards. But I could barely tell you what the Ontario, BC or Alberta flags look like, as only a few people had them hanging alongside the national flag. However, I can definitely tell you what the Quebec flag looks like, and in many cases, the residents only have the Quebec flag, not the Canada flag. I had heard stories of the provinialism (is that a word?) but was still a bit surprised to see that it really was a thing!

It kind of reminds me of the state of Jefferson flags, which, if you're unfamiliar, are for the part of California that wants to separate from the rest of California and be their own state. 

European Feel. Not only is the architecture and the way of life very European, but there are other things like the bike paths and bike culture, which seem very good and different from the culture in some of the other provinces. I really enjoyed riding in Quebec and I honestly can't say that about parts of some of the other provinces. 

Baguettes! I love that you can buy a baguette in the grocery store (Maxi) or elsewhere for around $0.90 CAD. There definitely were not cheap baguettes in the parts of Ontario that I was in. 

All in all, I loved that being in Quebec felt like being in a different country, even though techincally I was still in the same one. I liked being able to practice my French but have the knowledge that if I forgot the words, the people would probalby understand me in English. 

What is the funniest instance of a normal word being construed as bad somewhere else that you know of? In your area, is it common to fly the state or provincal flag? 

A Day In The Life

Since I am done riding for the moment, but am not yet home, I thought I would do a day in the life of a house and pet sitter. I am currently in the Pacific Northwest and am hanging out with a very happy English Setter. 

4:33 am. I wake up and my body says, "let's do something!" so I get out of bed and start the coffee. As it's percolating, I get Frankie (the dog) out of her crate and feed her, then I brush my teeth and put my contacts in. Once the coffee is ready, I get a big cup and sit down to do some computer work. Lately this has consisted of going through photos and videos of my trip and trying to create some semblance of order to them. I also read a few blogs, comment on them, update my address list with a new address I just got, and address a holiday card to this person, put a stamp on it and put it in the outgoing mail stack. Mornings are my more productive time and I always feel better when I get some things done early. 

7:04 am. It is not quite light, but it will be light enough in about 10 or 15 minutes that we will not trip over anything, so I get myself and Frankie ready for a run. This consists of a beanie, gloves, long sleeve shirt and windbreaker for me, and a leash for Frankie. Oh, and poop bags of course. We have been alternating days between running or long walks, and today is a running day. 

7:25 am. We finally get out the door, and lo and behold, the sunrise is fabulous! It has been foggy and cloudy a lot lately, but today it is so clear and we can see Mt. Rainier! Also, great news, Frankie does her business early, so I only have to run with it for a minute before I get to the park where I can dispose of it. Silver lining!? 

Mt. Rainier

8:00 am. Our run takes us out to Puget Sound, and today it is clear enough that we can also see the Olympic range, which is a first! We spend way too much time taking photos and playing in the surf, but soon we are on our way. 

The Olympic Range

Frankie and the Sea

9:00 am. We go further than planned because the views are just so good. Frankie is a good dog, and she loves to run, but she also gets very excited about any other dog and kids and wants to bark at them and jump on them or lunge at them. Because of this, I try to stay on the other side of the street. We also normally don't go out at prime school bus time when we can help it. Also, the dog is very food motivated, and will chase any small animal, and she finds a hidden container of chow mein on the ground and actually pulls me down to the ground. It is not really her strength as much as it is that the sidewalks are very slippery here, but I am okay! I love running in quirky places, and Seattle is that! We find lots of little treasures along the way. 

Mermaid Trading Post

10:00 am. We get home, shower, and eat. Frankie drinks about a gallon of water, and I fear that she is going to toss her cookies, but she doesn't thank goodness. She then goes for a nap. I think I finally tired her out! 

11:00 am. I walk to the grocery store, get groceries and walk back. It is a beautiful day and is cold but a lot more clear than it has been. 

The Cascades

12:00 pm - 3:00 pm. I do more computer work, organizing etc. I am trying to have all of my travel plans figured out approximately three months beforehand, if not more. Currently I have all the accommodation and transport booked through July, but am still getting lists together of things to do in each location. 

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm. Happy hour! I go down to the local pub and get a beer and a bacon cheeseburger with ghost pepper cheese. Seattle is known for its happy hours and will often have them on weekends and late nights too. However, for me, a 3:00 pm dinner is perfect! This way I only need two meals today. Total cost for two beers, bacon cheeseburger and tater tots with 10% tax and tip = $30. 

5:00 pm. Frankie and I go for our evening walk. Usually we do at least two miles per walk, but today since we ran a lot further than normal, we only do about a mile. The Christmas lights are so fun though, and it is kind of nice to walk in the dark with all of the lights shining. 

This is Hans' house; it is my favorite

5:30 pm - 8:00 pm. Back home, in jammies, ready to take on the world. We watch an episode of The Great British Bake Off, which is fun, but kind of silly. Everyone is so nice. I don't really like the hosts; I think their value add is minimal. However, I enjoy watching the challenges. After that, I play a couple of games of Rummikub on my phone and then read before going to bed.  

What is your typical day like? What time do you get up and go to bed? Do you play any games on your phone (if so, which ones)?