About
Hello and welcome to my travel blog! I’m Greg, and I will be your host. If you’re not familiar with what a blog is, here it is in a few words or less. Blog = weblog. An online journal.
About This Site
I have had intentions to travel the world for many years. Throughout this time, I have spoken to many people about my aspirations. Throughout these conversations, I kept hearing similar responses; “that will be amazing, I wish I had the opportunity to do something like that.” This got me thinking (which can sometimes be dangerous), and I decided to post my travel experiences on the web for all to see (mainly family and friends of course). It only made sense really, as I had planned on keeping a journal along the way anyway.
This site will mostlikely be a constant work-in-progress, but my goal is to be able to report back on my experiences to the best of my ability using two mediums which will compliment one another. The written word, to tell stories of far away lands, and my photography to help the reader build a mental image, and use their imagination to fill in the gaps. Oh yes, imagination is a must. If you have not got one, you are not welcome here, please leave now.
A Bit About Me
For those of you who are here because you know me, the above is suitable for a description of what is to go on on this site. For those of you that do not, I should include a little about myself.
I’m a young Canadian chap, born and raised in South-Western Ontario, 26 years of age (at time of writing). I’ve always been in search of adventure, whether that was playing in houses while they were being built while I was young, or the now bigger adventure of setting out across the globe.
I like many things.. where to start? How about with travel, as it is the basis of this web site. I have always enjoyed travelling, and have been very fortunate to have been raised in a family where it was a significant part of my growing up. My mother was a travel agent, and my father travelled frequently on business. Sometimes, they would decide not to leave us at home with the old and mean babysitter, and take us to foreign places (mainly in Canada).
From here, I’m taking the travel adventures to another level and stepping out on my own. I never really liked how structured and overly planned our trips were, but it took me a lot of years to figure this out. Now I have, so I will be travelling with the “go where I want” mentality. It will be a long trip, upon which I hope to meet lots of good friends, learn about many different cultures, see foreign lands, learn foreign languages. In a few words.. experience the world. Sounds like a big feat, and it will be.
Music. I love many kinds of music. There aren’t many moments where I’m not listening to music, and I don’t really want there to be (although I did miss a plane once due to my discman overshadowing the early departure pages over the PA system).
I like intelligent people. People who have the ability, and desire to formulate their own opinions.
My patience for stupid people grows shoter and shorter by the day (if you feel you may be one of these people, there is hope, YOU CAN CHANGE!).
I love learning. I am like a sponge, and have so many things that I want to soak up throughout the course of my life.
Friends. Friends are, and have been the most important thing to me since as far back as I can remember. I enjoy spending time with them, especially when it has been many months since seeing them.
Food. I love to cook. I wanted to be a chef for a lot of years, but decided against it. Cooking is so relaxing, and so rewarding when you get to eat the tasty treats afterwards! The down side to food, is that I have been a vegetarian for a couple years, and there are some seriously tasty animals out there. Meat, you will always be in my heart.
Wine. I should probably mention that this list is in no particular order. My love for red wine started on a trip to Italy that I took with my loving mother. Between the restaurant in Venice, with the table on the cobblestone back alley, and the monestary in Tuscany, there were many a lovely bottle of Brunello shared!
Women. OK, I’ll come out and say it. I love women. My mother raised me to be a bit over-sensitive, so there is a large part of me that relates better with women than men. I have always had women in my life who have been the best of friends. It works out great, because they give the best advice about women (and me about other boys). But seriously, women are the beautiful part of our species. Gents, accept and embrace this, and move on.
Beer. Beer is lovely. All shapes, sizes, tastes, colours, et cetera. I plan on spending some time in Dublin and Lueven while in Europe for just this reason (Guiness and many Belgian breweries).
Probably one of my favorite things are long dinners, with a bottle of wine (or two) and long stimulating conversation. There are SO many things to talk about. Conversation spurs thought, as well as allows people to express themselves (and better understand themselves through their expression).
Snowboarding. I’ve been snowboarding for years, but have never gotten into it as heavily as I would like. This is something I plan to remedy on my “trip” by spending some time in the Alps.
Sailing. I’ve also been sailing for years. It is, and always will be one of my passions. Let me clarify a bit here. I’m not talking about 40 foot yachts with guys called Stephen and Gregory, wearing deck shoes sipping Manhattens, calling each other Skipper, and patting each other on the ass. I’m talking about small boats, around 14 feet. Racing boats. With spinnakers, trapeze, and lots of cold, fast, wetness! It’s fast, exilerating, and gets your adrenaline pumping like nothing else (that I’ve yet to experience).
Reading. It has only been in the past couple years, but I have started to really enjoy reading. It is really part of this “Greg the Sponge” thing where I want to soak up as much knowledge and experience as I can, but I have also been enjoying the relaxing nature of reading, and letting your imagination get a little work out along the way.
Water. I love the water, and things involving water. I like drinking water, and being in and around it. Showers?! Yup, they’re great. Hot tubs? Awesome! Beaches? Oh yeah!
I probably shouldn’t leave out photography, but it’s a newer addition to my life, so I sometimes forget about it. To me, photography is about trying to capture the beauty in your subject to the best of your ability. There are always senses at work creating an overall feeling that cannot be expressed in a picture. My goal is to make that overall feeling as close to what I was feeling when I took the picture.
Although I have not described what I am like, I cannot do that, as that is objective to the observer. I have instead summarized the things that are important to me, to allow you to get a better understanding of who I am through what I’m passionate about. Please note that by reading this last sentence, you agree that you will never use any of this divulgence of information against me.