Headfirst into Delhi!

As I write this it is middle of the dead of night, and Hanga and I are squeezed into narrow seats on a rickety, old bus that feels more like a roller coaster in the dark, bumping and snaking its way through the narrow and unpredictable asphalt arteries of hilly Northern India.

Unable to sleep, I admire the twinkling lights from nearby hill cities, which, lit sporadically by homes and not on roads, resemble the stars of the night sky itself. I watch as the bus driver honks at occasional shepherds guiding their sheep along the road, and makes passes around trucks on impossible road curves, owing to magnificent skill, and even more outlandish luck.

This is only one of numerous experiences so far in India that screams “welcome to the big leagues of backpacking.” India far exceeds any country I have visited for culture shock and extremes – where you get the beautiful with the repulsive.

Through Day 5, Hanga and I have maximized, if you will, our low budget low discomfort travel lifestyle, to so far manage a daily budget of around 500 rupees ($10 CAD, 7 EUR) on no less than rickety old buses and the amazing generosity of Couchsurfing hosts.

We landed in Delhi, where we had a hell of a time getting from the airport to our host, getting approached by many locals providing mixed, unreliable information about everything including transportation, times, prices and amenities such as Wifi. It got to the point where we couldn't trust anyone, no matter how friendly, upon the suspicion of swindling.

Suny, our awesome host in Delhi (pic borrowed from CS profile)

Suny, our Couchsurfing host, was like a shining light in the dark, the eye of a storm in the centre of a chaotic city. Suny was more than just our sanctuary but an amazing human being with an inspiring success story.

Suny is full of compassion – aside from his travel agency work (which did not even cause a smidge of conflict of interest in being his guest), Suny teaches yoga and works with youths in the NGO that reached out to him early in his life. He is saving up to start his own NGO someday. Even now, in his home in Delhi, his place is intentionally humble, bare but enough for furnishings.

At Suny's we managed to catch up on sleep and let the culture shock sink in: the poverty, suicidal rickshaw drivers in insane traffic, heat and humidity, stench of faeces everywhere. Squat toilets. The claustrophobia of all of this cramped in a huge city.

One half of the indoors of Suny's apartment - there is balcony and washroom above

Then we escaped via the first available overnight bus north out of the suffocating city and into the fresh air, mountainous and more indigenous cultures of Himachal Pradesh.

Now better acclimated to our surroundings, Hanga and I have rediscovered the reasons why we came – to be stretched outside of our comfort zone, to witness humanity at its greatest and worst.

Our bus ride has finally escaped the night time, and sunlight is now exposing some of the greatest of India – the deep cut cliffs of Parvati Valley. The stereo starts blaring Indian dance, with its modern rhythms and electronic sounds. A delusional man alights the bus, starts shouting strange sermons out loud.

Just another day in India.

Preview of next blog - Shimla

On the TransCanada Treadmill of Canada

You know that feeling when you're on a treadmill? When you feel like you're moving forward, yet the scenery doesn't appear to be changing? For the most part this is the feeling one gets driving across the Prairies from Calgary to Toronto.

Yes, it was boring at times. However, at other times driving across the flat unending fields of wheat actually produced quite a surreal feeling, as if I was a fixed point in the universe, and the earth was spinning and passing like a blur underneath me.

And certainly, sometimes it felt as if I wasn't propelling myself of my own will, but that invisible forces were pulling and guiding me towards the unknown. Perhaps it's the universe's way of telling me I need to get lost in order to find myself. And so I found myself propelling across the vast Prairies with all of my possessions in the back of my hatchback.

And a fellow Couchsurfer in the passenger seat.

Katie, my fellow 5-day road-tripper, fresh off 1 year of world travels 

Special shoutout to Katie. Katie found my Kijiji ad for a rideshare from Calgary to Toronto, and she was a great passenger and perfect road trip partner, making the drive go by much smoother. We drove at an easy pace, made frequent leisurely stops, and roughed it overnights, avoiding hotels and motels in exchange for Couchsurfing and camping. We got to see and gain an understanding and appreciation of our home country, kilometre by kilometre.

We stayed with my cherry picking friend, Aidan, in Regina, camped in Winnipeg, walked around downtown for a morning, caught up with another dear cherry picker, Kyla, in Thunder Bay, stayed there overnight with Couchsurfers, and camped the final night by Lake Superior. The road trip spanned 5 days, 3400 km, countless forests and lakes, and all for just $260 in gas (~5.7L/100km), thanks to my trusty fuel-efficient Yaris.

Katie just came back from travelling for over a year across the globe and was transitioning back to home life in Toronto, whereas I was heading in the opposite direction (metaphorically, of course), returning to the way of the nomad. Thus, we had lots to share and discuss, and I easily opened up to her, though perhaps too easily. We philosophized about gaining awareness through travel and new experiences, knowledge with responsibility and burden, ignorance with bliss. Once or twice it intensified to sparring, and she was able to expose some of my areas of weakness, stubbornness and sounding self-righteous.

Wandering around downtown Toronto as a tourist - Distillery District

Afterwards, our discussions caused me to reflect lots about the tightrope I walk everyday in passionately expressing my views without offending or alienating others, in balancing persuasion with humility. I am grateful for Katie's boldness in conversation, challenging me to reevaluate my approach to others. And it was definitely not my intention to offend or alienate others in the past. I genuinely feel a desire to make the world a better place, but also to connect to every individual I meet and not scare them away.

My blog is also a reflection of this part of me, and hopefully it never becomes more self-serving than it is a mode of inspiration and education for its readers.

Alas I had a limited time to contemplate all this back home in Toronto. I have just landed in New Delhi, India and am writing this as I wait for my friend Hanga to join me. My journey here will continue to stimulate learning, growth and awareness of how to impact others.

India, here I come!

For my mind is also like a treadmill, I need only train it to run faster, and not stumble or get too far ahead of me.

Flickr link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157647949034831/

My Last Hurrah (for now) in the Rockies

I have been on the road for so much of the past 3 weeks that my legs are extremely cramped from keeping my feet flexed on the gas pedal - yes, I alternated both feet on the gas! It's also felt like so long that the amazing experience of cherry picking has already disappeared beyond the horizon in my rear view mirror.

The leg pains are always worth it for epic road trips. I couch hopped and tented around BC and Washington state, had memorable experiences and met wonderful people, putting me further in touch with the permaculture world, a world I hope to be a part of in my long term plans.

After cherry picking ended I bolted for Vancouver, but not before meeting Susan in Vernon and Kat near Enderby, BC, connected through common friend Alla, people whose lives were touched by permaculture.

Henry all excited about Wreck Beach

After those visits, I drove close to UBC to visit my best friend and like mind, Henry, who was also in uproot mode and in transition towards a major non-profit opportunity in Pakistan. I also enjoyed Vancouver like never before, enjoying rare sunny weather and getting to know the city by bike. It was my fifth or so time in Vancouver, but this was my favourite visit.

I owed my friend Johnny Katz in Seattle, Washington a favour, so I decided to drive over the border to visit him and give him some of my time. But really it felt like he was the one providing the favour, welcoming me to his beautiful home with a zipline in the backyard! Johnny himself is looking to start an intentional community in the Seattle area.

Vice Magazine article on the festival (http://www.vice.com/read/we-went-to-a-festival-for-people-who-wouldnt-mind-if-the-pacific-northwest-was-its-own-country)

Part two of why I crossed the border to the American side was to attend the first ever Rainingman Cascadia Festival, dedicated to the education and progression of the Cascadia movement. The movement is based on the belief that southern BC, Washington, Oregon and northern California should be its own country, based on its shared bioregion and progressive culture. The festival took place on a well known eco-village called Finney Farm, located in the US Pacific Northwest.

An unfamiliar feeling took hold in me in the US, as I got the shopping itch during Labour Day sales. I let the feeling take precedence of my plans for the sake of getting some reliable outdoor gear essentials at the REI (like MEC in Canada) in Spokane, WA.

Taking in the foggy morning in Slocan Valley, BC

Upon re-entering Canada, I stopped by my favourite place in BC, a farm in the gorgeous Slocan Valley, BC. Forgive my hippie-speak, but this is a special place where I feel the love, warmth and community that arises from choosing to live off the land and in co-dependence with the right people. I helped Eli cut firewood from fallen trees on his property, and Suzi stake the tomato plants.

Finally, before my nomad future truly beckons me, I made one last stopover in Calgary, where it all began. I landed here approximately 6 years ago, a young man but more like a naive and curious boy, who has now far outgrown his city shoes and needs to step out into the larger world. I squeezed in some intimate closing conversations with friends, and some genuine Calgary eats, events such as Beakerhead, and neighbourhood sites such as Kensington's ContainR, a revamped community space due to the compassionate work of individuals such as Alla, Lindsay and Natalia.

Check out the beautiful ContainR site just southeast of Sunnyside LRT, built by volunteers for the community

Perhaps fittingly, I got to make a final contribution to the permaculture community of Calgary by helping out my ambitious friend Jack with his awesome initiatives. Jack is involved with Calgary Harvest, a backyard fruit harvesting non-profit program, and with Grow Calgary, a non-profit farm which donates all the food it grows to the Calgary Food Bank. The farm has a lofty goal of becoming the largest urban farm in the world.

Alas, it is time to acknowledge my time in Calgary with a grateful glance and turn towards my exciting future, a path fraught with twists and turns, yet lined with golden opportunity and spontaneous bursts of happiness and discovery.

Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157647362131028/

Earthship building at Grow Calgary (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grow-Calgary-Earthship-Greenhouse/769742359733097?ref=profile)

Thanks Calgary for everything! Next up, epic road trip to Toronto, followed by... India!

Keep Calm and Cherry On

Dear diary,

Sorry I couldn't write in you more often! Cherry picking was physically and mentally exhausting, and camp life ended up being a lot busier than I expected too.

Cherry picking season ended on August 22, nearly 2 weeks earlier than expected. It's funny how unpredictable cherries can be. Apparently a really bad rainfall that hit the Okanagan in late July ruined some of the crop so there were less cherries to be picked.

But now I've got time to look back and digest the entire experience (and a lot of cherries!). Cherry picking was exactly the experience I was hoping for after ditching the city for greener pastures. It met me with a whole lot of new challenges, which pushed me to new limits and set my bar higher for learning and growth.

Jumping off a 10 m cliff into Lake Kalamalka

The whole season was an emotional rollercoaster and, physically, at times it felt like an uphill battle. I neglected to rest my body and mind, made difficult by waking up daily at 4 am, and began each picking day tired and unprepared. I struggled with my performance while many of my peers were picking more cherries than me and making more money doing it.

I became so frustrated with it that at one point I didn't even want to look at cherries. Eventually I powered through the denial phase into acceptance - acceptance of the fact that I just wasn't meant to pick well in my first season. Eventually I went back to enjoying picking again - I cherried up again (get it?). And on one of the last days, I finally reached my goal of 30 totes, which was gratifying.

On the Kettle Valley Trail in Myra Canyon - Alicia shadowing me

After each picking day it always felt like there was lots to do in too little time, before sleep rolled along (I tried for 8 pm, though often times it was much later). However, I managed to squeeze in a lot of highlight activities. I went cliff jumping off of Lake Kalamalka, cycling with friends on the Kettle Valley Trail in Myra Canyon, outdoor rock climbing (though didn't climb, just watched friends do it), spent plenty of time on the hammock reading and napping, and of course hit the beach often. Though I didn't sleep well, I at least managed to cook mostly good food and feed my body right.

I also kind of surprised myself by copying some of the rebellious fashion styles of people on camp. But now that I think of it, the mere act of cherry picking is itself quite rebellious.

What do you think? No, don't tell me.

While I look different on the outside, on the inside I have gained a deeper understanding of myself. I learned, through sharing an intense campsite experience with up to 150 people, that I possess a strong desire to connect with interesting people. The people at a camp like this, especially, are an amazing bunch, each individual with a unique story.

Upon this self realization, however difficult and out of my introverted nature, I tried harder to reach out of my own comfort zone and out towards the people around me. And I think I succeeded in making good friends, developing strong bonds with a few, whom I hope to cross paths again with sometime on my travels.

For anyone who got the impression that I was aloof or unfriendly, I hope they know that I care for and love all human beings - I am just naturally limited in my energy for them all. As an introvert, I draw energy from my solitude by connecting with my inner self or communing with nature.

The beach - where meditation meets sand and sun

One of my highlight moments came near the end of cherry picking, while communing with nature. I was on a beach on the Lake Okanagan, standing ankle deep in the warm water, staring at the mountains and sky, bathed in a misty white glow. My senses were massaged by the beauty around me, causing my mind to wander into a meditation. A narrative of pleasant thoughts floated lazily through my mind, and mixed with some breathing exercises, resulted in a meditation lasting 20 minutes, leaving me energized and exalted.

I left the beach that day feeling great about my cherry picking experience and with no regrets about quitting my job in Calgary. I also reinforced my resolve to eventually transition into adventures more in line with my true values. While cherry picking is close to meeting my agrarian ambitions, working with pesticides compromises my values in sustainability.

To cap off the season, there was an end-of-season barbecue where I gobbled down 5 hamburgers, with double patties on the last one. There was also a final party at night where people finally let loose with all their remaining energy from the grinding season. And the goodbyes the next morning left me wistful. Yet, as a transient being, I am excited for my new phase in life.

So with that, it's time to cherry on to more challenges in life. For the next week I will be exploring more of the beautiful Cascadia region of North America.

Flickr link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157646478754757/

Alla paying a visit - Welcome to Vernon, BC!

Journal Entry - Life on the Cherry Farm

Dear Diary,

My fingers have become noticeably crusty and black with dirt and pesticide. Their ends slightly hurt, and it's sometimes tough to grip things. But my fingers are satisfying evidence of the hard physical work I've done cherry picking.

I have now spent 3 weeks on the cherry farm. As I generally enter new experiences with no expectations, life as a cherry picker by default has exceeded my expectations. However, the experience has been truly amazing and has felt more like a dream. I'm amazed and humbled everyday by the intensity and skill required to do cherry picking. And I'm in love with camp life.

Hiking on a day off

The people are what truly makes any experience and this is no exception. There is a real diverse mix of ethnicities and personalities to keep every day interesting. Over half of my campsite is comprised of Quebec origin. I don't know why, but I'm guessing it's the European connection. Quebec's culture is very similar to Europe, and Europeans are generally open to new experiences such as the travel and work lifestyle. Speaking of Europe, there is a large group of Czechs here, as well as individuals representing other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Russia.

My favourite moment of camp so far happened on one of our rare days off. On this rainy night, a dance party broke out in the kitchen area, the music blaring from an old and small iPod stereo and people starting to show their dance moves. It began raining heavily outside, with rain falling beside the dance area, which was roofed but was open on one side. One girl started dancing in the rain. Everyone was initially shocked and started waving her in, but soon one girl joined her, and then eventually almost everyone ran out into the rain to dance!

With so many talented people in such a small space, the campsite has occasional random moments. One evening a guy performed poi, or fire spinning. One afternoon, a guy and a girl invited everyone to watch them dance tango. I recently watched someone giving his friend a tattoo using the stick and poke technique. I'm looking forward to the tie dye party which we are planning soon.

Poi - the art of spinning rope with balls of fire on the end

The kitchen can be full of nice surprises too. I've been able to cook a lot of my favourite recipes, and turn heads doing it. But while it's common to see a lot of cheap, instant foods such as pastas and noodles, a few cooks are always making wonderful creations from scratch. I've been able to trade my home made beer and cooking for kombucha, home made root beer, and muffins. A few people have come back with boxes of dumpster dived food and I helped to clean and keep some of the foods. Just today, a few people are making cherry wine!

Life's a beach here. I've spent quite a lot of time on various beaches on the Lake Okanagan. I hope to make my way to a well known cliff jumping spot just off nearby Lake Kalamalka, or to bike along the Kettle Valley Trail. And hopefully to join a group that regularly goes rock climbing. At least I've managed to go on a few hikes in the area.

Relaxing on Coral Beach (the actual beach and not the farm)

It's sometimes hard to get away from the people and find time for solitude and individual activities. I'm very ambitious though and intend to do as much reading, (blogging,) cooking, yoga, meditation, and learning harmonica as I can. I am also learning French by podcast and through conversing with some of the French speaking people in my camp (also a few words here and there of Czech and Spanish).

My favourite one or two hours of the day is usually when I get to read (while snacking on potato chips) and sleep in a hammock. At this rate I should finally be able to finish the tremendously long novel Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, which I started too long ago to admit!

These exciting times, combined with the hard work of cherry picking, makes the problems of camping seem small. Sleeping in a tent isn't so bad after doing it for 3 weeks straight. Spiders and bugs are a non-issue. And I'm lucky to be a driver, so I don't have to hitchhike to get into town, like many here do, when the shuttle bus for groceries isn't running.

And whenever I do get exhausted with waking up at 3:30 am every morning to go cherry picking, or the pain in my fingers becomes unbearable, I like to remind myself that my problems are not so bad - first-world, really. In fact, whenever I look out from my tent and see the view of the lake, or when I meditate, I am able to remind myself of how lucky I am to be here, and to just be in the present.

More pics here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157646065311611/

Holding a baby wallaby at the Kangaroo Zoo in Winfield, near my farm

The Art of Picking Cherries

Welcome to the wonderful world of fruit picking in BC! Come and allow me to open your eyes to a lifestyle of working in nature, and living in a community of transient workers, many of whom live a double life as adventurers and travelers.

A bunch of cherries (note: ripe cherries are a darker red)

My own adventure starts in the gorgeous Okanagan region of British Columbia, defined by its rolling hills and arid climate, which is almost considered to be desert, due to its low humidity and high temperatures. It produces an abundance of fruit including some of the best cherries in the world, sought after in countries such as China and Japan, which place a high value on cherries.

Coral Beach Farms (www.coralbeach.ca) is one of the largest cherry farms in Canada. Its full scale operation includes several orchards, a processing and sorting factory, an office, and campsites for up to 300 migrant cherry pickers from July to September.

My campsite is within the farm and just off Lake Okanagan, with amazing lake views, and has a capacity of 150 people. It comes complete with a large tent area, kitchens, a huge walk-in refrigeration unit, washrooms, washing machines and, yes, Wifi! It's also just a 5-minute walk to the lake.

Exterior kitchen area

All this sounds glorious so far, and it certainly is. But it's not all fun and games. Cherry picking work is nothing like the serene image you may conjure up of a weekend family visit to the local cherry farm. It is intense, physically demanding work, and the technique and skill involved qualifies cherry picking to be its own art form.

Here are the main things to consider when picking cherries for commercial sale. Cherries with the stem on lasts 3 days longer than without the stem. Thus, cherries must be picked with the stem in order to ship them fresh to China. Many stems are attached to the tree by the spur, which houses the buds for next year's cherries. Thus, cherries must also be picked without removing the spurs.

Cherry with stem; cherry without stem; cherry with spur (tiny buds on top)

While high quality cherries must be picked, picking a large quantity also maximizes Coral Beach's sales, and also the individual picker's profits. I am paid not hourly, but by picked weight ($0.24/pound). The perfect balance of quality and quantity must be achieved when cherry picking, demanding a consistent, high level of concentration over a 7-9 hour day picking cherries in the Okanagan's dry heat.

The bucket, or tote, which contains the cherries is suspended from my shoulder harness in front of me, supported by my waist. To pick cherries fastest, I position myself directly under a bunch of cherries in a tree so that I can easily snap the stem and let them fall into the bucket. If I can't position myself directly under a bunch, then I will be reaching for the cherries, grabbing them and tossing them into the bucket, which wastes time and energy.

I am given a ladder between 9 and 14 feet long. Laddering, or the act of placing the ladder, is crucial in maximizing convenient access to cherries. Laddering itself is an art, as creative placements over branches are often needed to reach those cherries that are really high up in the tree and appear out of reach.

Near the top of a 9 foot ladder with my tote directly under a bunch of cherries

I tag my own buckets with specially made labels with my name and a serial code, so that I get paid what I pick. Also, in order to ensure that I do my job properly there is quality control staff who sift through my tagged and filled buckets. A high rate of stemless cherries or spurs can result in a loss in pay.

My cherries then get submitted to the factory where they are cleaned and sorted by personnel (of which I helped for an afternoon). The sorting is done mainly by Mexican immigrant workers because it is a tedious and undesirable job, unlike cherry picking, whose prestige attracts migrant workers and travelers from far and wide. The premium cherries, with zero defects, will be shipped to China or Japan while the ones with minor defects will be sold locally.

Learning about this entire process has given me an appreciation for this luxurious fruit and how much it costs. For example, my farm has a helicopter that flies over the cherries after a rainfall to dry them, because a cherry that gets wet before it's ripe will split its skin near the stem.

This picture shows a lot of the operation

Unfortunately, cherries are rarely grown and sold organic because farmers risk losing up to half their crop without pesticides. Occasionally the pesticides cause itchy eyes and sneezing, but I put up with it because I have no choice.

On my first day of picking cherries, I managed to pick 7 totes, a profit of only $35. About a week later I managed 19 totes, making about $100. However, I heard someone collected 58 totes, for over $300 profit in one day! That guy might be a highballer! Highballers mean serious business, and have likely been cherry picking for several seasons. In fact, there is a section of the campsite reserved for their tents only.

I am learning and becoming more familiar with the art form everyday. And anyway, I hear the early season is slow. Mid-season is when the lapin species of cherries arrives and cherry picking becomes a lot easier and bountiful! Lapins are cherry gold :)

Hanging out with some amazing people at the campsite. More on camp life in the next blog!

All I Need Is My 2 Bare Feet

As I write this I am at my tent-site designated for cherry pickers, with a partial view of Lake Okanagan, through rows of trees. But more on that in another blog…

I have had a lot of great conversations with friends over my final weeks in Calgary. It’s as if my departure left a rupture in the fabric of my social network in the city. My actions have, if not inspired, then disrupted inner thoughts and provoked self-reflection among several friends. 

Apr 22, 2014 - overnight cycling camping trip with non-profit Two Wheel View. I met some really great, inspiring people in TWV, such as founder, Rick McFerrin, who cycled for 2 years around the world

I have also been doing a lot of thinking myself (for that matter, I am always thinking). One very simple question my friends have been asking me, which I am continually figuring out myself is – why? Why pick up and leave everything behind again?

After thinking this through, I can safely say that this new phase in my life I am just embarking on is for a multitude of reasons, which beautifully synergize into an all-encompassing journey whose purpose is greater than the reasons combined.

I am seeking an alternative way of living – one that achieves happiness through humble methods, and also doesn’t scar the earth, instead works with the synergy of nature to, if not leave no trace, then enhance its ecology.

Staying on my friend's organic farm in Slocan, BC. Here is happiness

Since my return from my 10 month backpacking trip to normal life in May 2013, I witnessed a slow degradation of myself into just a shell of who I was. I fell back into distractions in a big way, compromising my main interests, and taking time from doing what I most passionately wanted to do.

I noticed how the social construct of the big city broke me down and trapped everyone else in an unforgiving web of temptations, distractions, materialism and superficiality. I pondered how on an individual level, excess consumption is leading us down the wrong path to happiness. Looking at the bigger picture of our world, excess consumption combined with the force of globalization is aleading us down a path to increasing social inequality and environmental destruction.

Observing all this I couldn't just return to this life, this society of winners and losers.

I am extremely spoiled. At 30, compared to the vast majority, I have had amazing experiences and adventures already. And through these life experiences I am highly privileged to have developed an acute awareness about myself and my surroundings, and to have pushed my comfort zone to the point where nothing is impossible for me. With this privilege and awareness, I feel a handed responsibility to benefit others through my leadership and influence.

Thus, my blog - All I Need Is My 2 Bare Feet. The goals of my blog are this:

• uprooting my life, quitting my job and selling almost all my stuff will challenge the social norms and conventional paradigm
• vicariously, my experiences will expose curious readers' minds up to another life path, an outlying path yet an achievable one, hard to find yet not out of reach
• show how disconnecting from technology and connecting with nature can increase happiness, humility and sustainability
• redefine the term "rich" in the same way Bhutan measures its progress not by its GDP but by its gross domestic happiness
• I hope to evoke the great irony of travel which is that by expanding one's individual borders, one learns the meaning of community and can apply it in one's home community
• ultimately I hope to free your mind and break you out of the Matrix which is our society!

Nature has the amazing power to heal, which is why we must respect nature

On a personal level, travelling and working abroad will allow me to connect with cool people and to develop my main passion, which is currently sustainable food and permaculture. All this could lead to a career that is truly fulfilling. I will also have more free time to engage in simple passions such as reading, meditating, and just travelling in a way that I can continue to learn and grow as a person.

Isn't it ironic how I can marry all my passions together by simply doing the opposite of what everyone tells me to do? Since I left Calgary just a few days ago, I already feel reinvigorated. Like a big bang, my mind, free of distractions, is blasting out philosophical thoughts, exploding out of my skull.

Everything seems to be coming together thus far, and justify my thoughts leading up to this transformation. But who knows? Picking cherries in 40 degree heat could change my mind!

My self-titled blog is all about embarking on a journey of humility and gratitude - All I Need Is My 2 Bare Feet. And please just forget the grammatical error. Buddha once said he didn't want any temples, shrines or monuments built in his honour. But sometimes, in order to get people's attention for their own good, you need to start your own Facebook page with a snappy title!

On that note, I encourage you to follow my blog, and my new FB page: (https://www.facebook.com/AllINeedIsMy2BareFeet?skip_nax_wizard=true&ref_type=bookmark).

I hope what's to come will inspire you and change you, for the better of both your world and our beautiful earth.

Shoutout to my family for their support on my journey - I love you

Namaste,

~ Andrew