Life in a Box

I think everyone loathes moving houses in much the same way they loathe corrupt politicians or child molesters; nothing ever makes it okay. Life is interrupted, your once peaceful sanctuary becomes a haven for chaos and messiness. There's always that moment when you desperately search for something you need only to realize that you've packed it already. There are all those awkward and annoying walks home from the liquor store trying to balance a tower of boxes without dropping that bottle of wine.

And personally I am always amazed at how much STUFF I have managed to accumulate. I used to move often but have now been in my lovely, smoker-friendly building for 3 years. And as I empty cupboards and shelves of their dusty and seldom disturbed denizens I am appalled at the amount of crap I've held onto. Right now I have as much stuff in my 'throw away' pile as I have wrapped and boxed up.

How much of this stuff do I actually need? The answer is almost NONE OF IT!

The logical thing to do would be to throw out everything that I haven't used in the last year. But even as I steel myself to do it I know I'm going to crumble. What are we without our sentimental keepsakes? The answer is not human. It's the epitome of our humanity to haul around chipped coffee mugs, yellowed love letters and photos (from those pre-digital days) with us so we can decorate our new nests. Without the little things how would we recognize our own space, how would we recognize ourselves amongst the billions of other people on this planet.

I've decided to celebrate my crap, it makes me who I am.

Well....

Maybe I'll celebrate after I've unpacked in Toronto. For now it's time to pour a glass of wine and start wrapping my memories up in newspaper.

A Whole New World

Aha, finally I've made it to Bloggerland.

It's more fun to read a blog when you have a little background so here's the 411.

After graduating from one of Canada's better theatre schools I was left somewhat at a loss. My school experiences had turned me off of acting, I remain convinced it is a realm best left to anorexics, narcissists and navel-gazers. This left me with a conundrum. What to do with the rest of my life? So like all theatre school graduates I started working in restaurants and bars. I made good money, spent most of it immediately and probably (definitely!) had a too much fun.

Something was missing.

Sometimes when I hauled my hungover ass out of bed to go to work, my jean skirt hiked up underneath my boobs and smudged phone numbers scrawled on my hand, the thought flitted through my mind that there must be a better existence than this.

Travel: The ultimate escape.

I wanted to go somewhere different, somewhere challenging, somewhere far away from tour groups lumbering awkwardly behind a guide with a windsock. The Middle East fit all these criteria. And it turned out to be a great adventure. I saw camel wrestling, the pyramids and Petra, smoked hashish in the Sinai, attended a lavish wedding in Beirut and fled violent protests the morning after.

The love of travel which that first trip awoke in me has only grown with time. Since then I've backpacked solo through Southeast Asia, South America and India. There are so many stories; hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, biking around Ankor Wat, guzzling wine in Mendoza, quelling my bad-curry nausea at the Taj and an absolutely spectacular new years celebration in Buenos Aires (details of said celebration have been rated NC-17).

BUT!!!!

Now I am embarking on my most terrifying journey yet! ...I'm going back to school to get my BA in Journalism. That's right, at the ripe age of 27 I am going back to undergrad with the bed-wetting 18 year old children fresh out of high school. I'm also moving across the country from my beloved home of Vancouver to the city everyone on the west coast loves to hate, Toronto.

Backpacking is a piece proverbial frosted confectionery compared to this.

I invite you to laugh at my stumbling return to academia and all the usual horrors and embarrassment that go along with doing something you've never done before.

Welcome.





Buy my book on the Middle East here:

http://www.rebeccaananda.com/