Onwards We Go

An update on our travels.

Sasha and I landed here in Ontario and was kindly taken in by some of his family friends. We’ve been here for a month now, and we’ve realised it’s not sustainable for us to stay here financially, and for the last week or so have been discussing what we need right now and where we can go. We’ve landed on a need for more community of folks with personal and relational practices, land connection and learning skills around growing food.

An hour upon creating a Workaway [1] account, we are contacted by someone who lives at Chuckleberry Farm, which is an organic community farm in British Columbia. After checking out their website and what they have to offer we were pleasantly surprised to discover they offer a lot of what we’re currently seeking for.

This is where we’re heading, in 7 days to be exact. We were going to leave at the end of May, but the farm has said the sooner we arrive the better, so after some discussion (we are having a lot of discussions these days, logistics and travelling can do that!), brainstorming, researching for flight options and some payment mishaps, we booked our flight for Friday 13th (yes, a date/day combo that is weighted by superstitions, but one we’ve taken as an omen as we started our relationship on a 13th :D)

7 days to pack, eat as much of our perishable groceries, downsize our material possessions perhaps (for lighter luggage), finalise logistics with the farm and with Sasha's family members we hope to visit in the interim. It all seems a lot, and yet simple at the same time as we’ve little commitments at the moment.

I feel overwhelmed by it all too. Moving again…

It can feel like an adventure, and once we’re on our way it can feel more so. I do have to say I’m finding travelling challenging at this stage of my life- which I’m aware is a privileged thing to say given the situation of the world with a global pandemic, but also happens to be a sincere confession; travelling isn’t always as glamorous and exciting as it looks on social media. It can be, and I’ve had my fair share of excitement and fun, but it can also be very stressful and tiring and heavy.

Zen Mountain Monastery - where we were just a month ago.

To where we are now- another vegetable garden that didn't come to be...

It’s a practice in itself to find peace and contentment with all the moving around, the unstable feelings and changing pieces. To accept when something is not going as planned, to allow myself to feel my anxiety and overwhelm rather than push it back down or distract myself from it with all sorts of stimulation and coping strategies (hello comfort foods and digital technology).

From home

To LA (this was a piano at the airport)

To an Albertian winter- where Sasha and I reunited after being apart (due to Covid) for 1.5yrs

To vibrant and tiring NYC

To this quiet (ish) place we currently call home here in Peterborough. Where to next?

I hope the next 3 months offers some space to land for a while, to breathe deeply, to connect with like-hearted beings, to strengthen my connection to nature and food and myself, to continue practicing staying with the difficult moments and offer gratitude for what I have. All this I hope for, while also holding space for whatever blessings may unfurl in time.

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[1] Workaway as mentioned on their website is an online platform that "promotes fair exchange between budget travellers, language learners or culture seekers who can stay with 1000s of families, individuals or organizations that are looking for help in over 165 countries." Workaway connects people who wish to engage with work exchange experience. The agreements and requirements vary for each host differs ('host' being the family/property/person/community offering the work exchange).

Hosts and 'workawayers' each create their own profiles which can then allow either one to reach out to as many people as they'd like. It's similar to WWOOF, which the difference being that WWOOF is country-specific (so with Workaway you can create one profile and reach out to anyone in any country) and WWOOF is specifically for organic farms, unlike Workaway who have a variety of hosts from single house-holders needing help in their home or projects, to families needing childcare, to communities offering skills in building or eco-projects or NGO's needing volunteers and much more.

(There is no affiliate between this blog post and Workaway, I'm just sharing about them as I've found Workaway to be a great resource for anyone who wishes to travel on a budget and deepen their travelling experience at the same time)

*Note on names:

I’m not giving exact names of people and locations to respect people’s privacy.

I also practice not publicly sharing my whereabouts where I am presently to for my own personal privacy.

I may edit this post in the future and share names if I’ve been given permission to do so (if you see names and links to other people’s websites or information it means I’ve been given permission by that person). I may also share more exact locations when I’ve moved on from a place.