This. Wild. Life.

GREECE!

Croatia & Slovenia!

ITALY!

SWITZERLAND!

POLAND!

Here I am, basking in the hot summer air of the central Okanagan, settling back into my cozy little home after officially coming full circle around the world. Despite my best intentions of starting up my blog again, I found I could hardly keep up with a simple insta-post in each city, let along an entire blog post in each country! Having so much to discover and explore kept me wanting to be ever present in the moment. I quickly learned that I really had no control over the outcome of my plans, to take things as they come, and expect the unexpected. Above all, time is the most precious currency we have which has fuelled my desire to live intentionally and make my dreams come true! The world is an amazing place, constantly leaving me in awe of its raw beauty and intense vastness. When I confirmed the length of my trip, I had a few ideas of where I wanted to go, and no real reason not to bring those ideas to life. I figured 4 months would give me the opportunity to check out some cool places and wrangle friends into adventuring with me along the way.

HOLLAND!

I've miraculously found AirBNB’s in Greece where house numbers do not exist, went on a date with an 83 year old  Croatian man named Ivo in Split (we’re pen-pals now), left no alleyway undiscovered in Venice, didn’t get kidnapped sleeping in a train station in the middle-of-nowhere-Italy, hiked the Matterhorn with a trio of Mexican backpackers, ate Swiss chocolate with Swiss lumberjacks while hiking the Swiss Alps, laughed until I cried with my cousins in Holland, got a history lesson in Poland while indulging in all the polish treats and sweets (paczki!), discovered Mannekin Pis and met new relatives in Belgium,  had a delectable French picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower, was terribly disappointed by the London Bridge, took in the bagpipers while eating black pudding in Edinbough, explored the rugged coastline of Wales with my sister’s-boyfriends-aunt, drove 2000 kms around Ireland (hiked Croagh Patrick, savoured every bit of 

FRANCE!

ENGLAND & SCOTLAND!

Murphy’s ice cream, kissed the Blarney Stone, drank a pint of Guinness from the original storehouse all while suffering one of the worst colds of all time), wrangled the girls from across Europe to join me for a weekend in Copenhagen (I was a hot mess, complete with cough, stuffy nose, fever and eye infections…), ate my weight in noodles in Thailand, reconnected with old friends in Sydney, experienced my first ‘Steamboat’ night with my Asian/Aussie fam, and ventured up craters with the most incredible views in O’ahu.

STATS:

Continents: 4

Europe, Asia, Australia, North America

IRELAND!

Countries: 18

Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, The Netehrlands, Poland, Belgium, France, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, America (Hawaii)

Days: 131

DENMARK!

March 27^th – July 18^th

Time Zones: 8

Flights: 16

Currencies: 10

Languages: 12

Beds Slept In: 53

THAILAND!

Most Expensive Accommodation: Paris, $51/night

Cheapest Accommodation: Phuket, $4/night

Most Expensive Coffee: Denmark, $7.85CAD

Best Yogurt: AUSTRALIA! Tamar Valley Greek Yogurt! 

AUSTRALIA!

Best Chocolate Milk: Thailand

Best Food Overall: THAILAND. No contest.

HAWAII!

“Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do rather than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

 Always find time for the things that make you happy to be alive.

Though my adventures abroad have concluded for now, research and hope for future trips always has me planning for the next one.

Keep your stick on the ice.

xx Silken

GREECE!

En route to ferry terminal heading to the Greek Islands, 5:55am, bags packed, smiles on our faces and excitement building in our hearts. Upon arrival, we had to ensure we understood correctly, as it seemed they said they ferry was not running today. As it came to be, this was the case, the ferry had been cancelled due to bad weather. Welp. Figured we would wait it out until the next day and go from there. Meanwhile, we were in ATHENS! Time for some exploring! Hiked to the top of the Acropolis and almost blew away it was so windy! Explored the touristy streets with all the shops filled with knick knack souvenirs and eventually got wrangled into eating at this place called Arcadia (it was the free wine and dessert that got us). We indulged in the Greek Salad with the biggest slice of feta I've ever seen! We recognized an American sitting behind us and decided to make friends with him by offering some of our wine. Turns out he has Greek heritage and is in Athens for a few months studying Greek. We told him about our ferry cancellation and how the word on the street was that it would likely not sail tomorrow either. And so, he gave as Plan B. He told us to go to the airport, rent a car and roadtrip around the south western part of Greece, the Peloponneset, which towns to hit up and all the "must-sees" along the way. As much as I wanted to go to the islands, at least we had a solid back up plan, just in case.

The next day we were told the ferry was planning on running, but there was no telling when in the day it would depart. Our time in Santorini had already been cut short, and we wouldn't even have a full day there. So we figured we would see if we could get our money back for the ferry and go from there. At first the receptionist told us we would have to call this number and tell them what happeneded in hopes of getting a refund, but then she made a call and ended up giving us all the money back - in cash! And so, Plan B it was! We rented a car and set out, first stop: Ancient Corinth. Yeah, pretty surreal. Walked the streets St. Paul walked and read from second Corinthians. Hit up Tripoli, a small village along the way, for 2€ gyros! BEST! Ended up in a town along the coastline called Kalamata. Monemvasia was definitely a highlight, the look on our faces as we passed through the gate and discovered the old town on the other side consisted of pure shock and surprise.

We quickly discovered the authenticity and incredible hospitality of Greek culture. For example, houses in small Greek towns do not have house numbers, this, in combination with life without data, left us seemingly stranded from time to time. Again and again the Greeks were so quick to help us, giving endless direction, always helping us get where we needed to be. We were so grateful!

So many little beach towns, lots of sun and all the delicious greek cruise - Moussaka, Baklava, Souvlaki Chicken, Greek salad, and all the gyros you could possibly dream of. Thanks to our host, we also had the experience of picking a PLETHORA of oranges (about 35) from a tree at our AirBNB in Xirokampi. At one point we had about 9 in one day! 😂

Over and over again Alex and I praised James, our American friend, for giving us a week of adventure we never would have thought up on our own. We had so much freedom with our little car, Feta, and 3 years of life to fill each other in on while driving up and down the windy Greek mountains, and taking in the amazing coastal shorelines of the Mediterranean Sea.

So in short, if you need a Greek travel consultant, I know a guy. I'll hook you up.

Till next time, don't run with scissors.

-Silks

The Parthenon 

Our first Greek meal, at Arcadia.

Squid hanging to dry in Gythio.

So. Many. Oranges.

Sunrise leaving Monemvasia!

P.S. I know the layout isn't great, but here's to life without a laptop ;)

World Tour 2019

Finally! Departure day has arrived and I am off to explore far off places, some of which I thought I'd only experience through Instagram and Pinterest. I'm overwhelmed by the reality of it all. I knew I wanted to do another extensive trip shortly after I graduated from CDA school, though I wasn't quite sure what that would look like. I thought I would have to leave behind my life in Kelowna and start from scratch upon my return. Thankfully I've had a few key players fill my position at work and take over my rent while I'm away, bit by bit, things continued to fall into place. Ultimately, I'll be travelling solo, but I've wrangled friends and family from around the world to join me for the majority of the 4 months!

I catch myself with tears in my eyes as my heart is exuding with joy, just so grateful as I sit here in disbelief of this incredible opportunity for such an adventure, but also overwhelmed with gratitude of the people I've been blessed to do life with. As The Big Yellow Taxi song says, "you don't know what you've got till it's gone".

Being away for a large period of time has it's downsides too, like skipping most of the competitive ultimate season, missing friends weddings, as well as the best part of the year in the Okanagan! But I have been constantly reminded that I'll be making memories and going on adventures that most people will never experience in their lifetime. Winnie the Pooh said it best: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

All that to say, I'm currently en route to Athens, Greece, where I'll spend a week touring around the cyclades with one of my dearest friends, NET trammates and favourite people around! Stay tuned!

-Silks