A taste of Estonia in Quebec

Just like that, for fun, let's take a picture break. It's crazy how a walk in Johnville ecoforestier park, near Sherbrooke's downtown, the bog reminds me of the same kind of walk in Lahemaa National Park, in northern Estonia. See for yourself.

Lahemaa National Park, Estonia

Parc écoforestier in Johnville, Quebec

The Return

When all your life fits in a 65 litres bag...

It's a great thing to go, but after a while, one needs to go back home. Or not! But let's say one has to... Nobody will react the same way.

Some people will need psychological help really fast. Others will get down the plane like they would get down the bus. Because there is more than one way to return.

Those friends I met on the road, like me, had the same theory. When you know the deadline, you condition yourself, slowly but surely, to the inevitable.

But comes an uncomfortable "bipolarity". Probably inevitable also. Immense joys, long awaited reunions, holy peace to enjoy. Some dark moments as well, of inexplicable loneliness, even after six months on the road... alone, of sadness you can't describe with words.

You realize the notion of "home" has changed. The ties are breaking down. That independance acquired will inevitably lead you somewhere else. After so many goodbyes, you put in perspective those links which become entangled and hold us back.

You realize you've changed. Point-blank. A little bit in other's eyes. But what really changed is not hidden in what others see. It's there, but they won't see. And they get worried about it.


Returning home is surrounding ourselves with people who won't understand. Point-blank. Without blaming them. Just because they were not there. It's feeling trapped with our memories, our new values, our reconstructed identity. And we feel at least releaved, light, to reunite with our traveling partners. Like when we reunite with lifelong friends. Because we live in the same world. We leave from the same point to get somewhere else. We are there, that's all. Sigh of relieve.

The return, it's seeing the outline of the mold, the underskirts which exceed, the steam roller that rushes fast. It's battling every day no to sink in facility, not to embrace the outline of that mold.

"You'll see, with time, everything will come back like before", I'm told.

No! I dont want to go back to "before". Because we're not "before" anymore. Because there is more ahead.

If there is one thing to understand with all those differences I saw, it's that everything is always possible.

One just needs to overcome disorientation induced by change. Wanting to do everything now, to see everything, but not knowing where to start. Realizing even more that one life won't be enough. That some choices will have to be made.

I know, that portrait of the return seems really "grey". Like a painting of a sad clown (or a painting of any clown), it may make you feel uneasy. What's great about coming from an adventure that forced us to deprogram ourselves, it's to live moments of truth, authenticity. We live moments of distress like moments of happiness like they come, without holding them back, because we learned to live day by day. And it goes away!

One day at a time, nice statement that can cure every problem. Because the past is gone, the future is stressful. Just need to know we're going somewhere.

Welcome in Canada

Done! Six months later, I came back in my own time zone, back on canadian ground.

Don't be mistaken, it is not the end of my blog. I still have some time to catch up. So stay tuned.

Here is how it went to come back home.

My flight was leaving at 9:20 from Habana, Cuba, for Toronto, where I would take one last plane before getting home. Without any access to the internet to choose my seat and not knowing if the plane was big or not, I decided to get to the airpot two hours and a half before take off.

I got in a taxi at 6:30 thinking I would eat breakfast while waiting for the plane.

Habana Airport : you need to pay a 25 CCU tax before going through immigration.

After, I tried to get rid of my cuban and argentinian pesos, but the change office refused.

Once in the international zone, I tried to find something to eat. Surprise! No real food even if there are some stands (closed). Plan B : a granola bar bought at the tax free store.

Thanks to the entertainment system which was working, unlike the one in TAP planes, I could watch Hunger Games before landing in Toronto.

There, I had to cross the border. The good news : I wouldn't have to wait for immigration in Montreal. For a strange reason, Canada is one of the only countries where I needed to recuperate my luggage at the stopover to check them in again. At least, they have no excuse to lose our stuff. We are doing all the work.

Since I was on a stopover, I could jump the line and meet the border patrol fast.

« Wow, you've been everywhere! » he says while looking at the stamps in my passport.

« How long have you been gone? »

« Six months!»

« You went to get some experience? »

Well, listen man. One, you're probably younger than me. So for the experience, we'll talk about it when your hair turns grey. And two, thanks for the conversation, but the question "tourism or work?" would have saved us a lot of time.

Being very honest, I checked the box on my declaration to say that I sent some stuff from oversea. Because I couldn't bring everything back in my luggage.

What do I get for my honesty? Lots of drawings on my declaration. And a woman a little too nice saying : use that line please. We have some more questions for you.

Don't know why, that nice tone sounded like the dentist saying "it won't hurt". We don't really believe it.

Of course, I waited on a small chair to have some back pain while I watched them search through the bags of mostly people of colour. Don't call me a racist. I'm not the one who have sent them there.

I was telling myself I had so much trouble closing my bag it wouldn't be nice to open it... I was seeing myself trying to close it back, with the duct tape supposed to hold it all in place breaking under pressure.

And it took a long time. Everybody was going in front of me. Until I lost patience. "I have another flight to catch, Mister."

"We're trying to find the man responsible be we can't find him", the man says.

"But if you miss your flight, we'll put you on the next one..."

"What? No! I have people waiting for me in Montreal. I don't want to waste my time waiting in Toronto for three or four hours while the patrol is taking a break to eat." (I might have change that quotation.)

"We're doing what we can!"

In my head, "what we can" is a way of saying "blah! blah! blah! We don't care about your plane..."

In the end, all they wanted was for me to fill a form to say what was in the packages I sent home before coming back. But it was too difficult to give it to me so I could fill it while I was waiting. Of course it was. I needed to watch the patrol fill the form in front of me while I was spelling the words in french for him.

I might look angry, but know I didn't miss my connection.

After throwing myself on food like a hungry seagull, I took my last flight. The one in which me ears hurt so much I thought my eardrums would explode. Intense pain (thanks to my cold which ALWAYS appears before I take a place). When we landed, I was sweating trying to fight the pain. 24 hours later, I still feel it.

The strangest is, while I was expecting loads of emotions before leaving, I felt nothing at all when we landed. Emptiness. Resignation. A defense mechanism probably, as if the last six months never existed. The brain is strong when it doesn't want to accept a situation.

The best thing is, after that, I had a nice conversation with my favorite godson.

Very calm, in his car seat, he talked to me.

« Godfather? »

« What? »

« I love you! »

It makes at least one good reason to accept to be back...

Thousands of questions

A baptism. Funerals. Lot of work to do. There is a long list of tasks I have to take care of before I can do my check-in in Burlington Airport.

But yet, I spend my time asking myself stupid questions. Will I get a haircut somewhere on the road or do I shave it all? (Stupid questions, I told you) Where do I find a map to find my way in Osaka? Is there an ATM in Petra's airpot? Will I encounter a place cold enough so I need to bring a warm jacket in my luggage? Should I bring my sleeping bag? Should I cancel my cell phone plan? Should I buy a bus pass in New Zealand or should I find my way as I go? Where is Jean Charest's forest in Adelaide? Will Olivier stay one more week on Star Académie? How can I find my way around if I was told not to talk to strangers? 

And there is all those people who wish to see me before I go, while I have so much to do. Maybe I'll need to use Skype to satisfy everybody.

Luckily, there are those nice people coming to me with suggestions. Vicky and Daniel told me about the JR pass in Japan, which is made especially for strangers. Marie Eve reminds me I should buy it fast before I leave. Louise, who tells me it is totally possible to get the chinese visa in Hong Kong.

Oh! And another thing. I need to review my itinerary, already, to limit the problems. And I need to make sure the plane tickets will stay as cheap as possible, even if I improvise on the way. Plan A, to link Sydney and Osaka, becomes Plan B : Sydney Hong-Kong. But I still want to go to Japan. We'll see how often it'll change before I get there.

Tip
This one is very simple. But still. It seems impossible to get anywhere without making a list. List of things to do. List of stuff I need to put in my luggage. List of the credit cards, bank accounts and other financial resources. But the most important is the list of things to buy before the departure date. Be smarter than I was. Put that stuff immediately on the list of things to bring too. I took notes left and right and I'm now very afraid of forgetting something because I didn't put it on the list. Probably for nothing.

The countdown accelerates

I'

I'm moving forward. Fast, but not too fast. I'm now done with the details for the beggining of my trip. I'll leave from Burlignton, Vermont, mid-February, for San Diego. After that, I'll take a train that goes along the Pacific coast to reach Los Angeles. I was told I would get bored in that big grey city. I have one project or two to keep myself busy in Hollywood or Beverly Hills.

For this first stop, I chose to go for the the obvious choice : hostels. Couchsurfing and other flats adventures should begin the next week.

I know, you think I won't be able to leave Hollywood once I get there. The american most jet set city will probably see all my potential and will refuse to see me go. But my flight is booked for Auckland, New Zealand, with a stopover in Nadi Fidji. Stay calm, jealous crowd! I will only see the airport in Fidji. Nothing to be excited about. 

I will now try to get my visa for Mao's country at some point. But it is not that easy. They want to know the name and the occupation of your family members, all the countries visited in the last 12 months, with the dates and explanations, who pays for the trip, where you'll stay, who invited you, the number of your health insurance...

Two new links :
The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers. 
You can also resign your car immatriculation on the SAAQ website.

Three Little Needles

Voila! It's done! I got my vaccines against most of the really bad diseases which could attack me in the far corners of the globe.

The Traveler's Clinic, it was an excellente idea. With the list of the countries I wish to visit, they looked at all the diseases I could get. The future tourist, me, can than choose if he accepts or not the vaccines recommended. Because some of them are really expensive.

Meanwhile, the nurse gave me a lot of flyers on what to do and what not to do to prevent myself from getting infected by anything. Diphtheria, tetanos, whooping cough, hepatitis, typhoid, yellow fever, etc. could all be combined in three vaccines.

Very expensive, the rabies vaccine can prevent you from getting a sort of blood transfusion you might not want to get in some countries that are less developped. You need three injections, the last one being 28 days after the first one.

Once I got my vaccines, I saw a doctor who gave me a flyer for each country I want to visit. Each one describes the risks for malaria, for example. The doctor filled a list of prescriptions to renew the medicine I already am taking.

They include Imodium, Cipro and Zithromac against diarrhea, Malarone to prevent me from getting malaria, and gastrolyte. They recommend to bring Benadryl againt allergies and pristine, a pouder to treat water to make it drinkable. Don't forget the spray against mosquitos, Gravols, sunscreen and Polysporin.

Tip
For prevention, you can bring syringes. If you need an injection, you could demand that the doctors use your clean and sterilized syringes. It is better if you can get a letter from your doctor which confirms you are allowed to transport syringes.

My God you're lucky!

First reaction : "My God you're lucky!" That is at least the message I received the most since I announced that I would be leaving for a trip around the world.

Let's set things clear right now : chance has nothing to do with my decision to leave. A long trip, on paper, is extraordinary. Like having Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, Kris Letang and Jeff Skinner in your hockey pool at the job. On paper, it's perfect. But in reality, it's not that clear.

I didn't win at the lotery. Nobody offered me for free to discover exotic places. I made a decision. And it would be hard to leave without having thought it throught. The list of tasks to do is huge. But the secret, actually, is to make lists and to check or cross stuff as you go.

Vaccines
I managed to make an appointment to get my shots. The Traveler's Clinic is amazing : an appointment two weeks after the phone call. They promise to update my vaccines and they'll suggest everything I need according to the countries I will visit. They analyzed my itinerary. They will renew my prescriptions. But the bill could be hard to pay. 

Cats
I also found a place where my cats would be fed and taken care of while I'm gone. And I won't need to separate them. I realized that while you stress for things like that, you ignore that a lot of people would agree to take care of your animals for a temporary time while you're gone. Less responsabilty for them than if they had to adopt.

ATM
Leaving your home to fly to a different country can pose some problems on the budget or trying to get some foreign currencies. Joy! Technologies are helping. ATM saves you a lot of headhaches. You can usually withdraw some money as soon as you get in a new country.

But one needs to know there is two types of debit cards : Plus and Cirrus. A symbol behind your card tells you what system your card is compatible with. Some will tell you that you need a four digits PIN in some countries. Not with the Plus system. That one will recognize automatically your five digits PIN. My bank told me so.

International driver's licence
Other thing to do : get the international driver's licence. That's a traveling document that gives your details in several languages. It doesn't replace the original driver's licence, but makes it easy to read for the authorities. It costs around 30 $ in Quebec and it's good for one year. I don't know yet if I plan to drive abroad, but I don't want to take chances.

Be careful. Some countries won't let you drive, even with the international driver's licence. It is the case in Cambodia, where it is not advised to drive. Note that it could be a good idea to study the signs also, since they may be different from the ones you see at home.

Flags
To conclude, to challenge you a little bit, I added a section on my blog where I will put the flag of the country I will be visiting. You'll see, without cheating, if you can guess where I am.

When it's time to go

What about a good share of resilience to start the sprint of preparation? No choice, when the clock does tic-tic, you need to move forward. And to accept that all will not go as planned. What a training!

First things first : passport. It's one thing to say that paying more will get you your passport one day before you take the plane. But if you have time, why not trying to save yourself from some stressful moments. Lots of occasions to be « last minute » are waiting around the corner anyway.

When I got my latest passport, everything seemed easy. Valid until 2015. Lots of empty pages... No! When you look at what you need to get some visas, you realize you often need one or two empty pages to be granted the right to visit a country.

Used the calculator. Fast! To find out, for example, that if all the custom officers were nice enough to use all the room available in a page to put their stamp, I should be okay. Probably! But there is always one who chooses to use a full empty page to put his stamp right in the middle.

So! No choice, needed a return trip to Montreal to make things easy. The form fully filled, ugly pictures of myself in my pocket, and the « old » passport... The « old » passport! Where is it? Disappeared? Sweating! Flash (McQueen)! Lost for a moment on the sidewalk downtown Montreal. Good start! As long as it doesn't happen downtown Tokyo...

While I was there, why not ask for a 48 pages passport, thicker of course, but at least it would keep me from trying to get a new one in the middle of Jordan or Cambodia. And there would be enough room in there to heal the blues of being back, if I need to. Skeptical, the passport agent, but everything seemed okay. Only need to wait now.

Next time : getting some vaccines. The only thing is that it is impossible to get an appointment between the doctor's voice mail that sends you back to the web site where the appointment form looks like it disappeared. Tic, tac!