Good morning everyone! I hope you are all doing well this morning. For those of you who haven't checked in since last Tuesday, please note that Gray has posted a brief update on their progress just to let us know that they are doing okay. If I remember their itinerary correctly they are leaving Barcelona today and will be spending tonight in the South of France.
I'm going to continue with my series of posts highlighting interesting discoveries I made while at the Outdoor Adventure Show. That show was quite awhile ago now but it's going to keep me writing for MONTHS! At any rate, I thought this next item tied in nicely with the Nudge article as they both focus on adventure training.
I've got a very interesting pamphlet here from a company called Canada West Mountain School, who can be found at www.themountainschool.com
The main focus of this company is on putting together mountaineering expeditions, and running mountaineering and rock climbing training courses. It's the training courses that interest me the most really. Being here in less-than-mountainous Toronto I don't really have any way to break into the exciting field of mountaineering. Of course, even if I did have the skills I'd be hard pressed to find any way to apply them, but that's beside the point - I still want to know how it's done.
CWMS runs courses for people of all skill levels, from people like me who have absolutely no mountaineering experience to seasoned veterans looking to improve their skill set. As you would imagine, they are based out of B.C. so any studying for me involves a trip out West. It would be a pretty fun vacation though since the courses are actually held out in the field. From what I'm able to gather by talking to their rep and looking at their website the courses are essentially big camping trips that happen to involve a lot of instruction along the way.
I'm pretty interested in their intro-level Mountain Skills Essentials course which is four days out in the mountains of B.C. learning the basics of how to survive out there. It sounds like a ton of fun, although you do need to provide a lot of your own gear, which would be a pain for me from a travelling perspective. Add in the flight out to Vancouver and the $695 price tag on the course and it would be a pretty expensive proposition. Still, I'm not going to learn skills like that anywhere in Ontario! I just need to head out West so I'd be able to put those skills to use.
Well ladies and gents, it's about time for me to get going. I hope you're all doing well, and keep checking back in to see if Gray and Susan give us any updates. See you all next week.
Tuesday 29 March 2011
Sunday 27 March 2011
Still Alive.
Hey yáll,
I meant to pop in and mention that we made it to Barcelona alive earlier, but we havent had much time. Not that we have been that busy, but I´ve was sleeping for like 12 hours a day for those first couple days. The over night plane thing was pretty rough and I would not recommend it.
Now that we are settled in, the Spanish sun and ocean air has improved our health greatly, so we have gotten to work getting fat on cava and tapas.
I meant to pop in and mention that we made it to Barcelona alive earlier, but we havent had much time. Not that we have been that busy, but I´ve was sleeping for like 12 hours a day for those first couple days. The over night plane thing was pretty rough and I would not recommend it.
Now that we are settled in, the Spanish sun and ocean air has improved our health greatly, so we have gotten to work getting fat on cava and tapas.
Thursday 24 March 2011
And They're Off
I'm sure it will be a little while before we can start to expect any updates from Graydyn and Susan, but I thought you'd all like to know that they've been safely delivered to the airport. In fact, I was still on my way home, just getting on to the 401 Collectors near Yorkdale when I got a text message from Gray to let me know that they'd already got through security. Given that they arrived slightly more than the recommended three hours before their flight that means that they're going to have a lot of time to kill before they get on that plane. That's always an unfortunate situation, but far more agreeable than missing one's flight. So I hope they're managing to keep themselves amused, and I wish them all the best. Hopefully we'll be hearing tales of their epic adventures shortly.
Tuesday 22 March 2011
What's Up
Good morning everyone!
I'm going to take a short break this week from the series I was running on the various adventures I discovered at The Outdoor Adventure Show. There are just a few things I'd like to cover this week, so today's post will be a little less focused. There are just a few discussions I wanted to have, so I'm lumping them all in here. Consider this kind of my own personal State of the Union Address.
First, and certainly the most exciting, most of you probably already know this but Graydyn and Susan leave for a three-week trip through Europe this Thursday evening. It's something they've wanted to do for years now, and a lot of research and planning have gone in to its execution. Actually, I should ask Gray to do a post for us sometime just on the work that went into getting this trip organized. Which comes to the point I wanted to make; I've set Gray up with rights to post to this blog. My fine site is no longer under single authorship! I did this so that Gray and Susan could, if they so desire, tell us all how their trip is going while they're on the road. Most of you probably haven't noticed, but it lists the author of every post down at the bottom of the posting. We haven't tested it out yet, but in theory you should be able to look and see which posts were written by Gray and/or Susan while they are away.
They've actually said that they are unlikely to have the time or inclination to make regular posts, but that they'd do their best to keep us in the loop about where they are. As for my own contributions to this blog, I intend to play that by ear. What will likely happen is that starting next Tuesday I'll pick back up with my discussion on the various adventures I'd like to be going on, and we may see some status updates popping up here and there from our European Correspondents. However, if they find that they are enjoying having the blog at their disposal and are making frequent updates I will put my own posts on hiatus so as to not interrupt the narrative.
The second point I wanted to bring up is in regards to last week's posting about the "Nudge" fitness program. I'd mentioned that I would report back on any feedback I received from the team at Nudge regarding their Toronto programs. Well they got back to me, and it seems that the situation outside of their main facility in Mississauga is entirely a customized affair. While it sounds like they are running regular fitness programs out of their facility, anything in Toronto is done for a group with a specific agenda at a location of their choosing. So, if you had a team of people who all wanted to go climb a particular mountain somewhere you could arrange for an area to train and then have the people in Nudge come in and help you with your training requirements for that specific trip. It's a pretty interesting service, but I'm looking for just a more generalized fitness routine and unfortunately Mississauga is a bit out of the way.
My last bit of travel news is just around my desire to be travelling via motorcycle. I've been reading a really interesting book called Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. Mr. Simon set out from Britain in the early 70s to travel the world on his motorcycle. I'm sure you can all see why literature this appeals to me. It's got me itching for my own bike to be back on the road. The fantastic weather we had last week didn't help ease my pining any either. With the long-range forecast calling for the warm weather to hold for another couple weeks I made an appointment to get my bike back out of storage. Yoshi is coming home this Saturday! Of course now the forecast has changed it's mind and is calling for snow and cold. Great.
Of course my only fault with that otherwise fantastic bike is that it really isn't good for long-distance travel. It's decidedly uncomfortable on the highway, and isn't terribly pleasant to be sitting on for more than a couple hours. That said I've long been considering upgrading to a larger machine, but I've been having trouble finding something that wouldn't be a ridiculous jump in power... or cost. I may actually have found the ideal machine when I was at GP Bikes this past weekend. They've got a used 2006 Suzuki GS500F on their floor which was very appealing to me. Not many manufacturers make anything in the 400-500cc range, but I think that would be the perfect power level for me to be operating at. The fairing are quite scuffed up, apparently the previous owner dropped the bike at one point in its life, which is a concern. It does help bring the price down though. With less than 7,000 km on the odo this bike is only going for $3,700. The guys at GP Bikes said they'd give me $1,400 for my old bike, which would bring the total cost down to $2,300. (Probably more like $2650 by the time I'm done with taxes). It's a risk because it's been dropped, and I'm also feeling a bit financially strained at the moment due to my change in jobs playing havoc with my pay schedule, and so I just walked away from the bike. Still, it's been on my mind ever since then. Jay made a very astute point when we were discussing this via Facebook; I've got a lot less vacation time to work with in my new job, and that makes my hobbies at home a lot more valuable. Having a bike that I could comfortably take out for a day trip would be a phenomenal thing. I'm still weighing the pros and cons of the situation... hopefully someone else doesn't scoop up that bike while I'm weighing my options.
Well, I really do need to be heading in to the office now. I apologize for the rambling and disjointed nature of today's post, but I was starting to get a build-up of thoughts that I wanted to share with everyone. Let's all wish Gray and Susan a happy trip, and hopefully we'll all be hearing from them soon via this very blog. Until then, happy travels everyone, and I'll talk to you soon.
I'm going to take a short break this week from the series I was running on the various adventures I discovered at The Outdoor Adventure Show. There are just a few things I'd like to cover this week, so today's post will be a little less focused. There are just a few discussions I wanted to have, so I'm lumping them all in here. Consider this kind of my own personal State of the Union Address.
First, and certainly the most exciting, most of you probably already know this but Graydyn and Susan leave for a three-week trip through Europe this Thursday evening. It's something they've wanted to do for years now, and a lot of research and planning have gone in to its execution. Actually, I should ask Gray to do a post for us sometime just on the work that went into getting this trip organized. Which comes to the point I wanted to make; I've set Gray up with rights to post to this blog. My fine site is no longer under single authorship! I did this so that Gray and Susan could, if they so desire, tell us all how their trip is going while they're on the road. Most of you probably haven't noticed, but it lists the author of every post down at the bottom of the posting. We haven't tested it out yet, but in theory you should be able to look and see which posts were written by Gray and/or Susan while they are away.
They've actually said that they are unlikely to have the time or inclination to make regular posts, but that they'd do their best to keep us in the loop about where they are. As for my own contributions to this blog, I intend to play that by ear. What will likely happen is that starting next Tuesday I'll pick back up with my discussion on the various adventures I'd like to be going on, and we may see some status updates popping up here and there from our European Correspondents. However, if they find that they are enjoying having the blog at their disposal and are making frequent updates I will put my own posts on hiatus so as to not interrupt the narrative.
The second point I wanted to bring up is in regards to last week's posting about the "Nudge" fitness program. I'd mentioned that I would report back on any feedback I received from the team at Nudge regarding their Toronto programs. Well they got back to me, and it seems that the situation outside of their main facility in Mississauga is entirely a customized affair. While it sounds like they are running regular fitness programs out of their facility, anything in Toronto is done for a group with a specific agenda at a location of their choosing. So, if you had a team of people who all wanted to go climb a particular mountain somewhere you could arrange for an area to train and then have the people in Nudge come in and help you with your training requirements for that specific trip. It's a pretty interesting service, but I'm looking for just a more generalized fitness routine and unfortunately Mississauga is a bit out of the way.
My last bit of travel news is just around my desire to be travelling via motorcycle. I've been reading a really interesting book called Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. Mr. Simon set out from Britain in the early 70s to travel the world on his motorcycle. I'm sure you can all see why literature this appeals to me. It's got me itching for my own bike to be back on the road. The fantastic weather we had last week didn't help ease my pining any either. With the long-range forecast calling for the warm weather to hold for another couple weeks I made an appointment to get my bike back out of storage. Yoshi is coming home this Saturday! Of course now the forecast has changed it's mind and is calling for snow and cold. Great.
Of course my only fault with that otherwise fantastic bike is that it really isn't good for long-distance travel. It's decidedly uncomfortable on the highway, and isn't terribly pleasant to be sitting on for more than a couple hours. That said I've long been considering upgrading to a larger machine, but I've been having trouble finding something that wouldn't be a ridiculous jump in power... or cost. I may actually have found the ideal machine when I was at GP Bikes this past weekend. They've got a used 2006 Suzuki GS500F on their floor which was very appealing to me. Not many manufacturers make anything in the 400-500cc range, but I think that would be the perfect power level for me to be operating at. The fairing are quite scuffed up, apparently the previous owner dropped the bike at one point in its life, which is a concern. It does help bring the price down though. With less than 7,000 km on the odo this bike is only going for $3,700. The guys at GP Bikes said they'd give me $1,400 for my old bike, which would bring the total cost down to $2,300. (Probably more like $2650 by the time I'm done with taxes). It's a risk because it's been dropped, and I'm also feeling a bit financially strained at the moment due to my change in jobs playing havoc with my pay schedule, and so I just walked away from the bike. Still, it's been on my mind ever since then. Jay made a very astute point when we were discussing this via Facebook; I've got a lot less vacation time to work with in my new job, and that makes my hobbies at home a lot more valuable. Having a bike that I could comfortably take out for a day trip would be a phenomenal thing. I'm still weighing the pros and cons of the situation... hopefully someone else doesn't scoop up that bike while I'm weighing my options.
Well, I really do need to be heading in to the office now. I apologize for the rambling and disjointed nature of today's post, but I was starting to get a build-up of thoughts that I wanted to share with everyone. Let's all wish Gray and Susan a happy trip, and hopefully we'll all be hearing from them soon via this very blog. Until then, happy travels everyone, and I'll talk to you soon.
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Need a Nudge?
Before I get in to the proper post, I've had a lot of people asking me about my friends in Japan in light of the recent disaster there. My heart goes out to all the people affected by this tragedy, especially those people who have friends and family in the Sendai region who they are still unable to get in contact with. I'm happy to report however that all my friends in Japan are far removed from that region and are safe and sound. It's still a terrible tragedy, and as citizens of the global community I encourage everyone to support Japan in whatever way they can.
-------
Okay ladies and gentlemen, I've got another post based off information obtained from the Outdoor Adventure Show. This time I've drawn from my magic bag of goodies a very unique brochure that focuses not just on travel, but also on physical fitness. The company is called Nudge and they are based out of Mississauga. Their product offering is described as "adventure travel and endurance training" which I think make a fascinating combo. You can check out their website here or read on for my summary of things:
www.nudgetraining.com
The concept is that certain trips are going to require an above-average level of physical fitness to be enjoyable; hiking the Scottish Highlands, running a marathon in the Swiss Alps, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. So, Nudge is combining the two things you need to enjoy these adventures - a travel guide to help plan the trip, and a personal trainer to get you in the proper physical condition to succeed. Obviously each type of adventure is going to require different types of training; all of it will require good endurance training, but climbing a mountain is going to have a different type of strength training regimen than running a marathon.
Part of the reason that I find this to be such a good concept is that I know fundamentally that it can work. Graydyn and I did this to a certain extent before we went to Japan. We decided fairly early on that a hike up Mt. Fuji was going to be on the itinerary, and we started trying to tailor our exercise routine to include workouts that would help with that. I took up the workout of marching up and down the stairs for 30 minutes at a time, eventually increasing that to 45 minutes. We went on a lot more hikes, and tried to find hilly regions to hike in (which can be a challenge in Toronto). We didn't develop a specific training regimen for that climb, but we certainly used it as a motivation to exercise, and it really can be a great motivator. For me a big part of any adventure is in the planning, and looking forward to it. That's the kind of excitement and energy that can easily be harnessed for the purposes of getting in to better shape.
Unfortunately for me Nudge is located in Mississauga, and given the quality and extensiveness of the GTA's transit system it might as well be the far side of the moon. However, they mention on their website that they are travelling into Toronto to give courses, so I've e-mailed them for more detail on that. I'll do a follow up post if I get more information on that. I'd love to see what kind of exercises they recommend in order to get in shape for some serious adventure travel.
That said, for everyone outside of the GTA I still think that the concept is a great one, and it's one that can be put into effect individually. Just like the Mt. Fuji example, there are a number of destinations that may have the opportunity for some physically challenging activities, so pick one. Decide to climb that mountain, or go on that hike, or take that bicycle tour. Once you've decided that even just one small portion of your travel is going to be physically demanding you can rise to the challenge and begin training yourself for that adventure!
Well, I hope you all found that informative and motivating. Have a fantastic day everyone and I'll talk to you all again soon.
-------
Okay ladies and gentlemen, I've got another post based off information obtained from the Outdoor Adventure Show. This time I've drawn from my magic bag of goodies a very unique brochure that focuses not just on travel, but also on physical fitness. The company is called Nudge and they are based out of Mississauga. Their product offering is described as "adventure travel and endurance training" which I think make a fascinating combo. You can check out their website here or read on for my summary of things:
www.nudgetraining.com
The concept is that certain trips are going to require an above-average level of physical fitness to be enjoyable; hiking the Scottish Highlands, running a marathon in the Swiss Alps, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. So, Nudge is combining the two things you need to enjoy these adventures - a travel guide to help plan the trip, and a personal trainer to get you in the proper physical condition to succeed. Obviously each type of adventure is going to require different types of training; all of it will require good endurance training, but climbing a mountain is going to have a different type of strength training regimen than running a marathon.
Part of the reason that I find this to be such a good concept is that I know fundamentally that it can work. Graydyn and I did this to a certain extent before we went to Japan. We decided fairly early on that a hike up Mt. Fuji was going to be on the itinerary, and we started trying to tailor our exercise routine to include workouts that would help with that. I took up the workout of marching up and down the stairs for 30 minutes at a time, eventually increasing that to 45 minutes. We went on a lot more hikes, and tried to find hilly regions to hike in (which can be a challenge in Toronto). We didn't develop a specific training regimen for that climb, but we certainly used it as a motivation to exercise, and it really can be a great motivator. For me a big part of any adventure is in the planning, and looking forward to it. That's the kind of excitement and energy that can easily be harnessed for the purposes of getting in to better shape.
Unfortunately for me Nudge is located in Mississauga, and given the quality and extensiveness of the GTA's transit system it might as well be the far side of the moon. However, they mention on their website that they are travelling into Toronto to give courses, so I've e-mailed them for more detail on that. I'll do a follow up post if I get more information on that. I'd love to see what kind of exercises they recommend in order to get in shape for some serious adventure travel.
That said, for everyone outside of the GTA I still think that the concept is a great one, and it's one that can be put into effect individually. Just like the Mt. Fuji example, there are a number of destinations that may have the opportunity for some physically challenging activities, so pick one. Decide to climb that mountain, or go on that hike, or take that bicycle tour. Once you've decided that even just one small portion of your travel is going to be physically demanding you can rise to the challenge and begin training yourself for that adventure!
Well, I hope you all found that informative and motivating. Have a fantastic day everyone and I'll talk to you all again soon.
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Mer et Monde
Good morning fellow travellers! I hope today finds you all well.
As promised, I've just dug into my big bag of pamphlets and found something worth researching in greater detail. Actually, this first piece is coming via request from Graydyn, since I'd briefly touched on it in a conversation with him. I've got information here about a campground called Mer et Monde in Quebec.
Website: http://www.meretmonde.ca
In English: http://www.mer-et-monde.qc.ca/en/Mer-et-Monde/home.html
Specifically this campground is located near Tadoussac, right at the point where the Saguenay flows out into the St. Lawrence. Google Maps calls it a 12 hour drive from Toronto. What makes this a particularly exciting place to go camp is that in the summertime the waters of the St. Lawrence are home to many, many whales. Talking to the Mer et Monde rep at the Outdoor Adventure Show he said that during that time seeing whales is a matter of course... just open the door of your tent and peek out at the water.
It's a neat setup they've got at this campground. The shoreline appears to be predominantly rocky, with some stretches of beach, so about half the campsites are just sandy beach, and the other half they've set up flat wooden platforms that you can pitch your tent on.
This wouldn't be backwoods camping by any stretch of the imagination. A quick look at their map reveals that all the sites are within easy walking distance of parking, although it looks like there's at least a pleasant distance between the campsites, so you're not shoulder-to-shoulder with your neighbours. This is one of those places that's less about the camping, and more about being a jumping-off point for adventure. They rent all the equipment you could desire for camping and kayaking, and it looks like it would be a pretty simple matter to bring your own boats if that's how you wanted to go. The campsite would just be a place to rest your head; the daytime would be dedicated to getting out in a kayak and getting out there with the whales!
The campground also offers kayaking tours, which could be an interesting way to see the area and get a bit of local knowledge from your guide.
Now, the tricky part. The season runs from May 20 to October 11 this year, with their nearby cafe not opening until June 3. It's not a terribly long camping season, and they don't have a ton of campsites, so the rep informed me that they will book up quick. I'd really like to get out there and check this place out, but reservations open up on April 8th, and I have a sneaking suspicion that they finish up around... oh... April 8th. Not a lot of time to get some people together and organized for this. Still, if anyone is interested in getting a group together for this let me know and maybe we can plan something quickly. Check out the website, really have a good look around and see if you think it will be your cup of tea. The sites have a maximum capacity of 4 people, so if more than 4 want to come we'll need two sites. At a fixed rate of $30 per site it's pretty cheap if you've got 4 people though.
Okay, I have opened up the discussion on this, and now must head in to work. Have a great day everyone and I'll talk to you all soon.
As promised, I've just dug into my big bag of pamphlets and found something worth researching in greater detail. Actually, this first piece is coming via request from Graydyn, since I'd briefly touched on it in a conversation with him. I've got information here about a campground called Mer et Monde in Quebec.
Website: http://www.meretmonde.ca
In English: http://www.mer-et-monde.qc.ca/en/Mer-et-Monde/home.html
Specifically this campground is located near Tadoussac, right at the point where the Saguenay flows out into the St. Lawrence. Google Maps calls it a 12 hour drive from Toronto. What makes this a particularly exciting place to go camp is that in the summertime the waters of the St. Lawrence are home to many, many whales. Talking to the Mer et Monde rep at the Outdoor Adventure Show he said that during that time seeing whales is a matter of course... just open the door of your tent and peek out at the water.
It's a neat setup they've got at this campground. The shoreline appears to be predominantly rocky, with some stretches of beach, so about half the campsites are just sandy beach, and the other half they've set up flat wooden platforms that you can pitch your tent on.
This wouldn't be backwoods camping by any stretch of the imagination. A quick look at their map reveals that all the sites are within easy walking distance of parking, although it looks like there's at least a pleasant distance between the campsites, so you're not shoulder-to-shoulder with your neighbours. This is one of those places that's less about the camping, and more about being a jumping-off point for adventure. They rent all the equipment you could desire for camping and kayaking, and it looks like it would be a pretty simple matter to bring your own boats if that's how you wanted to go. The campsite would just be a place to rest your head; the daytime would be dedicated to getting out in a kayak and getting out there with the whales!
The campground also offers kayaking tours, which could be an interesting way to see the area and get a bit of local knowledge from your guide.
Now, the tricky part. The season runs from May 20 to October 11 this year, with their nearby cafe not opening until June 3. It's not a terribly long camping season, and they don't have a ton of campsites, so the rep informed me that they will book up quick. I'd really like to get out there and check this place out, but reservations open up on April 8th, and I have a sneaking suspicion that they finish up around... oh... April 8th. Not a lot of time to get some people together and organized for this. Still, if anyone is interested in getting a group together for this let me know and maybe we can plan something quickly. Check out the website, really have a good look around and see if you think it will be your cup of tea. The sites have a maximum capacity of 4 people, so if more than 4 want to come we'll need two sites. At a fixed rate of $30 per site it's pretty cheap if you've got 4 people though.
Okay, I have opened up the discussion on this, and now must head in to work. Have a great day everyone and I'll talk to you all soon.
Tuesday 1 March 2011
The Outdoor Adventure Show
Good evening all! Sorry about the late post, but it seems that I haven't quite got myself into a steady morning routine yet. I'm actually finding it a bit difficult to adjust my sleeping schedule, and I'm not so keen on the amount of time I spend travelling to and from work. I've got to give myself some time to get adjusted, but I think I should seriously consider moving closer to downtown.
At any rate, my goal for this week was to, as promised, report on the Outdoor Adventure Show. I actually wasn't 100% sure that I was going to make it out this weekend, but my schedule ended up lining up with it perfectly. Paul was heading to New York on Sunday morning for business so I said I'd give him a ride to the airport, which put me just a couple blocks from the International Centre just an hour before the show started. It should be noted here that showing up a few minutes before the beginning of the morning's show on a Sunday is a GREAT strategy if you're going to some kind of expo at the International Centre. The parking there can best be described as "insufficient" if you feel like being polite about things. I rolled in at about 9:50, got a great parking spot, had no line to buy my ticket, and stood in a small queue for about 5 minutes before getting into a showroom floor that was comfortably un-crowded. Unintentional strategic win!
I think that The Outdoor Adventure Show is a decent name, but they could easily have called it Cramming All Colin's Hobbies Under One Room Show. The acronym CACHUORS doesn't exactly roll of the tongue, but people will get used to it. I fully expected that I'd head over there, take a quick poke around and then meander casually out. I spent 3 hours in that building... most of it slack-jawed. My wanderings took me past some camping-gear vendors and people selling various granola bars and other such hiking foods, but then I started to get into the scuba diving section. I didn't know there was going to be a scuba diving section! Many pamphlets for people organizing diving trips accompanied me from the expo hall that day.
I then spent the better part of twenty minutes chatting with the girl at the Olympus booth about the myriad of cameras they had on display. No, the fact that she was incredibly good looking had nothing to do with that, and I'm shocked at the suggestion. What they call a Micro 4/3 camera, essentially a DSLR without the mirror giving you a physical viewfinder, seems pretty appealing to me after seeing them in action, although the price point seems comparable to that of an entry level DSLR. It's the small form factor that really makes them stand out though. Even the new line of Stylus cameras (shock proof and waterproof, essentially the descendents of my camera) were really impressive to see. They've made HUGE progress on the menu system and overall user interface, which has always been the Achilles heel of my camera.
After that I (reluctantly) took my leave of the cameras (not their spokesperson) and made my way over to the kayaks. Please forgive the quality of the photos I'm about to link, they were taken with the less-than-impressive camera that's built into my phone, but I've got to throw these up there if only for Dad's benefit.
Yup, stacks and stacks of 'em! All at pretty decent discounts I might add. If I were in the market for one I think I'd be holding out until next year's show (I hope this is an annual event!) because the discounts ranged from $200 to $1000 off the regularly advertised prices.
It's at this point that I realized I'd covered about a quarter of the total showroom floor. There were representatives from all manner of outdoor sport. I picked up pamphlets, flyers, and business cards from people doing camping/survival training, mountaineering training (gotta go out to B.C. for that one), skydiving, dirt biking, specialized kayaking skills, etc, etc. It was a smorgasbord of adventure! I actually had a really good chat with a guy who does dirt bike training, which is something I'd meant to do this past summer but didn't get around to.
I was amazed at the presence of Quebec on the floor. There was the better part of an entire isle dedicated to various kayaking and camping adventures to be found along the St. Lawrence. Some of it looked pretty amazing! Yup, more pamphlets. I actually went and bought some granola bars at one point so that I could get a bag to put all my reference material in. I might actually start going through some of the items that I got at the show, use them for research, and flesh individual items out into their own blog posts.
I've been in a bit of a lull lately with not much travel on the horizon, but I felt reinvigorated after the show. Spring is right around the corner, and I'm starting to build up this Summer's wishlist of fun outdoor activities.
At this point it's 10:00 and I've done naught this evening but eat and workout, so I'm going to go play some video games and relax a bit before calling it a night. I hope you're all doing great, and I look forward to providing you all with more information on the variety of fun things I saw at the expo!
At any rate, my goal for this week was to, as promised, report on the Outdoor Adventure Show. I actually wasn't 100% sure that I was going to make it out this weekend, but my schedule ended up lining up with it perfectly. Paul was heading to New York on Sunday morning for business so I said I'd give him a ride to the airport, which put me just a couple blocks from the International Centre just an hour before the show started. It should be noted here that showing up a few minutes before the beginning of the morning's show on a Sunday is a GREAT strategy if you're going to some kind of expo at the International Centre. The parking there can best be described as "insufficient" if you feel like being polite about things. I rolled in at about 9:50, got a great parking spot, had no line to buy my ticket, and stood in a small queue for about 5 minutes before getting into a showroom floor that was comfortably un-crowded. Unintentional strategic win!
I think that The Outdoor Adventure Show is a decent name, but they could easily have called it Cramming All Colin's Hobbies Under One Room Show. The acronym CACHUORS doesn't exactly roll of the tongue, but people will get used to it. I fully expected that I'd head over there, take a quick poke around and then meander casually out. I spent 3 hours in that building... most of it slack-jawed. My wanderings took me past some camping-gear vendors and people selling various granola bars and other such hiking foods, but then I started to get into the scuba diving section. I didn't know there was going to be a scuba diving section! Many pamphlets for people organizing diving trips accompanied me from the expo hall that day.
I then spent the better part of twenty minutes chatting with the girl at the Olympus booth about the myriad of cameras they had on display. No, the fact that she was incredibly good looking had nothing to do with that, and I'm shocked at the suggestion. What they call a Micro 4/3 camera, essentially a DSLR without the mirror giving you a physical viewfinder, seems pretty appealing to me after seeing them in action, although the price point seems comparable to that of an entry level DSLR. It's the small form factor that really makes them stand out though. Even the new line of Stylus cameras (shock proof and waterproof, essentially the descendents of my camera) were really impressive to see. They've made HUGE progress on the menu system and overall user interface, which has always been the Achilles heel of my camera.
After that I (reluctantly) took my leave of the cameras (not their spokesperson) and made my way over to the kayaks. Please forgive the quality of the photos I'm about to link, they were taken with the less-than-impressive camera that's built into my phone, but I've got to throw these up there if only for Dad's benefit.
It's at this point that I realized I'd covered about a quarter of the total showroom floor. There were representatives from all manner of outdoor sport. I picked up pamphlets, flyers, and business cards from people doing camping/survival training, mountaineering training (gotta go out to B.C. for that one), skydiving, dirt biking, specialized kayaking skills, etc, etc. It was a smorgasbord of adventure! I actually had a really good chat with a guy who does dirt bike training, which is something I'd meant to do this past summer but didn't get around to.
I was amazed at the presence of Quebec on the floor. There was the better part of an entire isle dedicated to various kayaking and camping adventures to be found along the St. Lawrence. Some of it looked pretty amazing! Yup, more pamphlets. I actually went and bought some granola bars at one point so that I could get a bag to put all my reference material in. I might actually start going through some of the items that I got at the show, use them for research, and flesh individual items out into their own blog posts.
I've been in a bit of a lull lately with not much travel on the horizon, but I felt reinvigorated after the show. Spring is right around the corner, and I'm starting to build up this Summer's wishlist of fun outdoor activities.
At this point it's 10:00 and I've done naught this evening but eat and workout, so I'm going to go play some video games and relax a bit before calling it a night. I hope you're all doing great, and I look forward to providing you all with more information on the variety of fun things I saw at the expo!
Slightly Delayed
Hey guys, it's just been one of those mornings where I seem to be moving in slow motion. I'll be posting tonight when I'm home from work. Sorry for the delay.
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