So here goes,  the beginning of many exciting things, and the ending of some others.  I’m new to blogging, and to be honest I fear it may be a waste of time, but it does seem like a nice way to chronicle some memories I am sure to hold dear, while also letting people who care to, share in my journeys just a little bit.  So that’s why this blog has been started and I will try to update it fairly regularly.

Tomorrow morning is my last day at Bradford Academy.  I have immensely mixed feelings about that.  For those of you who don’t know I left Canada in May of 2012 and spent the summer working in Italy English as a second language camps, (An incredible experience I’m hoping to repeat)  before moving to Bradford and taking up the job of being a full time high school teacher of English and Citizenship (An odd choice since I’m not a citizen, though it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.)  At any rate it has been a fascinating year, full of ups and downs.  Some challenges I met well, others not so much.  But I have certainly learned an immense amount from all of my incredible students, fellow teachers, and new friends in the U.K.  and as my last day here dawns I’m feeling a lot more sadness than I ever expected to.  I will miss going to school every morning, even if I won’t miss waking up at 6 a.m. each day.  To all you brave souls from Canada who have signed on to do another year, I salute you.
So one chapter is ending, but I do have some rough plans for the next few chapters, and to be honest, I’m incredibly excited about them.  For the next two years I plan on being quite nomadic.  I’m taking about 24 months to explore corners of the world I’ve long dreamed of seeing, and letting that journey lead me to wherever I need to go.

On July 28th I leave the U.K. behind, (I’ll miss you Coke Vanilla and Manchester United)  and fly from Liverpool to Malta where my journey begins.  I’m very much looking forward to the beginning of this.  To getting back to writing regularly and hopefully getting through a few different ideas that have been kicking around my head for books.  I find writing is endlessly easier when travelling, the mind is open and free as I encounter entirely new things.  Besides, sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea is undoubtedly more inspiring than sitting on my couch in Bradford.

Atop a Waterfall near Bolton Abbey in the U.K. How many more waterfalls await me?

At any rate, my rough plan for the next two years is to spend about 3 months more in Europe (Malta, Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey), then hop on  a plane to Thailand and explore South East Asia (Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia perhaps even stretching to Nepal and India.)  I’ll be back home in Canada for part of May, all of June and probably most of July before taking off again to South America where I will spend the full year, writing, exploring, and rediscovering the Spanish language.

I’m conflicted, and there’s definite sadness to leaving the school and this life in Bradford behind, but underlying that sadness is an irrepressible feeling of glee. I can’t wait to get started. I’ve met some incredible people here in Bradford, students and teachers alike, and as I prepare myself for these new chapters I am anxious and eager to meet other interesting people from every corner of this wonderful earth.  I am eager and desperate to see new things.  To write new things.  And to be new things.  I’m blessed to have the time, freedom, and money to make these next two years possible, and I plan to use the time well, what ever that ever changing idea may mean.