Adventure Lies Ahead

In an effort to NOT TALK ABOUT IT I'm going to tell you about my new, upcoming adventure. This is an email that I sent to friends, family, colleagues, etc. to let them know what was up with me lately:


Hello hello to those near and dear...

Hi!

I'm writing to say hello, but I'm also writing because I am embarking on a new adventure soon and thought you might be interested in hearing about it! I am still working at the student travel company managing a team of tour leaders (a job that I am so lucky to have because I love it), but am taking some time off in the fall to pursue a little project (detailed below). The message below is a bit long, but I’d love it if you read on when you’ve got a few spare minutes!

I just got accepted into a program that I think will be my coolest endeavour yet: an Otesha cycling and performing tour. For those who haven’t heard of it, Otesha is a charitable organization that brings people together to form a mobile community (on bicycles!) to promote a sustainable lifestyle and earth-friendly choices to youth via performances and workshops at schools and community centers. They’re also really into biking, which is where I come in.

In a couple months’ time I will be embarking on what I’m sure will be a life altering experience, for myself and hopefully for others that will be touched by this program. I am joining The Otesha Project on their 2-month Highlands & Islands bike trip around the Maritimes – cycling 2,000km from Fredericton, through New Brunswick, all around Prince Edward Island and through Nova Scotia to end in Halifax from September 7th to November 2nd. Yowza!

Visit the Otesha site to check out our tour so far (scroll down to Highlands & Islands). You can see our route, the cities we’ll be visiting and when, and bios of the team members are up as well (mine included)! If you know of anyone in the area that would be interested in having the Otesha team visit, you can fill out a form to request our presence!

I have begun preparations – though it was a bit slow going since it was our busy travel season! I purchased a new road bike (mine is a very nice feminine white and pink, not black - gotta love merchandising for women), a new helmet (also with pink stripes), fancy bike shoes that clip into my pedals, padded bike shorts, a bike computer (to track times and distances), and some rain gear (waterproof jacket and pants) since I expect that it will get a bit wet during our rides. Luckily, everything purchased so far has either been on sale, I’ve found coupons for them, or they were really fair prices - phew! The list seems long, but there is still so much more to go! I am still shopping for a sleeping bag and mat, a bike rack and panniers/saddle bags, reflective gear, bike gloves, shoe covers, and even simple things like a bell, and lights for late-evening rides. The list goes on! And a physical training-program has just started…!

A few weeks ago, an Otesha trip came through Toronto (the Ferocious Farm tour) and I went to see the performance that I would be doing myself in a couple months’ time. I was thrilled to see the play that I will be performing in myself (it’s wonderful! charming, funny, and full of good messages). I met team members, checked out their bikes and gear, and picked their brains on what the journey has been like so far. I finally had the answer to the question I had been asking myself for months, “What have I gotten myself into?!” The answer is: Something simply amazing.

It is quite the undertaking and I will admit that I am both slightly terrified and totally psyched for what is to come. I am about one-third of the way through my required gear list and have yet to start fundraising to meet my goal of $2,250. All the work I have done has been in the background up until now, and I have been building up the courage (and time) to reach out and ask for some support.

I truly and whole-heartedly believe in what I will be doing with Otesha. Living on a bicycle for two months, riding around to visit schools to do performances and host workshops with students, encouraging them to make responsible choices and take care of the earth. We will be promoting a very simple, grassroots kind of lifestyle – I am excited to really practice what I preach and set an example for others, but most importantly, for myself.

If you support these ideas, or just support *me* in supporting these ideas, then I would ask that you please consider donating to my Otesha Journey...(insert info on how to donate here).

As always, thank you for all your support in my wacky endeavours (past, present, and future!). It is much, much appreciated.


So that's that. I never thought I'd ever find such a quirky combination of random things I love in life. I mean, I've always wanted to go on a performance tour because it's been two years since I've been on stage and I miss it. So to find a performance tour about sustainability that goes around on bicycles just about put me over the moon. For years I told people that I wanted to get into "environmental education" one day, not really knowing what a job in that non-existent field would look like. And now I found something that brought that phrase to life. It's right up my alley.

Work is, in a word, WONDERFUL (and also UNBELIEVABLE) because they are
1. letting me go
2. letting me come back when I'm done
3. donating $2,000 to my project contribution (and thus I went above and beyond my goal of $2,250 because otherwise? I don't think I could have).
Seriously, I found a job that lets me do stuff I really like, gives me 5 weeks of holiday every summer, and then lets me take off for 2 months in the Fall to bike around the east coast of Canada? UNREAL. I am a lucky, lucky ass biatch.

So I no longer need to worry about fundraising, which is a ginormous stress off my shoulders. Now I just need to worry about getting the rest of my gear together. If anyone has cyclist friends who have stuff to sell or donate, please get me in touch with them! I am still looking for:

Hardware/'big' stuff
- bike rack, panniers (about 50L capaccity), fenders
- bike multi-tool, tire patch/repair kit, small pump, extra set of tire tubes and spokes, chain lube and rag, bungee cables
- compact sleeping bag and sleeping mat, small pillow
- compression sacks

'Smaller' gear stuff:
- lights, bike bell, bike mirror
- reflective vest and tape
- short and long fingered bike gloves
- another pair of bike shorts
- rain shoe covers

...and an accountant - I still haven't done my taxes.
8:50 pm