Day 1

1. If I were to write down a complete account of my day how would I feel about the day's events and how I lived?
   
   Well, let's see. Today was my 25th birthday. I spent most of the day on the road, from St. George, NB headed towards Halifax, NS. I certainly didn't do a whole lot in the way of changing the world but I did convince the boys that perhaps just saying thank you is not enough and that we should send a thank you card to the people that we've been staying with for the past few days. I don't think that I'll convince the boys of that in the long term but a small gesture to show gratitude for the kindness that we have received will certainly not go astray and I'm sure it will mean something to the people who receive it.
   
   All and all I am at peace with the way I've lived my life today.
   
2. How did the way I lived today bring me closer to the kind of life I aspire to live?
   
   I think that today was a lesson in gratitude for me, personally. I always try to be thankful for the obvious things and I often do it without thinking because it is programmed so deeply into who I am thanks to my family, but conscious gratitude and thankfulness is a different thing. I think that there is something to be said for actually taking the time to be thankful for things that we say "thank you" for rather than just saying it and moving on.
   
   A big part of the reason that people don't send thank you notes or even emails much anymore is because we are grateful in the moment and once that moment has passed we don't give it any further thought. I'm going to make an effort to be consciously grateful, and to take the time to actually write thank you notes in the future.
   
3. What steps did I take today off the beaten path?
   
   When I was writing these questions I didn't really give any thought to how broad of a question this is, or how open to interpretation. I could rework it so that it was a little more specific, but what would be the fun in that?
   
   Today I discovered a small restaurant east of Sussex, NB. It was called Chummley's and it had the most delicious scallops I've ever tasted. We came across it on our way towards Halifax and had dinner there for my birthday. It was absolutely delightful and I am glad that we stumbled across it.
   
4. What made today extraordinary?
   
   Today was the first time I've ever been to Nova Scotia. Although we arrived after dark it is always amazing to be in a new place and to know that great experiences are coming your way.
   
   Today was my 25th birthday. More people remembered than I expected would, and that made me pretty happy. It's always nice to feel the love on your birthday.

More from the East Coast of Canada

Well, I have been on this road trip of the East Coast for 8 days now and I thought I would give you the highlights.

Thus far we have seen:

Riviere-Du-Loup, PQ - We missed the show here because of car trouble :(

Grand Falls, NB - Stopped here at a Walmart to pick up some groceries and get our bearings.

Plaster Rock, NB - Rocked out and had a great night in a hotel here. The owners were amazing and breakfast was great. I highly reccomend checking out this tiny town, and we hear that Pond Hockey is all the rage here in the winter thanks to Don Cherry.

St. John, NB - Great show here at a bar called Cougar's Lounge. It was a tiny venue, and The DGB stopped in for an open mic night. We enjoyed $23 Gallon Pitchers and the guys ended up rocking out on a stage in a park at 4:00 a.m. until the police showed up. They were super nice about it and we went back to the van and laughed until the sun was starting to show.

Black Beach, NB - Tiny little beach in the middle of nowhere, on the Bay of Fundy. Played some football on the beach and ate some lunch. The locals thought we were crazy and the water was freezing but it was a great time!

Blacks Harbour, NB - Dropped into a random bar on our day off, where the boys did an impromtu performance and sold a stack of CDs, and we drank a lot of rounds of free shots. We were going to leave and the bartender thought we needed drinks for the road, but of course she can't sell them to us, so she gave us a case out of her car! We ended up sitting in the harbour watching the tide with a guy from Halifax, and he crashed in the van at the end of the night with us.

Fredericton, NB
- Had a great time here. The show was an open mic again at the Capitol. We ended up staying at Catherine's house (yup, we just met her) She looked after us well though. Gave us a place to crash and an amazing breakfast. We basically <3 her. :D Miramachi, NB - The DGB played a show at O'Donoghues, which is a 175 year old bar in the Irish Capital of Canada. It was a very cool and the panfried fish and chips was absolutely amazing. I turned in for an early night because I'm a party pooper like that sometimes. I was exhausted, but woke up refreshed for our next day in Moncton.


Parlee Beach, NB - Stopped in for a dip in the ocean. Probably the most beautiful beach I have ever seen and we enjoyed the shallows before venturing out for a proper swim. The boys played football in the ocean again while we all dodged the jellyfish. I didn't even know we had these in Canada but they were plentiful and very cool to look at.

Moncton, NB - had a great time in Moncton. The boys did a show there and it was fantastic as always. Interesting characters and invites to crash, but we decided that we were safest in the van with the door locked.

St. George, NB - Stopped in to see Jamie's family where we'll be staying for the next couple of days. They're about the sweetest people you'd ever want to meet and have beds and burgers ready for us upon our return.

St. Andrews, NB - the boys are currently playing a set at The Red Herring and I'm writing this. Sounds great, and I'm thinking that we're going to have to come here for some dinner tomorrow too. $7.99 lobster dinner just haulled in off a boat is too good to pass up I think.


Clearly, that's a lot of travelling for 8 days! Not only have we seen these places, but everywhere in between because the guys I'm travelling with have tour dates for their band booked in no particular order all over New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and then back to Quebec!

The cool thing about this trip is that we're not doing the Mapquest and go directions. We are actually using maps and atlases to find our way, picking out random destinations along the way and attempting to stick towards the coastline whenever possible. As four kids from the interior of Canada, any occasion to breath in salt air is a good excuse.

The people out here truly are as hospitable and welcoming as you hear. I could hardly believe it. The guys are being absolutely fantastic about me tagging along with them and it's been a hell of an amazing vacation for me, and about as cheap as a vacation could come.

On the road again

Well... I'm at it again. I've jumped into another crazy adventure without thinking it through and have found myself touring the east coast of Canada with a friend's band.

So, in the past few days I've seen Grand Falls, Plaster Rock, St. John, Blacks Beach, Black Harbour and Fredericton. It's been absolutely beautiful and the randomness has been astounding. We've had car troubles, bar troubles, and just about every other type of troubles you could think of but it has been fantastic overall.

I'm really enjoying the whole experience, and we're here until June 28th so I expect to see a fair bit more of the country. The one thing I can tell you about it, after being here is that we don't appreciate what we have. Specifically, I don't appreciate what I have. The world is beautiful, Canada especially. Some of the sights I have seen make me ashamed that I went to the UK rather than exploring more of Canada.

The other side of this is that I can understand why people say you can find peace out here. There is an overwhelming stillness to the world when you're standing on the beach watching the tide.

Gotta go -- the band has a show in a few minutes. I'll write more later but I hope that you can find peace like that which I've felt in the past few days.