Category: Travel

My actual travels, those I aspire to, and those of others

Farewell to Vancouver, and the West

Hilary McNaughton and I, Edgemont Village. Photo credit: Jonathan Morissette

Some sort of melancholic poem might be appropriate here, but I’ve been too busy to prepare one.

Tomorrow morning, I am to wake at 4:30am in order to cross town to the airport, get through whatever kind of security screening they feel inclined to subject me to, and board my 8:30am flight. Stopping in Edmonton en route, I should reach Gatwick Airport, outside London, around 3:40am on Thursday (GMT).

I am not the only one heading off during this space of time. As I understand it, Neal is in the air right now on his way to China. In the next few days, Kerrie and Nolan will be leaving for Ghana. I wish all of them the very best, and a safe journey.

Meeting with people during the past few days, as well as speaking with them and corresponding, has been highly gratifying. Meeting Jonathan, Emerson, Hilary, and Nick at various times today was likewise very welcome. Speaking to Meghan, Viktoria, Sarah, et all was certainly also appreciated. By far the biggest negative aspect of going to Oxford will be the breadth of separation created between my family, friends, and I. Undoubtedly, the two years will provide at least a few new ones. With luck, I’ll have the chance to introduce them to people who come visit me in Oxford.

I really should have cleared the contents of my cell phone after calling everyone to say goodbye, but, alas, Meghan Mathieson can testify to the quality of my memory. If I missed you, it’s probably because I didn’t have a copy of your phone number archived somewhere in my GMail folders.

In any case, I still have a few little bits of packing to do, which I’d like to deal with before it gets late. It’s impressive how all the bits and bobs that I’ve spent so long sorting and packing will probably amount to very little once I actually get to Oxford. I will not, for instance, have the slightest thing with which to decorate my room. All such concerns really ought to be pushed aside for the moment, however. When next I write, I shall still be your faithful blogging correspondent: now with a United Kingdom posting.

Packing to depart

Packing in North Vancouver

Aside from a few well-deserved breaks, today was all packing. Things staying behind were put into large plastic or cardboard boxes and then duct taped shut and piled in the closet. Things coming along have been piled hither and thither, in anticipation of the moment where the suitcases will come out and their ultimate fate is being decided.

The first and most extensive of the well-earned breaks was to have coffee in the Village with Jonathan. Tea, actually, for me, but that’s beside the point. After he headed off to meet Dania, I spoke briefly with Cheryl (from my grad class) and Lana (who works at Delany’s).

It strikes me as quite important right now to think as little as possible about the whole leaving for two years thing. Otherwise, I am liable to get very sad and spend anguished hours contemplating how far I will be from some truly wonderful people. Clearly, that kind of sentimentalism is less than productive and, with great piles of every dimension and description strewn about the entire basement, I haven’t the time for such sumptuousness.

Going to England, it also seemed wise to apply some of the Gore-Tex enhancing spray that Meghan and I bought for the Bowron Lakes adventure to my jacket. A few precious books, perhaps some photographs, and the scotch from Ashley will all be squirreled away in my various suitcases. Due to a combination of getting residence in College and being daunted by the dimensions of the box I got for it, the bicycle will be spending the next two years decorating the area under my parents’ porch. I’ve always been much more of a walker anyways. If I had time for more symbolic gestures, some grossly elaborated stroll would be just the thing.

As it happens, it looks as though I will be having a Galleria sandwich for lunch, as I told Hilary I would. Hopefully, Jonathan will come along, as he will just be finishing his shift at Whole Foods. Seeing Alison and Sarah P. would also be ideal, though we will have to see what can be managed. Tomorrow night, there is to be some kind of a terminal family dinner.

Despite an eleventh hour email from her, I don’t think there is much chance of seeing Kate before my departure. While it would have been wonderful to do so (as it has been wonderful to see off so many others), it strikes me as ultimately more important that we are both keen on meeting than it would have been to carry the desire through to completion. We live through the impacts that we have on the minds of others and it makes me feel somewhat redeemed to be back somewhere near Kate’s good graces. I hope she will be among those who visit me in Oxford.