“Wow,” messaged Ruochen, a former student who had just seen my blog. “There’s a lot of content!” It’s true. When I wrote this post, on December 2, 2021, the third anniversary of my first post, it was my 120th. I started my blog as writing practice, and it was supposed to be a travelogue for … Continue reading Welcome to Brave Travels!
Whistler-Blackcomb— Skiing West Coast Style
Sunny bluebird day with fresh, fluffy snow. Rain and “mashed potatoes.” Fog and icy hard-pack. Clouds and gently falling new snow. All this and more on my January trip to Whistler! Whistler- Blackcomb is the largest ski resort in North America, and so was on the bucket list for my husband Scott and our friends … Continue reading Whistler-Blackcomb— Skiing West Coast Style
Do You Still Ski?
I stand at the top of the Saddle, looking at the black diamond on the post by the drop off. I take a deep breath. “Ok. Let’s do this.” And over the edge I go. So that makes it sound like I’m a good skier. I used to be. On this trip to Whistler, however, … Continue reading Do You Still Ski?
Beautiful Barbados Broad
“Scott! Look at this! It was made in Barbados!” I’m holding up a leotard/unitard/one piece shorty exercise outfit. Exuberant tropical flowers, red, orange, pink, are splashed large across a white background. What’s surprising is not so much that it was made in the country we now live in, but that I’d bought it 25 years … Continue reading Beautiful Barbados Broad
The Silence of the North
I find myself being still. At first I was jittery. When I was not in the lounges on the ship, being social, when I was in my room, I would shuffle through the papers on my desk. Should I write in my trip journal? No, that was all caught up. Could I play a game … Continue reading The Silence of the North
In the Ice: Kayaking in the Arctic
“Listen.” I hear the ice: the rustling crackle of the small floating pieces against our hulls; the swoosh-bang of water sloshing over a shelf on an iceberg; faint, distant crashes, muted to the point where direction was uncertain, only that it came from the frozen reaches of Icefjord. Paddling through the ice at Ilullisset Here … Continue reading In the Ice: Kayaking in the Arctic
Reconciliation in the Arctic
“I accept his apology,” said Looee quietly. “Because I feel that you can’t move forward otherwise. But there are those who don’t, and that is their choice.” Less than a week after I left Iqaluit they welcomed another visitor. The Pope chose to come to the north to deliver an apology for the Catholic church’s … Continue reading Reconciliation in the Arctic
Travel in the Time of Covid— Arctic Reprise
“We knew he had Covid. But nobody said anything because we would have all been quarantined and we would have missed the rest of the trip.” I try not to react as the middle-aged American woman spoke with her friends about her bus tour in Ireland. I was eavesdropping, after all— accidentally at first, but … Continue reading Travel in the Time of Covid— Arctic Reprise
Abandoned Places
There is still paint on the wall behind the inside stairs, and carpet or oilcloth on some of the stairs. The colours are faded, but their presence is the echo of this once being a joyful place. Very little left in this house The windows and doors, the electric fixtures and wiring are gone, scavenged, … Continue reading Abandoned Places
Surrounded by My History
We drive over the Malahat. They have added bright orange posts between the north and south bound lanes of this coastal mountain highway, to prevent turns on and off it in dangerous places. As we come to each of these, I remember the fatal accidents: here, two motorcyclists; there, three members of a family in … Continue reading Surrounded by My History
Coming Back to Barbados?
We took our friend Richard to the airport. We’ve been neighbours for a year and a half; we’ve shared a rental car for a year. We would walk into each other’s houses after yelling a token “knock knock!” would see each other almost daily on the water, surfing, and would get together for drinks and … Continue reading Coming Back to Barbados?
Brave Travels 