Pilgrimage to Ironman Florida

Okay - this adventure is not ALL about how to become a yachtie. That part just took over the beginning of Florida for us. But luckily, we had family force us into an impromptu road trip because....

My brother-in-law Ryan is a pro Ironman triathlete. 

What?! Yeah, I know. He’s crazy. And until now, we’ve never had the opportunity to see him race in person. So when we found out that he was competing in Ironman Florida - a mere 12 hour drive around the gulf.... what were we to do?

We haven’t been on a road trip since our little jaunt around the Pacific North West when we sold our house. We were due for another.

And - in a scene straight out of Friday Night Lights (Clear Eyes, Full Hearts!) we came across a High School Football game. Guys, there were lights. There were cheerleaders. There was a f*cking MARCHING BAND!!! I was clearly overexcited about the prospect of sitting down for the remainder of the game and soaking in the Cross City Super Bowl.

But with an early race start looming and many hours left to drive, Juliano’s logic won out over my pee-my-pants-intense excitement. Damn him.

Ironman spectating should be a sport in itself. Seriously, it’s hectic. My sister-in-law Lauren is the race-watching guru. Ryan raced for 8hrs 45mins, and we saw him 6 times. Running into the water, out of the water, transitioning, running past, transitioning, biking past, finishing. 

You can read Ryan’s account of the race here; he talks jibberish about electrolytes and bike wattage. He came in 15th overall which is pretty badass of him.

As a person who’s neither athletic, nor competitive - I find competition at this level hard to relate to. This dedication to pushing and training to shave minutes off your time and beat just one more person through the gates is admirable. But for those of us that think walking across a parking lot is a hardship - doing anything for nine hours is insanity. 

Ironman has a cutoff time of 17hours. SEVENTEEN HOURS! You can deliver a baby in less time than that. It’s probably more pleasant. Knowing it was our first Ironman experience, Ryan and Lauren brought us back to the race for the end of the line finishers. The people who complete the race in the last hour have no business running an Ironman. They are not elite athletes, they don’t have top of the line gear or sponsors. But holy shit do they have some spirit. 

If you pass the finish line the announcers shout out ‘YourName, you are an Ironman!’. It’s a cool moment and a very clear goal for many of these end finishers. It was heart warming to watch people brutalize their bodies and overcome their physical boundaries to achieve these immense goals. I’m in awe of what people can do when they put their minds to it. 

Congrats Ryan on a great race - and thank you for letting us into your world!

Side note: Ryan is cooler than I give him credit for. If you want to check him out here’s his Blog, Facebook and Twitter. 

Van Sold, Party Had

Hey Friends!

Holy crap - countdown is almost done! 4 days until departure for us...crazy. All of our last-minute stuff is almost done, except packing of course. We sold our van (Yeay, another $1000!), so now we officially own nothing that doesn't fit into a backpack. (Or a small storage locker)

We went out with some friends to celebrate our going away, had some beer at a German pub called WURST. If you're in Calgary, it's a great place - the basement is a Beer Hall. I already love beer, now I love halls. They play games like 'Stein-Holden' where you have to hold a one litre mug of beer out in front of you. Last one standing wins beer...

We both lost. Also this happens every weekend:

It's been a surprisingly emotional week saying all of our goodbyes. I guess we've been so excited, and a touch anxious about the details of our adventures, that we haven't really thought about saying our farewells.... So, while everyone we talk to asks us if we are going to miss the people at home we never really thought about the fact that they might miss us. Quite unsettling.

But, the world is small and technology is fast and amazing. Everyone has our skype/facetime/email/facebook/twitter/blog information to contact anytime. Now it's up to us to try to stay in touch as well.

Countdown is on, we're nursing some mild hangovers today and spending all of our time with family and friends...

D&J

We're Moving Friends!

Hi Friends and Family... 

Guess What?

In about 2 weeks. Holy Crap.

Welcome to the blog. I wrote it to tell you a bit about the crazy decisions we were making to sell our stuff, move away and add a splash of adventure to our lives! Take a look around if you want, here's our first post which explains a little about what we're doing and why...

Keeping in touch with our family and friends from home is super important to us... so I'll try to keep this blog updated with where we are and what we're up to as we go. In return, please comment, email, facebook, Skype, FaceTime or message us as much as you want!

We love you all - so buy us a beer before we're gone :)

D&J

ps. for our regular bloggy friends.... telling our friends and family is another check of the champagne list!

Who Travels with you??

There’s so many ways and combination of groups that people travel in – how do you travel??

Where we went: Work travel only! I’ve never extended a work trip, or really tried to enjoy the city I’m working in. Work travel is rare for both of us{yearly?}I'm not the expert, but I'd like to explore my independent solo-traveling side a bit more!

Just the two of us! This is my favorite way to travel! Juliano is a great travel partner, he never gets lost and picks great places to eat. I find the best stuff to do, and am way better at bartering.

Where we went: Cuba, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, Seattle, Montreal, lots more!

Pros: Sharing a bed saves money, less compromise on what to do, being together

Cons: Not meeting many new people, being with your spouse 24hrs a day can make you crazy, hard to get pictures together.

 Couples travel! This is really fun if you go with a couple who has similar interests as you and you get along. Bonus points for being able to split up into guys/gals… hello shopping and spas!

Where we went: Las Vegas, Baby!

Pros: Sharing bottles of wine means you get to taste more, shopping and spas (as above), great ideas/suggestions from another perspective

Cons: What if the other couple is horrible?? Or wants to eat MacDonald’s EVERY day? Are they swingers? You should know this.

Ahh… the most ‘local’ way to travel – and you get to visit your family! Staying with family is (a) almost free and (b) fun in the short term. Depending on your family – this arrangement has a serious expiry date, stay within it and all is fresh… even a day over and you’ve got sour milk.

Where we went: Ottawa, Brazil

Pros: Free food, free lodging, free showers, free local guide, free car to use, seeing your family!, living like a ‘local’

Cons: Do NOT overstay your welcome, family can be crazy, sometime you never get to leave the house because it’s like herding cats {I mean that in a very loving way}

This differs for Family Travel, because everyone is traveling! This was our first year traveling with family – and we went the ‘holiday’ route.  Highly recommended. Most families have a variety of people that like different things…. And that shouldn’t stop you from doing what you want most days. Picking dinner plans should not be a HUGE fiasco.

Where we went: Cozumel, Mexico

Pros: family bonding time, vacation, mom probably pays for stuff

Cons: these photos will be on your mom’s wall forever – don’t get a bad haircut, family can be crazy

Pretty much vacation + friends + wedding = super-fun-drunky times. You get to meet people on the fringes of your social circle, and go on a holiday with a bunch of other people that you like! And a wedding – it’s a party within a party!

Where we went:  Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, Seattle/Oak Harbor, WA

Pros: lots of drinking buddies, vacation, wedding events, usually nice locations

Cons: no choice of time/location for your holiday, maybe you have a black heart and don’t like weddings, family will be there – family can be crazy {other people's families included}

Pretty much destination wedding times a zillion, minus the tuxedos and grandparents. This is the spring-break style travel with lots of pictures and slightly less memories. It’s all about group dynamics… so good luck with that. I recommend lots of extra food, extra booze, easy bathroom access and no couples with drama.

Where we went: Houseboating on the Shushwap Lakes, BC

Pros: so much party, lots of fun people to meet/hang out with, probably very little responsibility

Cons: holy crap – can all these people co-exist? Who had to organize this??

Soo..That's how we've traveled in the past! Our future travel includes road trip travel, staying with strangers, living on a boat... and who knows what! How about work-stay or study travel?  Let me know what your favorite travel group/style is!

Roadtrip! Pacific Northwest

Happy Holidays Friends! I hope the bunny sends you some tasty candy eggs :)

Anyways - after our oh-so enlightening 'live on your own terms' revelation this week, we decided we STILL want to travel, and if we can't do it BIG... we'll do it small{ish}.

 So, we're going on a Road Trip!! Juliano has been pestering me to do a road trip forever. He thinks they're awesome... I'm skeptical to say the least. Being stuck in a car for hours and hours just doesn't sound like fun. But, in the spirit of:

- trying new things

- traveling on the cheap

- visiting friends all over

- flexible schedules...

I've given in. We're doing the PACIFIC NORTHWEST LOOP {It's not a real thing, I just named it that} and it looks like this:




Calgary - Home

Kelowna - Friends Just had a baby {hi Felix!}

Vancouver - Juliano's never been!! He's been to the Maritimes and back, but never West.

Oak Harbor - More visiting Friends {aka. free place to sleep, what up Burkeys!}

Seattle - LOVE LOVE LOVE this city. Pike Place, coffee everywhere, gelato, chocolate, etc. Anything here that you think we just CAN'T MISS?

Portland! - I'm so excited! This is our first time visiting Portland and I've heard so many great things. We've got a couple of brewery tours on our 'to-do' list, voodoo donut eating, but we need more! Also, we'll be spending our 4th Anniversary here so one swanky dinner is on the list. Help us ~ any suggestions??

Vancouver-Kelowna/Kamploops-Home - We'll see how long we stay in Portland vs. our drive home {2 days or 3??}. I'll need to get some books on tape or something...


We'll keep you posted of all of our springtime {aka rainy} adventures on the road - probably going to be going the second week of May. Also, in the spirit of adjusting ourselves to a more 'communal' living situation {good thing about our suburbs life.. SO. MUCH. Privacy.} we'll be staying with friends, or AirBNB homes.

What would you do on a Pacific NW road trip for a week??

Happy Valentine's Day!

Day of love....and lattes? Yep. Is this a day of cheese and superficial materialism? Yep, that too. Buuut... despite knowing that - a little part of my lady-heart loves it. Okay, a big part. Not for the gifts (we're not big gift-givers) but for the cheese!! Romance and glitter! ha ha...

This valentine's day I want a cupcake from Crave bakery, a glass of wine, a season of Friday Night Lights and quiet evening in with Juliano! 

We have been together for 9 years. Four years ago we jumped into the crazy adventure of being married, and now we have another amazing adventure planned together... Can't wait! 

I hope you all have lots of love today, wherever it comes from!

xoxo,

D & J

SPLURGE! Macbook Air

They finally arrived! Our little 11" twin babies! We're so excited, it's like Christmas day around here... Here's the scoop:

We had some problems that needed to be fixed:

• Our laptop was almost 5 years old, and dying a slow dinosaur death.
• We needed to be able to communicate to each other & home easily and simply
• I want to continue keeping up this blog - photo saving/editing/organizing required
• Juliano wants to create movies using his video camera - video editing required
• I wanted to promote synergy with music, communication, email/Internet use, photos & videos
• We needed laptops that fit in tiny spaces, and were light & portable

Solution: 11" MacBook Air for each of us! Yep, two of these sweet ladies are now part of our family. We bought them refurbished, so we saved some $$ while still getting awesome computers.

We're hoping that we will be able to:

• Communicate with each other and our home through facetime or skype
• Organize and share our pictures - update: we still have to use flikr to share them
• Create fun movies using Juliano's camera or even iPhone videos
• Share one iTunes account to enjoy music
• Communicate re: budgeting and money through Mint
• Loads more fun stuff and work stuff that want/need to do

Communication is a huge deal for us on this adventure - both to connect with our family and friends at home, and to stay in contact with each other as quickly and easily as possible. There may come a time when we're not in the same place at the same time - and we want to be prepared for that...

For now - We play around and Enjoy!

Update: Stupid Updates! I just deleted my entire itunes catalog while updating my iPhone to iOSX, in order to integrate with iCloud. Damn you technology. Damn you. Going to the Apple store today to see if I can fix it.

Update Update: Those guys at the Mac store fix everything. High Five!

Banff & Lake Louise Tourists

Even though we're in the mountains at least a couple of times a month, we rarely go as 'tourists' and see the fun stuff! We were happy to have my wonderful sister-in-law from Ottawa come to town with a friend who'd never been here... I always love seeing people experiencing the mountains for the first time.The super swanky Chateau Lake Louise has outdoor skating, ice castles and winter magic aplenty. Banff Springs Hotel is also amazing [we even got to stumble on a winter wedding!]

In Banff we got to try traditional Bannock, eat loads of candy and relax in the hot springs [if you go, please rent a 'heritage suit' and wear it - you'll make my day].

Happy Winter Tourists! Also, we got to finish the weekend off with a basketball game, huge dinner [16 people!] at my house with family. I love it. I'll miss being close to my extended family when we're away.

Holiday!!

If we took a holiday - Took some time to celebrate - Just one day out of life
It would be, it would be so nice -  Holiday! Celebrate!

Ha! That's going to be stuck in your head all day... Too bad though, because we're going on....
 a Holiday! To Mexico! Arriba!

It is -35 degrees Celsius today. I'm frozen, and I take the train to work in the morning! Brrr....

But lucky for us - We have something to look forward too! I know that it seems crazy for us to go on a holiday in the middle of planning such an adventure - and it is. We have the best deal ever though... My parents are going on a trip through their work, and with a sprinkle of magic and a dash of air miles - we're crashing the second half of their holiday!
UPDATE: My brother's coming too! It's a family party!

We're going to Puerto Morelos, Mexico - about halfway between Cancun and Playa de Carmen. Here:

It's all sunshine, beaches, good food and open bars..countdown is on! We're staying at the super-swanky Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun. We'll tell you all about it when we get back!

 

Ps. I thing there's a big divide to be made between traveling and vacationing. I'll post more about that later.

Opening and Closing a Business

If you know us personally, or if you picked it up in this post, you know that we owned a business. It was an Esfiha shop at a local Farmer's Market. We called it Mr. Esfihas and it was a realization of Juliano's dream.

Juliano has always been an entrepreneur, in the sense that he's never been very settled with the 'rat race'.  Mr. Esfihas started out with an Idea, some inspiration and a LOT of planning. {Not so different in theory that this adventure!}. It was fun to see it come together, to plan and create every element of our our own mini-ecosystem in the market. We joined a new market and the booth was built from the ground up:

  

 

We were amazed and appreciated all the support that we received from friends and family! It's so great to see that when you pursue something with passion, people truly want to be a part of it. It was a great experience to see everyone come together for us.

The skeleton crew of Mr. Esfihas {all 4 of us!} worked hard to make it an amazing place that was fun to be around, selling delicious food:

 

We had a super-delicious and reasonably priced menu! It was also really cute, a graphic designer and very-crafty friend of ours designed it, and did an amazing job! How great are the little faces??

Here's what we had to say about it on our website:

We started out with the idea of providing Calgary with a new and unique food item, a healthy alternative to fast food. We were both born in Brazil, and grew up eating esfihas. 
Now calling Calgary home, we want to introduce our favorite esfiha flavors to you!

There are lots of great flavors, and all the Esfihas are handmade by us!

See you at the Market!

 Owning and operating Mr. Esfihas was something that we did above and beyond our usual M-F/9-5 jobs. {Didn't I say we're not afraid to work hard?} We were open for about a year, and it was a great experience. We learned so much about how business operates, how to prioritize your life/goals, what giving 100% really means, and how to confidently make really tough decisions.

Turns out a mix of following your instincts and thinking it through usually results in the best decisions!

After being open most of 2011, we've sold our space to an awesome couple to start their own new small business dream! Mr. Esfihas is going on the back-burner for now, while we pursue other dreams. I'm sure that being a small business owner will always be a part of Juliano's life - so we'll see where that takes us...

For now, we loved owing a business and including all the ups and downs that come with it, we don't regret doing it for a second. It was an amazing experience!

Boxwood with Friends

Going out with friends is great isn't it? I mean, I know that everyone knows that... but, still - It's good. Especially when those friends keep you at a restaurant for hours drinking too much wine and laughing...

Even drinking wine alone, while you wait for said friends to join you?

If you want to eat tasty local food, drink too much wine and enjoy yourself...I highly recommend Boxwood in Calgary...