A collection of photos of my visits to Vancouver Island in 2011.

New photos posted to Flickr of my visit to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand.

There is travel on the horizon, so close, I can almost touch it! T minus 6 days and I will be leaving Vancouver for 46 days!

I’ll be flying from Vancouver to Bangkok, Thailand. I’ll spend a month exploring Thailand and then will make my way to Bali, Indonesia for some more exploring and hopefully some diving! I don’t have much on my itinerary at this point and am somewhat planning on a “no-plan” plan and talking to people once I arrive there as to what the must-sees are in their personal experiences. The few things that are on my list however, are to do my advanced scuba diving course on Koh Tao, to experience the Songkran Festival for Thai New Year in Chiang Mai, to visit an elephant rescue sanctuary, to spend a few days on a liveaboard diving boat off Phuket, and of course to visit many temples. And of course, this goes without saying, I plan to photograph the entire experience!

After about a month in Thailand, I’ll head to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to catch a flight to Bali, Indonesia.  This is where I’ll spend my last 10 days of the trip diving, and seeing sights that I did not get to the last time around. As an added bonus, I’ll be spending a few days in Lovina in Northern Bali, at my aunt’s home, visiting with friends that I met on last year’s trip to the island.

So far, in preparation for the trip, I’ve booked my flight, purchased travel medical insurance, applied for and received my Thai tourist visa, and have ensured that my travel vaccinations are up to date. The main vaccinations my doctor said to concern myself with were: typhoid, tetanus, cholera, travelers diarrhea, and hepatitis A and B. Most of these were already up to date due to my travel to Bali last year, but the cholera/traveler’s diarrhea required a booster dose, so I did that, and the doctor also gave me some all purpose antibiotics (cipro) as a “just in case” solution to some potential problems that I may or may not encounter.

Having to deal with a house move before my departure has not helped my stress levels, so make things a bit simpler, and to save some cash on a month’s rent, I’ve chosen to put my life in storage until I return from the trip… It feels a bit strange to put it all back into a storage locker only six months after pulling it out of one, but somehow it feels like the right choice for the moment…

So there you have it… I’m booked and preparing for an adventure of a lifetime! I realize that many people never have the opportunity to make such a trip, so I plan to live it to the fullest and experience all there is to experience. The travel bug has bit me, and I have a feeling that this is only the beginning of my globe trotting adventures!

In the short time I spent on the whirlwind Whitehorse Olympic media day last February, there was much to see and do!    (This post is well overdue….)

The trip started right from the moment we checked in at YVR. The woman handing out the boarding passes was dressed in traditional dress from the gold rush days. She wore this while hosting the flight to Whitehorse with contests and games.

Upon arrival, our media group was ushered to waiting school buses to take us to the local Whitehorse tourism centre, where we were introduced to the Province’s premier, Dennis Fentie, and members of Yukon Tourism. We were also treated to a dance from the Snowshoe Shufflers! Yep, dancers with snowshoes strapped to their feet! They also had past Olympians and Special Olympians present from the local area. I was honoured to personally meet Christine Larsen and she allowed me not only to hold her medal from the Atlanta Games, but to hang it around my neck as well!

Travel Yukon hosted a quick lunch with tastes of various restaurants in the city with traditional loca foods, such as moose, bison, and venison meats! It was all absolutely delicious!

We were then separated into our respective groups, depending on the activity we had previously chosen. The one my partner and I chose to be a part of was the Wildlife Reserve and Hot Springs tour. In between the two, we even stopped at t a local coffee roasting company, Bean North, where they roast organic beans from around the world that are purchased via fair trade.

At the wildlife reserve we saw many animals, from reindeer, to mountain goats, mountain sheep, elk, and  deer, to my favourite: a lynx!

The Takhini Hot Springs were heavenly! We didn’t have a whole lot of time to enjoy them, but in the -20 degree Celsius weather it was a welcome warm up! The great thing about these hot springs was that you did not get that rotten egg sulfur smell that you often do with hot springs. There was no odor at all! Just two big pools of different temperatures to enjoy at your leisure. We were told that if you’re enjoying the hot springs at night, you may be lucky enough to catch a great light show from the arora borealis. Now THAT, I would love to experience!

Connected to the hot springs is accommodation in the form of small cabins in the woods. The cabins looked very cozy and a good place to warm up as a nice winter retreat. With snow shoeing and cross-country skiing as daytime activities, and the hot springs to warm up in at the end of the day, you will never get bored at the Takhini Resort!

Next, we were taken to the Whitehorse Museum where we had an opportunity try our hands at gold panning, taste some locally brewed beer and attempt the Sour Toe Cocktail. You’ll find more details about interesting cocktail, continent a mummified human toe in this previous post. You can watch a video of me drinking the cocktail on YouTube.

From the museum the media group was taken to our last stop of the trip, the banquet dinner for the Yukon Quest dog sledding race. (http://www.yukonquest.com/) We were invited to partake in the celebration and announcements of the winners of the 2010 Yukon Quest. We had the honour of meeting the winner and speaking with him about the challenges he experienced over the 1,600 km of rough, sometimes hazardous terrain between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska.

We had one final surprise at the Whitehorse airport to round off our Yukon experience as we waited to check in and board our chartered flight back to YVR. Cancan dancers! Pretty sure this is not a regular occurrence for travelers to Whitehorse…

After a full day of travel and activities, we arrived back in Vancouver around midnight. It was a nice break, but I was happy to jump back into the Olympics craziness the following day.

I’d like to thank Travel Yukon and Canada’s Northern House for inviting me to come along on the Yukon media trip. It was truly amazing to see such a beautiful part of our country. I know I’ll be back again to see and experience all that Yukon has to offer! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that will not be forgotten!

My trip to Texas in March was last minute and unexpected. I was meant to travel there with a friend and assist on a wedding shoot, until said friend had a car accident and I was suddenly the primary shooter for a couple that I had never met or even spoken to before arriving in Texas!

I arrived at the Austin airport and walked outside to warm, sunny weather. It felt so good after the cold, wet weather we were having in Vancouver! Both the bride and groom were very easy-going people and we became fast friends. They graciously welcomed me into their home, fed me, toured me around Austin, took me out for Amy’s ice cream and some tasty Texas BBQ. They were amazing hosts, especially considering they were about to get married and had a lot of other things on their minds!

On day three, we drove from Austin to Houston. I wasn’t sure what I expected from Texas, having never been before, but it was a beautiful drive with very pretty landscapes and wild flowers on the sides of the freeway.

What blew me away the most on the drive (being from tame Vancouver and all), was the freeway overpasses when we entered Houston. There were eight of them layered at some points! I couldn’t believe how high these things were built! Honestly, it was a bit freaky to be driving on one of the higher ones.

We made our way to the mother of the bride’s home and from there the ladies headed to a nail salon where every chair in the place was filled with family and friends of the bride for mani/pedis. This is where the photography began (after my pedicure of course!)

After a lovely afternoon getting pampered, we headed to the wedding rehearsal at the Houston Junior League and ran through the ceremony for the following day, then off to check into the hotel for a relaxing evening before the next day’s festivities.

The next day, up early, over to the mother of the bride’s home again to prepare for the big day. Hair! Makeup! Dress! Photos!!!

Then off to the Junior League for the noon ceremony. The bride looked gorgeous! Her dress suited her perfectly, as did her hair and makeup, and the flowers were unbelievably beautiful! The Jewish ceremony was perfect, as was the luncheon that followed. It was truly a beautiful wedding, and it was so nice to see such a happy couple.

After the celebration ended I headed back to the hotel to download the images and take a nap! Surprisingly, the new Mr. and Mrs. made plans for a sushi dinner with me, rather than spending their wedding night doing what newlyweds do… Despite my insisting that they should celebrate their nuptials without me, they insisted.

The next day we headed back to Austin and as it was my last day in Texas, they insisted on getting some Rudy’s BBQ and took me out to the creek on the green belt for a picnic. It was PERFECT! Sunny, tasty food, great company, on the creek, nothing could have been better!

I’d like to thank Shawn and Lori for their incredible hospitality and the honour and opportunity to shoot their wedding photos! It was an unexpected, pleasant surprise and I feel that I have left Texas with new friends for life! I’m so happy to have met them both and I wish them all the best in their life together. I look forward to another visit to Austin to catch up with them and to see more of that wonderful city! I can see why it tops many people’s favourite cities list!