temporary relocation project

The journey on Wednesday, August 24 Yes, that's right. It took almost eight hours in travel time to get from Recyclistas in Victoria to the Dino-plex, where I'm staying at in Vancouver. How? It's about 30km from Recyclistas to the ferry terminal, about a 50km ferry crossing across the Strait of Georgia, then another 35km from the Tsawwassen ferry landing to the Dino-plex in Vancouver, about 115km overall. But things ain't so easy. The first part was nice and straight-forward. Ride the Lochside Trail north. That took a little under two hours, and I arrived at the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal at a little after 5pm. Nothing to do but wait until the 6pm ferry departed. The ferry ride takes about an hour and a half. The whole trip is great, and I spent most of it on the forward deck, viewing the Gulf Islands passing the ship left-and-right. There's a couple of narrow passages between isles the ship must make, and then it was out on the open water, with Vancouver looming in

Three days on Vancouver Island whizzed by pretty fast. (Funny how this happens a lot during traveling.) Since there was many things I wanted to do while there, I broke each day down into a separate area of concentration. Monday was the Victoria Day. I got a lazy start on the day, and headed on the Galloping Goose Trail from Recyclistas (where I was staying) into the city. Okay, before I go on, I should clarify things to those who don't know what I'm talking about: Recyclistas is this totally cool bike shop run by Ryan and Milenko. They're two ex- Winnipegers via Tucson. In fact while in Tucson they worked at Bicas , the really cool bike shop there (which I frequented regularly while in town in Feb). They based Recyclistas off of the Bicas model. They do the full line of repairs, sell used bikes, teach bike maintenance, and sponsor bicycle culture (like the video screening!) The Galloping Goose is a rails-to-trails path that extends from the Sooke Potholes (in the west

From the public library in Victoria, B.C. It's been two days since I've left town, and despite a few glitches this trip has been off to a good start. I took the northbound Amtrak Cascades from Portland-Union Station at 12.30pm on Saturday, which brought me to Seattle. I layed over there for an hour and took another Cascades train north until I hit Mt. Vernon, Washington at a little after 7pm. There wasn't appropriate lodging in town (unless I wanted to spend $$$ on a hotel) nor at Anacortes the ferry terminal (the only hostel shut down), so I had to ride westward to one of two campsites: Bay View State Park (11 miles from the station) and Deception Pass State Park (18mi). Deception would be the nicer one to go to, but I would have to go over a couple hills to get to it while Bay View would go over none. Plus, there was little over an hour of good daylight left, and I wanted to avoid night riding as much as possible. The ride west out of Mt Vernon took me through pancake-fla

And now here's more detail on my trip. This is the itinerary for the first leg through Cascadia. Today (Sat Aug 20) I take a northbound Amtrak Cascades train at 12.30pm from Portland. With a 90 minute layover in Seattle, I'll arrive in Mt. Vernon, Wash. around 7pm. From there I ride my bike westward to Anacortes. I'll camp around there, depending on how I feel and how much light I have, I'll either camp at Bay View State Park or Deception Pass State Park. Deception is definitely nicer, but Bay View is closer and I don't have to go up any hills to get there. The next day (Sun Aug 21) I'll ride to the ferry terminal in Anacortes to get to Vancouver Island and ride from Swartz Bay ferry terminal to Victoria, a distance of approx. 15 miles. I'll spend the next few days in the West Coast's Most British City, enjoying the cute downtown and riding into nature on the Galloping Goose Trail. Wednesday Aug 24 should find me taking the ferry to Salt Spring Island,

Besides asking for money (which I could use!) the thing that I'm looking for on this trip is places to stay in certain cities. I have hookups in a lot of places, but I am still looking for crash pads in Milwaukee, Boston, and Toronto. By crash pad I mean a free space to sleep on a couch for a couple nights. Please don't suggest a hostel. If anyone has any leads in those places, please contact me! Either email me at urbanadventureleague (no spam--at) scribble.com Or post a comment to this message below.

I apologize for not posting more on this site. I want to make this as interesting as my other blog, but I've been too busy getting ready for this trip to do so. As it is, I'm typing this all bleary eyed at 3am, 9 hours before my departure. (what a trooper I am!) And no matter how many times I take trips, whether they be the three day, two week, or two month variety, I'm always doing things at the last minute. The epic trips are the worst. Because I'm going to be gone for over two months, I have a lot more to do before I depart. There's always loose ends to tie up around town. Even though I always have most of the things I'll need for travel on hand, there will always be some things I need to get for each new trip. Then it turns into this frantic two-day search as I endlessly bike around town trying to find a specific item (and not pay too much.) And there is the inevitable wrapping up of projects and getting things ready so I can do stuff on the road. One thin

Factoring out flying in planning my trip means I'll be using a land based mode of transportation. Driving would be the most obvious way to get around. But why go for the obvious? Why do things the easy way? I'm not necessarily opposed to driving for long trips. I can see its necessity, and have taken my share of long driving roadtrips (and will be sure to do so in the future). But there are many reasons why I don't plan my trips around cars: 1) Environmental concerns. Single-occupancy vehicles are the biggest source of pollution in the world, and even if you put 2-5 people in the car, it's not going to be as efficient as something that can hold lots more people. Beyond this is the insidious destruction of the world caused by car culture--all the roads, parking lots, and communities built around such a vehicle. I'd like to be as separated from this as possible. Yes, you can lecture me on how those roads and vehicles provide the food on my table, the clothes on my bac

How to get to and from your destination factors in heavily to trip planning. Should I drive? Hitch-hike? Walk? Fly? How we get there says a lot about how we view traveling. Is getting there something that is endured, or enjoyed? Take for instance someone who generally flys on a trip. Often, the reason they fly can be boiled down to two reasons: 1) Time. If you are going to have a three day weekend to spend in Austin, and you live in Philadelphia, there's really no other way to do it other than flying. 2) Distance. Anything over 200 miles away means one will be spending several hours traveling on land. Some people can't bear being in a car or train for more than a couple hours, so flying is a way to avoid that issue. Flying is definitely useful, but there are definite drawbacks. Besides the environmental implications of modern commercial aviation (pollution created by burning kerosene (jet fuel) and the large amounts of land needed for airports), the biggest drawback in my ey

I can't make things easy on myself. When I plan a trip, I want it epic. Ever since I took my first "epic" trip back in 1998 (a two-week coast-to-coast roadtrip), my thirst for bigger, longer, more ambitious adventures grows stronger and stronger. If I don't take at least a month long journey every year, I feel imbalanced. Sometimes I like to think that there is a giant red "reset" button inside my head. From time to time I need to hit that reset button and reprioritize my life, uncomplicate the areas that have become too complicated. And nothing does a better job of hitting that reset button than traveling. During a trip I can look back at my Portland life with critical distance, and figure out what's good and what's bullshit. When I get back to town I'm refreshed and am ready to jump back into the mix. So what does this current trip have in store for me? I'll be starting around August 20th. I'll be heading north first, out to Vancouver

Hello there. I'm Shawn Granton. And I like to travel. A lot. I have another blog out there, actually over here. That blog is about the Urban Adventure League, fun explorations of Portland, Oregon. This blog is more personal, concentrating on my own adventures in and away from the City of Roses. In this blog you'll find travelogues, observations, and musings of the various trips I take. I'll be updating this thing generally when traveling, less so when I'm home. Since going away means sporadic email and internet access, don't expect posts to happen daily. And since going away also means actually getting out there and experiencing the world. don't think I'm going to want to be stuck behind a computer that often! Why the name "Temporary Relocation Project" ? I look at travel differently than most. Rather than dealing with airlines, hotels, package deals, and the typical touristy destinations, I like to get beneath the surface of the places I visi