During 2012 I traveled to Canada and the USA to work at a summer camp in Ontario again and go adventuring through the cities and landscapes of North America. These are my stories.
Pretty Grand, I’d say
Yesterday we awoke to the sound of pouring rain and a revealing sweep of the motel curtain confirmed this. Bleak. Although it’s about four hours’ drive away from here, I’d hate to view the Grand Canyon in miserable weather. After a satisfying breakfast at the nearby restaurant, Coco’s ($5.99 for eggs, potatoes, pancakes, bacon, etc), Megan convinced me to stay another night and only head out tomorrow. We spent the remainder of the day sheltered in our room, tackling travel admin, and went for a short walk on the Strip just to get...
read moreSin City
We bid our goodbyes to the Dessai family after some masala chai tea. Shraddha drops us at the airport where we grumpily pay an additional $25 for our checked luggage. Thanks American Airlines! Megan’s bag doesn’t get weighed but the lady throws on a ‘heavy’ tag just by looking at it … haha. This airport experience runs smoothly and after a Starbucks breakfast and boarding, we bid the distant grey skyline of Chicago farewell. Now it’s a three to four-hour flight across a wide expanse of nothingness. And by nothingness I mean...
read moreSaffers day out
I notice a note slipped under my door while I’m still half asleep. It’s from Shraddha. She’s had to go off to work (it’s Monday after all), but has arranged that her aunt take us to and around Chicago. After breakfast we meet Darsha who I immediately Iike. And not just because she drives us to Chicago in her sleek black Porche Cammero … The weather is somewhat foul and rainy heading into the city and I worry how pleasant this outing is going to be. Not to mention the photographic disasters bad weather brings. But it’s clear once we...
read moreI would walk 500 miles …
I almost can’t believe that we only wake up around 11:15am. We start the day with a brunch of French toast, an omelette and fruit, compliments of cooks Karie and Tejal. Today we are venturing out into Chicago to visit a few of my favourite spots. Our proposed 45 minute walk to Memorial Park turns into a voyage of just under two hours. You’d think the people who live there will get their bearings right … haha. Nevertheless, it is the best way to see the city after all and Chicago is a beautiful collection of old vine-covered churches,...
read moreThe windy city
We arrive in Chicago around 6am. I feel wrecked. It’s been the longest day and bus ride ever. After a short wait at the main station and a quick bathroom break to do some much-needed ‘freshening up’, we take another short bus ride to Cumberland Ave station where my friend Shraddha will pick us up. About ten minutes before we arrive at our destination, I discover that there is wi-fi on the bus. All this time … oh well. Shraddha – a lovely girl who I met on my Contiki tour of Italy last year May – is not here yet. I resort to a...
read moreCrossing over
After a bit of a mad rush, a last look around my now empty cabin room, and a bunch of tearful goodbyes over breakfast, we board bus number two for the two and a half hour journey to Seneca near Toronto. We’re met with hundreds of parents joyfully embracing their children after the summer. Megan and I both kind of wish our parents are there to fetch us too… Instead of searching for a bus to now take us to Toronto, we’re in the right place at the right time and get offered a lift by camp friend Colin’s brother Zach. In the arcade mall...
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