Going on a trip
June 27th, 2006
Some of you may already know, some of you may have guessed it and others may be entirely clueless but I’m going on a trip. This trip has been in the early planning stages for a little while now and the time just seems right for it to happen. This isn’t some quick trip either, we’re talking about an extended—meaning months—trip.
First, the house I’m renting gets put up for sale—and subsequently is sold with the new owners wanting to live where I am—followed by my roommates decision to follow her dream to travel Asia and Europe while teaching english. Not to mention a long distance work relationship that has turned into a real friendship. It all makes me believe that this is something I have to do. Sure, it may sound sappy but it’s hard to argue against.
Where might this trip be taking me? Well, for starters I’ll be going to the US, more specifically it will be Pennsylvania. As I’ve been told by others, it is a bit odd to hear someone say that and it even seems a bit surreal for me to be the one saying it.
Even so, I’ve been in Calgary for 4 years now and while things are good here it’s time for change. After much thought Pennsylvania can offer me the most as far as opportunities go. I have friends there and it’s very close to many major centers including New York and Philly—not to mention North Carolina is a hop, skip and jump away.
This is just a preliminary announcement and throughout the next month and a half I’ll keep you all up to date on what’s going down. I’ve been hinting at it in some of my more recent comments on blogs and couldn’t take it anymore, I just had to say something.
There is still a lot that needs to be done but I want to make sure I take care of everything. At the moment my goal is to be on the road no later than August 15th. Many ducks have to be lined up in order to make sure that happens including finding accommodations, transportation and sorting out my business contacts and contracts.
Until I have more news that’s where we’ll have to leave it. Now, time to get back to work.
June 27th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
Wow! big change, and kudos for going for it.
Seriously - good luck!
June 27th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Thanks Abizer. It’s going to be stressful, hectic, fun, long, boring and exciting all rolled up together.
June 27th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Sweet ROAD TRIP!
So are you going to end up in Pennsylvania to live? or just to visit?
Don’t forget to go 2500 miles out of your way for some hoops!
June 27th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
Hells yeah road trip! Where is the sorority house again? Two rights then a left?
At this point I’m just visiting since it would be all illegal for me to live there until I get a visa and whatnot. In the end I would like to live there so that’s what I’m working on.
Hoops? 2,500 miles in the wrong direction? Sounds fun.
June 28th, 2006 at 5:43 am
The moment he arrives, I’m calling border-patrol.
June 28th, 2006 at 5:58 am
I wouldn’t put that past you at all Colin. You’d invite me to diner and give the border patrol directions so they could pick me up before dessert.
June 28th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
Oh man, that is awesome!
June 29th, 2006 at 2:19 am
Watch yourself! Colin is insane!
June 29th, 2006 at 6:08 am
@Zach: I heard that rumor somewhere. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open though.
July 1st, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Oohh, fun! PA is my home state and it is so beautiful. Don’t know what part you will be in (I am from Philly), but I cannot imagine that you will not love it. Good luck with the visit/move!
July 2nd, 2006 at 6:29 am
We’re going on a trip, on a trip… in our favorite rocket ship…flying thru the sky….little mikey. Climb abord…get ready to explore…….
July 2nd, 2006 at 9:27 am
@Peter: Apparently insanity runs in the family.
@Erin: I’ll be heading up to the Scranton area.
@Everyone: Thanks for the well wishes and good lucks. It’s officially July now so time to start getting things organized.
July 2nd, 2006 at 8:37 pm
was the north carolina excerpt about me? you could just say yes. no really is it about the other computer geek in raleigh? You know geek’s love geek’s. hehehehe
July 2nd, 2006 at 9:30 pm
The North Carolina bit was about you, the other guy and North Carolina itself. I’ve heard it’s b-e-a-utiful there.
August 7th, 2006 at 12:35 am
Hey Mike! Just stumbled across your weblog looking for info on the improving-vision project. THANKS for posting your experiences - your vision sounds just like mine…
anyway, just saw that you are going to Pennsylvania. If you get to Pittsburgh go kayak on the river near downtown - it is one of the most beautiful and fun things to do! (The current’s slow and the boats are stable, this is leisurely kayaking not hair-raising whitewater stuff). There’s a website, kayak-pittsburgh.org.
And if you are looking for a place to live, Pittsburgh’s a great city and not too expensive!
August 7th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Linda, thanks for stopping by. I’ve been working on a new post about the vision experiment but I’ve been a bit of a slacker unfortunately. My apologies. I’ll get a new post about the vision experiment up as soon as I can.
Also, thanks for the heads up about the kayaking. It sounds like a blast and I’ll definitely have to check it out.