Paddling priorities

Someone posted recently on a forum that I frequent asking the question "What get's between you and your solo paddling trips?" Now, for those of you who don't know me, my canoe is the vehicle that allows me to escape to the areas that I truly love. Far beyond the reaches of the road network and sometimes even to where the sighting of a plane is a novelty. I love wide open lakes and little streams, deep blue water and the sound of rushing water as I approach a rapid. I love the quiet, and you never experience quiet like on a multi day solo wilderness trip.

I love solo paddling/tripping, it's wonderfully selfish, edging on exorbitant and is, I'm sure, good for the soul. You simply follow your whims, point the boat where you want, eat when you feel like it, paddle as much or as little as you like, sleep when you're tired and wake up with the sun... I think you get the point! Most of my solo trips are afternoon runs down my local river here with an attempt at one bigger trip per year. 2010 only saw me out for an overnighter. In 2009 I did the lower portion of the Missinaibi, a river that runs 700+ kilometers from its headwaters in Northern Ontario to the Arctic Ocean. However I have bigger priorities than these, 3 of whom are in the picture below!

I have kids, all of whom still love to go paddling with me. I know that, regardless of the longevity of their love of paddling with me, someday our schedules will no longer coincide allowing us to trip together with the frequency that we enjoy now. So, I go with them as often as I can. I know that there will be many years to come when I'll wish for their company and won't be able to get it. At that point I'll trip more on my own or with my wife.

Priorities are important but maybe equally so are goals... Goals often help you accomplish more then you would've otherwise by giving you somthing to aim for. My paddling goals for 2010 were: to get the whole family out tripping together, which we accomplished twice; as well as to get out paddling 60 different calandar days... I didn't quite make #2, but I certianly paddled more than I ever have in a calandar year before, getting out 56 different days. Goals are awesome motivators! 2011's goals will be to paddle at least 60 calandar days again, and to get each of the kids out with me one at a time and maybe, if time permits, to get out for a little solo trip. If I don't make #3 though, no great loss. The bigger loss would be to miss the paddling with the kids!

Happy New Year everybody!

Lest We Forget...

During the war my Grandfather and four of his friends were cut off from their group and got stuck behind enemy lines. They hid in the basement of a bombed out farmhouse that was surrounded by enemy troops. Their food ran out quickly and they had to subsist for nearly a month on what they could find in a little wine cellar in that basement. Life seemed so fragile. They made a pact that, should any of them reach their fiftieth birthday (a ripe old age I'm sure in the eyes of five guys in their late teens and early twenties!), they would celebrate for all five.

Some 30 years later my Grandpa had a party... the others didn't make it.

Lest we forget.

Drifting on the breeze in Mexico

I went to Mexico recently. I was there for several days and really had no schedule. So, I didn’t make one. Schedules are these horrible things that suck the life right out of a person… I know they’re necessary sometimes, but really, when you have the chance, go without!

Considering I had no schedule, I really managed to get a lot in. I ate in a smoky kitchen where tortillas were being pressed by hand and cooked over the coals. I surfed. Twice. Caught some great waves and got maytaged by others. Spotted a big sea turtle 32 meters under water. Never really knew that they swam that deep… Taught two different people a little bit about swimming in big waves, where the undertows are, how riptides work etc. Helped a guy reach his deepest freedive ever. Swam from shore out around an island and back. Had dinner with strangers several times. Took a Spanish lesson. Taught some English to some kids at a hot spring in the middle of nowhere. Got on a bus headed out of town with no particular destination in mind. Not one of these things was planned. Basically I just let the wind blow and drifted with it. If an idea came into my head I went for it. I could very easily get spoiled living like this…

Seriously though, while I was there I watched busy tourists bustling around trying to make it from one place to another on time. Trying mightily to stay on the onerous schedule that they’d made for themselves, arguing about how best to accomplish all that they had decided to do. I really wonder how much, if at all, their vacation differed from normal life. I really love getting up in the morning without any idea of how a day will turn out! I love all the variables that pop up and I love being flexible enough to not let the variables worry me. The day I took the bus out of town I made a mistake with the time and almost missed my bus home. When I thought I had missed it I got a little thrill! Where would I spend the night? Would I even bother going back in the morning, or just stay the next day as well? Or better yet get on another bus to somewhere else?!! Yet another night I was with some new friends and didn’t realize that the last bus back had left hours earlier. As we pondered what to do about it I managed to spot a taxi. Everything always worked out in the end!

Schedules can help you stay organized for sure, but when you want to really feel free, try abandoning the schedule for a while. That is, if you can manage it!! I’m sure you won’t lack for things to do… Just let your imagination drift on the breeze.

About this blog

What an age we live in... I really think I'm lucky (or fortunate if you prefer!) to be alive right now. While it's true that this planet is in serious decline, it's still a great place in many ways. And with transportation and information so readily available, we, of this time, are more able than anyone ever has been to see exactly what this world has to offer.

It occurred to me one day, as I looked out an airplane window high above Iceland, that if I had 100 lifetimes to live it wouldn't be nearly as much time as I would need to do and see all that I'd like to do and see. That leads me directly to the name of this blog, No time to waste. The site address is tiempo-es-precioso which just means that time is precious.

I lead an exceptionally fortunate life. If you're a fortunate person, then you really should recognize the fact and be thankful for it! I do thank God for the opportunities I've had. This blog is just meant to share a few of these experiences with those that are interested.