I have had an amazing week here in Banff & Jasper National Parks. The views are awe-inspiring and they just never end! I am so, so, so happy to have had this opportunity to explore the area. It was a great break - I think it's going to be tough to say goodbye tomorrow morning. 

I am still really looking forward to this upcoming week - catching up on editing, volunteering at Take a Hike Foundation, and spending Thanksgiving with my family in Victoria. Then I will be volunteering my way through the rest of British Columbia until the end of October.

Please enjoy some of the recent pictures from my travels....

It's hard not to have fun on the road! In addition to the volunteering, organization profiling and other project related tasks, I try to squeeze in as much exploring as possible. Below is the second travel video from the road, featuring the rest of Atlantic Canada. Be sure to check out my first volunteer video, too! 

Hi Friends,

Surprise! I am still in Oakville. Today was supposed to be departure day but I was feeling a little too disorganized to hit the road this morning. The 3-hour sleep didn't help either. I decided to give myself this extra day and head out tomorrow in the morning. I am super glad I made this choice because I am already feeling much more prepared and EXCITED! 

Today I had the chance to visit Dudley Clarke at the FareShare Food Bank in Oakville. We encouraged the attendees of the Roadtrip with Reason launch party to bring some food goods with them, as we were collecting food to donate to the local food bank. My friends and family did not disappoint! We ended up raising about 400 pounds of food. 400 POUNDS! Impressive, I think.

A lot of people don't even realize that there is a need for food banks in Oakville. We were informed that the FairShare Food Bank has been around for 23 years and is 100% volunteer run. Dudley (who has been a volunteer there for 19 years) also said that they serve about 1100 families every month. Clearly, there is a need .....and they aren't the only food bank in Oakville.

Big thanks to my friends & family for helping out with food donations. Dudley was a happy man when we showed up!

Can't wait to meet many more like Dudley throughout the next 3-months.

Love Love Love!

Warmly,
Becky xo

My lovely folks threw me a Roadtrip with Reason launch party on Saturday night. Super fun!! There was over 80 people there (I know, right?!) and it was such a feel-good afternoon & evening. I had the chance to chitchat about the journey all night long, see some beautiful people, wear big blue glasses AND eat cake. Win! 

Check out some of my fav photo's from the party below....

In 1.5 weeks my contract will be officially finished with the Arts Council of Muskoka, and I will be moving back to Oakville in preparation for my Roadtrip with Reason. Insanity! I have been living in the lovely town of Bracebridge for an entire year but it feels like I just got here. As (ridiculously) excited as I am for my upcoming journey, I have mixed feelings about leaving this part of my life behind. My very first apartment and real job! It's such a special place to live and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to really get to know Muskoka. I sure hope I have the chance to return one day!

The ACM board & other friends got together this afternoon to throw me a "Going Away" party! They even surprised me by inviting my parents up for the occasion. It was really quite lovely.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was the cake. Haha! It was designed so perfectly - the red Chevy car, the Pepsi can, the "BC or Bust" sign, the moose - such a cute idea.
It was tasty too. Bonus!!!

Sigh. I still can't believe that my dream has turned into reality.
This is really happening! I am really leaving!!

Off I go to pack some boxes.....xo

Hi Friends,

I am bacccccccck! Did you miss me? Fear that I ran away without saying goodbye? Don't worry! I've been here the whole time. Since Pepsi Refresh finished I have been working on all the official paperwork. Today I sent in all the documents to the decision makers. Hurrah! Now I am playing the waiting game, hoping that they give me official approval. So exciting! Fingers and toes crossed!

Did you know that I will be departing in 65 days?! Gulp. Time needs to sloooowwww down! I have created a MASTER "To Do" list that is as long as the KM's of this upcoming cross-Canada journey, but I am ready to tackle it.  It's a full on wrestling match over here....maybe even UFC?! Haha.

I have also managed to have some fun times with friends and family in between all this ca-razy Pepsi stuff. 
See some of my favourite pics below....

Happy times! I am a real lucky girl!

Have a b-e-a-utiful weekend. Check back for updates soon!

Happy trails & travels,
-- Becky xoxo

Hi Friends,

As most of you are aware I attended the 8th Annual Toronto Timeraiser last weekend (March 19th). It was such an amazing evening. I seriously encourage you to check out www.timeraiser.ca to see if an event is coming up in your city soon! Go! Go! Go!

I put together a little "video" of the evening (below). I had some issues with sound (it's really time to get an external mic) and lighting and all that jazz but it worked out well enough-ish. I had actually edited 70% of the video on Saturday night and at about 12:30 a.m. the program crashed and everything was LOST! I had forgotten to save (ugh) and it turns out that this particular program doesn't autosave (ugh)...so I had to start from scratch. I was not a happy camper! Haha.

Check it out.....thoughts???

I have to send a BIG special THANK YOU to the lovely Deniz who accompanied me to the Timeraiser. She was responsible for clickity-click-clicking many of the photographs....and she was just super fun! I also have to send another BIG special THANK YOU to the other bestie (Ana) who provided us with her special camera for the evening. Love you girls!

That is all. Hope your Monday is spectacular. Don't forget to VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! in Pepsi Refresh Canada. We are in 9th place, with 5 weeks to go. FIVE weeks, FIVE spots. Your vote is more important now than ever before! Let's do it.

Happy trails & travels!

LoveLoveLove,
Becky xo

Hi Friends!

Can you believe it's Sunday already? I really think weekends are too short. Anyone interested in starting a revolution? Let's work Tuesday-Thursday and enjoy weekends from Friday-Monday? Eh? Eh? No? Haha!

So as I mentioned in my previous post, I was contacted by 3 people on the CouchSurfing website who were looking for a place to sleep in Muskoka on Saturday night. I think I have stated before that to reduce my costs during the Roadtrip with Reason I had planned on couchsurfing throughout the entire journey. I had heard great things from friends who had couchsurfed before and I was really interested in it. What a great way to make new friends and get a local perspective. That being said, I had never experienced it for myself and wasn't exactly sure how it would work...

It was a success! I am so glad that Jessica, Francois and Thomas contacted me! I had such a great time hosting them last night (even though I feel like they were hosting me). As soon as I met them I felt pretty comfortable - they were cheerful and talkative and silly - and I was so relieved that we could understand eachother. (I learned later on in the evening that they were nervous about being able to communicate as well). Jessica and Francois have lived together in Toronto for about a year, and Thomas (Francois' brother) has been here for about 3 weeks and is just beginning his travels. I was amazed at how well he could communicate, even though he was so new to the language. There were many times when I would be chit chatting away (oops) and they would have to translate for Thomas. I felt badly but I also quite  enjoyed it because French is such a beautiful language.

They made me a fantastic meal of salmon and pasta, served with french white wine! It was delicious and the dinner conversation was great too. I had picked up some cupcakes from Sweet Aroma to serve in the evening as dessert and was so excited to find out that Thomas had NEVER eaten a cupcake before. I didn't realize that cupcakes were a North American thing...but they were enjoyed! I also had a chance to tell them about the Roadtrip with Reason and even got to snap a 'do your part & show some heart' picture. We finished the night off with big hugs and a little ukelele tune. It was great and I wish it could've lasted longer!

Now that I have my first couchsurfing experience under my belt, I am even more excited to be hosted while on the road. I also can't wait to host again - so if you're in Muskoka and need a couch, I am your girl (until July)!

Anyway, it's dinner time and I have some tasty leftovers to warm up. Lucky me!

Don't forget to get your Sunday VOTES in for the Pepsi Refresh Project! I think it's time for us to move on from 12th...

Happy trails & travels!
-- Becky xo

Happy International Women's Day!

Yup, it's not ONLY Day 8 of PEPSI Refresh or just Tune-EEE Tuesday (check back later) but it also happens to be a special day for women. This year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's day - a day for global recognition of women's achievements and successes! Events are held all over the world to celebrate, as well as raise awareness and spark conversation for gender issues. Very cool.

I put together some pictures of a few of the very special women that have touched my life. I am celebrating them today!

So it seems that the International Women's Day theme varies from country to country. In Canada, the basis of the theme for 2011 is "Strong Leadership. Strong Women". It just so happens that as I get older (boo hoo) and grow, I feel it's more important (for me) to be a strong leader and a stronger woman. Independence was something that I never particularly focused on before, but in the recent year(s) of my life I have realized just how important my independence is to me....

So why should you VOTE for Roadtrip with Reason today???

Reason #5: Celebrate STRONG women today with a VOTE for me .... an up & coming leader and strong woman! 

(hopefully)

THANK YOU again for your support, my friends! We have been in between 12th and 13th since last night which is great....keep it up!!
Don't forget to check back later today for my weekly Tune-EEE Tuesday musical feature...

Happy trails & travels,
-- Becky xo

As promised, today is the day that I embarrass myself and my best friend Ana by posting this hilarious BIRTHDAY RAP that we created last year. Deniz was living in Nova Scotia  at the time and we wanted to send her something special for her 23rd birthday....so the OBVIOUS thing to do was to write/create/film a birthday rap just for her. Tooooo funny.

One year later and it's time to celebrate....
HAPPY 24TH BIRTHDAY DENI!
Love you oh-so-much. xo

please note: we know that neither of us can rap OR sing. please don't make fun. haha!