Just say YES!

and see what happens next

I’m not quite sure why I felt so strongly about this at the time, but when I was about 14, I decided to say YES to whatever opportunities and adventures came my way. For the most part, I have managed to do that - for better and for worse.

But this is not a retrospective post in which to recount past adventures (and misadventures), but rather, a looking-forward post. Recently, I’ve been feeling a bit like I’m going through a second teenage-hood, albeit a bit older and creakier than the first time around, so I’ve decided to re-embrace that mindset of 14-year-old me. At the moment I’m not actively raising a child, or locked into a 9-5 job, or stressing about meeting the next publishing deadline so, why not once again embrace the YES!

How blessed am I to be in the amazing position of being able to go back to school (about to take my first ever Creative Writing course as part of my MA program at Simon Fraser University) while also looking forward to several amazing trips that have appeared in my 2025 day-timer.

All are the result of saying, YES!

Here’s the lineup:

Tokyo

- because there are few places in the world that do a better job of welcoming in the new year - and, my brother and his wife live there and invited us to come share the beginning of the next quarter century in Japan.

Paris

- because I love Paris and can’t wait to meet my daughter there to complete the GR® 75, a walking route around the city. We’ll be using our time in Paris to recover from jetlag and as a warm up for our travel study trip to Rome.

Harder than I anticipated to draw ricotta…

Rome

- because where better to study Italian history and culture through artisanal food?! Our travel study program in Rome (also part of the aforementioned MA program) includes serious studying (Seminar and Tour: Food, History, and Religion II: the Largo di Torre Argentina and the Jewish Ghetto with Guido, Carolina, and Mariella) and an afternoon of ricotta making with Guido as we discuss an historical overview of food through history. Required reading: Ricotta: History, Legends and Recipes, by Guido Farinelli. (That’s just the lineup for Day 1…)

Nepal

- because I said YES to interviewing Dawa Yangzum Sherpa at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival and that led to a conversation about travel and climbing in Nepal and that led to… yes, we are planning a trip to Nepal!!

Now that my second hip replacement is all healed up, I am SO HAPPY to be walking again!!!!! Oh, the places these feet have carried me… oh, the places we have yet to visit together!!

It’s all a bit overwhelming to try to think about all that packing, airlines, helicopters, trains, and whatnot, so I’ll focus instead on each step along the way. One of the themes that keeps bubbling up when I think about what I might tackle as my final project for the degree is walking - where, why, and how we walk - that and fusing image and text… So, here I am again, picking up the narrative where I left off in the middle of Selfietember, eager to resume the journey here on the page (can we call this a page if no paper is involved?)

Thank you to my loyal subscribers who continue to support me through my ongoing explorations in life, art, writing, and other creative projects. You are the BEST!