On October 29, it will be two full years since we left "home" and started on our "adventure of a lifetime". 

It feels funny typing this somehow, because "home" has been entirely redesigned for us and "adventure of a lifetime" has also become our new normal. It's an amazing thing to have these experiences, and I know they seem wild and crazy to some, but for us, now, it is just our way. We already have three or four different ideas brewing for our next "adventure of a lifetime" - and obviously, how to pull them off.

As big a jump as it is to leave everything you know and step off into a "trip of a lifetime", I don't think it should be "THE trip of your lifetime". It's just one of many trips.

In these past two years, we've seen more places and done more things than I could have ever dreamed up in any of my crazy post-chocolate-for-dinner dreams. When people ask "what was your favourite part of your trip?", I literally scroll through a year of incredible memories and try to pick one distinct place that stands out above them all... it's not an easy task. As I reminisce about any of our adventures, I can fall in love with so many parts of our journey, all over again. It's hardly fair to pick a favourite! 

I was asked recently by Sunday Afternoon Hats Canada what my favourite place was, and in the spirit of keeping a questionnaire brief, I said "Scotland". I had the most heart-feels there, for some reason, the most warm-fuzzies (though, it was not so warm there, but there was lots of fuzzy things around!). It will always hold a special place in my heart, as the land of my ancestors, even though both sides of my family are pretty thoroughly Canadian by now that tracing back the history is getting harder and harder. 

I dare anyone to visit Scotland and not fall in love - with the scenery, the people, the highland cows :)

I grew up in Prince George, what I was told was a "small northern town" in our province on British Columbia. It's population hovers around 80,000. It has a few malls, many parks, a ski hill, multiple bridges and stoplights. It has a Costco, people. PG isn't a small town, like I was told.

Nearly six months ago, we moved to Powell River, BC, on the Sunshine Coast. It's a really lovely little town of 13,000 people, while the district surrounding it (including Lund, Texada Island etc) brings it up for around 20,000. I know it's not the smallest town (or district), but much smaller than I am used to. There are five traffic lights in town. That's it. I love it for so many reasons, but for some reason, the fact that I can count it's city traffic lights on my one hand is extra special. 

It's the little things that count, right? And Powell River is a little place to be, but it packs a pretty awesome punch. So far, here are our favourite aspects of being here:

• Driving time is low. All of our frequent stops are 2-4 minutes drives. We sometimes grumble when people say they are "south of town" because we have to drive for 12 whole minutes to get there. Crazy, right? Matt just texted me to meet him at the plumbing store, and I texted back "be there in 3 minutes". And I was there in 3 minutes. What. The. Heck. Not to mention, we rarely drive faster than 60km/h as well. Needless to say, in our little car, a tank of gas lasts us an entire month. Not bad.
• The view: from nearly everywhere in town, the view is amazing. Our storage unit had an especially good view for a huge warehouse with peoples junk. The ocean is almost always in sight, and if it's not the ocean, its a craggy mountain, or a lake or a winding forest path with hundred year old trees that reach for the sky. There are times when we're driving to the store and I'm just shouting in the car "just look at that VIEW!". We've been told by people who have lived here for much longer that you never do get sick of it. Amazing. 
• Community culture: no joke, there is something happening nearly every weekend. Big things, like world class musical festivals that call people from all over the planet, or logger sports, bike races, or a choir festival that knocks your socks off. The city rallies behind these big events, hanging posters in there shop windows and everyone seems to be a part of the fun. And there is often a free component to these big events held in the park for everyone to enjoy.
• Parking is a thing of the past: I remember asking someone if you had to pay for parking at the hospital, and they giggled at me saying "you don't pay for parking anywhere". Wow. I think there is a lot of accessibility to places, so lots of folks walk (we try to, for every big gathering at the park) or cycle, but there is honestly decent parking in around where you need to be. The hustle and the bustle is somewhat non-existent. People don't feel rushed, they are just going about their day, it doesn't feel like a race.