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I’m back in Montréal now and (for the first time in over a year) I have no major trips planned!

A few weeks ago I flew to Winnipeg. I’d previously driven through there on my way back from Burning Man but Rachelle wasn’t around so I didn’t stop. This time I spent about 5 days there, long enough to really get a sense of the place. This was a bit of a change from my road trip in September, where I feel like I barely saw most places I stopped. So, Winnipeg… not a bad place, but not an amazing city either. My big complaint is that it’s really spread out. Hardly anyone lives a walking distance from downtown, and the transit isn’t great. Winnipeg Transit does do a good job with what they have (apart from inexplicably not supporting Google Transit) but it’s still infrequent, bus-based transit. Still, I had fun there!

Then a taxi ride to an airport ridiculously far out of town and a flight to Yellowknife, to visit Natasha. Yellowknife for me is a harder question. I definitely want to go back there. The big issue is "for how long"? I didn’t fall completely in love with the place as Natasha has (maybe the -10°C in October weather had something to do with it) but there’s something really neat about the place. It kind of feels like a frontier still. There’s a good number of people building interesting things, or meeting their needs in creative ways – like houseboats. Natasha lived on one earlier this year and we took a canoe (half walking on ice, half paddling) out to see some at one point. Houseboats are interesting in that they’re largely free of regulation. The lake (Great Slave Lake) is considered federal waters, so they’re exempt from municipal bylaws and most regulations, except the ones that concern barges on large waterways. But you can still paddle or walk to the city in 5-10 minutes. The big downsides are that you’re living without any services. You need to provide your own electricity, water infrastructure, sewage, and so on. Few houseboats have showers or flush toilets.

My current idea (which I admit probably isn’t actually feasible) is to build a houseboat in the shape of a polar bear, live in it for a bit, then sell it. More on polar bears later :)

So now I’m back in Montréal. I moved into a new apartment 2 weeks ago and started to look for work. Hopefully I’ll find the time to post more and upload the photos from my road trip… we’ll see.

I hope everyone reading this is doing well :) Thanks for being a part of my adventures.

This year, for the first time, I brought a camera to Burning Man.. not to take photos of the art nor the burns — there are many far more talented photographers doing that already, and you can find their photos on flickr or google image search. I brought a camera to take photos of my camp and my friends. Here are some of them, and some others from campmates.

(no nudity, but there are people (including me) in their underwear.)

• My photos on flickr – same photos on facebook
• Robin’s photos on flickr – same photos on facebook
• Ryan’s photos on facebook

And for a bit of a status update… right now I’m in Winnipeg, MB visiting Rachelle and seeing the sights. On Thursday I’m flying to Yellowknife to visit Natasha, then I’m returning to Montréal… time to find a job and a more permanent place to live.

Here’s my van. I told you it was hilarious. Can you tell I’m on my way to Burning Man?

I’ve uploaded a bunch more photos:

• One from Nizhny Novgorod
• Moscow
• St. Petersberg, including Petrodvorets fountains
• One from Amsterdam

Also more train thingies:

• Spare bogies near Brest, where they change bogies on the Belarus/Poland border
• The crane used to change couplings at the same border, since Russian couplings are made of FAIL
• A standard-width carriage coupled to a Russian one

OK, since my last real post… I made it to San Francisco in 6 days (5 days of driving and one day of the van breaking down), straight along the I-80. I did a few days of Burning Man preparation then I headed out to the desert, which was awesome as usual.

I’m now heading up the left coast, and Robin is joining me for the first bit. We’re taking our time, camping and sampling hot springs along the way, and we’ll hopefully be in Portland tonight.

After that, Seattle, Vancouver, then the Trans Canada east :) If you’re along my route, expect an email in the next few days because I want to meet up…. but definitely email me <scjody@modernduck.com> as well in case I don’t know you’re along the route!