I grew up just outside of Saskatoon in the small town(now city) of Martensville. The idea of traveling the world never fully seeded in my brain until I was forced to take a year off of university because of financial and mental reasons(I couldn't afford it anymore and I just didn't care about school anymore). The year off gave me the time I needed to reevaluate my life. I was going back to school to finish my degree, that much was for certain. But I needed something more. For me, finishing school was going to be a huge deal(first one in my family) and I wanted to celebrate in a big way.
It all began as a want to take myself on a little vacation to Cuba for a couple weeks. But then, when I realized that I didn't want to spend that much money just sitting on a beach drinking booze(I could do that at the lake at my Grandparents cabin for free), I did some research and found GAP Adventures hosting bike tours through the Cuban countryside. Somehow, this led, through numerous random clicks, to a blog by Eric Trinidad who blogged for every day of his 503 day trip around the world. Reading this completely floored me as it wasn't something I thought of doing. And suddenly, I wanted it. It would take three years, working nearly everyday at two jobs in order to save up what I figured would be enough to live off of for a year and a half.
Family, friends, coworkers, all were supportive. Perhaps none were completely convinced it would actually happen.
But here I am. And loving every minute of it.