When you decide to travel the world, or part of it for 8 months, getting around is a major question.

While the sale of the restaurants were underway, Dirk and I decided to travel. He was adamant that I needed to take a year off, something I have never done before in my life. I have to admit, it caused me stress. I have been working since I was 12 years old, my first job was a paper route.

Once the planning of our travels started and all the possible places to go were discussed, traveling the world far outweighed the idea of working. Dates were discussed as to when this adventure would begin and April 1st was set as the estimated departure date.

Our decision to travel through California started with Dirk’s youngest sister as she had planned her stagette in Disneyland at the end of April. There was no question in my mind that I wanted to attend, and as his sisters say, ‘Dirk is one of the girls’, so he was also invited. Knowing these facts we began planning visits with friends in California we have not seen in years.

But how to get around? First thought, fly to San Francisco and rent a car for the month. That amounted to about $2000. More googling and investigating. That is where I first saw the California Rail Pass. So why not the train, on second thought, fly to San Francisco and rail travel until the end of April. This cost about $700. That is how we decided on the train.

In the end, we took a ferry to Seattle and road the train right down the coast, making several stops along the way. On our first leg, we did have some excitement. The train actually had to slam on the brakes. Yeah!! Crazy!! A car had decided to proceed over the rails as the arm came down. The driver failed to consider the fact that the cars in front of him were not moving. This gave him no room to fully pull off the tracks. The train just missed the car, but the slamming of the breaks had us stopped for a period of time.

Our longest trek was from Portland to Chico, 14 hours. We decided to upgrade at the Portland station to a sleeping car. It was pricey, but really worth it. We were treated to a wine tasting, free movies in the theatre, three course meals, and of course our own private sleeping car with access to a shower. Beds were turned down for us upon returning from the movie. The attendant was fully aware of our stop, waking us in plenty of time to get ready before we disembarked.

I came across several people that thought taking the train was an odd method of transportation in North America. Something they have never done or even thought about. It is a slower method then driving. There are many stops along the way. But, I really enjoyed it. It was relaxing and allowed both Dirk and I time to take in the scenery.

Trains, Planes and Automobiles have lead us to Asia, we even threw in a boat to mix it up. I am excited about our new adventure and what our next mode of transportation maybe.

Check out our photo’s of California.

Travel Tip:

Train travel in most countries, except probably Canada, is an economical way to travel. Over the years, trains have improved and offer comfortable reclining chairs, viewing lounges, dinning and parlour cars. I would recommend that if you are on a tight budget bring your own food and beverages. The food is okay but over priced, sharing a sandwich with two waters was $16US ($20CAD) . If you would like to surf the internet, the trains offers WiFi free of charge. 

As a Canadian, I am proud of our quiet strength and our need to be politer than the next guy.

While travelling, everyone asks me where we are from and are immediately excited when I say ‘Canada’. Even more so when I mention Victoria. I am surprised by the amount of people that have visited the island and comment how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful and European looking city.

As beautiful as it is in Victoria, I am tempted to move to the US just to have the access to their grocery stores. I think that when people talk about heaven, they are really talking grocery stores from the states.

It is truly an awesome experience. The first time you walk in, it is like sensory overload. There is so much going on, I am really not sure which way to go first. I have taken to just wondering up and down each aisle of the entire store, yes time consuming and maybe frustrating for Dirk, but I need to see everything.

For those that have never been to one, here is what you can do: While getting your prescription filled, you can stock up on booze, sit and have a hot lunch, buy ingredients for dinner, get that gift you needed for mother’s day, do your banking, buy lotto tickets and pick up patio furniture.

They have bulk sections, family sizes, and organic like we have, but cheap. Meat is found in large packages and is half the price. Albeit, many of the items taste different than in Canada. I found it impossible to find a probiotic yogurt that did not contain aspartame.

Wine that costs $30 in Victoria is only $12 here. I also found a deal that if I purchased a second bottle of wine, it would only be 5 cents. Yes you heard me, 5 cents. Queue angels playing harps.

In all its glory, we did have an issue finding ingredients for Indian Food. When asking where the Tandoori paste was located, they replied they only had ‘mandarin’ sauce and they don’t sell ‘tangerine’ sauce. At that point, there was no explaining what we were looking for, they clearly have never heard of it. But, I did have a great chuckle over that.

I have been told several times by friends that moved to Canada from the US that our cost of living was high. Seeing the prices as compared to Canada, I now understand what they mean. They also could not believe we don’t sell liquor in grocery stores, convenience stores, or even gas stations. I don’t see us ever having a drastic drop in food prices, but I hope that one day Canada will wake up and allow a little boozy heaven in every grocery store.

Travel Tip:

Most travellers want to save money by eating a few meals in their hotel room. Breakfast is always the main meal on the list, so we all head to the closest grocery store to stock up with what we feel are healthy food choices. But, be sure you understand the products you are purchasing when in another country. I recommend reading the label (if you can). In the US, the food industry has a reputation of taking incredibly healthy items and turning them into processed junk food. Aspartame and corn syrup seem to be staples to make food taste appealing, even finding maple syrup has been a challenge. Yogurt is a main food item that has been turned into junk food, I recommended to always purchase organic.

In our short travels so far, Dirk ended up in Emergency and I seemed to have caught a bug that emptied my GI tract.

I was amazed that a person could actual hold that much fluid. So the first day in Napa, I slept in the hotel while Dirk did a little exploring of the town. In the evening we ended up going out for Italian, but I was unable to eat more then a few bites before it became an uncomfortable battle of mind over vomiting.

Napa Valley is known for wine (I know what you are thinking, ‘no shit sherlock’). But it is overwhelming. There are way too many wineries, actually over four hundred of them. You cannot see Napa Valley in a weekend. So when you arrive, lose that thought.

So where do you start? Hell if I know, but this is what we learnt.

You need to know which wineries you can stop for a wine tasting and which ones are appointment only. There are magazines out there to help you, but again it is based on opinion.  You can go on popular – less popular – what the locals like – what you recognize – what has the nicest look – the choices are endless. We decided to go to the one’s in a wine magazine that were starred as ‘preferred’. I suspect they were preferred as a result of paying to have ads placed in the magazine.

An item I did learn was, wine tasting when you are trying not to puke is not the way to go. But having to pay a $15 to $20 tasting fee when trying not to bolt to a bathroom felt rather steep. They do wave the tasting fee if you spend at least $50 in the winery – so plan for at least a $30 visit per couple.

I figured out that I like the less busy and commercial places. The people at the smaller vineyards were more personable. The large ones were just trying to hustle you through the tasting to move on to the next couple.

We ended the day having a great glass of wine in a small and quite vineyard. That was what I was hoping to get out of Napa.

Travel Tip:

When prepping for a trip to tropical or developing countries, remember to visit your local travel clinic. During your visit, the doctor will review your current vaccine status, recommend and/or update these for you. The doctor will also ensure you are fully aware of all travel health risks and how to protect yourself. There will be a fee for this visit and some vaccines are not covered by Provincial Medical Plans. If you have a benefit plan, some of the medications will be covered.

For our travels to Southern Asia, we were made aware of Rabies, Malaria, Dengue Fever, Typhoid Fever, & Travellers’ Diarrhea.