Canadiana Backpackers Blog

Last evening, we saw Pauline, a language student from France a sitting by herself in the common room. Something just didn’t seem right. Something was missing.

Then we realized that her closest friend in the hostel Sophie from the Netherlands was nowhere to  be seen and we hadn’t seen her for a few days!

“Hey, Pauline,” we asked. “Where’s Sophie?”

“Holland,” she replied.

Oh yes. Sometimes the squirrel falls asleep in the wheel. Of course. Sophie has returned home for nine days. Her sister is getting married and she has been asked to be Maid of Honour. She’ll be back after next week!

But it is like that here at our Toronto hostel. Firm friendships are made between people from very diverse backgrounds. Pauline and Sophie have become such fast friends that we often remark that the two are inseperable and seemed joined-at-the-hip.

Seeing one without the other seems strange. Tonight is Karaoke Night at the Fox. We won’t be hearing Sophie and Pauline belting out a number together.

So I guess this brief separation is not all bad!

Sophie (m); Pauline (r); with Christine on their left

The more young universitsy grad/backpackers we meet, the bigger fans we become of the “Gap Year” concept.

That is. finish Secondary School. Pack your bags. Buy a ticket. Then spend the next year discovering the world and all it has to offer.

So often, a young pers0n is asked to decide the course of his entire life when he or she is still in their teens. More often than not, that is patently absurd.

Take Sophia, a young lady from France. She’s bright. attractive, focused well-qualified but she’s looking for “any” job.

In fact. Sophia is a qualified Optomitrist which we all know is a pretty good and lucrative career.Like so many young students she went straight from her secondary  to study Optometry.

She worked at it for a few years before discovering she hated it!

Rather than falling into a rut and working at a job she didn’t enjoy  until she retires, she went back to school to study business and marketing. That decision landed her excellent positions in marketing and public relations.

Still, she has decided to take a break and travel. It is so difficult for some young  people to find their direction in life when thenyare still not sure of just what life has to offer.

So taking a Gap Year to work and travel is a lot like Captain Kirk of the Star Ship Enterprise when he l00ks out into the unknown, and says to his crew; Let’s see what’s out there.”

We’ve said it before, but a lot of people seem to treat life as if it were a dress rehearsal.

You see a lot of individuals chasing dreams that they have been conditioned to desire and attain. And quite a number of people become pretty successful doing just that.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are happy.

Michael was a very successful corporate attorney.  He was actually our lawyer. And “was” is the operative word.

He’s still quite young and a good number of years short of the official retirement age of sixtly-five. He’s packed it in early. Quite a brave move.

Too many successful people have bought into the concept of professional success that will help them buy their dreams. Then they discover, late in life, that by the time they have got their shopping list together, a lot of stores have alrready been closed.

Michael has always enjoyed travel and films. So he’s retired early and is traveling with his wife to Rajasthan in the remote northwest of India. He’d always dreamed of making just such a journey.

He is also pursuing his avocation of independent film production and already has a few documentaries to his credit. A few feature films are in early production planning stages.

As we have constantly repeated in this blog ad nauseum, life can and should be a grand adventure. And for people like Michael, a new adventure is just beginning!

Some of our backpackers have come to Canada to improve their English skills. The formation of the European Union has addeded impetus to learn English as a logical common language.

So we get a lot of Europeans coming here to travel and practice English.

However, not so many Dutch or German backpackers  come here for that reason.  The majority (virtually all of them) speak excellent English.

And we make allowance for that. About six of our staff members  are fluent Francophones. In fact, all of our staff members have a facility with a second language, (The only exceptions are our Irish staff membersmost of  whom are still working on English, it seems!).

We can help our guests with French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and even Afrikaans. We could manage Dutch and German too; however, I can’t recall that ever being  necessary; the Germans and Dutch all speak excellent English.

There is a great temptation for a lot of backpackers who aren’t as fluent with English to retreat to what is culturally and linguisticly familiar.

Spanish seek fellow Spanish; the French congregate; Japanese only interact with other Japanese etc. The result is the majority make little progress towards their stated goal of  improving English skills.

So often a gloden opportunity is often squandered.

It really is a strange feeling when you are forced to admit that the two people you meet that seem to have their priorities sorted out happen to be lawyers.

Michael is the second lawyer/backpacker we’ve had whom, at the height of his career, found he had enough and made himself free on the earth!

The first example was John a noted trial lawyer from Anchorage, Alaska. He had the enviable record as never losing a case he argued before the courts.

While still a realtively young man in his mid fifties, he closed his practice; bought a motorcycle and headed south.

He roared up to our hostel in the summer of 2007 on his way to his boyhood home in the United States. He then sold off his assets and joined the Peace Corps.

He left for Thailand for the usual Peace Corps stint. But instead found a soulmate (a Thai lady with a Master’s Degree in English from a British University). Both individuals had been so wrapped up in their respective careers that neither had married.

In a nutshell he’s now married and settled in Thailand and living the dream!

The second Lawyer., Kevin is a successful corporate lawyer/film producer who at about the same age as John called it quits. His children have grown and long ago left his nest.

Kevin and his wife have packed their bags and are heading for India to explore Rajasthan in the remote northwest of India.

Both John and Kevin have enjoyed successful careers as solicitors. But it seems that they have discovered what is truly important and have decided to pursue their dreams.

They say life is and should be a grand adventure. And for Kevin and John a new adventure is just beginning at a time when others are winding down.

..

John from Alaska - gone “native” in Thailand.

We always write about being a “downtown” hostel. In fact we are the most downtown hostel in Toronto!

We are right in the middle of the “Entertainment District” three blocks from the landmark CN Tower. We are one block from the new Film Fesival Towers  currently under construction. (When completed, the new building will house and attract  visiting film stars.)

The hostel is located two blocks from major theatre venues and a multi-screen Cineplex Movie Theatre is right across the street!

In short, there is a lot happening at and around the hostel each and every day!

Movies, television shows, rock videos are filmed on our street and at times, even in the hostel itself. This is in addition to the lives, activities and stories of our resident backpackers.

The pics below were taken on a typical day - both the day and photos, randomly chosen.

..

Backpackers around the reception desk.

A reunion of backpackers after seven years (See previous entry: “Hostel Reunion”)

Mary and Grace - two Irish beauties!

All the girls love Francois our Mascot Bear!

Filming a Rock Video on our front steps!

The filming showing the Muti-Plex Cinema across ther street!

All good things must eventually end.

In the late fall of 2009 two Irish Tradesmen, Domo and Marto arrived at the hostel. They had come over to find work in the mines and oil fields of  Northern Alberta and the  Northwest Territories.

But we found we could use the skills of two qualified plumbers right here at the Canadiana. We put the two lads to work!

They have been with us for more than four months and they are both personable and popular additions to hostel life.

But the lads have decided it is time to move along to see some more of this vast country.

The hostel is going to miss them and organized a visit to the pub for chicken wings and beer (compliments of the Canadiana!)

They flew out last week headed for Calgary and Vancouver. But they have promised to return next summer.

Meanwhile, have a great time lads!

..

Domo and Marto (left) with hostel staffers Robyn, Sandra and Michel at their farewell party.

We’ve just had a lucky 13 Industrrial Design students here to attend the Annual Interior Design Show at the Toronto Convention Centre.

The students are seniors from the University of Alberta (Edmonton) where it was a frigid -40C just before Christmas!

For most of them. this was their first visit to Toronto and were basking in our balmy +4C temperatures.

The students were exhibiting some of their furniture designs at the show. They took time to do the obligitory “tourist� attractions such as the Royal Ontario Museum; Art Gallery of Ontario, Hockey Hall of Fame, Night Clubs, CN Tower etc.

One thing that seemed to impress them about our hostel is the fact that ALL of the above mentioned attractions were within easy walking distance of our doors.

Even the design show was a mere three blocks from the hostel!

..

Question: What do Chris, A..J, Elise, Sophie and Pauline (the Canadiana Hostels Gang) have in common with Tom Selleck, Glenn Close, Lou Diamond Phillips, Gloria Estafan, Forest Whiteaker and Jennifer Love Hewitt (the Hollywood Gang)!

Answer: They’ve all been seen Salsa dancing at Babaluu’s in the trendy, upscale Yorkville district of Toronto!

Salsa is the latest dance craze and is to the new millennium what Disco was to the ’70’s or what Line Dancing is to Country Music Fans.

“Salsa� translated literally from the Spanish means, “Sauce�, which suggests its’ style is a little spicy and a little hot! It has its roots in a fusion of dance styles of largely Caribbean origin (Cuba and Puerto Rico) with a strong African influence in both the music and dance.

Every Wednesday night, the hostels event is Salsa Dancing at Babaluu’s. Yorkville is the “in� place of Toronto and the haunt of the rich and famous; so don’t expect cheap drinks and dress smartly for the occasion. But there is no entrance fee and Salsa dancing lessons are included free of charge!

Our lovely Latina ladies (language students from LatinAmerica) all took to Salsa dancing like ducks to water. It is as if it is in their blood! A. J. from Ireland and Elise from France weren’t too shabby either according to reports.

As far as the guys were concerned, the Latino lads all seemed to have the moves as well. As for the rest of the men, Babaluu’s is what might be termed a “target rich environment� with lots of ladies! Enough said!

So remember, join us every Wednesday and sign up for Salsa Dancing at Babaluu’s. It’s a heck of a lot of fun and you might even spot a movie star or two!

..

Kiara and Barry were two recent guests from places that were not too exotic. (At least, not to us!)

Kiara is from Montreal - less than 400 miles east along Highway 401.

Barry (originally from Scotland) now lives in Guelph, Ontario only about an hour and a half west of Toronto. He has been here in Canada for about nine years.

They met seven long years ago when they were both employed at a Backpacker’s Inn in Nelson. B.C. They were colleagues and pretty good friends.

Over the years, as many experienced, travelers know, you meet a lot of interesting people and over time lose contact with like the proverbial “ships-in-the-night”.

But it happens less and less these days with the advent of the Internet. It has made information much more accessable and the world mch smaller.

They two reconnected after seven years by using Facebook. They decided to meet in Toronto and make a short holiday out of their reunion.

Barry and Kiara’s reconnection occurred long after the hostel where they both worked and met has disappeared. But it speaks to our constant theme in this blog that hostel’s really are a place where enduring friendships are very often made.