Canadiana Backpackers Blog

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!

Our learned backpackpacker Michael.

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.

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John from Alaska – gone “native” in Thailand.