CdnJane's VirtualTourist Home Page

Let me introduce myself

About Me

My name is Jane and I love to travel. I am also an Internet and VT addict. I haven't done as much travel in the past few years as I would've liked. Soon I hope to travel more, and further afield.

Travel destinations:
Pre-marriage:
1962 - Northwestern Ontario
1965 - BC and Alberta visiting family
1969 - Train from Ont to BC, a cruise to Alaska, and visiting family
1971 - Florida with family; and Cape Cod with grandparents
1972 - School choir trip to Kentucky, USA; and Austria with my cousin
1973 - UK with parents, visiting relatives
1974 - BC - visiting family, my first long trip travelling on my own
1975-76 - At a Canadian school in Neuchatel Switzerland - this provided a base in Europe, living with a Swiss family, and travel - Switzerland, France, Morocco, Italy, with school, then Luxembourg and the UK on my own, after school to visit friends and relatives.
1976 - BC to visit with family
1979 - Switzerland, visiting mySwiss family, and UK both on my own and then for 1 week with parents and grandparents, before staying in Scotland for a few weeks with cousins.
1983 - 1989 - about 4 more trips to the UK, and a couple of trips to BC and 2 trips to New York City, and one horrible driving trip through Eastern New York (because of driving companion, not the locations)

Marriage Years:
With husband : 2 trips to the UK, 1 to BC, 2 trips to Florida, 1 trip to Chicago, several trips down to Buffalo NY, and some trips within Ontario. We were on 2 cruises in the Caribbean, on a couple of the older smaller ships.
On my own - San Francisco for a very short visit for a family wedding, took a girls trip into NY state, and went to Ireland for 10 days with my mother.

Post Marriage:
While I was working in travel, I managed to get to Australia 2x, to Washington DC, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Upper New York State, Nova Scotia, Arizona, Bermuda and Texas
I've also made a couple of trips to the US (NY state, Michigan, and Texas) for country music concerts.
Aug/04 -a fairly quick trip to Vancouver, BC for a cousin's wedding, also seeing Sechelt and the Sunshine Coast, White Rocks, and Steveston.
June/07 - Had a fabulous time in Nova Scotia! Thanks Betty!

In the past little while, it seems that my traveling has been limited to the Internet... chatting online and meeting people that way. Much cheaper way to see the world! Having said that, I've been meeting VT members here in Toronto and in London Ontario, and it has awoken my eyes to what there is here in my own hometown/province. I've learned how much I like playing tour guide to visitors.

Another site that I belong to, which seems to compliment VT is Boockcrossing.com. This, free site, is about releasing books after you've finished enjoying them, and hopefully tracing where they have travelled. This is not a cult and all sorts of genre of books are being released. I know many members of VT are also BCers and release books on their travels. I have released books in Canada and Bermuda. It's a fun, great way to combine the Net, travel and books. If you check out the site, please use my name CdnJane as your referring member. Enjoy!

My cousin's wife Anne passed away Sunday April 19, 2009. Her weakened body wasn't able to handle this latest transplant, and the complications. It is a sad time, especially for my cousin and his two young children. This began with lung cancer that was environmental - not because of smoking, and was the tale of how a double lung transplant gave a family 3 more years together. Thank you for your comments and prayers and positive wishes... they have been cherished and appreciated greatly.

Please, if your beliefs allow it, sign an organ donation form and help others. Lung cancer doesn't just affect smokers - it kills more than breast and prostate cancers combined !

In my own experience, and opinion, you get treated anywhere (including in your own country) in relation to how you behave and treat others. The old golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have done unto you".
Respect others, you are in their home, not yours. Obey rules/laws, you expect yours to be obeyed. Observe and enjoy the differences and culture of where you are. Don't flaunt your own nationality or expect special treatment because of it. Be polite, ask - don't demand. Keep your mind open to what you can learn, and remember you don't know it all, or just because you do something differently doesn't make it right. And PLEASE never say loudly: "WHAT IS THIS IN REAL MONEY!!!!" (Cringe... remembering my grandmother say that to my grandfather, and hearing other tourists say that to each other, and if I heard it, so did others.)

I'm proud of my rural roots and my cousins who farm. One of my cousins and her husband are involved in a breeding program for Hereford cattle, with just a small herd, but doing very well at shows with them. As well, I have cousins who are involved with dairy cattle, primairily Holsteins, and some that have been potato growers. It has made me very aware of how much we owe our farmers, and that without them, well I'm not exactly sure how food would make its way onto our tables!
Take a look of a couple of courntry fairs that take me back to my country roots: Orangeville fair and Milton Fair

It was suggested that we take a screen print of one of the 2 sites where there was a webcam at specific times to give ourselves credit for being a Virtual VirtualTourist London VT Meeting attendee. I missed the Covent Garden local, so had to do with the Trafalgar Square site. It was much more difficult to identify people with the Trafalgar Square site but, working through emails with cmthomas (Clarence), we believe we identified RonDace in his white coat in the triangle in the lower left corner. Thanks, Ron, for wearing the coat!

2000-2001 got me traveling to Australia. This has always been a place that I've wanted to go to: I've read about it, dreamed about it, and finally when I started chatting online, looked for Aussies to chat with. In August of 2000, I had the chance to go to Australia through an incredible travel agent deal from Air Canada. I couldn't not go. My friend John took me through the Blue Mountains and I thoroughly fell in love with the area. I returned in Dec 2000 in time to see the new year come in , and to go exploring more of NSW with him. Such a small taste of Oz - whet my appetite for more. Meeting Vters from the Land Down Under and keeping in touch with John has continued my desire to get back there.

I worked in downtown Toronto, and alway enjoyed the mixture of buildings - the new and the old.
I fell in love with this scene on King Street of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and the modern office/apt towers behind, and Roy Thomson Hall across the street.

Although I complain that I haven't been travelling much, I did realise the other week that one of the things that I enjoy is a car trip through the Ontario countryside. I don't have to travel miles away to discover beauty and escape my day-to-day existance. I had an Aussie friend visiting and we drove north and west of Toronto, and it was lovely. We saw hawks, and perhaps even an eagle or an osprey. There were a couple of deer in a field, but I suspect that they were "farmed deer", not wild ones. I had forgotten how lovely the countryside is... and it really is a treat when a visitor comes who enjoys exploring on the lesser roads.

Its been a few years, but I love to drive from Calgary to Vancouver through the Rockies. You never know what you'll see along the way. Whether it is Mountain Goats, Deer, Moose, Elk, Bears, Wolves... or incredible views and land forms. There is beauty where-ever you go. Sometimes, desolation too when you see the results of forest fires.