As a part of the #recklessabandontour I have been spending time with different people, participating in different things. An activity that has taken pride of place is watching truly awful television in the form of “The Bachelorette” on a Monday night with Sara and Kaia. What is a 2 hour TV show (including ad breaks) typically extends out to a 4 hour event (not including ad breaks). With the blessing of PVR, we can talk over the top of this show as much as we like and rewind to see all the crazy that we just missed. Delightful!
While out and about on one of the many activities I’ve been doing, I thought that if I was the Bachelorette and these were my dates, I’d be doing pretty well! While things have been relatively quiet on the man front, I have been going on Chick-dates with some phenomenal ladies!
Lets think of Calgary as my Bachelorette Mansion and my girl-friends as the suitors. Kind of strange, lets roll with the concept and see where we end up shall we? First up is Meredith – we had one-on-one dates booked before I landed and she has challenged my thoughts around biking national highways and how many activities you can fit into a single day. Meredith also likes to grow her own berries and we can spend a lovely Sunday evening replanting Roses and Gogi-berry bushes before stepping into the kitchen and making Sour Cherry Jam. Plus lots of running. Sometimes in the dark with glow sticks and paint. Meredith knows how to get me motivated, she gets a rose for sure.
Next up is Sara, whom I’m staying with in Calgary. Aside from having fabulous taste in trashy TV, Sara and I were able to connect on the same wave length from the get go. A date with Sara can vary, however my favourites usually include waking up and having coffee on the lounge while watching Trailer Park Boys, followed by more coffee sipped on the balcony in the sunshine with a side of breakfast, then a run through the Down Town pathways where we flail our arms around to the beats in our eardrums. This may or may not be followed by sushi some days. Occasionally Sara goes to work and I have to fend for myself on the couch. Sometimes I leave her for other ‘dates’. We don’t talk about those. I do have to share her with other friends and her lovely Man occasionally – it’s only fair – and provides us with excuses to return to the couch to catch up as we have clearly been separated for far too long.
Dates with Terri are lifestyle orientated. We have achieved some major things in the time we spend together – ranging from ticking off Wedding To-Do lists through to packing my room for Peru. Mostly we discuss life through different perspectives and I challenge her boundaries in the world of sharing food. Terri was discussing plans for my future a little while ago and coming up with some excellent ideas. I was sitting in her car slightly hyperventilating at the thought of all those plans and it was a total role reversal. This is what I love about us, discussions happen and we know that everything that is said comes from a foundation of love, even when we’re being ridiculous. Terri is a pillar of support. When we are planning time together it’s things like running dates (she is one of the instigators of my recent marathon effort), followed by food, followed by naps and some kind of crafting may work its way into the day also. Sometimes we are very prepared and book tickets to something like a comedy show or to see our beloved Zac Brown Band. Terri is the kind of friend who will call you last minute to triple check that you can’t get together when suddenly free, while also holding existing plans to catch up in place. I catch a lot of public transport (and the odd international flight) to hang out with her and she’s totally worth it.
Some friends have found new passions and pursuits since I lived in Canada full time. Cycling is one such activity for my friend M-J. Right around the time I moved back to Australia, M-J found a purpose for her well defined calves (seriously – check them out, best gastrocs you’ll ever come across). While I haven’t been riding with M-J properly (read: downhill while I’m yelling in a high pitched tone white knuckling my handlebars) yet, it’s something we are planning to do on an upcoming weekend (watch this space). Dates with M-J vary from running, BBQ’s, collective dinners, the odd music show, quiet beers at the local through to camping weekends in gorgeous locations. A little known fact is that I proposed to M-J at dinner once in Panama. We were both on our first “all inclusive” holiday, and both lamenting as to how we could obtain permanent visas to the other person’s country. I busted out “will you marry me” and M-J got a little awkward. Luckily there were no reality TV cameras to capture our faces, though it would have been hilarious. In true adult style, we discussed the part where we could both commit to the process up until the point where we would have to “kiss the bride”, then it would all fall spectacularly apart. Plus, I’m pretty sure our parents would be super confused when Canadian/Australian immigration called to confirm our couple status, us both being quite heterosexual up until that point. Would have been a good party though. I guess in the world of “Bachelorette” that means I was rejected? Scorned in the final scenes? Fortunately, we still remain friends! Ha ha ha!!
To mix things up a little, I had an import from Queensland come over to shake up the Canadian scene. Lisa arrived in a whirl of glitter and Starbucks at the YYC airport. Sara and I picked her up (group date??) and drove directly to lunch where Lisa delighted in learning all things Canadian. Over the course of Lise’s 5 day stay we trekked out to Canmore to stay amongst the mountains and ride along the TransCanada Highway to Banff (recycled date from Meredith, I didn’t think she would mind). We rode the 20km to Banff after obtaining coffee and snacks, had a lounge on the grass by the Bow River to discuss life and lunch. It was around this time that I suggested we ride to the Banff Hot Springs (3km up hill) and take a soak in the water while checking out the views. This was where Lisa’s determination really shone through. She peddled up that mountain while facing elevation (thus shortness of oxygen), trembling muscles (hadn’t ridden a bike for a sustained number of years), and the fact that it was – well – a MOUNTAIN IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES. Turns out I planned a date full of action and adventure without considering the impact asthma, sea-level lung capacity and jet lag. Opps. Lisa killed it though. Faced that mountain with straight up stubbornness; head down, legs pumping and she flat out refused to catch the bus to the springs. I think she was 20m away from punching me in the face when we reached the top. What a gal! Lisa was lucky enough to score an overnight date with me in Dave’s condo. Good thing too, as we lay on the floor and passed out cold from all our exertion during the day. Totally rose worthy!
Another group date worth mentioning is the trip to Machu Picchu with Riss and Cheryl. While this will be a part of another reflection, Machu Picchu had been something I’d categorised as a ‘couple activity’ in my mind and was reluctant to pursue it unattached. Needless to say, Boyfs are not mandatory for climbing things and taking in spectacular scenery. These two ladies were very pro selfies, random yoga poses, singing, sweating, giggling and stillness. It was a great day and one I’ll elaborate more on elsewhere. Instead of roses, these ladies get Coca leaves in true Peruvian tradition.
There is one other person I’ve had some casual dates with – Justin. Now while he isn’t a part of the female category per se, he is someone with whom I can be just as silly, knows me just as well and supports me just as much. Those who know the background to this may be slightly alarmed, we dated for a few years a while back, however with a substantial amount of work by both of us we are able to be good friends. Justin was adopted by my Calgary peeps when we were dating and it’s testimony to his good character that they have wanted to keep him (even though he is Welsh and cheats all the time when playing sport). Justin/Jugga/J is the kind of friend who offers to collect you when headed to BBQ’s and is always up for a sushi date. J drove us around Lake Louise when Lisa was in town and tolerated 3 blondes in his car all being very loud (Thanks again, that was a fun day!). In terms of the ‘rose ceremony’ aspect, J doesn’t get a rose. I think he is more like my version of Chris – the host of the trashy TV show. It’s a great situation to be in where you can honestly sit with someone like him and be like “so, you’re a great dude (not my dude, great none-the-less) and need to find someone awesome to date”. I’ll acknowledge it’s not a conventional situation, and as I mentioned earlier – it’s taken some work – my Canadian peeps have adopted him long term, he is a part of the scene and it’s nice to have him around (even if it’s just to gloat about Australia’s general sporting prowess – we wont mention the cricket).
The best part about being a “Bachelorette” in this situation is that I don’t have to make any actual choices. I get to hand out roses willy nilly and continue to go on dates with all these fun individuals. The even better part is that I get to date internationally. The best of the Canadian and Australian ladies feature in my Bachelorette lifestyle. I guess this means I’ll have to do an Aussie version upon my return!?! Woot! Brace yourselves for slow motion beach running and splashing in the waves! HA!
Happy Wandering!
Hx