Heading south for the winter

Note: This is an old post that has been sitting in draft for a while. I should have posted this in September.

After what seems like decades my US Visa has finally arrived and I’ll be heading south for the Winter. Pasadena here I come. After 7 and a half years in Canada it’s time for something warmer around January.

But before I go, thank you Canada. It’s been a fun an crazy time. Thank you to all the people who fed me, introduced me to Thanksgivings, Canadian Football, Canadian Football Cheerleaders, tried to teach me to golf, introduced me to IPAs, craft beers by the barrel, whiskeys and scotch from all over, camping with s’mores, sailing around the Gulf Islands, getting lost on some dirt road in the middle of some mountains on a motorbike.

Thank you for getting swamp monsters home, showing me how to fall off a snowboard, fall off a boat, fall in love. I got to be a lifeguard, a CEO, a painter, a designer, a salesman, an actor, a body double, a teacher, a student, a cat owner servant, a traveller.

In the last 7 years I’ve seen glaciers in Alaska, went scuba diving in a reserve in Mexico, smoked cigars and drank rum in Cuba, saw sharks in Jamaica, and seen everywhere that makes me want to see more.

But thanks to the people in Canada. You’re all so nice to an Irishman who you couldn’t understand. Canada has been good.

And last, a special thanks to everyone who in the last few months of me being homeless, unemployed and waiting for a visa, have given me places to sleep, fed me and returned trucks across the border.

I hope Pasadena is half as nice.