Category: Kelowna, British Columbia

I’m back…Blog #116

*Photograph by Ken Hagen; Kelowna Sunset

Hello all! No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, haven’t gone to live on some deserted island, nor moved to a secluded cabin deep in the woods. I’ve been busy! More about that in a moment.

Christmas is now in the rear view mirror. It was truly lovely. So very different from last year in Portugal…equally lovely, but so different. This Christmas, my husband and I decided to make up for missing out on the many Christmas celebrations and traditions so common to our past experience. The month of December found us exploring our own city, Kelowna, BC, Canada, and the many events it offered. Our hearts were filled while enjoying an uplifting concert by Spectrum, one of our amazing local audition choirs, were touched by the words and music from The Messiah, did the proud grandparent thing as our baby grandson had his first stage appearance as baby Jesus in a church pageants, celebrated local artisans as they displayed their wares at the many Christmas markets all the while walking around with a mug of locally made mulled wine. It was wonderful. 

Then the cold hit! We literally went from -1 C, blue sky with sun shining on Dec 14th to -25 C a week later! Just reminding us we were back home in Canada. You can imagine how many conversations we had that started with, “Remember this time last year when we were walking on the beach in Albufeira?” While it did warm up for a crisp Christmas Day walk, we certainly weren’t running into the ocean for a dip as we did the previous year!

It is amazing how much you don’t know about your hometown unless you intentionally go looking. We have lived in Kelowna since 1987, but have never spent time exploring the downtown area with its unique shops and cafés. So that’s exactly what we did the week before Christmas. We still had a couple of gifts to purchase, so we got in the car and drove the short 5km to explore new territory. It was so much fun. 

We started with coffee (of course) at a café I had been to a couple of years previous, but it was new to my husband. Pulp Fiction is a coffee shop with personality…you must go visit their website and check it out. Honestly, I have no idea why I never returned there! We loved the vibe; the place was full, some folks visiting, others reading, several working on their laptops…the hum of people doing life was delicious.

From there we walked across the street to Olive and Elle, another delightful shop worth checking out for their unique and high quality home decor, adorable baby ‘stuff’, among other lovelies. 

The third shop we visited was down right dangerous…in the very best way possible! Textile Apparel, I had no idea what it was, sells clothes you just want to live in! Natural fabrics, Canadian made, funky but classic…and right on our doorstep! I had no intention of purchasing anything that day, after all, we were suppose to be finishing up our Christmas shopping, but I couldn’t resist.

Have you ever had a garment in mind that you knew you’d love but couldn’t find it anywhere? That’s what happened. A long, wool coat, forest green, my size…how could I resist! I tried it on and it was love at first sight. It is now hanging in my closet, ready for me to adorn every opportunity possible. It was a good day.

We explored and discovered more places that day, but I’ll leave it there for now.

Back to the start of this post and my busyness. This wasn’t necessarily activity based, but more creative. You see, I knew back in 2019 that I wanted to go on an extended study leave for 2021/2022. I also anticipated that it would be an adventure of a lifetime that would both inspire and stretch me. That’s when I started writing a memoir that would capture the journey from inception to completion.

For the past few months I have been focused on completing the manuscript, having it beta read, and finally, submitted to a publisher just yesterday. I’m sure you see what I mean by being creatively busy! This was a huge step for me…scary, exciting, and just unbelievable! It will be published, and I hope and pray it will also sell and be read…but that’s totally out of my control.

It will be a few months before it’s ready to promote and sell, I’ll keep you posted.

For now, I plan on continuing to blog and share my learnings from life and travel.

Hope you’ll keep joining me.

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*Ken Hagen linkedin.com/in/kenhagen Freelance Photographer and Videographer based out of Kelowna, BC

New page, new chapter…Blog #115

Do you remember your high school years? It seemed (to me anyways) the hours of boring classes, homework, exams, and tedious studying, would never end? (says the professor). But they did, and as I look back I realize they were just a tiny bleep in time. I feel a bit of deja vu these days–I can’t believe how quickly this year has passed! 

August 1 marked a year since I began my extended study leave (ESL); actually it marked the end of that ESL. Unbelievable! It was my main focus since beginning to prepare the proposal in Spring of 2019, and now it is becoming a distant memory. But what a memory! 

My blog posts have also been focused on preparing for, and living the adventure experienced with my husband, and as I now return to blogging, I’m having a hard time getting back in the groove. I’m still committed to writing about learning from life and travels, but feel like a new page has been turned in life, and I’m not sure what the next chapter is called, nor how to get there. 

Perhaps a bridge is needed. My last blog was posted mid-June, let’s start there.

June was basically spent getting back to being home, as in Kelowna, BC, Canada: wrapping up loose ends from my research, writing my Global Professional in Human Resources exam (which I passed…phew!), re-adjusting to life in Canada, catching up with friends, connecting with colleagues at work, and spending as much time as possible with our daughter and family. To be honest, June was a bit of a whirlwind (I did write a bit about it in my previous blog).  

July hit, and with the research and resulting papers etc. complete, it was time to let my mind and body rest before digging into preparing for another year of teaching HR and Management courses, and working with clients. July truly was back to basics…the 3-Rs, ok 4-Rs: reading, writing (not sure how this was labelled as an ‘R’), riding, and relaxing. The reading was light, mostly mysteries and the like; the writing was focused on my travel memoir from this past year (more about that to come); bike riding was a mix of both slow and pushing hard; and relaxing was well, relaxing. 

Enjoying wine and cream puffs at Arrowleaf Winery

The more we travel, the more I appreciate the beauty of the Okanagan Valley region in which we live. We are surrounded by mountains that house world class skiing, 30+ golf courses, approximately 182 wineries, and many lakes. The Okanagan Lake alone is 135 km long! So while we absolutely love to travel, we are fortunate to have a spectacular location to return to after each adventure.

But, my mind is already longing for more travel…yes, the more you travel, the more you realize how many more places you want to experience. Future travels will probably not be for such an extended time as this past adventure to Europe; however, there is still great value in a weekend away closer to home, taking a week or so to a drivable location, or a few weeks to more distant lands that call for a plane ride to jet you away to some new exploration. 

I have many memories and learnings from past travels sewn into the fabric of my heart and soul, and I invite you to reflect on them with me over the next weeks and months until the next yet unknown adventure presents itself.

A favourite spot to take in the Okanagan Lake.