This summer I managed to overcome my deep fear and went camping a total of three times. And all three times I set up the tent. Oh yeah.

#581. Go camping again

615. Do a body shot

The lock on the door proved to be quite useful in my Montreal hostel last summer. Easy enough to open if your roommate wanted to lock you out, at least.

Punta Cana beach at sunrise

I actually miss Vegas. Or maybe I miss travelling in general. I’m not sure anymore.

The periods in between traveling are pretty much terrible.
I have absolutely nothing planned that will fulfill anything on my list. I guess in a month I am seeing a live comedy show, but that is about it until December 27th, when I hit Mexico (or Cuba?)

I want to say that I’m not dead, but it certainly doesn’t feel like I am living at the current moment.

1. You walk on naked ladies everywhere on the Strip. The amount of people handing out the little call girl cards on the Strip is insanity! The ground is littered with pictures of naked women, quite literally. It’s bother disgusting and amusing. Do men actually call for these women while in Vegas? I mean, they must, otherwise they wouldn’t be in business. But SERIOUSLY?

2. It’s impossible to find anything here. I’m convinced most places in Vegas should be charged with illegal confinement, because it seems the main goal of all the major hotel/casinos is to make it very hard for you to leave. I spent several hours lost in them while trying to get back to the Strip or to a different hotel. The only place with decent signage was the MGM Grand.

3. There are more McDonalds than people in the city. Ditto for 7-11s.

4. The build out instead of up. In most cities, as they grow population-wise, you get a boom of tall apartment and condo buildings, so you don’t end up with a city 8 hours across. Apparently Las Vegas either missed the memo on how awesome multi-story buildings are for living accomodation, or they have some law against building high-rises off of the strip. The tallest condo building I saw was maybe 10 stories, which even by small Canadian town standards is small. We have grain silos bigger than that!

5. Drinking is so much more fun when done out of drink-ware that is shaped like the building you are in.

6. If there weren’t topless women dancing, you didn’t actually see a show in Vegas. I reccomend you get your money back or demand topless women.

7. Las Vegas is a black hole in which time stops. After about an hour here, you’ll already be trying to figure out what day things happened on.

I arrived late thanks to pretty much every road in downtown Calgary being under construction. They weresuper nice regardless at the 737 13 Ave location, the main office for Canadian Blood Services in Calgary. I went through the normal procedures and was taken into the donation room, where I saw the size of the needle and had to avert my eyes from the vein puncturing. I can take needles without blinking and normally watch, but this was a freakin’ huge needle!! Of course, no trip anywhere with me is complete without drama, so I half passed out after they removed the needle. Yeah, everything was fine until I was completely finished and they took the needle out. It got all bright and loopy, and then I was suddenly aware I was wet (cold damp cloths to help you come too) and people were staring at me. Completely embarrassing. Completely. Regardless it is off of my list, and I have another appointment booked in October. I think I can donate two more times before going to Mexico in December/January.

If you live in Canada and aren’t a donor yet, call 1.888.2.DONATE to make an appointment. It’ll take about an hour in total but you could add years to someone’s life.

picture courtesy of jasondunn.com

Sign in found on the backroads of Southern Ontario, near St. Catharines.