Phase II: Planning!!

The time has come, it's now time to start planning the trip!

This will be a short update, just letting you know where I am with planning so far, which isn't far. (Sorry, no pics for this post)

I will be leaving a lot of room for changes and really I'm only going to plan out enough to get me to Europe at this time. I figure it'll be best to only really make a rough plan and itinerary and only have maybe the next month at a time set up, too much can happen if you plan too far ahead. So for right now I'm only looking to start planning the Canadian portion of the trip, the Canadian Odyssey if you will.

I still have another 9 months to go before the Odyssey starts but with my busy schedule and an expected summer of sailing that 9 months will go by quickly. I figure it's best to start now so I have time to talk to people and get a communication started, probably better than "Hey I'm dropping by next week, do you know a place I can crash at while I train with you?" Matsurfing or floor crashing will be key to helping keep expenses down, especially across Canada and Europe where even hostels won't always be cheap. So building a correspondence friendship with new places is must in my books. I've already complied a list of places I either have friends or family at to visit or clubs I'd like to go train at. There are a few cities I need help with, so if anyone is in one of the cities, or knows someone who is, and is willing to let me come crash on a floor and/or train with you, let me know.

Here's the list of places I hope to hit up while traveling across Canada and make new friends:

Gibsons, BC (Tidal and Sadohana Kokodo)
Vancouver, BC
Calgary, AB
Winnipeg, SK
London, ON
Hamilton, ON (Ouroboros BJJ)
Kingston, ON (Tiger's Den Jiu-Jitsu)
Ottawa, ON
Petawawa, ON (Evolution BJJ)
St. Catharines/Niagara Falls, ON
Toronto, ON (Various clubs)
Montreal, QC
Quebec City, QC
Halifax, NS
Sidney, NS
St. John's NL (St. John's BJJ & Judo)

I added the clubs I do plan on making out to train at, but I'm open to train at others as well, get out and meet as many new people as possible. As you can see there's a lot of Ontario cities, that's because I have a lot of friends and family around there. There are a list of clubs that I haven't added on because I haven't yet talked to them about visiting and I don't want to publicly list 'maybe's' on here just yet.

Want to add a city or club on here? shoot me a line and let me know! I'd be happy to come train. 

Like I said, a short update, no to do a lot of e-mailing!