Back in Ontario

I am LOVING the warm weather and I'm so happy that I got to experience some of it before fall kicks in.  

I've spent the last two weeks going back and forth between Kingston and Toronto.  In that time I have rediscovered my love of teaching and become even more determined to stretch more, train more, hoop more, etc.  It's been great to see family and friends as well.

My friend Nicole and I did a really fun photo shoot in Toronto with the incredibly talented Jowita B.  You can check out some of the photos here.  The photo above is hers as well.

I also got a chance to perform at the Kingston Summer Cabaret.  What a great group of people and a great show.  I had a lot of fun.  Oh and the audience was amazing!!!  I'm hoping to get a good copy of some video soon and I'll be sure to post it.

My plans from here all still kind of up in the air.  I will be using Kingston and Toronto as a home base for the time being though traveling is far from out of my system.  If you want to know about my classes, workshops and performances, check here.  Right now I've got stuff booked in Kingston, Belleville, Toronto and hopefully Hamilton soon as well.  I haven't had a chance to update it all yet but I will shortly.

I'm off to Toronto for the long weekend.  Acro jams abound!
Have a great Labour Day weekend!

Love to you all,
xo
Erin

Canada!

Hey Everyone :)

The Big Chill was great.  Crazy intense 8 days of fun, work and great people.  Massages, performances, playing, rocking out to music, creating an amazing space at The Rubbish Side Show and meeting awesome creative people from all over the world.

I am going back to Ontario for a month, as of Monday.  I am teaching workshops, doing performances and offering massages.  For more info and my schedule, visit Twisted Yoga. 

I hope to see and play with everyone that I can while I'm back.  Get in touch!

Lots of Love,
Erin

The Big Chill

Unfortunately things didn't work out with the pirate performance but I am doing a solo performance at The Big Chill Festival this week!  We leave Monday morning (Stephen will be on the crew) and will be gone for at least a week.  I will be offline for the duration.  I am losing my mind with excitement and fear.  I'm sure it will be a fantastic experience.  Stephen is losing his mind over the bands and djs in the lineup (Massive Attack and Bonobo are in there!!!).

The last week has been fairly low-key.  Last weekend we went to a free music festival here in Sheffield called TramLines.  It was pretty great.  Tons of people.  We went all over checking out bands and djs.

Today is moving day.  We are staying in a friend's room while he goes away for a month.

I have some other big news but I'm still not sure that it's 100% so I'm hesitant to put it in writing but here goes.  I may be returning to Canada for a few weeks in August.  I want to stop in for a visit before we head to Thailand for the winter.  If I come, I will be teaching workshops, doing at least one performance and available for Thai Yoga massages!  I will post my schedule and more info as soon as I know it.  Oh and I will be back and forth between Kingston, Toronto and possibly Belleville.

I guess that's all for now folks.  Have a great week!

Fire and Fun

I did end up getting quite sick and it's taken me awhile to get over it.  My stomach still feels very sensitive and Sunday was the first day that I could eat anything other than toast.

The weekend was tons of fun despite feeling rough.  Saturday night we went to a 40th birthday party that was a circus festival out in a field.  There were a bunch of really awesome and inspiring performances.  One girl was on the aerial hoop hanging upside down with a hula hoop around her waist!  So cool.  The performances ended with Pete's fire act (which was awesome) and then there was fire play where Stephen got to spin fire for his first time.

Sunday evening we went to see Front Line Assembly at a club downtown.  It's been far too long since I've done something like that.

Yesterday I was at Greentop pretty much the whole day (acrobalance, tumbling, dance and double trapeze).  Every muscle in my body hurts right now and I'm just about to head out and do it all over again.  We're worked on our pirate act today.  Only 11 days left till the show!

I'm hoping to get a new podcast completed this week.  The illness pretty much inhibited any productivity last week.

Have a great day everyone!

xo Erin

Expanding and Sick

I have decided that I would like to expand my blog. Many people are doing amazing things, such as publishing books and producing music. I would like to help promote them and to share these amazing creations with you.

One of the women, Xian, lives in our house and she wrote a book that I am currently reading. She is amazing. An Acroyogi, world traveler, circus performer and she has her own publishing company. I would highly recommend that you check out her book: Why You Don't Need Shoes.

Unfortunately there has been a bug going around the house.  Steph was really sick yesterday and I've been fighting waves of nausea for three days.  I've still managed to train but I'm feeling kind of out of it.

Yesterday Pete and I did more doubles trapeze at Greentop and a yoga practice in the cemetery nearby. 

That's really all of the news for now.  

xo Erin

Lovin it

The past few days have been great.  Friday I went for a run in a graveyard, it was nice to have some alone time. Later in the day I went to Greentop and trained for a couple of hours and then had a private tumbling lesson where I learned some awesome rolls and cartwheels as well as started working on back flips and continued to work toward front walkovers.  Above is a video of my handstand progress (any feedback, Smok?).  I'm still not holding it for very long but at least I'm sort of hitting the position.

Saturday morning my friend taught me some doubles trapeze stuff!  So much fun and I could see getting totally addicted.  Yesterday afternoon we watched Pirates of the Caribbean to try to get some ideas for our pirate performance and then I took a long nap.  I had planned to go to a festival downtown but didn't make it.

Today Stephen and I recorded another podcast, this one is a gentle/yin yoga practice and it should be available for purchase by tomorrow.

This afternoon I am continuing to work on my book, getting our demo video online (watch it here) so we can apply for that gig in India and relaxing.

That's all for now.

xo Erin

Performance Video

Here is one of the videos from the show that Stephen and I put on in Kingston.  Yay!

Circus!

Monday we went to Greentop, the circus school here in Sheffield and did a private lesson in tumbling with a bit of acro balance and then we went to a dance class in the evening. I can't believe how much I sweat!

Stephen has started working on music again and we're getting a website set up for him. He has also started using devil sticks again and yesterday he tried aerial straps.

Yesterday we were at Greentop again and we got a sweet offer...free training all month in exchange for us doing a performance at the PIRATE THEMED cabaret show at the end of July.

I got back on the trapeze yesterday for the first time in a long time. I'm going to need to give my hands (and the rest of my body) some time to adjust. It felt great though, I would love to be able to consistently train with the trapeze.

We saw a poster up for a three month contract performing in India so we're going for it. I am going to start resume writing when I'm done blogging.

Today the plan is to do some writing for my book and head down to Greentop for training.

I feel extremely inspired right now and just really happy to be here.

New podcasts coming next week. For non-fb'ers, visit the link on the last post to see more new pictures.

xo Erin

Good Times

Yesterday one of our housemates took us out rock-climbing at a place just outside of Sheffield called Stanage Edge. It was incredible. I have never done it before. The scenery was amazing and the rocks were awesome. It was such a nice balance between adrenaline and peace. See a video below of Stephen climbing past a bird's nest and pulling out the gear.

Other than that, we've mostly just been sorting ourselves out in our new environment for the last few days. We've got a tumbling and acro class booked on Monday and we're also going to a dance class that day at Greentop Circus.

The book is coming along nicely and there are more podcasts on the way.

The weather here is still beautiful, we have been so fortunate.

I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Love,
Erin
PS More fb pics here.

First Yoga Pocast Is Done!

You can purchase it here.
Thank you.
xo

Moved In :)

We moved into our new home last night. We are here for a month. It's great. 8 people live here, mostly into circus and it's a vegetarian house :)

There is an awesome garden out back. The weather has been amazing since we've been here, hot and sunny.

We are both looking forward to getting into a routine of circus classes for the next month.

Great news...the first podcast is nearly complete. I am hoping to get it uploaded soon. Other great news, I am writing a book. It should be complete by the end of the month and as soon as it as, I will share all about it with you.

Today we are just getting settled, doing laundry, etc. I am hoping to get out to the park shortly get in some kind of movement.

I guess that's all for now.
xo
Erin

England

We're headed back to Sheffield, England. Just waiting in Newcastle to catch the megabus. The ferry ride back was pretty uneventful. Just chilling in a park now doing some stretching.

So as long as we have a place to stay, we start our hardcore training regime tomorrow.

Amsterdam was fun. We went out for a really nice dinner and stayed at a pretty sweet hotel. We are both missing the car already though. We sure don't travel light.

My goals for the next month are to get a bunch of podcasts and cds completed and to create a book on intro to acro. I've got a huge list of training goals as well, including taking dance classes, tumbling classes, getting back into aerials and building strength.

Stephen's excited to get back to working on music.

That's all the news for today, folks.

xo Erin

PS New fb pics here

Amsterdam for 24 Hours

We're on a ship right now heading back to Amsterdam. It's a 16 hour ferry! It's a much better ship than the last one and the water is much calmer. The sunset was beautiful and we could see the almost full moon at the same time. This will be both of our first times sleeping at sea.

So we went in to Europcar in Sheffield to see if we could return our rental in England but we were told that it would cost 3000 pounds so we took this route. we'll be in Amsterdam for just over 24 hours and then we're heading back to Sheffield.

We're hoping to rent a room for a minimum of one month to do some serious training. The people that we have met so far in Sheffield are AWESOME.

If things go well, we may end up using it as a home base while we take some shorter trips around the rest of Europe.

That's all for now.
xo
Erin

Sheffield

We arrived in Sheffield two days ago and it's been a blast. A friend that we met at Southern Lights graciously said that we could stay with him and his two flatmates for a few days. The first night we just chilled and had some good conversations. Yesterday we went with a group of people to a place outside of Sheffield called Slippery Stones. It was absolutely incredible. The drive to get there was quite nice and then as we got closer, there were sheep all over the place. We went swimming and just hung out in the sun all day.
We had the perfect end to a perfect day when we were invited to a campfire in the backyard of some of the people that came with us.

Today we slept in because we stayed by the fire until the sun came up. We went downtown and stuck our feet in the water at a park and then played in the fountains (though I didn't go in). We also did some training and I got to try walking on a globe. One of the guys that we are staying with is really good, he can walk on it and juggle three balls at the same time.

Tonight Stephen's cooking up a big pot of vegan chili. It smells amazing.

We are really enjoying ourselves here and we're thinking about trying to stay for a while longer.

That's all I've got for now.

Love to you all,
Erin xo

New fb pics here.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!!!
Love you Dad and Gilles.
Hope you got everything on time :)

So we are still in Edinburgh. We decided to spend two nights in a hostel because my back needed a break from the hard ground and we needed to charge our computers, get online, do laundry, etc.
It's actually right across the street from the campground and it overlooks the beach.

We may be heading in a new direction soon. Lots to think about right now. More info to come.

Miss everyone.
xo
Erin

PS Thanks so much Shannon for your donation!!!

Edinburgh, Part 2

We're still in Edinburgh and it still completely amazes me everyday. I wonder if people who live here still notice how awesome it is. Each day we discover new areas that are more incredible than the last. The beach, the architecture, the culture (mind you, I haven't been all that impressed with the food...a little on the bland side), etc.

Yesterday we spent the day at the campsite, chillin and training. It's so great to feel our acro improving and we're coming up with new things all of the time. I've been pretty inspired with hooping too since the festival, just making up stuff all over the place.

This morning we got up and went for a run on the beach. What a great way to start the day. We're still taking it easy and not pushing my body or Stephen's knees but even with the little bit that we have done, we can see improvements. Today was the first day for both of us that we didn't feel completely drained afterward.
While Stephen showered, I did a yoga practice. Savasana (relaxation pose) in the sun, so great.

We went downtown and found a new area this afternoon where we sat on a patio and people-watched then did some shopping for necessities. We are at the campground for one more night and then off to England.
I'm hoping there will be time tomorrow before we take off to go to the Surgeon's Museum, it looks really interesting.

Guess that's all for now, folks.

Beaucoup d'amour,
Erin

Scotland

I am feeling a little discouraged about blogging right now but I'm going to do it anyway because I want a record of our travels.

Edinburgh is incredibly beautiful. The architecture is amazing, I feel like I want to take pictures of everything, and at the same time it's so green. I would consider living here except that the constant on-the-verge-of-rain weather is giving me migraines. I think I am most suited to a climate where I can eat fresh mangoes, coconut and avocados :)

We made it here just in time to meet Prim yesterday for the photos and video. It was great to see a familiar face (and thanks a million, can't wait to see how they turn out)!
We stayed in a hotel again last night because we couldn't get online to find camping. This morning we trained in a park and then found a campground. There was supposed to be internet access here but it's being repaired at the moment.

So our plan has changed a bit. We are staying in the campground in Edinburgh for two nights and then heading to Sheffield for 3 days to stay with a friend that we met at Southern Lights. After that we are going back to Amsterdam and going to see about renting an apartment for a week or two then getting our new car and heading to La Boule, France for an aerial dance festival. We're planning to do two classes a day for week, flexibility and single point trapeze, on top of the usual acro and hooping (thanks for the info Zoey!). After that we are going to Berlin for a week or so and then to Hungary for more acro training with an instructor that we met at the Dutch Acro fest. Of course it could all change again but for now that's the plan.

I guess that's about all that's new for now.

Peace out,
Erin
PS. New fb pics here and video below.

Southern Lights Festival

What an awesome weekend! The location for the festival was amazing. It was in Southern England, near Wareham and we were camped on a hill with a view of the sea at the bottom. There was a hill behind us with a ton of sheep. It was really cool to wake up to the sound of sheep.
There were quite a few people from all over. The people were also awesome. There were some good workshops, awesome performances and great conversations (you rock, Russ). I would definitely like to come back next year, depending where I am.
I will post one short video now from the fire show and the rest later. Unfortunately I don't know the performers names or where they are from. Here are new fb pics.

The weather was great. It got pretty hot during the day and cold at night though. We didn't get any rain until Sunday night.

So we're off now to Edinburgh, Scotland for the photo and video shoot. We'll see what happens there. We got a lot of good busking ideas over the weekend and we're anxious to try them out. After Scotland we are heading to Sheffield, England to take some tumbling classes and check out the hoop and poi jams. After that it's back to Amsterdam to return the car and hopefully get another one. Then it's on to Germany!

xo Erin and Steph

From Bruges to England

Well yesterday was a great big ball of stress. We left Bruges in the early afternoon and headed toward Southampton, England. We drove through France to get the ferry to the UK. I asked around a bit in Bruges to see if anyone knew the price of the ferry and no one did. I figured it couldn't be that much and didn't bother researching it online. Oops. We walked into the ticket both in Calais, France and got a one way ticket and walked out 119 Euros poorer!!! Ouch. That is the most expensive ferry I've ever heard of. Apparently the chunnel is even more expensive. I don't know how we'll get back but we're definitely going to put some time into researching it.
All things considered, the ferry was pretty fun, though it took a bit of time before we found our sea legs.

Once we got to England there was the shock of driving on the other side of the road. I haven't been doing much driving at all and I am not willing to drive here. Poor Stephen had a helluva time yesterday. Not only are the roads insanely narrow and the roundabouts are ridiculous but the setting on the gps was changed and it took us off the highways. We ended up seeing incredibly beautiful countryside but we were driving on impossibly narrow unpaved roads in the middle of nowhere (see the video below...yes that little thing near the start that can hardly be considered a road is what we were driving on). It got pretty sketchy until we changed the setting and found our way back to the highway.

We stayed in a hotel again last night because it was pouring rain and cold. We're blowing through way too much money with all of the hotels but hopefully it'll stay warm soon. After we visit Scotland we'll be heading further south anyway.

So I probably won't have internet access over the weekend, we'll be at the Southern Lights festival, hooping and acroing ourselves silly, taking workshops, networking and playing (possibly with fire, heh).
I'll try to get some videos of the festival.

Have a great weekend everyone!
xo
Erin and Stephen

PS. New pics here.

More From Bruges

Happy Birthday Gilles!!! Love you. I hope you have an awesome day :)

We stayed in a much nicer hostel last night than the last two nights and got a good night's sleep. It's been pretty rainy and cold the last couple of days. This morning we got up and went for a walk/run, 1 minute on, 1 minute off. We did 20 minutes. I'm trying to take it slowly (very difficult for me) so that my body is not out of commision tomorrow.

We decided to stay one more night here and today we'll get the microphone so we can record podcasts anywhere. Tomorrow we'll drive all the way to Southampton, England and be there for Friday at noon when the festival starts! I am so looking forward to it. Yoga, hooping, poi, etc all weekend. Yay.
No Dunkerque for now but that's okay.

In busking news, we have come up with a creative plot that we both love and we're working on choreography. It will be a work in progress but we're hoping to have something to show in the next week or two. I'll tell you more about our characters soon :)

I guess it's my turn to shower now so I'll sign off. Missing everyone back home.

xo Erin

Bruges

This morning we found an awesome place to eat that had vegan food! The woman was super nice and the food was awesome (meat, veg and vegan), check her out here if you're in the area.

After that we did laundry, walked up to the top of Belfry Tower, a medieval bell tower in the middle of the city (holy stairs), and went to the Salvador Dali gallery.

This afternoon we found a park with a gazebo and set everything up to record a podcast but because of the wind it sounded awful. We did some acro training instead and had an audience of guys drinking in the park. One got the courage to approach us and he took pictures on his cell phone. I guess we are going to need to be in a controlled environment when we record. We are in a hostel tonight but I'm beat and don't think I have the energy to make a podcast.

We are going to Scotland on the 15th to meet up with Primrose Craig, a photographer who is going to do photos and a video for us. The plan is to get a bunch of podcasts done by then and then post everything on my website. Check her out here.

We are heading out tomorrow to Dunkerque, France and then back to England from there.

Signing off now.

Love Erin

PS New fb pics here.

The Hague and Bruges

So we made it to the beach yesterday to busk and we got about five minutes in when I had an embarrassing feminine issue and had to leave.
We chose to go back to the campsite and chill out for the afternoon since my spirits were down.

We put out the slackline and got out hoops, a skipping rope, the yoga mats, the TRX and my pilates ball and had a super fun workout and met our neighbours. They came over and asked if we were in the circus and said they couldn't stop watching us while they were eating diner. We offered to let them try whatever they wanted and they both wanted to try hoops. We ended up spending the night hanging out and teaching them poi, hooping and acro. They are a young couple from the Netherlands. It was great to meet some people and hang out.

Today we took down the tent, got all packed up and left the campsite. We went to the Mauritshuis, website here. The art was absolutely incredible. After that we wandered around a book and antique market in the rain. We grabbed lunch on an outdoor patio and now we're on way to Belgium, our third country so far.

In fitness/circus/yoga news, I did 2 and a half pull ups unaided yesterday and then 15 with Stephen's help. Skipping was awesome too. I did 100 jumps three times and then some crossovers and jumping once over two spins. I'm going to try to skip every other day.

That's it for now. It's raining here. We're hoping that it will stop by the time we get to Belgium so that we don't have to set up in the rain.

xo
Erin


Evening of June 6
It's hard being vegan sometimes. Or I guess frustrating is more accurate. The last few days have been especially tough and I've been living off bread, peanut butter and salad. Several servers have had no understanding of the concept of no cheese. Tonight I specifically asked for no cheese on my pizza and she made a joke about it and then brought me my pizza with cheese. When I told her that I couldn't eat it and that it would make me sick (I found that out when I was mistakenly given milk in a drink the other day), she laughed and told me that I would have to eat it because the kitchen was now closed. She eventually brought me a salad with onions, greens, olives and tomatoes and charged me 10 euros for it. Le sigh. Salads are great and all but I was STARVING.
Anyway, enough complaining. It's my choice to be vegan and I understand that a lot of people don't understand it. I also know that traveling involves sacrifices.

So we are in Bruges. We didn't really know where we were going but knew we wanted to get to either Antwerp or Bruges and this is where we ended up. It's incredibly beautiful and I can't wait to get out tomorrow to take pictures and explore. I've been here before, only for a half a day though.

It's gotten a lot colder and we are staying in a hostel tonight. It's more like a hotel but with the tiniest bathroom that I have ever seen. The shower is close to non-existent but at least we have one!

It's really late and we've got a fairly early check out so I'll say goodnight now.

Love to you all,
Erin

The Last Few Days

I'm posting these all now since I haven't had internet for a while.

June 2, 2010
We're on our way to Den Haag right now. Yay for the car!

We got a tent and sleepingbags today and tonight will be our first night camping. I'm so excited. I hope we can build a campfire.

The weather was incredible today. It was the first non rainy and warm day for a while. We spent a great deal of the day in Vondel Park practicing Acro (we accomplished some new stuff, yay!) and then we went to the park in Museumplein, near the Van Gogh museum where we hooped like mad. We are working on some really fun new stuff that I have never seen anyone do before. I'm excited to keep working on and eventually make a video for you all to see :)
We are getting back into the groove of things and with a few more training days I think we'll be back to busking. We just need to work on the asking for money part.

No solid plans from here until the Southern Lights Festival. We are both really looking forward to it. Hooping, Poi, contact juggling, double staff, Tai Chi, Yoga and more! Woot!
We have to be back in Amsterdam on June 30. We could only rent the car for 28 days. We'll re-evaluate at that time and see if we want to continue driving or what.

We're almost in The Hague now so I'll sign off and help Stephen navigate.

xo
Erin


June 3, 2010
Beach Day!
We got to our campground well after 11pm last night, set up the tent and went to sleep. It was quite comfortable and so nice waking up to the sound of birds all around us. It turns out that camping is definitely the way to go. We paid for four nights and it was less than one night at the last place we stayed. It is also such a great way for me to feel connected to nature. I felt more relaxed and happy waking up this morning than probably any day so far since we left.

We headed out for the beach fairly early this morning and had the greatest morning. I got my coffee and Stephen got his espresso at a cafe on the beach. The seating was couches with comfy pillows. After that we mostly spent the day doing acro and yoga in the sand. It was awesome! We had some really solid flows and we're ready to busk tomorrow. The only bummer is that we had to pay a fortune to use the bathroom.

For lunch, we shared some bread and peanut butter with jam in a beautiful area overlooking the beach on one side and lushcious green landscape on the other. It was so relaxing. All of the stressing at airports, rainy and cold days and less than ideal accomodations were totally worth it for today.

We're waiting for our dinner right now on an outdoor patio in the city center. We're hoping to get back and set up the tent before it gets dark.

The plan for tomorrow is to work on podcasts in the morning and then head out to busk in the afternoon. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

I'm going to start posting progress reports on various things we are working on, especially handstands (for a certain someone so he can give us feedback...thank you!). Today I worked mostly on flexibility but I feel that I've lost a lot of strength, especially with pullups, so I did 100 pushups. The day after tomorrow I'm going to work on pull ups. I worked on them a few days ago and I was so disappointed. When I was trying to get into the protrack circus program in Vermont, I was working on them a lot and I had gotten up to 4 and a half and the other day I was only able to do 1! :(

Love to you all,
Erin

PS Dinner took over an hour to arrive so we only had to pay for half of it. Don't go to Humphrey's (a franchise), the food is awful.


June 4, 2010

Another beautiful morning, though we slept in a little too late for my liking (9:30am). The sun is shining and we're off to an internet cafe to watch a couple of videos of acrobatic street performers to get some ideas and then we're going to find a spot and spend a few hours trying to make back some of the money we've spent.

The podcast will have to wait until tonight. I was thinking that I'll try to make several and get them posted all at once. That way I can have some different levels and different types. I would like to make some short pilates practices as well. We'll see how it goes.

I'm off for a quick hooping session while Stephen finishes getting himself organized.

Ciao,
Erin

New fb pics here

Great Day!

We *may* have a car tomorrow morning! Woo hoo! There were some hoops to jump through since I've only had my G2 for a few months and they need proof that I've been driving for more than a year but with some stressing and an internet cafe, I think we got things resolved. We are supposed to pick it up at 10am. Even greater news is that it is half of the price of the online quote because of a summer sale. Very exciting.

I had a great yoga practice this morning on the roof at the hotel until I was told to get down before someone called in a suicide attempt. LOL.
We also had an awesome practice in Vondel Park today and are going to continue getting back into our routine.

My legs have been getting quite the workout too...we're on the fourth floor here and there is no elevator. Getting our gear upstairs was quite interesting.

Our current plan is to get the car in the morning, train in the park and then head to The Hague (thanks for the recommendations!).

I'll write again soon.
xo
Erin

Amsterdam Continues

The last week in Amsterdam has been pretty great. I have been sick for a few days now but I seem to be on the mend. Some sort of respiratory or sinus infection.

Stephen and I went out wandering on Saturday to see if we could find me a pair of shoes. That is a close to impossible task since my feet are a US size 4 and I only wear vegan shoes/boots (no leather, suede, etc). Anyway, we walked by a place that looked like nothing to me and Stephen suggested that we go in. It was a vegan shoe store! And they had one pair left of the coolest shoes ever. And since my feet are such a weird size and all of the regular sizes sell out so quickly...they fit! I was so excited and so was Stephen. We had been looking for shoes for me for a long long time. Yay for happy vegan mini feets!

We are going to look into renting a car. It seems like the best way to go. We'll get to see so much more, I think overall it will be cheaper and we won't have to carry ridiculous amounts of stuff on our backs.

We still don't know where we are heading from here. Maybe Germany or maybe Belgium. I think it really depends on the car situation.

Busking hasn't been happening here. Since I have been sick and we had so many friends around, we've just been chilling and enjoying the sights. We are going to attempt a minimum of an hour each day once we leave Amsterdam.

I guess that's about all of our noteworthy news. The plan at this point is to go to the sex museum today.
Oh and Stephen's been working with one mini hoop. It looks awesome. We're going to shoot a video soon. And my yoga podcasts are in the making, more info to come.

New fb pics here

Love to you all. xo
Erin

Amsterdam

Our entire experience getting to Amsterdam was a nightmare. We flew with RyanAir and it was a disaster from the beginning. The flight departed at 6:55am which meant that we had to get up at 4am. The front desk person got the time wrong and woke us at 3:30. That part turned out for the best since it took us pretty much the entire hour to get ready. We had both slept for 2 and a half hours the night before since we realized that the checked baggage limit for RyanAir is 15kg. My pack was 17.6 and Stephen's was 19.6 in Toronto. We headed out at midnight (after paying 35 pounds to add another bag) to try to print a new boarding pass. It took us awhile to find an internet cafe that was open and by the time we got back to our room (aka sardine can) and settled into our respective bunk-beds, it was 1am. When we finally got into our taxi in the morning to take us to the airport, our driver informed us that even though on our tickets it said that we only needed to arrive half an hour early at the airport, it may not be true. He said the gate closes before the flight and that he had missed his flight one time because of it. Anyway, we were in a panic and a rush and when we got to the airport, an hour and 15 minutes and 80 pounds later, we were shocked to see the size of the lines at the baggage drop. Long story short, we got our luggage situation figured out by guessing since the scale ate our money and didn't tell us anything. Luckily we guessed correctly. Before we got to the baggage drop though, they started calling to see if anyone in the line was traveling to Eindhoven and told us to get in a different line because our flight was leaving soon. Everything went smoothly with me but they told Stephen that he would have to take his backpack through the oversized luggage section where they proceeded to search him. When he was done there we went through security, or at least tried. They wouldn't let Stephen through because they hadn't stamped his boarding pass at the baggage drop. He ran back and got that taken care of while I went through security. When he got back to security, they took his computer and ran tests on it. By the time we were finally through and proceeded to the section where we could find out our gate and flight status, we saw that it was the final call for our flight. Keep in mind we were going on very little sleep and it was incredibly early. We full out sprinted toward the gate. I like to think that I'm in pretty good shape but I could only keep up that pace for so long. My legs were burning like crazy and eventually we had to slow to a walk. I'm happy to say that we did make the flight and eventually it was smooth sailing. The flight was short and sweet and we took a bus from the airport into Amsterdam.

It was great to watch Stephen as we entered the city, his enthusiasm for the all of the bikes and the overall atmosphere was awesome.

We are staying in an apartment that's affiliated with Bob's Youth Hostel. It feels like we are living in the lap of luxury after the last place. It's very spacious, we have a kitchen and even a tv (not that it's been turned on at all but still).

We rented bikes and headed to an incredible park where we practiced Acro for a bit and then met up with Sebastian from Toronto. The next day we all met up with Wendy from New York and headed to the Dutch Acrobatics Festival in a place outside of Haarlem (which is two trains stops outside of Amsterdam) and we spend four days there. It was so much fun. There were people from all over the world as well as amazing workshops and performances. Sunday evening, the last part of the performance was an incredible group called This Side Up. Check out more about them here.

The four of us rented bikes and each morning and evening we rode to and from the festival. It was about 15 minutes each way and a relaxing and beautiful way to start and end each day.

We've decided to stay in Amsterdam for another week. We haven't really had any time to do much sight-seeing, other than what we've seen from our bikes so we're hoping to do that now. Sebastian's girlfriend arrived yesterday and the four of us are going to go on a canal tour tonight. Tomorrow we're hoping to take a yoga class, go to the Van Gogh museum and have a picnic in the park. We have all agreed to go on a guided tour of the Red Light District as well.

From here it looks like we're heading back to England for the Southern Lights Festival. We may stop in Belgium but at this point we have no set plans. We'll keep you all updated as we go :)

Oh and click here for more fb pics.

Love to you all,
Erin

Leaving London

We are so ready to go. The hostel we've been staying at for the last few nights has been less than ideal and we are both feeling like we would have been fine with spending 3 or 4 days in London as opposed to a week.

We tried to busk yesterday. We had costumes, a really solid flow, a big crowd and we made NOTHING. We are having a hard time because we don't want to ask people for money (we did have a hat out) but if we don't then they don't give us anything.
We've been discussing putting up posters to advertise shows that we'll put on in parks, maybe followed by a workshop or class. It's a learning experience anyway.

On the positive side of things...
We ran together yesterday morning in Hyde Park! It was beautiful. Stephen hadn't run for years and I've been focusing on so many other things lately that I haven't done much running (and every time I do, I overdo it and end up in serious pain). We did 2 minutes run, 1 walk for the first couple and then 1 minute of each for about half an hour.

After our jog we grabbed hoops and yoga mats and had an awesome practice in the best park that I've seen in London.

We went to an awesome vegetarian restaurant in Soho last night called Mildred's. Almost everything was vegan and incredible (mixed mushroom pie, or wellington according to Stephen, omg!). The atmosphere was great and the art on the walls was phenomenal and created by one of the servers. We actually liked the art so much that Stephen got his card so that we can discuss tattoo design. His name is Mark Boyce, check him out here.

We need to leave our hostel around 3:30am to get to the airport so it's going to be an early night. Amsterdam tomorrow!

Love to you all,
Erin

PS For the non-facebookies, see more pics here.

Landed

We made it to London! Our flight was delayed and we landed almost 8 hours after we were scheduled to but here we are. It was a long flight with a bit of a detour because of the volanic ash. I was squished between Stephen and a rather large gentleman and I don't think I've ever been so happy to get off a plane. I think it was an extremely jarring experience for Stephen because he hadn't flown since a trip to PEI when he was a child.

I can't believe we got everything done that we needed to before we left and made it to the airport. We were up until 3am the night before we left, at the goodbye party that Beantpal so graciously threw and then doing some last minute packing. We got 4 hours of sleep and then continued with packing and errands.

Stephen's parent's and brother, Jon, picked us up in a van and saw us off. We couldn't have done it without them. Thank you so much guys!

We weren't sure what the situation would look like at customs since we only purchased a one-way ticket but it was a very smooth and quick process.

We checked in at the hostel and managed to book another night here. We slept in and missed check out the first night (oops) and today was another late day. I guess we still haven't adjusted to the time difference.

So yesterday was our first day busking! It was sort of an accident. We weren't prepared for it at all and had talked about training but when we stumbled onto an area with TONS of street performers, we decided to give it a shot. I'll just say a couple of things:
-yay us for trying (we even made a bit of money!)
-we learned a lot about what not to do
-we're excited to try it again when we are better prepared

Today we are moving to a new hostel in Soho. It looks like there are lots of veggie cafes around and like it's a little more suited to our style so I'm excited.

It's been a lot of fun riding the double-decker buses all around town and going through the grocery stores to discover the differences and similarities.

I am loving London. Lots of beautiful parks and interesting buildings.

Time to move to our new 24 hour home.

Love to you all,
Erin

Stephen's promising his debut post soon :)

PS If you're not on facebook, you can see more pictures here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170312&id=518028180&l=43ca5ee016

The Beginning

Here I go again! Weeee!

Before I really get into it, I would like to get a few things out of the way...The donate button: I hope I don't come across as a complete ass but I am setting out on an adventure of a lifetime and I have a limited amount of funds so if people want to help me out I would be most grateful. Having said that, please do not feel pressured in any way. I want to share my experiences freely so I hope you enjoy!

Also, if you live in Kingston and wish to purchase an adult or kid-size, professional weighted hoop for hoopdance (aka hula hoop), please let me know. I have a bunch and all proceeds will go toward living my dream.

What is the dream? To travel the world and meet amazing people, see awesome things and get out there! I want to let opportunities and experiences happen. I feel like I have a lot to offer and I want to move out of the rigidity of the life I have been trying to live and into a more fluid existence.

I love acroyoga or partner balancing as well as many other circus arts. I have been working hard and I'm ready to get out there and perform as well as continue to learn. I hope that performing and training will be a large part of my journey.

And of course I am sharing this experience with someone very special, Stephen. We met in our high school years and reconnected over facebook last year. We met up in person and there was magic and here we are, ready to go on an amazing adventure together! He told me that he wanted to learn acroyoga and that he would be my partner so it's been on for the last few months. He is incredible (in so many ways), he has learned so much in such a short period of time. We did our first performance together recently and I'll post the video when it's up on youtube.

We leave May 11 and fly into London, England. Speaking of which, I should get back to packing and last minute preparations.

My vision for this blog is that it becomes a space for Stephen and I to post our experiences, thoughts, pictures, etc and for you all to be able to learn and visit places and meet people through us as well as keeping in contact and seeing our performances.

If you have any comments or questions or constructive criticism, please feel free to share.

Peace out,
Erin