Ben sets out his personal goals for the duration of his stay in AlexandriaUpon stepping off the train I was immediately greeted on the platform by Mitch who regular readers might remember me writing about in an earlier post As Fate Would Have It.
For those who didn't see it, I first made contact with Mitch when he emailed me inviting me to come and work on his homestead back when I was in Tweed and sat here this evening tucking into my bear sausage I am somewhat bewildered as to where the time has gone.
But the main thing I guess is I have arrived safely and with a six week stop scheduled here in Alexandria I have decided to set myself a few goals to keep me focused:
1. Get my blog up to date
I am all too aware that I have been falling way behind with the regularity of my posts and am keen that I catch up with my latest going's on. More importantly, I want to use my time in Alexandria as an opportunity to get back in the habit of writing and publishing journal entries as and when they occur... not leaving it for weeks at a time like I have being doing of late.
2. Arrange my next leg
As part of my pre-departure planing I set out the Seven Stages of the Revolution which identified my preferred route to take me right the way around the World. This route however contains little in the way of detail and apart from including a few key milestones I have little in the way to support my plans on a a day-by-day or even week-by-week basis.
So the plan was (and continues to be) to break each Stage into a series of Legs and plan these in a greater detail as and when necessary. This, in theory, ensures I strike the right balance between having a good plan of action whilst maintaining a healthy level of flexibility.
Supporting this approach then I made sure that when I left the UK, I did so with the first leg of Stage 1 set out in full, including accommodation and travel arrangements for my first six weeks here in Southern Ontario from Toronto right the way up through to Winchester.
As such, my arrival this week in Alexandria marks the end of this 1st leg and the beginning of the next which up to and including now, means I have no more arrangements in place.
Therefore, whilst here in Alexandria I must before leaving set out in detail my intentions for Stage 1: Leg 2.
3. Lose Weight
The combination of excessive drinking whilst CouchSurfing and fine foods across the board has led to my belt taking some added strain and not wanting to waste the hard work of the last few years I want to make an extra special effort in Alexandria to work off these extra calories and get back in shape.
From discussions with Mitch on the type of work I can expect to face here in Alexandria I have little doubt that exercise will be a problem but with various breads, cakes and cookies available around the clock I fear my gluttony could let me down.
4. Kill a Chicken
Thanks to discussions in Tweed I have come to the decision that if I am to eat meat in the quantity that I am use to then I should also be able and willing to kill the animals that make it. As such, my fourth objective for Alexandria is to kill a chicken.
It's not something I want to do by any means but I am happy with the logic that has me feeling like I should, even if it is just the once.
5. Eat Bear and a Dozen more new Foods
Along with generally working hard, learning new skills and eating new foods as per my general travel objectives I specifically here want to make an extra special effort to try new foods, starting tonight with bear.
So if I haven't before eaten it and its available then I'm going to at the very least try it; something that people who know me well will realise the personal challenge this presents.
Either way, I just hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew (I couldn't resist, sorry.)
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| If you don't think about the fact the bear was shot down in the wild whilst minding its own business then it actually tastes quite delicious |