The day has finally come! Today is the day I leave for Ecuador. It is unbelievable that over a year of planning has passed by and we will soon begin our adventure. I posted some of my "thank you's" to my personal Facebook page, but I thought I'd share them here as well:
Thank you Krista
and Laura for being brave enough to take twelve teenage girls to
Ecuador. Thanks for all the time you have devoted to this trip and for
always being fantastic and fun. I'd also like to thank Krista for taking
me to We Day, I had a blast! Thank you Glenda, even though you are no longer going on the trip with us it was still great to meet you. A massive thank you to Nancy, without you I would never be going on this trip. I would like to thank Nancy, Bonnie, and Sharon
for being incredible Guiders. You have all been extremely supportive of
me and I thank you for being such a huge part of my Guiding. Thanks to
the eleven other girls going on this trip for being so amazing and
friendly. I'm so glad to have met you. Thank you to my Mom, Dad, and the
rest of my family for always being so supportive of my Guiding and this
trip to Ecuador. Thank you to anyone who has ever made a donation or
supported my trip through fundraising. You are all amazing and I (and my
parents) thank you very much! Thanks to anyone who has every bought a
box of Girl Guide cookies from me... and no, they are not made out of
Girl Guides (*cough* Mr. Lucy *cough*). Thank you to anyone who has ever
expressed interest in my trip or asked me about it. Your patience while
I excitedly rambled on was greatly appreciated. And finally, I would
like to thank everyone who told me to have fun on my trip to Africa. I
hope you have fun on your next geography test.
I also have to thank each and every one of you who has visited my blog and taken the time to read my posts. I hope you continue to come back and visit. I look forward to sharing all of my experiences with you.
Have a lovely day, I'll see you in two weeks!
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Packing Tips
In preparation for going to Ecuador, I have begun to pack... mainly just to check that I can fit everything in my bag. I normally procrastinate and saving packing until the night before (as I do with everything else in life) but I am determined to break this habit as I pack for Ecuador. Here are some of the ways I pack things in my bag in order to make sure everything stays compact and organized. I have to thank many of my leaders to showing me these packing techniques; I've found them very helpful and thought it would be great thing to pass onto others.
Sleeping bags often take up a lot of space. Many of them come with their own bags, some of them pack up your sleeping bag pretty well, others not so much. A compression sac is a great way to reduce the amount of space your sleeping bag takes up. They come in various sizes/volumes, all with the purpose of making whatever you put inside as small and compact as possible.
Two words: PLASTIC BAGS. Yes, those plastic zip-up bags. Ever seen those infomercials where the woman puts the clothes in the massive clear bag, attaches her vacuum, and then the bag shrinks down to become flat and compact? This is a similar idea on a less grand scale. Better organize your clothing by separating it into tops, bottoms, undergarments, rolling and placing them in separate freezer-size plastic zip-up bags. Suck out the air with a straw and "ta-da"! Now all of your clothing is contained and less likely to be mixed up and thrown about while searching for that fresh pair of socks. Your clothing will also remain dry in the case that your tent floods or bag comes into contact with water.
Extra large plastic zip-up bags can also be used to store your sleeping bag and pillows when out and about. At GM2010 in Guelph, Ontario our leaders provided us with these bags and instructed us to pack up our bedding every morning. This saved our bedding from becoming damp on more than one occasion!
Sleeping bags often take up a lot of space. Many of them come with their own bags, some of them pack up your sleeping bag pretty well, others not so much. A compression sac is a great way to reduce the amount of space your sleeping bag takes up. They come in various sizes/volumes, all with the purpose of making whatever you put inside as small and compact as possible.
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| Left: Bag that came with my sleeping bag, Right: Sleeping bag in compression sac |
Two words: PLASTIC BAGS. Yes, those plastic zip-up bags. Ever seen those infomercials where the woman puts the clothes in the massive clear bag, attaches her vacuum, and then the bag shrinks down to become flat and compact? This is a similar idea on a less grand scale. Better organize your clothing by separating it into tops, bottoms, undergarments, rolling and placing them in separate freezer-size plastic zip-up bags. Suck out the air with a straw and "ta-da"! Now all of your clothing is contained and less likely to be mixed up and thrown about while searching for that fresh pair of socks. Your clothing will also remain dry in the case that your tent floods or bag comes into contact with water.
 |
| Fold and roll the clothing tightly so that it is slightly smaller than the width of the bag |
 |
| 5 T-shirts easily fit into one freezer bag! |
Extra large plastic zip-up bags can also be used to store your sleeping bag and pillows when out and about. At GM2010 in Guelph, Ontario our leaders provided us with these bags and instructed us to pack up our bedding every morning. This saved our bedding from becoming damp on more than one occasion!
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Ecuador Ed-Venture Clothing and Logo
Exciting news... I just received my Ecuador Ed-Venture clothing and crests! Each participant had the choice of either a T-shirt or 3/4 length shirt and a pull over or zip-up hoodie. Both the shirt and sweater have our Ecuador Ed-Venture logo on the front, as well as Girl Guides of Canada and the trefoil on the left shoulder.
I am thrilled with how the logo/crest design turned out. A girl in our group came up with the main idea for the crest, and with input from the rest of the girls and leaders this is the final design:
The world and people are a reference to the Free the Children logo, the organization that we are supporting by going on this trip. The maple leaf on one person represents Canada, and the rose represents Ecuador. The crest design also has the GGC trefoil (of course!) and the Me to We logo. Me to We supports Free the Children in many ways, mainly by organizing volunteer trips to countries such as Kenya, India, Ghana and Ecuador. We Day is great way to learn about their organization and how to get involved in a variety of projects, both large ones overseas and small things you can do at home. If you have the opportunity to go to We Day I highly encourage you go!
I am thrilled with how the logo/crest design turned out. A girl in our group came up with the main idea for the crest, and with input from the rest of the girls and leaders this is the final design:
The world and people are a reference to the Free the Children logo, the organization that we are supporting by going on this trip. The maple leaf on one person represents Canada, and the rose represents Ecuador. The crest design also has the GGC trefoil (of course!) and the Me to We logo. Me to We supports Free the Children in many ways, mainly by organizing volunteer trips to countries such as Kenya, India, Ghana and Ecuador. We Day is great way to learn about their organization and how to get involved in a variety of projects, both large ones overseas and small things you can do at home. If you have the opportunity to go to We Day I highly encourage you go!
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