Our third travel journey entry for #europe2023 took us to #harrypotter land. If you’re watching these then you’re in on the secret because I’m not posting the links to these unlisted videos anywhere else.

8r4d An afternoon at the pub? Yes please! #london #europe2023

8r4d Despite a disappointing lack of gender neutral washrooms, we thought we’d spend our third London day and pay homage to the actors and artisans who constructed the Harry Potter films and check out the WB Studio tour where the actual pretend magic happened. #europe2023 #harrypotter

Video Travel Journal Day 2… A full day in London UK included Victoria & Albert, tea on a double decker, a lot of walking and sightseeing and a West End show called Back to the Future: the Musical

8r4d Well my two travelling companions couldn’t visit #london and skip the West End theatre scene… #europe2023

8r4d Our second morning of #europe2023 and it was ducking great, even the swans thought so…

Our video travel journal, day one… let’s see how long I can keep up with making these! #europe2023

For a free ride to the top of a tall building with a great view of the city you can’t really go wrong with the Sky Garden in London. We took the underground to Bank Station and walked around a bit, had dinner and went cup about 15 minutes before our ticket time. The balcony was closed because it was windy but the space was otherwise amazing! #europe2023

8r4d Free rides up to a viewing area on a tall building is a pretty casual way to spend the first evening of #europe2023

8r4d Trying to burn 20 minutes til our sky garden tix I google mapped the area and saw “may be of interest to Harry Potter fans” … and when we turned the corner the Harry Potter fans immediately recognized a set piece from the films. #europe2023 #harrypotter but #fuckterfs amiright?

8r4d A Sunday evening feast at a classy pub by the river, apparently an old bank, but their pies were great and I ate a whole bowl of gravy somehow! #europe2023 #london

8r4d Before even making it to the hotel there was a lot of walking and train traveling to be done. #europe2023

8r4d #europe2023 here we come…

8r4d Ready for takeoff at the #airport #europe2023

8r4d My kid is a cartoon character (at the #airport zzz) #travel #europe2023 …

8r4d oh little does she know how hard her adventure is gonna start soon…

8r4d One last look as I pack up my backpack for my #lastday #downtown. The team threw a fun little lunch party with pizza and treats and we said our goodbyes and adieus. One job left: hand in my computer and see what happens next.

8r4d Oh, thirty klicks on a #sundayrunday will be my last loooooong #running for a few weeks while we explore a bit more of the world beyond the #yeg #rivervalley … but it doesn’t mean we can’t still have a bit of local fun.

8r4d A Friday evening out on a double date with friends took us to Fort Edmonton and the theatre where we watched a pretty good musical put on by a local company…. plus we got to putz around the park after hours which was kinda cool.

8r4d Over the river and under the train. When I first ran over this #bridge it was a simple but popular footbridge but a few years ago became a train crossing with a suspended pedestrian path below. We ran across it last night and it’s weird because every time I’ve crossed this bridge in the past I seem to be in the cusp of some kind of huge adventure… a big trip, a physical recovery, a career change. It’s like there are symbolic places in our world that span the points between moments and simply moving through them becomes a mental marker for our soul to latch onto. Weird huh?

8r4d One last #downtown meetball run before I sign off. It’s been a minor blast having an excuse to revive some adventure #running in the middle of our marathon training season, but it’s a heckuva drive back and forth after a long day. #runcrew

8r4d Change is inevitable, and we can either change ourselves or be changed by the hands of fate. I've officially chosen the former. If you haven't already heard, I have given my notice at the City of Edmonton where I've worked for over 12 years and I will be moving on to something new at the end of this month. What that new thing is, looks like, feels like, turns out to be, all of that is up in the air right now. A few months to decompress. A few months to reinvent. And... then change happens, right? I have created a plan that is simultaneously fulsome and promising, yet open-ended and full of a hundred unexplored paths.There is some travel in the very near future. There is a lot of running to be done before the Chicago Marathon. Writing, definitely. But I've also left a lot of space to be filled with digging into my hobbies, reconnecting with people, and simply following the white rabbit into the wonderland of opportunities that I've been ignoring for years. It's an amazing privilege to create this space and I have an amazingly supportive wife whose shoulder has been there all the way. So? Onward. And stay tuned.

8r4d Sure, you’re looking at a photo of a tree that’s toppled over in the wind and giving it an indifferent shrug. But this tree held a weird and unique spot in my mind. It was a damn near perfect tree. I mean that it was almost a prototypical tree, like a kid’s drawing of a tree made real, a slender trunk with a cartoon shaped orb of foliage atop, exactly what the tree in your mind’s eye looks like, and it was in a storm drainage park and was not clipped or groomed or trimmed to get that way. It just was there accidentally perfect. And it fell over and died completely this week, snapping off at the base of the trunk and not even leaving a stump behind. So so so weird.

#rain in the #downtown got me into a meditative mindset this afternoon…