Not All Who Wander are Lost

This past summer at the folk fest, one of the performer's was telling a story. I know what you are thinking, someone telling a story at a folk festival? Yup, it happens. Anyways, the story he was telling (I say he, because I can't remember his name) was about his time touring with Stompin' Tom Connors. For those of you who don't know, Stompin' Tom is a Canadian folk legend, whose most famous for "The Hockey Song". So, the story though was about the way Stompin' Tom toured. He told this guy who will remain nameless until my memory gets better, "If you want to see the real Canada on tour, stay away from the highways. Take the side roads through the small towns. No one ever saw Canada from a highway". Well, at least this is what I think he said, as I mentioned before, my memory is foggy at best.

Appropriately, Stompin' Tom's road is off the beaten path. 

This really resounded with me though. It's very true. I've driven all over this country, but most of it was from the view of the 400 series, and then the Cross Canada Highway. You really don't get to see the real Quebec when all you can see is giant moose fence.

So, I started venturing off my normal routes. I only live about an hour from home, and I make the drive a few times a month. It's gotten a bit mundane to take the same old route every time, even if it is the most efficient. One day when I was driving home, I thought, you know what, why don't I just drive in the right direction and see where I end up. It's surprising to see what you miss when you take the same route every time. There are amazing ranches that I had never seen before. All of this just beyond my sight from my normal route.

It's almost become a quest of mine now to get lost. Luckily I've been unsuccessful so far, but what I'm more surprised of is what I've found. Trips seem faster even though they take longer, simply because you can't believe what you have been missing. Even in my own neighborhood I've been surprised by how many amazing houses, and parks are around, that I would never have known about without bidding farewell to efficiency.

Next time you go to drive somewhere, why not turn on "avoid highways" on your GPS. Its amazing the number of lives you can drive by at high speed on the highway, but its even better how much you can learn by taking in the scenic route. Real life isn't lived on a highway.

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What I'm Listening to This Week:

Jamiroquai - Traveling Without Moving

What Travelling Experience has Changed your Life?

This summer I got to go to the Grand Canyon. The canyon itself was pretty remarkable. It's hard to describe until you get there and see that it goes for as far as the eye can see. This isn't about the canyon though. While travelling around Arizona I was blown away by the diversity of the state. From the scorching heat of Phoenix, the wilderness in Flagstaff, and the never ending supply of breathtaking mountains, it's a fascinating place to visit.

Little Known Fact - Grand Canyon is French for Big Canyon

Now, I've had the debate before that travelling can be dangerous. I'm not talking about movies like Hostel or Taken which tell of the dangers of being abducted. What I fear of travelling is the effect it can have of demistyfing the world. A majority of my knowledge of the world comes from documentaries, friends harrowing tales of adventure, and history books. However, when people go to Paris, they don't typically talk about the long lineups at the Louvre, abundance of dog poop, or the smell.

Why Not Dance at Hopewell Rocks?

Like meeting your idols, only to find out that they are mortal too, is travelling a dangerous trip for your mind? Is the idea of ignorance is bliss truly the best? Well, I've gone back and forth on the idea that staying home, and believing that Aladdin taught me all I needed to know about Arabian nights is the best way to travel the world. However, when you see the amazing landscapes that this world has to offer, it becomes apparent that you really have to get out of your pajamas, and see the world first hand. Let me apologize in advance and tell you that David Attenborough will not be there to narrate your every discovery, but you won't need him to.

or.. Dance in Quebec City?

Now, I'm a terrible person to travel with. I am terrified of bears, spiders, snakes, oh, and travelling. However, sometimes you just have to say life's too short to watch reruns of Futurama, get in a car with your friends, and journey into a part of the world unknown.

So I ask you, what travelling experience has changed your life?

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What I'm Listening to This Week:

Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again

So.. What do I really Do?

I think one of the most common question someone get's asked is simply, "So, what do you do for a living?". Seems like a simple question, which ideally, would warrant a simple answer. However, it took me four months at my full time job with tbk Creative, before I was finally forced to come up with a title for what I do, and that's just the title. With all of the emerging technologies, there have been equal numbers of new job titles. I settled on something that I thought would help explain things a little better; Conversion Expert. Still shrugging your shoulders? I'll explain.

Essentially my job is to take an new idea, like a website or social media, and show a business how it is actually useful for them in growing their business. So where do conversions come into play? Well, anytime someone does something on your website that deem valuable to growing your business, that's a conversion. What conversions are can widely vary from a simple purchase on a site, to registering for a charity run. What I do, is utilize the tools at my disposal and increase those.

The internet can really be a confusing place. With so much information accessible at any time, picking what's important can be challenging. The true test of a successful website has become beyond just having a nice looking website, but has moved into the realm of having a website that you use as a tool. Yes, we've had websites for a long time, but it's really only been in the past few years that we have been able to study how people interact with those websites, and improve on them so interaction has become easier.

So where do I fit in? I'm your websites equivalent of a city planner. I make sure that the store what you want people to find isn't buried in some dark corner at the end of town. Once they get into the store, I make sure they find what they are looking for and help grow your business.

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Still not sure what I'm talking about? Check out some of the websites I've worked on at www.tbkcreative.com and notice the difference.

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What I'm Listening to This Week:

Polica - Give you the Ghost