Lots of planning...

  Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Saturday, July 7, 2007

It's now exactly one week minus 2 hours before I'm on the way to the airport for our trip to L.A.!  Hard to believe, considering I've been looking forward to and planning this trip for 2 years now!  I am happy to be taking Ben with me as my travelling companion, and also because I really want him to attend the Animal Rights Conference himself to learn what it's all about.  The schedule for the conference is up now (www.ar2007.org/schedule.htm) and I must say that it looks just fantastic!!  I am very excited!  Lots of great-sounding talks that I want to see throughout the 5 days there.  I'm sure it will be so inspirational for us, and I do hope that Ben is inspired while learning about all sorts of animal and activist/organizational issues throughout the conference.  And I look very much forward to hearing several great keynote speakers during the evenings - Howard Lyman, the Mad Cowboy, for one - who I've now seen speak two times and he never fails to move me with his inspiring message. 

Howard Lyman - the Mad Cowboy

Dennis Kucinich

Also, the wife of Dennis Kucinich, the future US president-to-be - that will be interesting to see her and see what she has to say - I'm curious!  And Paul Watson, one of the founders of Greenpeace.  After reading his Earth Day message this year, I knew immediately that I wanted to see him speak in person.  Another hugely inspiring individual who has done so much, and from his writing, he seems like he will be totally engaging to a live audience. 

Paul Watson

I can't wait to meet great people, see so many various, really interesting and relevant (to me) speakers and panels, listen to the keynotes, networking, and eating great vegan food during the 5 day event.

Before and after that though, I am also looking forward to a real, actual... vacation.  Yes, I think it's really going to happen this time.  The flight and hotel reservations are now made (I found a great hotel that has everything I need for our 2 week stay, including a gym for mandatory morning work-outs, and a pool and waterfall!), and in these past few days, in the wee hours of the morning, I've been staying up all night to figure out exactly what there is to do in L.A., and what I want to do.  We have ample time to get lots done!  I've only been to L.A. once before and that was when I was 5.  Needless to say, I don't remember much of it, though still maintain vague memories of the "It's A Small World" ride at Disneyland, seeing monsters in the white mountain ride, and huge waves at Malibu Beach.

Yesterday I went shopping and bought a white, very comfortable beach skirt.  Yes, a skirt to wear at the beach; it's really comfortable!  I hope there is lots of beach time there.  I really need to spend some time outdoors, getting my Vitamin D, and lounging on the sandy beach reading my many VegNews and Veg Times magazines, and maybe even stepping into the glorious ocean if it's not too cold!  Well, I don't think the water will be cold, as next week's forecast shows for daily temperatures of 27-28 degrees.  That's okay - I'm not complaining!  We will be staying just minutes away from the famous Venice Beach.

I won't divulge our possible vacation-y activities yet, since nothing yet is set in stone and I now have an ample, researched list of "things to do" while in LA.  To generalize, these things include, but are not limited to: Hollywood-type sight-seeing; outdoor recreation; food indulgence; visiting animals; and visiting outer lying areas.  We'll choose what to do when we're there - such spontanaeity -, and it will be a surprise!  Who knows what could happen?

I'm still going to type up a general "itinerary" (the anal retentive/OCD side of me requires this), compiling all my notes into an organized manner for easy access.  I AM glad I did all that research - as I told Ben, it's much better than getting there and having no clue about anything.  I've learned about some great deals and unique and interesting things to check out that would not have happened without the prep time - so these few 7am bedtimes this week will be worth it.

Please wish us good luck in making this a successful, meaningful, worthwhile, and positively memorable trip for us.