Since the first day I got here, I’ve wanted to go out dumpster diving with my housemates. Partly because I’ve been eating the perogies and thai noodle soup and blueberries and apple cider and more (the fruits of their labour), and I want to contribute to our freegan based kitchen. And partly for the experience. (Freegan-ism, in a nutshell, is a vegan diet unless the food is averted from the waste stream)

I’m in transit. I’ve hugged my mum good bye and sat through my first flight. A 1.5 hour WestJet flight from Comox to Calgary. The coifed and smiling service counter ladies have told me all the best spots to go to in New York “And of course, you have to do the Empire State building!” and the times to get there to avoid security queues. Armed with my new knowledge of Manhattan tourism hotspots, I wave one more time at my mum through the glass and board the plane.

I have every intention of slowly filling in the blanks on this blog, but, for now, I want to give a quick update. We made it to New Orleans!

We spent three days in Memphis. Punctuated by visits to the River to stare out wistfully and imagine canoe-shaped dots on the opposite shore, we were a bit sad.

But Memphis claims to be the heart of the Blues. ‘The blues ain’t nothin’ but the truth set to music’ she sang at the only band we saw -for free in a dilapidated park.