The End?

Another two weeks have passed and it seems that now, so close to my return to Germany, summer is coming to Vancouver. I spend the last weeks with climbing and relaxing and also visited friends that I haven't seen in a while.
Currently I am planning a BBQ party for my going away. When that is over, it will be time to say goodbye.

Goodbye to one year full of adventure, road trips, great people, parties, beautiful places and inner peace. So many memories are popping up in my mind right now:

climbing in Squamish, summer BBQs in Vancouver, Bruno's Crew along the west coast, hiking the Chief, Victoria and Vancouver Island, house parties, the amazing Sunshine Coast, Christmas with friends, New Years Eve and Avi's crazy party, Hawaii and the Waikiki Yacht Club, with Alex Supertramp to Yukon and Alaska, sunshine on the deck... .

A lot of people asked me these days how I feel about leaving Canada and going back to Germany. I have to admit that this is a really difficult question but I will definitely go with one sad and one happy eye. I am really looking forward to Germany, to all my friends and family and yes, also to good but cheap beer! Although this will mean the end to my Canadian adventure, I know that there are endless possibilities ahead and millions of promising places waiting to be explored.
Will it also be the end of the path of the maple? I don't think so. This path is endless and has no destination. You never know where it's gonna lead you and even though it might change its name, it will still go on into unknown territory full of new experiences. Today before writing this update I thought to myself: "Wow, that's gonna be the last post on my blog!". But now I realize: "No, it is not the last one! There will be hundreds and thousands to follow!". It makes life so exciting and adventurous because I don't know when the next post will go online or where I will wright it but there will be another one!
Enough of this philosophical bla-bla!

I was often asked about my highlights or my favorite places that I have visited throughout the last year. I will try to answer these questions as good as I can. To be honest, it will be tough to do it because I haven't even realized what happened in the past 12 month. Everything that I have seen and experienced is so surreal that it will take time to fully relive my trips.

What was the deepest experience on my trip?

- definitely the fire walk seminar in the Rockies that gave me a completely new feeling about what my body and mind is able to do

What was the most amazing place that I have been to?

- I guess that would have to be the Grand Canyon; I still remember the first moment we have seen the vast valley in the early morning and the endless time after that when we stood on the edge without being able to speak or even to breathe, overwhelmed by the scenery in front of us; I never had a similar feeling although I have seen other amazing spots (like the Icefield Parkway in Albert or the active volcanoes on Hawaii)

 What was the most adventurous trip I have been on?

- driving up to the Yukon and Alaska in winter, spending nights at -30°C, driving through pure wilderness without any cars coming from the front or from behind for hundreds of kilometers

I could go on and on but I think everything is said and done and now I will lean back and relax the next days before going back home towards my next big adventure...wherever that might be! ;)