Rik Leaf's Blog, page 11

SETS’ANI Be A Friend

SETS’ANI ‘Be a Friend’

Chief Sunrise Education Centre, Northwest Territories

I spent a week with students from K’atl’odeeche First Nation at Chief Sunrise School producing an anti bullying multi media project. When we got together on Monday morning, all we had was a name, ‘SETS’ANI…the Slavey word that means, ‘be a friend.’ By the end of the week, we’d written and recorded an original song, created an encouraging and exciting game, coloured huge posters and produced a video. 

We started with a brainstorming session and compared our personal experiences. We found there was a lot of common ground when it came to how bullying made each of us feel. For our first breakout session, the kids came up with lists of nice words and mean words and we started making a list on the board.

I set up my camera and recording equipment in a quiet office space and some of the kids came in for a one-on-one interview. Their stories told in their words was the perfect beginning for our video.

One particular idea emerged when a little girl named Claudia described how her initial bullying experience led to a friendship. She concluded her story with, ‘now we’re BFF’s’

The phrase jumped out at me, and when I mentioned it to the teacher later that day, she told me they’d been using it in their anti bullying strategy.

Be a good friend

Use a Friendly voice

Find a solution 

 

We started writing lyrics and BFF became a great refrain for the kids to sing/scream in the chorus.

Be a buddy not a bully

A joke that hurts isn’t funny

Words can build us up big and tall

Or tear us down make us feel small

On the second day we created a game. The game starts with a stack of cards lying face down on the ground. There is one SETS’ANI card (printed in green) one card with a mean word on it (printed in black) and all the other cards have nice words on them. The kids coloured in the bubble letters of the nice words and we included the Slavey translation below, which was a great way to incorporate their traditional language. For the game, kids take turns picking up a card without showing anyone. When they flip them over, the person with the SETS’ANI card needs to ‘be a friend’ and take the mean word away and replace it with a nice word.

The game highlights how random and unfair bullying is, and how each of us has the right and responsibility to be a good friend and support those around us. The kids had fun taking the bad word away and tearing it up, stomping on it or crumpling it up…cause they knew they didn’t want to keep those bad words around to reuse them!

We wrote a song that had a simple little ‘oh oh oh’ part, and of course the big BFF crescendo. Throughout the project the kids had lots of opportunity to be involved. Colouring the letters of the nice words, creating big BFF posters, being interviewed, singing, acting and playing the SETS’ANI game gave everyone an opportunity to work together. After they learned to play the game we started filming scenes in the classroom and on the playground, so the game was played in the actual environment where bullying often happens.

On Thursday and Friday I set my portable recording equipment up in the classroom and we recorded a number of takes live off the floor. At the end of the week I took the tracks into the recording studio and added some vocals and guitar. Once I was finished editing the video, I added a little music for the intro and the ending of the song to fit with the story we were telling. 

We ended up with a great finished product, and just as importantly, (in my humble opinion) had an amazing experience through the process.

Chief Sunrise

SETS’ANI ‘Be a Friend’

Chief Sunrise Education Centre, Northwest Territories

I spent a week with students from K’atl’odeeche First Nation at Chief Sunrise School producing an anti bullying multi media project. When we got together on Monday morning, all we had was a name, ‘SETS’ANI…the Slavey word that means, ‘be a friend.’ By the end of the week, we’d written and recorded an original song, created an encouraging and exciting game, coloured huge posters and produced a video. 

We started with a brainstorming session and compared our personal experiences. We found there was a lot of common ground when it came to how bullying made each of us feel. For our first breakout session, the kids came up with lists of nice words and mean words and we started making a list on the board.

I set up my camera and recording equipment in a quiet office space and some of the kids came in for a one-on-one interview. Their stories told in their words was the perfect beginning for our video.

One particular idea emerged when a little girl named Claudia described how her initial bullying experience led to a friendship. She concluded her story with, ‘now we’re BFF’s’

The phrase jumped out at me, and when I mentioned it to the teacher later that day, she told me they’d been using it in their anti bullying strategy.

Be a good friend

Use a Friendly voice

Find a solution 

 

We started writing lyrics and BFF became a great refrain for the kids to sing/scream in the chorus.

Be a buddy not a bully

A joke that hurts isn’t funny

Words can build us up big and tall

Or tear us down make us feel small

On the second day we created a game. The game starts with a stack of cards lying face down on the ground. There is one SETS’ANI card (printed in green) one card with a mean word on it (printed in black) and all the other cards have nice words on them. The kids coloured in the bubble letters of the nice words and we included the Slavey translation below, which was a great way to incorporate their traditional language. For the game, kids take turns picking up a card without showing anyone. When they flip them over, the person with the SETS’ANI card needs to ‘be a friend’ and take the mean word away and replace it with a nice word.

The game highlights how random and unfair bullying is, and how each of us has the right and responsibility to be a good friend and support those around us. The kids had fun taking the bad word away and tearing it up, stomping on it or crumpling it up…cause they knew they didn’t want to keep those bad words around to reuse them!

We wrote a song that had a simple little ‘oh oh oh’ part, and of course the big BFF crescendo. Throughout the project the kids had lots of opportunity to be involved. Colouring the letters of the nice words, creating big BFF posters, being interviewed, singing, acting and playing the SETS’ANI game gave everyone an opportunity to work together. After they learned to play the game we started filming scenes in the classroom and on the playground, so the game was played in the actual environment where bullying often happens.

On Thursday and Friday I set my portable recording equipment up in the classroom and we recorded a number of takes live off the floor. At the end of the week I took the tracks into the recording studio and added some vocals and guitar. Once I was finished editing the video, I added a little music for the intro and the ending of the song to fit with the story we were telling. 

We ended up with a great finished product, and just as importantly, (in my humble opinion) had an amazing experience through the process. Please feel free to share this video with any teachers, schools or students you know who are struggling with bullying or looking for positive solutions to use in their classrooms. Maybe you can adapt the SETS’ANI game to your classroom and discover what word in your language means, ‘Be a Friend’ You can download SETS’ANI HERE.

I hope you enjoy the video and please leave encouraging comments below as I’m passing them all on to the kids!

Rik Leaf is a multi media producer, slam poet, songwriter and member of Tribe of One, an international collective of indigenous artists. He’s also the author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind. Contact 250-896-2572 or info@rikleaf.com to book a residency in your school. 

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Anti Bullying Project

SETS’ANI ‘Be a Friend’

Participating in the SETS’ANI Anti Bullying Project was a fabulous experience.

I spent a week with kids from K’atl’odeeche First Nation at Chief Sunrise School producing an anti bullying multi media project. When we got together on Monday morning, all we had was a name, ‘SETS’ANI…the Slavey word that means, ‘be a friend.’ By the end of the week, we’d written and recorded an original song, created an encouraging and exciting game, coloured huge posters and produced a video. 

We started with a brainstorming session and compared our personal experiences. We found there was a lot of common ground when it came to how bullying made each of us feel. For our first breakout session, the kids came up with lists of nice words and mean words and we started making a list on the board.

I set up my camera and recording equipment in a quiet office space and some of the kids came in for a one-on-one interview. I filmed and recorded these sessions, not really knowing if the footage would be used in the final product, or just as source material. Their stories told in their words was the perfect beginning for our video.

One particular idea emerged when a little girl named Claudia described how her initial bullying experience led to a friendship. She concluded her story with, ‘now we’re BFF’s’

The phrase jumped out at me, and when I mentioned it to the teacher later that day, she told me they’d been using it in their anti bullying strategy.

Be a good friend

Use a Friendly voice

Find a solution 

We started writing lyrics and BFF became a great refrain for the kids to sing/scream in the chorus.

Be a buddy not a bully

A joke that hurts isn’t funny

Words can build us up big and tall

Or tear us down make us feel small

On the second day I got an idea for a game. The game starts with a stack of cards lying face down on the ground. There is one SETS’ANI card (printed in green) one card with a mean word on it (printed in black) and all the other cards have nice words on them. The kids coloured in the bubble letters of the nice words and we included the Slavey translation below, which was a great way to incorporate their traditional language. The kids would take turns picking up a card without showing anyone. When they flipped them over, the person with the SETS’ANI card needed to ‘be a friend’ and take the mean word away and replace it with a nice word.

The game highlights how random and unfair bullying is, and how each of us has the right and responsibility to be a good friend and support those around us. The kids had fun taking the bad word away and tearing it up, stomping on it or crumpling it up…cause they knew they didn’t want to keep those bad words around to reuse them!

We wrote a song that had a simple little ‘oh oh oh’ part, and of course the big BFF crescendo. Throughout the project the kids had lots of opportunity to be involved. Colouring the letters of the nice words, creating big BFF posters, being interviewed, singing, acting and playing the SETS’ANI game gave everyone an opportunity to work together. After they learned to play the game we started filming scenes in the classroom and on the playground, so the game was played in the actual environment where bullying often happens.

On Thursday and Friday I set my portable recording equipment up in the classroom and we recorded a number of takes live off the floor. At the end of the week I took the tracks into the recording studio and added some vocals and guitar. Once I was finished editing the video, I added a little music for the intro and the ending of the song to fit with the story we were telling. 

We ended up with a great finished product, and just as importantly, (in my humble opinion) had an amazing experience through the process. Please feel free to share this video with any teachers, schools or students you know who are struggling with bullying or looking for positive solutions to use in their classrooms. Maybe you can adapt the SETS’ANI game to your classroom and discover what word in your language means, ‘Be a Friend’ You can download SETS’ANI HERE.

I hope you enjoy the video and please leave encouraging comments below as I’m passing them all on to the kids!

Rik Leaf is a multi media storyteller, slam poet, songwriter and member of Tribe of One, an international collective of indigenous artists. He’s also the author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind. Contact 250-896-2572 or info@rikleaf.com to book a residency in your school. 

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Benefits of Quitting

I’ve probably quit more things in my life than you’ve started. Now I know most people wouldn’t brag about that…but I’m not most people, and I’m here to share my wealth of experience so you can enjoy the benefits of quitting too.

I have literally had more jobs than I can remember and I’ve never been fired. I always quit before that could happen. I walked off a construction site once when I realized my shoddy, inexperienced workmanship had compromised the structural integrity of the building. I mean I HAD to quit. Not only was I about to be discovered and summarily fired…the part of the building I’d be working on was super unsafe.

Tree planting. Man I hated tree planting with all my heart and soul. So I hid under my tarp until everyone left camp, hiked to the highway, hitchhiked into town, took a cab to the airport and flew home. That’s how committed I was about quitting. After making a colossal mess in a fertilizer factory, I barely took the time to turn the forklift off and throw my hard hat in the corner, before running for my car while yelling over my shoulder to the empty warehouse that I wasn’t running away so much as quitting.

I’ve quit truck-driving jobs, landscaping jobs, retail sales, I was a beekeeper’s assistant for 4 hours before quitting. I have a library full of books I’ve quit reading. I quit watching movies and TV shows all the time. I quit hikes, bike rides and meals…sometimes I’ll even quit talking in the middle of a train of thought cause I realize it went off the rails somewhere along the way when I wasn’t paying attention.

In the middle of a 1500-meter race in a high school track meet I faked a hamstring injury so I could quit running. I just lay down in the infield and watched the clouds. (while vigorously rubbing my fake-injured hammy)

As a lifestyle…quitting really worked for me. I never had to put up with annoying bosses, friends, girlfriends, fads or fashions. It was all honeymoon in every area of my life. I was always moving into a new apartment, getting to know awesome new people, enamoured by a sexy new love interests. I had yet to discover a downside to quitting. I could smoke, do drugs, start day drinking any time I wanted, cause if it ever became a problem…I’d just quit.

But the magic really started the day I quit giving up. Basically I quit quitting. At that point I realized I had honed my natural, god given gift for quitting into an incredible weapon of mass production in my life. There is nothing in my life I haven’t achieved without quitting.

Chasing the almighty dollar, well that was just like the 1500-meter race – I quit. Trying to look and feel like everyone around me – I quit. Defining success by salary, house size and big-boy toys in the driveway…I quit that too.

From my extensive experience with the benefits of quitting, I have put together a simple 5 Step Plan for Quitting Your Way To Freedom And Success.

Quit Believing Anything The Media Tells You Is In Your Best Interest
Quit Acting Surprised When S#% Hits The Fan…It’s Called ‘Life’
Quit Living The Same Way Every Day And Expecting Things To Change
Quit Being So Successful At Being Like Everyone Around You
Quit Your Habit Of Giving Up Before You Even Begin

Quitting has changed my life…and I believe it will do the same for you!

Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.

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Storytelling Experiment

Everyone likes stories. From bedtime when we’re little kids through all the stages of life, stories are awesome. This is a storytelling experiment of sorts, and I really would like your input.

See…I love telling stories, and have made a living as a professional storyteller through TV shows, travel videos, songs, slam poetry, Tribe of One theatre productions and publishing a book.

My question for you dear viewer/reader/listener…is do you have a preference for the way you enjoy stories? Or maybe the question is just, do you find yourself accessing stories in a particular way more than others?

Maybe you spend a lot of time on the go and audio books are the best while you’re driving or walking? Or do you primarily watch videos. Or do you prefer visual storytelling through photos, scrolling through Instagram or Flickr?

This isn’t about the right or wrong way to enjoy or share our stories. As a storyteller who enjoys the different mediums for different reasons, I’d just like to know how it works for others.

In this storytelling experiment I’m sharing the same story in a variety of ways.

An Audio Story you can Download HERE  from Sound Cloud.
A youtube video  you can WATCH HERE
A Visual Story told through photos
A written Short Story 

How do you take your stories?

Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.

 

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Stories of the North

I’ve just spent two weeks traveling to communities in the Tlicho traditional territory around Yellowknife, NWT…an experience that produced many stories of the north. Yellowknife is not only the capital city; it’s the only city in the Northwest Territories. There are about 20K people living in the community that’s located about 2500 kms north of Vancouver. It would take you about 26-28 hours if you wanted to drive from Van, or just under 2 hours to fly. I was in the region teaching filmmaking workshops with youth in Behchoko, Wekweeti, Gameti, N’Dilo, Dettah and Yellowknife.

Spending each day with dozens of student filmmakers writing scripts, acting and editing in and of itself produces a number of stories. Someone is always falling down or wiping out the moment you yell, “Action!” With cameras constantly rolling, the blooper footage starts piling up pretty quick. But enthusiasm is infectious, as is the opportunity to work with a group of talented people…so the days flew by in a whirlwind of creativity.

I think everyone should fly in the north at least once. No one asks for your government issued ID or pretends your carry on should fit into a miniature stand. They don’t search your bag or confiscate your water bottle or juice box. They weigh your stuff, do some quick math to make sure the fuel in the tank covers the cargo, and unless the temperature drops below -47C, (which is when the fuel starts to gel) off you go.

Colinda, the tour organizer had initially planned to drive from Yellowknife to these communities via the ice roads. But when you get to April, the condition of the ice road is a day-by-day, sometimes moment-by-moment situation. We drove to Dettah on an ice road on Wednesday and Thursday it was closed for the season. Restrictions were put on the other roads, which meant that at the last minute we had to charter a plane to take us to Wekweeti and Gameti.

These charter flights were booked through Air Tindi. Little prop planes where the seats are removable. As we walked out on the tarmac to our plane, I saw a big portable heater with a 12” flexible hose blasting some heat into the cabin to take the chill off. All the seats but two had been removed as we climbed aboard. I watched the employee lazily hauling a cart with our luggage on it, and felt sick as my case with all the video cameras and recording equipment went for a tumble. He didn’t seem overly concerned.

Colinda handed me earplugs before the pilot fired up the engine, and soon we were off. As we approached Wekweeti, the pilot descended to a couple hundred feet as we buzzed low over the village before landing on the gravel runway covered in snow hard packed snow. We came to a stop beside a little hut. There were no lights on. No movement or activity or even a vehicle around the building.

“Someone going to pick you up?” he asked as the three of us clamored out.

Colinda seemed reasonably sure that someone was on their way, so I decided not to worry about it. A few minutes later someone did arrive, and I discovered that the low fly by was actually a custom that alerted the village to the fact that a plane was landing and someone may need a ride. The next morning we heard the fly by from the lodge where we were staying, which was our cue to start knocking on the doors of houses around the lodge to see if someone would give us a ride out to the airport. Somehow…it all works out and no one gets too fussed about anything.

My favourite moment came a couple days later as we were waiting in a different community. There was a 12-seat charter sitting outside as we waited for the regularly scheduled daily flight to arrive so we could head back to Yellowknife. A woman walked in with a huge rubber maid container, with bloody meat and fur sticking out of the top and declared in a loud voice, “I got no room in my freezer, so I got to send six of these to Yellowknife…and I ain’t paying to ship them!”

Over the next 30 minutes I watched a fascinating scenario unfold as the lone airline employee and the charter pilot were blustered and bossed around into finding space on the two flights to accommodate all the caribou meat this lady wanted to get to her family in Yellowknife. A goal she succeeded in achieving without paying a dime.

We got back to Yellowknife around 7:00 p.m. It was my last night in Yellowknife and I was up for having some fun and experiencing some local culture. We started at the Legion, where a meat raffle was underway. $5.00 would get you a generous length of tickets as numbers were drawn for hams, roasts and chickens. $5.00 also got me a large bowl of spicy homemade chili and fresh bannock and for another $5.00 the bartender filled my wine glass to the rim.

After a hilarious hour at the Legion, we set off on more adventures that included some rousing rounds of karaoke before I was taken to the Range. A local bar with a low hanging ceiling and the feel and smell of a room that refuses to go gently into the good night. Local troubadours belted out an impressive selection of cover tunes from a variety of genres, each chosen for it’s ability to get the maximum number of patrons out of their seats and onto the dance floor.

At some point after deriding yet another country song, Colinda dragged me onto the dance floor and tried to teach me how to two-step. A dance I quickly discovered was beyond my ability and coordination to perform. After stepping on her feet and colliding with other dancers one too many times, she escorted me back to my seat in what felt like a time out, as she headed back onto the dance floor with someone who knew what was going on.

We stayed until closing, and strolled unhurriedly through the downtown on our way back to the hotel. With the fresh smells of spring in the air and a big bright moon overhead, I felt like I had achieved my own goal…to experience every moment to the fullest in my exploration of this great big beautiful world.

Masi Cho!

Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.

 

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Script to Shelf #2

Script to Shelf is a podcast series for writers and readers interested in following the journey of a story from initial script through to a published work on a shelf in a bookstore.

Episode #2 – Taking the all important step to move from “I’m going to write a book” to “I’m writing a book.” And what’s the trick to finding the write title, the perfect beginning, and once discovered, really capturing the tone, vibe, perspective and voice you’re looking for.

Regardless of genre, fiction, non fiction or any other differences in style, there is a lot of common ground that needs to be covered by every storyteller. It can be daunting at times confusing, and knowing when to bring others into the creative process is as important as knowing who to bring in.

In this episode of script to shelf, I share how I captured my sense of humour through chapter titles and introduced my main characters while giving a reader an immediate sense of what type of story I was going to tell and how I was going to tell it, all in the first half page.

Any questions, comments or experiences of your own you’d like to share? Please use the comments below, or email info@rikleaf.com

Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.

 

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When You Can’t Afford It

How To Travel The World When You Can’t Afford It

In my experience there are two kinds of travellers. Some have money and no time. These are the travellers who typically book all-inclusive resorts and cruises, where they can just pay a bill and have everything worked out for them. Other travellers have time and no money, and when you’re in that situation you need to get creative. Our family certainly approached our year traveling around the world with a wild sense of monetarily-challenged creative innovation. Here are some of the ways we traveled the world when we couldn’t afford to.

Accommodations are a huge expense when traveling. Depending where you are in the world and what time of year, even an economy hotel can cost $150.00 a night or more. That’s a $1050.00 a week or $4200.00 a month. If you traveled for a year like we did, you’d spend over 50K just on accommodations. That’s more than our family of four spent the entire year we traveled for accommodations, meals, airfare, vehicle rentals, food, etc.

Friends, Family and Distant Relations

We have a very social house and lifestyle. We like it when friends and family come to stay with us, and we enjoy staying with others. So if you’re like us, then tapping into your social network is a huge resource. Zara reached out to a friend in Hawaii she hadn’t seen in almost 20 years. We ended up staying with Sean and Alice in their condo in Mililani for two weeks. Packing two families into a three-bedroom condo for two weeks could have been a recipe for disaster. But if you can be respectful, considerate and FUN, you can avoid most conflict and create an awesome experience for everyone. Our time in Hawaii was a highlight for our entire family and our hosts.

In Malaysia we jumped onboard the wedding celebration for one of Zara’s cousins. This let us focus on just getting ourselves to Penang. Once we were there, we were able to enjoy three-weeks of plans made by someone else, including staying in apartments they’d secured outside of the tourist zone, saving us a bundle.

We spent our first week in Australia with relatives in Sydney. One of their family friends invited us to stay at his sheep farm in the Outback. We accepted his invitation too. Not only did these invitations save us money, they provided us with experiences we simply wouldn’t have been able to have on our own.

We booked hostels more than hotels. Not only we were able to rent private family rooms for around $70.00 a night, they also provided us access to a kitchen, which meant we could avoid restaurants and the high costs of eating out. And you  never know what will happen…like one night we met a family from England at a hostel in Australia who invited us to stay with them when we made it to the UK. Which we did for a week six months later.

Hospitality Networks

There are many different organizations that provide alternative ways to budget travel like COUCHSURFING, TRUSTED HOUSESITTERS and WORK AWAY. Just before we left Canada, we discovered SERVAS, an international hospitality network of hosts and travellers. After a brief interview and one-time payment of $70.00, we were able to access a list of all the Servas hosts in any country we visited. Servas hosts provide two nights accommodation for free, along with supper and breakfast. All they ask in return is that you share an hour or two a day hanging out and sharing stories with each other. We used this network extensively in Australia and New Zealand. Win-win! 

In Rome, we stayed with Zara’s godmother for four days. In Arona we housesat for friends of a friend for 10 days over Easter while they were away. The only thing they asked in exchange was for us to puppy-sit while we were there. We were in Italy for over two weeks and only paid for one night when we hiked Cinque Terre.

A great guest can break up the monotony of a schedule and make a Monday night feel like the weekend. It works if you like staying with people, and people staying with you. We knew we were going to do this, so we brought prints of Zara’s art work and my CDs to give away as presents. When a band goes on tour or plays a festival, the cast and crew wear ‘All Access’ passes during the show. We made ‘Leaf World Tour’ All Access Passes, and gave them to every host we stayed with. On the front we’d arranged our luggage in the shape of an Inukshuk, which is a human figure traditionally built out of rocks by the Inuit people of northern Canada to signify a place of shelter, food, water or to mark the way for others. We wanted to honour everyone who had provided us a place to stay and made our tour possible. 

Eating Out vs. Eating In

When we’re traveling, just like when we’re at home, we rarely eat in restaurants. Prices are high, our satisfaction is low…so at the end of the meal it usually seems like we’ve spent lot of money to be vaguely dissatisfied. When travelling, we choose to eat simple fare in the most exotic locations possible.

Our ‘world tour meal’ involved a baguette, Brie, spicy meats, olives, fruits, chips, crackers, humus, wine, juice, chocolate. We ate some version of this meal on beaches, mountaintops, costal cliffs and under tropical sunsets…it never felt like roughing it.

Transportation

Traveling on a budget as a family forced us to make some specific decisions for transportation. Our kids were 13 and 9 years old at the time. They were carrying their own backpacks, but it wasn’t realistic to expect them to endure (and enjoy) full days of planes, trains and buses with all their stuff. So we rented cars. It gave us maximum flexibility when scheduling day trips and where and when we wanted to go. It also gave us a place to leave our stuff so we didn’t always have to carrying everything all the time.

This worked great in Australia as we drove from Sydney to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road and all the way up to Coonamble and the Australian Outback. In New Zealand we chose JUICY RENTALS. They have a service called, El CheapO, where they rent older cars. (I admit I commonly referred to it as El CrapO) We flew into Christchurch and the Juicy shuttle picked us up at our hotel the next day. We drove all over the south Island, including some pretty spectacular off road goat trails! Included in the rental, Juicy arranged our ferry to the north island where we toured for another three weeks, eventually dropping the car off in Auckland when we flew to Europe. It was perfect. 

For our time in Europe, we rented a super economical diesel car from EUROPCAR in France because they have a great tourism incentive if you pick up and drop off in France. For around $1500.00 we had a car for the two months we toured Europe. With unlimited mileage we picked up in Nice and drove from the south of France to Stockholm and all points in between, dropping it off at Charles du Gaulle in Paris the day we flew to the UK. It was by far the cheapest and most convenient transportation option.

The trick to traveling the world when you can’t afford it, is finding out what works for you. If you’ve got time but not money, and you’re willing to explore unconventional options, you’ll be amazed at ways you can travel the world feeling like a millionaire without actually having to be one.

Got tips, tricks or stories of your own? Please share in the comments!

Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.

 

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Travel Advice

Travel Advice When Things Go Wrong

After a 6-hour flight from Cancun, Mexico I arrived in Calgary, Alberta. The bell chimed and the cabin filled with the great surge as everyone clamored to collect their stuff. It often seems like it takes forever for the doors to open and the line to start to move, but this time the doors actually didn’t open, and we all just stood there.

The captain came on and said customs wasn’t letting them open the door. Then the flight attendant asked everyone to put their stuff back in the overhead compartments and sit back down.

Finally the captain came on with the news. There had been a power failure at the airport. Customs hadn’t been able to process anyone while the power was out, so now there were 5-6 planes waiting in front of ours…one of which had been waiting for 90 minutes. With the power on, customs had just started escorting 100 passengers at a time.

I had 1½ hours to catch my connecting flight to Victoria, which seemed like lots of time until this happened. I started texting my kids at home, telling them it was super unlikely that I was going to actually make my flight.

What You Need To Remember When Things Go Wrong – everyone is disappointed. Everyone is inconvenienced. Everyone has plans and places they want or need to be. It’s not the captain’s fault, or the flight attendant or the customs agent. It’s life, and while life can be frustrating and exhausting, it is actually ‘wrong’ to take your frustration out on those around you.

Suddenly without any warning, the bell chimed again and the doors opened and we were free to go.

Hope! Maybe I could catch my flight after all. I grabbed my carry on suitcase and bag and as soon as the line thinned enough, I started to run. Up the corridor, along the hallway down the stairs around the corner and straight into a customs line snaking back and forth with dozens and dozens of people.

Disappointment! No way the line was going to move fast enough to get me through in time to catch my flight. I pulled up West Jet on my phone. I was sure many of us were going to miss our connections, and I thought I could be proactive and find out what they would recommend. I checked my flight status and saw it had been delayed for 30 minutes.

Hope! Maybe I could make it…but not if I continued to drift in the sluggish custom’s line. If you ever find yourself in that situation, remember it’s no one’s fault. My inconvenient situation is everyone else’s as well. Best thing to do is be polite.

“Ladies and gentlemen…I don’t know if anyone else has a connecting flight, and I totally understand if you say no, but I just discovered my flight’s been delayed enough that I might just be able to catch it. Could I jump to the front of the line?”

If the answer is no, I’m no worse off than I was before I opened my mouth. Everyone immediately agreed and encouraged me to go for it, ‘we’ve all been there’ one guy said as I jumped ahead of him.

Hope! I just might make it. The customs agent was in absolutely no hurry at all, but recognizing she stood between me and the door I really needed to get through, I stayed in my positive frame of mind, smiling and answering her questions as happily as I could.

Through the door I raced, and the down the hallway I ran into the room where customs checks your bags, where another agent donned her rubber gloves and slowly and methodically began an agonizing investigation of every corner of my story and suitcase. 

But my inconvenient situation is not her problem. And I respect that. So I answered as clearly and positively as possible. See, I don’t think it matters if you’re being polite for purely self-serving reasons. I just didn’t want to make myself a target or give her any reason to make my bad situation worse. She finally finished and pointed to the exit.

Hope! The window of opportunity was even smaller, but still possible. I started running again, and almost headed through a set of doors before seeing a sign out of the corner of my eye for West Jet connecting flights. I backtracked and came around a corner to find myself at the back of another line.

Remember…be polite.

“Hello up there! Hey, I’m totally happy to be here at the back of the line…just want to make sure this is the right line to be in to catch my connecting flight to Victoria,” I called up to the agent.

“Yes it is, but first you have to go get your bags sir,” she replied. “I don’t have any bags to collect, just my carry on,” I clarified. “Oh, then you don’t need to be here at all. Go through those doors, to the left, up the stairs and to the right!” she called energetically.

Another good thing to remember. While my problem isn’t her problem, in that moment she had good news, and most people like to share good news with others. “Thank you!” I hollered energetically. Remember to let people know when they make your day. 

Hope! If I run left then up and to the right I might make it. I barrelled through the doors, swerving to the left where an airport employee in a cowboy pointed me to the escalator. I ran like a madman arriving at security out of breath, panting, sweating AND…at the back of another line.

I stayed positive, though admittedly I was a bit anxious, watching another set of bored agents let the sands of time slowly slip through their hands. The conveyor belt actually seemed to slow to a crawl as soon as I placed my bags on it. But eventually I made it through and so did my bags.

Hope! Even slimmer than before, but still there. I scrambled to get everything sorted out and started running again. I made sure not to bump, jostle or collide with anyone in my mad scramble, cause none of this is anyone else’s fault, so they shouldn’t have to pay the price for my inconvenient life.

I see the sign for my gate above the crowd and with a final burst of speed come around the corner and find the area empty. Defeat. I missed it! But then I notice the departure board is blank, and that’s not normal. I spin around and see another West Jet employee at another gate and call out, ‘where is the flight to Victoria?” She scans her screen, “It’s been changed to gate 19!” she yells, pointing to the end of the concourse.

Hope! It’s not over yet. So I run. Gasping and lurching as fast as I can, and as I come around Starbucks I discover a large group in the process of boarding my flight. I made it!

Traveling is like any other aspect of life. We can’t avoid adversity or inconvenience, but we can decide how to respond when it happens. Be polite. Ask for help. Remember to smile and say thank you when someone does help. And don’t be afraid to try. Admit what you really want, to yourself and to others and then really try to make it happen. No one was more surprised (or grateful) that I was on the plane when it took off for Victoria. 

Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.

 

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Travel With Kids

How to travel Canada with kids.

We traveled the world with our kids for just over a year. They were 13 and 9 years old at the time. We toured Canada, Hawaii, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, France, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic and the U.K.

Each country provided a unique set of challenges and opportunities traveling with kids. Really understanding what you value is key for discovering what’s right for you. There is no such thing as one size fits all when you’re traveling. What works great for us might not work for you because we value different things, it’s not about the right way or the wrong way, it’s really about ‘your way.’  We like to root our discovery of the world through the distinct cultures and lives of people in countries and communities we visit. So typically not all inclusive resorts and cruises. VIDEO TRAILER

CANADA – What you really want to experience in Canada is the outdoors. I heard someone describe it as, wilderness culture. June – October the weather is great and provides the best access to the outdoors. VIDEO STOKUM FALLS

Traveling in Canada, transportation is a big challenge. The country is vast. Having a vehicle in Canada is essential. Trains have never been a big part of public transportation. Flying works to get you to a region, but once you get to where you want to be, you really need a vehicle to get around.

We wanted to travel from the West Coast to East Coast and spent four months doing that. We had a mini van for our travels and it worked great. It provided maximum flexibility for being able to explore a region and also provided a personal space to base ourselves. VIDEO BRITISH COLUMBIA

We started in the middle of the country in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and drove west to Vancouver Island. That was almost 2500 kms. Then we drove east, all the way across the country to P.E.I. and Halifax, Nova Scotia on the East Coast. That was over 10,000 kms. Then we headed back to Calgary where we departed when our travels went international, and that was another 5500 kms. It’s not uncommon in Canada to drive 8-12 hours in one day. VIDEO CROSSING CENTRAL CANADA 

If you don’t want to spend months traveling like we did, pick a region. For instance you could fly to Vancouver and rent a car and have many spectacular options to choose from. It’s a 1½-hour ferry ride to Vancouver Island, where you can explore spectacular hikes through the rain forest or go surfing in Tofino. If you stay on the mainland it’s a 1½-hour drive to Whistler, or you could explore the Sunshine Coast. A 3½-hour drive through the Rocky Mountains will take you to the Okanagan Valley where you’ll find over 200 wineries, resorts and golf courses all along Lake Okanagan.

If you fly into Calgary, Alberta you’re just over an hour drive to Banff National Park and some of the most incredible pristine wilderness hikes, lakes and camping in the world.

Fly to Montreal and experience rich Francophone history and culture. It’s only a couple hours drive to Quebec City, a one-of-a-kind jewel in the country. VIDEO QUEBEC

Or you could fly to Halifax and explore the Maritimes. 4-5 hours would get you pretty much anywhere you’d like to go, except Newfoundland. For that adventure you need to take a ferry. There are a couple choices of route and the crossing ranges from 6-12 hours. VIDEO PEI

Accommodations – we often choose hostels over hotels, not just because it’s cheaper, but also because the common space at a hostel provides opportunities to meet other people who are also traveling. It’s a great way to share stories and discover things you wouldn’t know on your own.

We also like access to a kitchen. We don’t eat out in restaurants much either at home or when we’re traveling. This allows us to save a huge amount of money and stay healthier because we’re eating good quality food.

Hospitality networks like SERVAS are another great way to save money and connect with a culture and people in a region. Air BnB has been a great source for economy lodging and increased connection to a region. If you determine what you value most, it really does make your decisions a lot easier.

Exploring the wilderness culture of Canada is great for families and kids. It’s active and outdoors. Because of what we value in traveling, we didn’t spend much time in any of the major cities, and a lot of the activities we did were free.

Some really basic research online or visiting a tourist center will provide you with all kinds of activities for all levels of age and experience. 

Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires – How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.

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