As The World Yearns

It has been six months sit I last sat behind the keys of my trusty laptop. An interesting fact that struck me only too hard this past week when I was in Dee's General Store, purchasing some of those tasty, dreamy butter tarts I wrote about oh so many months ago. It was my intention when starting this blog, that I keep up with everything there is to do, see and learn in the city, reporting back on each excursion almost exactly when and as it happened. Time, it seems, got the better of me and I let the this experiment fall by the wayside; always intending to return once I had compiled something truly worthy of writing about.

While going out and exploring this great city of ours has and always will be a core of my adventurous being; when it comes right down to it, there just aren't enough hours in the day, nor are there enough bills in my pocket to make it a daily or even weekly happening. It takes time, thought and energy to write these entries and I've always wanted to them to be worthwhile and, in fairness, not a waste of time to anyone checking in. That being said, I don't believe my own excuse for even a second. There's always something going on if we just take the time to pay attention to it. Enjoy the moment and stop to realize what it is you are experiencing. Do this and my, oh my do will there be stories to share...

From soft shell crab in Myrtle Beach, to Cirque Du Soleil, a more than interesting weekend in Tweed, Ontario, a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives road trip, winery tours, brewery tours, dining in the dark, finding a mid-week farmer's market, and a music-filled week in New Orleans, there are more adventures to share than any one single posting could possibly do to explain my extended absence.

Because my passion has always been to satiate the thirst for all things new, I have ventured further from Guelph, Ontario, even Canada more in the last six months than it feels I have in the past six years. With excitement at every turn, and more stories than a single conversation could hold, I am going to dedicate the next couple of weeks to breakdown these adventures into their most deserved postings.

My goal now is to bring The Locale back as not just a local online tour book, but as an overall inspiration forum for anyone looking to do something curious and new, no matter where it is. I suppose you could say that, in my absence, I've been expanding my pallet, breaking down borders, discovering new land, and there's no sign of slowing down.

Pursuant to that, I want to make The Locale a shared space for anyone who may have suggestions and stories of their own. With new restaurants opening up all over, bike trails to explore, beaches and highways to travel, and millions of people to meet, I'd love to get a glimpse at the world I haven't yet seen by getting in on some of your stories as well.

From here on, to be realistic with myself and fair to you, I am going to post a new edition of The Locale only every Sunday. The content intended will be, as I mentioned, to share what has happened since 2011 got under way, but there will undoubtedly be injections of new tastes and flavors as this story continues.

It has been sad for me to not log and share these cross-country adventures with the frequency at which I was once used to, but with some changes to my schedule and a fresh new inspiration for writing, I'm excited to get back into a rhythm of consistent reporting.

In addition to the blog as you know it, I am also in the works of creating a calendar through http://www.thelocale.ca/ where local events will be posted as they come up. Of course, it's important to remember that, while I try hard to stay on top of things as they become announced, things can always slip through the cracks and so I, in the true nature of what this blog is all about, encourage you to get out and explore on your own any night of the week.

Glad to be back friends. There are many more stories to come.

See you next Sunday!
-Phil