Hey thanks for checking out my website! I’m Carter and I was born in Powell River, then moved to Campbell River, which is the salmon capital of the world and therefore where I spent most of my time. During my high school years, I lived in Collingwood Ontario with my mom and sister while visiting my dad in Campbell River every few months. After a high school experience hanging out with only girls and smoking weed I moved back to Campbell river and started taking university courses with North Island College.
I primarily took history courses that were limited to the Courtenay campus, which is the main campus out of the three on the island, and that led to having to get my drivers license so I could make the 30-minute trek everyday to Courtenay. In a couple years time of taking history courses, I was invited to study abroad in Spain by the only history professor at North Island College, Mr. Dan, who I took nearly 10 courses with before. Mr. Dan knew I would be enthusiastic about going to Spain because I had regularly written about Don Quixote in my essays in which I would compare the power of perspective and being able to change your world by mere imagination. Don Quixote is both the first and best novel ever written in Spain by Miguel de Cervantes. Before the trip to the Don Quixote heartland when I first got my license, I drove all the way to San Francisco by myself at the age of 19. The reason for that trip is because of another previous trip to Cuba, which is a colonized New Spain where Cervantes is also revered. My dad got drunk and fell asleep on the hotel lobby couch where he lost his phone with all of our pictures, including one with a picture of myself and Cervantes. That event made me severely depressed and led to me driving to San Francisco since that was the nearest Cervantes statue I could find on google (my car broke down in San Francisco and got it figured out but that same car I later crashed at logging job in Powell River but that’s a different story). In Spain, I was lucky to see Cervantes birthplace amongst many other old European rocks. My first time in Europe, I was experiencing extreme culture shock and awe mixed with an extended sense of curiosity that pushes beyond any culture I’ve experienced, which opened my eyes to new realities (ahem Don Quixote). That study abroad trip was also historically enlightening. Our class visited all of the major sites in southern Spain which included: Queen Isabella and Fernindads grave, Christopher Columbus’ point where he first set sail, the Alhambra along with many other Muslim built fortresses that were converted into Christianity, since the Muslims occupied for a hundred years. We also went into a cave called la Pieta where there were ancient Neolithic cave paintings, which are concluded to be evidence of the origins of Bullfighting. I did indeed see a bullfight by myself after the trip, since the college was rather left leaning so that wouldn’t be accepted.
Anyways I am now still studying history and moved to Victoria, about paces away from my brother Drake who I’ve gotten the privilege to go on many tremendous adventures with including skiing at mount cain, which has the best powder on the island, along with with a colossal hike up to 5040 camp where everyone else skied but I only used my magic carpet sled because I didn’t want carry heavy skis all the way up which was a wise decision because the snow wasn’t that good anyway. I ended up drinking and smoking too much and making a ruckus and throwing up, that is what you call getting a bit too Irish. But that is what is expected.
I have a few more weeks left at the University of Victoria this semester, and after my finals I will be flying to Vietnam for a month and a half by myself, unless anyone wants to come with me? Two weeks after I get back from South East Asia, I fly to Portugal, Hungary and Romania where I will be teaching English for a month! In total, that makes up 3 months of travel this summer… my bank will hurt but it will be worth it and hopefully I can afford to live in Victoria again after my travels. This website will provide pictures and journal entries of my past, current and future travels or whatever I find interesting enough to share (including some of my university essays?). Anyways, wish me luck and I will try my best not to get robbed or drink too much.
Big lingcod I caught last summer! After I get my grandpa’s boat fixed I will catch more!