Where are you?

[Skye Wylie]

as a jumping off place for discussion...
Where are you from?
How far are you willing to drive for a radical unschooling get together/park day?!

So far we only have one member from the east - Montreal - Bea. Do you want to come out to BC for a get together? A bit of a drive! Is half way Manitoba?

I live in South Surrey/White Rock, BC - just 5 minutes from the American Border (Peace Arch Crossing) and about the same distance from the Ocean. It is a Suburb of Vancouver.

I would drive several hours to hang out with other radical unschoolers for the day!

[Faline]

We are in Ashcroft, 4 hours northeast from Vancouver, 2.5 hours from Hope (through the Fraser Canyon), 1 hour from Kamloops. A little desert town of about 2000 (or less).

I would also drive a few hours to get together....Hmmmm, it would take a bit of planning to organize my kids, but I am fully on board!

We do travel to Vanc. sometimes, too...We were there this spring, but have no plans at present.

Anyways, I'd be thrilled to hang out with some RU's:)

[Balloonatikmama]

We're in Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, on the wild west coast, and we've traveled as far as North Carolina to hang with unschoolers! But a 5hrs drive past the ferry is usually our max travel distance, and much less than that is our preferred travel distance (and if you ask our 4 yr old, the Wii is really about as far as he is usually willing to travel...).

It seems easier for us to get to US conferences/gatherings than eastern Canadian ones, so we've not made it to the Toronto Unschooling Conference and will likely not make it to the Niagara Shine Unschooling Gathering either. But we'll be at LIFE is Good in Portland this May for sure!

Thanks for creating this group Skye. Fun to see Canadian faces, and maybe it will inspire some new kind of get together!

~Gillian
and Craig of Effie (8) and Fergus (4)
Victoria, BC

[Pat]

We live in Kamloops. We often take trips to Grandmas in Abbotsford and Kelowna and would love to meet up with unschoolers anywhere in and around these points. We've been on the move a bit these past few years and my son (almost 9) would really love to meet some friends that don't all disappear when school starts.

[Shonna Morgan]

Hey there CRU!
I live next door to Skye in South Surrey/White Rock area, but will be moving to Cloverdale soon, which is still about 5-10 mins from the US border. We travel around as much as we can and will go pretty much anywhere we get invited to go by RUers when it's feasible! We get to the Kelowna area a few times a year as some relatives live there, and my husband Antonio does cooking demos/shows at the Kelowna Choices store 4 times a year. Love LIG conventions and can't wait for Memorial Day weekend 2009! Also love skiing and get to Whistler a few times a year, and are looking at some powder trails for the winter in the interior!
Looking forward to any and all future get-togethers, especially those within a few hours travel time from us!

Shonna and co
Matteo (13)
Gemma (11)
Gioia (9)
Aliana (5)
Viola (5)

[Crystal]

Hey CRU!
I'm from the east: Northern Ontario.
I would drive many hours to actually talk to other radical unschoolers IRL. I've only recently discovered this philosophy and I'm amazed at how much it resonates with me.
Be good to connect with some Canadians if only online.

-Crystal
Austin (2)
Xander (6 months)

[Tina B/canuckgal]

I just joined this morning, after seeing the RUN site a few days ago. I am here in Manitoba, but have lived in Edmonton in 2001 for almost 1 year...Skye and Helen I well remember gobbling up every Birth issues mag (I worked at the Misericordia in L&D as an RN to boot and it was such an encouragement to me in trying to practice less "mainstream" obstetrics in the confines of the hospital system), and also going to a playgroup when my dd was about 18mo old, and meeting both of you although you probably won't remember me (I had a very active red head toddler!) We went back to the Northwest Territories and did live several years there total, and then now we have been in Manitoba for the last 3 years. about 40 min out of Winnipeg. We are northern people to the core though...it is such a different culture and pace of life, and have also lived in Whitehorse briefly...dh has as his ambition to go back to there in the next 5 years so who knows, LOL!

I have gone to the Toronto Conference in 2007, sans kids sadly. I don't think financially and time wise I would be able to go to the Shine conference in Niagra Falls however :(. My subsitute is ordering lots of conference cd's! I do drive to Winnipeg once a month for a potluck with the homeschoolers there, although due to working p.t. and my kids ages we don't get to alot of thier activities. Locally, I go to a gym time biweekly with the kids, and occasionally a "talk time" (show and tell). I have met some nice people, but I am DEFINITELY the only unschooler around here in this group, and they look at me like I have two heads when I am asked to explain unschooling.

Glad to find a community here even if only online!!!

[helen preboy]

yoicks, i think i need to chime in:) hello, i live in victoria with adrian,my sweet dh, and our lively crew - dan (8), ben (6) and meah(3). we love knowing and meeting RU folk - getting together is always a wonderful option. i like how you said it shonna: "when it's feasible":) we've done and will do LIFE and have friends on the Mainland ... yes, I know you're all reading this (~waving furiously~) so that should be the best motivation ever. we're getting daunted by the ferry prices though.

tina, how small is this world:) thanks for the reminder - it's amazing how we ended up gravitating to this place of RU-ing ... and yes, i recollect meeting you at ASAC:)

be well,
helen
the wannabe canuck

[Bea Mantovani]

Hi!
Bea in Montreal here.
I would drive for a few hours, probably not more than 5. However, I wouldn't mind taking a vacation to BC once in a while to visit other unschoolers (not inviting myself to your homes, I could stay in hotels ;-) I'm even contemplating attending the Life is Good unschooling conference on the west coast in a few years. Any unschooling conferences planned in BC? ;-)

[Tina B/canuckgal]

Ya know, people, Winnipeg just did change it's city slogan to "Heart of the Country" due to it's central location. I think we really are at the halfway point, wink wink :)

Seriously, I would come to BC, or Calgary or something. I would even love to come to Niagra Falls next spring for the Shine in 2009 conference, but due to other committments financially would not be able to swing it.

[Amy]

hi, just joined this group and wanted to say hi!

my daughter and i currently live in toronto. we used to live in vancouver (and nelson for a short time), so if y'all plan a get together out west, i might have to try and make it out there. my dd was born in vancouver and her father still lives there.

i don't drive, so getting places that are not urban is a challenge for me. i take planes basically.

[Skye Wylie]

It is so exciting to see more RU Canadians! Hello Everyone!! Hi Tina - nice to see you again - this is like a Birth Issues reunion ;-) For our family RU seemed to come naturally out of homebirthing and attachment parenting. Also a big hello to Bea, Pat, Amy, Crystal! Great to see you all here.
I was thinking we should organize a gathering sometime soon for some local BC folks...then perhaps we could plan something that more people could attend from further away - like a weekend in the spring? Seem too crazy? So, maybe we should plan something while it is still nice enough to go to a park? Too late already perhaps?! I have two ideas - meeting in Hope - great park, nice community, good coffee shop...only if it is raining, or people want to visit longer, I don't know anyone there whose house we could go hang out at - ...a second suggestion...my house in the White Rock area of Vancouver...and maybe we could all go to Science World? ( I can see about getting some cheaper admission passes). There are a number of people also in the Kamloops area (Dora too) - so something more that way? Other thoughts? Suggestions?

[Bevin]

We're in Kamloops and though I'd love to say we could meet anywhere the reality of budget and negleted car prevents me from saying so. (I originally posted this on the main CRU page by mistake.)