Dave Life Adventures

I had to do this post if only to give some honour to the people who made my time in Greece an incredible adventure. I met a tonne of new friends while I was there but this crew and I seemed to have a unique bond, it was like having an instant family. You guys were a blast and totally have a special place in my heart! From Left to Right: Brit, Steph, Me, Dustin, Sam, Chad The Wise's Dustin Wise - The tall, blonde, surfer dude with a heart of gold. The guy just loves on people, you watch him interact with people you know that he just loves them. Caring, genuine and comfortable he's one of those guys that you meet for 5 minutes and feel like you have always known. He's also super talented and creative so if you need a wedding videographer in Cali, look buddy up! Steph Wise - Dustin's lovely wife, Steph has a curiosity for adventure. She knows the right questions to ask and is always asking locals and researching what to see and where to eat. She's responsible...

So I started this post just as I took off from Greece. I have now arrived in Istanbul, Turkey spent a looooong night in the airport waiting for delayed friends and a groggy day in the city experiencing it from the point of view of Canadians living there to learn language and culture. Today I’ll be playing the tourist so watch good ole insta for my pics (#davelife). It’s already proven to be a beautiful city with incredible people, I can not wait to dive deeper. Istanbul, Turkey I started this journey a month ago relatively unsure that I was making a correct decision but excited for the adventure.   On the outside I maintained confidence and verbally rationalized my decision with ease, on the inside I was far less secure. I can without reservation now state that it was the correct decision. My time on Lesvos was some of the most heart wrenching, exhausting, awesomeness that I have ever experienced. The opportunity to work along side the team at EuroRelief is one tha...

I am finally taking a second to write and I cannot believe that I only have 4 shifts left! 😩  That seems so unbelievably crazy to me. Its been a full few weeks and gotten to the point where in many ways I feel like this place is a part of me. The work is exhausting both physically and emotionally but the people and the community that comes with it are equally beautiful and fulfilling.  Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece In most of my travels it's the dichotomy of the situations I get myself into that often impact me the most and Greece has been no exception. Here we have this beautiful country with thrilling landscapes around every corner and in the middle of it all is the Moria Refugee Camp, a military base and very prisonesque, which now houses 2,000ish men from around the world as they anxiously await their decision on asylum, a place many were told would be a few day stop on their journey but has become their home for months, and a place where hope gradually and continuall...

To start with I actually tried to write this post yesterday on my time off but inadvertently deleted all of my photos off my camera from this trip so far and from my VanLife adventure last summer and spent the next few hours figuring out how to recover the pictures, which I managed to do with the exception of 3 or 4 which corrupted along the way. If there are any techy people out there that know how to fix a corrupted photo you would be my hero if you can show me how to get those ones back too. Welcome to Panagiouda! The first 2 photos are from my nice long relaxing walk along the seawall my first day off. I needed groceries so went for a bit of a journey on foot and really got to take in some of this beautiful town. Panagiouda is about the size of Choiceland but its also something like 600 years old and everything is made of beautiful stone. Even the side walks are stone, lol and potentially 600 years old judging by their condition in some spots but it was still a great walk. Th...

Well friends and fam, I am three days into my Greek adventure and down with a chest cold/jet lag. I am by no means incapacitated but having a good number of staff today, my scheduler took pity on this poor soul and gave a day of rest. Hopefully this bonus of sleep will do my body good enough that I can hit the ground running again tomorrow. I am not a fan of running on low. How's Camp? I have loved my first experiences here though at times they can be intense. You learn quick and Euro Relief is staffed by an incredible army of voluteers, many of them are young and few fairly inexperienced but you would never guess it for a moment when you are on the ground. Countless times I have asked the question to the "veteran" staff, "how long have you been here?" only to be shocked by the answer... "Oh about 2 weeks" WOW Seriously! Anyone who quips a negative about todays generation of young people needs to come check these kids out. Seriously, I am so ...

Well folks after 24ish hours of flights and layovers I have arrived at my final destination in the town of Mytilene  an absolutely beautiful little town on the Island of Lesbos. The flights were fairly uneventful, luggage arrived with me which anyone who travels often knows that is a definite praise report! Already fighting the language barrier haha the people who run the hotel I am staying at are this lovely old greek couple but they don't seem to speak any english. So this could be an adventure in itself. Thankfully the my new friend Elton from Euro Relief was there to help me get set up. All of my interactions with their organization have been top notch thus far. It was beautiful and sunny when I arrived but after the sun went down it got quite cold. The app on my phone says that it is -2. I am lucky that the place I am staying has some awesome heaters so its not so bad. It does make me feel for the refugees though and I understand now why there has been such a huge call for...

Hello Friends and Family!!! Most of you are aware by now that I have a love of adventure and a desire to change the world! I am horrible however at documenting the crazy adventures I get myself into and so I have resurrected my old blog as a means to journal my various musings and process all the experiences that I am so blessed to have. It also gives me a chance to share these thoughts and stories with the world. So stay tuned and subscribe to email list because tomorrow morning my latest adventure begins. 10am my flight takes off overseas to work at a refugee camp in Greece for the next month, followed by another month of making my way home with stops in Istanbul, Penang, and Bangkok along the way! Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I go. I know God has a plan for this and I cannot wait to see how it all plays out. Till next time D