LOGAN LIFE UPDATE!!! 🌻 [June, 2023]
(Day 1 Guayaquil)
Hello! Hola! Its been a while, huh?? It’s me- Logan- writing to you from Samborondón in the beautiful country of Ecuador! 🇪🇨
First things first… I’ve tried to journal (I’ve really tried) and I can never seem to hold myself accountable to write about my own life- so I am going to use the internet to trick myself! Is it personal reflection?? OR content creation?? AHA. Who’s to say?? I already really enjoy sharing my little adventures and silly videos with the world- so why not share even more?
Right. Life update. After touring the US/Canada as a puppeteer for 8 months I have finally settled back home in Nova Scotia!! 🇨🇦
Specifically- with the help of some amazing friends- I moved out of storage and into an apartment in Downtown Dartmouth! THATS RIGHT. According to the recent Globe & Mail article making the rounds- I am now based out of one of “Canada’s coolest neighbourhoods”??? When I first moved to NS in 2014 I remember being terrified to cross the bridge because it was such a big scary world outside of the Halifax peninsula- but OH BOY- I really love it over there now! The biggest downside is that I’m away too close to @twoifbyseacafe and have poor self control when it comes to croissants…
I had an incredible and restorative rollercoaster of a few weeks back home in NS in June and I can’t express enough how much I’ve missed all the people there while I was away on tour!! The power of seeing a familiar face has never hit me harder. I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of ‘home’ lately…
[“OH NO is this the opening line of an excruciatingly earnest one person play with no intermission?? TELL US MORE ABOUT THE COOL ANIMALS YOU SAW TODAY LOGAN”]
Okay okay… I’ll circle back to ‘home’… TODAY I saw so many amazing animals. I was in my element. I was thriving. I am closer than I’ve ever been to the native range of capybaras, an animal who has become near and dear to my heart, and while there are not any Capys in this part of Ecuador… I did see their little cousin the agouti!! They were too small and fast to get a good photo- but they are very very adorable. That’s “agutí” en español.
I am attempting a sort of ‘stream of consciousness’ writing style. Is it engaging? Is it as scattered as all of the info is in my head? Is this a glimpse into the mind of the REAL™ Logan? Who’s to say. Anywho- life on the road was tough. I think if there was one thing that being on tour from October-June taught me is that home perhaps isn’t what I always imagined it to be… If home is where the heart is- where the hell does your heart go when you’re living out of a suitcase during the depths of the winter in Manitoba, Minnesota and Iowa? I guess if Tony Bennet could leave his heart in San Francisco then I must’ve left mine in Nova Scotia. I think that home is where the community is? That’s what occurred to me upon returning. It was really nice to be back and I found lots of misplaced parts of myself strewn around the harbour.
[“Wait. Slow down. Logan… IF it was so nice to be back… Why did you immediately up and leave again?”]
AH. Good question voice inside my head.
Reason #1: I found some good deals on flights/have always dreamed of visiting Ecuador.
Reason #2: HAVE YOU SEEN THE AMOUNT OF LIZARDS THEY HAVE HERE?
Reason #3: Ok ok I will go into more details here and stop being so S I L L Y. I decided that after such a long tour I could use a break. The problem is- I have a really hard time giving myself a break. My mind is constantly churning up ideas and plans and I am excellent at keeping myself fully booked. The concept here was- if I physically remove myself (all the way to South America) then I won’t have a choice but to have fun and relax gosh darn it!!
I am so so excited about all of the creative projects I have coming up and can’t wait to share more about them with the world! BUT. Until July 27th. I am on vacation. Maybe it’s the kind of vacation where I snorkel in the morning and answer a few emails in the evening. HEY. That’s not a crime.
I won’t lie. After being on the road all year- it was hard for me to leave again after only having been back for a few weeks! I had unintentionally allowed myself just enough time to move, unpack, and settle into my apartment enough to taste the familiar flavours of normalcy and community before dashing off. The way I have been thinking about it is… I am now so lucky to not only be on the adventure of a lifetime- but I am genuinely going to be excited to come home after. That’s a win/win, right??
So… There’s an update! I doubt I will usually write this much… That’s if I even keep up writing! I really want to. Every piece of journaling/blogging from my past that I stumble upon makes me so happy to catch a glimpse back in time and I want to leave more breadcrumbs for future Lo to enjoy!
On June 27th I flew from Toronto through Atalanta and Fort Lauderdale all the way to Guayaquil, Ecuador! It was about 24 hours of travelling and I was very sleepy. There hasn’t been a huge time change so my body is mostly just adjusting to the heat and wonkiness of sleep deprivation (which I think I single-handedly cured today with an empanada). I caught an Uber from the airport and crashed hard at an air bnb in Samborondon.
Today, June 28th, I slept in and it was glorious.
I endeavoured out to a pharmacy for insect repellent and water. The latter of which I was in dire need of because OH BOY is it ever hot here. The bug spray though? Has only been precautionary so far… I fully expected the mosquitos here to be really bad what with the water, humidity, and temperature- but after spending the afternoon outside I don’t think I got one bite (knock on wood)!
I also found a huge (air conditioned) mall! HALLELUJAH. It had a great grocery store and I grabbed an empanada, some local cheeses, and fruit for a picnic style breakfast/lunch/dinner (my brain still doesn’t know what meal it is after the transit day) at Parque Histórico Guayaquil!
First impressions? ECUADOR IS BEAUTIFUL. This park had a really lovely mix of historic buildings, cultural interpretation centres, and a natural boardwalk zoo where I got to see SO many of my favourite South American animals! Also… you have read this far… do you want a secret? My Spanish is not very good- so I practiced today by talking to all of my animal friends! It was a cycle of me turning a corner, seeing a new exciting animal, and going “OHHHHH! Hola *reads sign* guacamayo – eres hermoso!!” I am not sure how useful knowing how to say ‘biodiversity’ or ‘mangrove’ or ‘macaw’ in Spanish will be for conversations- but HEY- I know what I know. I also saw a man make kissing sounds and a huge crocodile came over to him? Do crocodiles have an equivalent to the pspsps we use for cats? IF so… I think I heard it today!
After visiting the animals I sat by the water and ate some food looking out at the river! There were gardens with bananas and cocoa plants! There were some beautiful old buildings you could go in to learn more- many of which were torn down in Guayaquil and moved over to this park where they were reassembled!
It was a very very good first day of a month long trip.
I am so tired but so content.
Feeling very grateful for the privilege to travel the world and for all the love in my life!
Spending the evening relaxing and apparently writing a short novel- if you read this far… I hope you enjoyed it!!
I’ll write again soon!
Love, Lo
Logan Robins 
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