Living out of a suitcase

I am back in Montreal but I only live here part time. That's because I spend my weeks in the Maritimes, Halifax to be more specific, working at a client site. The job is interesting, lots of project management, some business intelligence, a bit of strategy...

My first week away was very tiring. There's something about living in a hotel that can pretty much guarantee that you don't exactly sleep soundly. You hear noises in the corridor, the pillow is too hard, the air too dry... And for a week, I lived pretty much the opposite of how I've lived in the past six years. I had a car to drive to work every day, and also to drive to the local malls to grab whatever seemed a tad healthy out of a fast-food menu. I didn't have my travel mug so I bought coffee in disposable cups. I had no time to prepare before I left... there had to be a better way.

Week 2 was also spent at the hotel, but this time I asked to have a fridge in my room ($5 extra / day, well worth it) and I went to the Superstore on the first evening (think Loblaws) to buy yogourt, blueberries, granola and orange juice for breakfast, and whole wheet pita, cold cuts, cheese, humus and some lettuce for lunches. OK, my diet was pretty much the same every day, but at least the meals were a lot healthier. I ate out in the evening. I also made my way to the hotel's gym (a tiny room where about two people can exercise at the same time, but it was empty when I went) one evening.

Week 3 (this week) will be shorter, as I am flying back to Montreal Thursday evening. I am trying to spend some time in the Montreal office so my colleagues don't completely forget about me :-) Starting in November, I will probably live in a furnished apartment in Halifax, with a kitchen so I can cook meals, not just eat cold stuff. And I will spend a weekend now and then in Nova Scotia, to visit the area and avoid having to fly every single week. My carbon footprint is going to be terrible this year.

Any suggestions on things to see while in Nova Scotia? I'd like to drive to Cape Breton and do the Cabot Trail, maybe a weekend in early November. The view should be stunning, now that the trees have lost most of their leaves. I will also spend time around Halifax. My current hotel is close to the client site, but not exactly downtown, so I haven't seen the harbour and haven't walked around the city yet. Things to look forward to.

Funny thing isn't it? I'm spending my first few months of rediscovering my home town actually discovering a new city.