Growing up in Edmonton, I loved the familiarity of it. It was home, it was comfortable, and for a long time, it was enough. But once I started traveling, something shifted. I realized the world was far bigger—and that staying put simply because it was familiar wasn’t going to work for me.
Travel didn’t make me dislike Edmonton. It just made me curious about everything else.
My first real attempt at leaving came in my early 20s, when I moved to Calgary to work in a bar. That experience taught me something important early on: not every move is forward progress. The routine—sleep late, eat cheap, work nights—felt like drifting, not building. And that discomfort turned out to be useful. It pushed me back to school and forced me to think long-term instead of week-to-week.
That’s where my travel mindset really started to form.
I learned that movement alone isn’t the goal—intentional movement is. You don’t travel just to escape; you travel to test things. Places. Lifestyles. Versions of yourself. Some fit. Some don’t. And that’s okay.
When I later returned to Calgary in 2006 with a real career and a stable paycheck, I missed another lesson entirely. Instead of exploring the city—or taking advantage of how close I was to places like Banff—I spent most weekends driving back to Edmonton. Comfort won again. Looking back, that was a missed opportunity.
That’s when it finally clicked for me:
If you don’t intentionally experience where you are, you’re just passing time—no matter how far you’ve traveled.
That mindset is what drives how I travel now. Slow travel. Staying longer. Living locally. Paying attention. Choosing experiences over routines that feel safe but stagnant. I don’t believe in rushing through places anymore. I believe in letting them reveal whether they fit—or whether it’s time to move on.
Edmonton gave me roots. Travel taught me not to cling to them.
Here are the before-and-after photos of the guys—some of whom I’ve known for over 35 years.
Time did its thing.
And yes, I’d like to point out that I still have hair, unlike that married crew. 🤔
Make of that what you will.
We grew up watching the Edmonton Oilers win five Stanley Cups in seven years. At the time, it felt normal—almost expected.
Looking back, that early dominance absolutely screwed us.
They haven’t won a championship since, and we’ve watched almost every game along the way. That’s 35 years of mostly losing hockey, punctuated by just enough hope to keep us emotionally invested.
Then came 2006 and 2024—both trips to the Finals, both ending in Game 7 losses, just to remind us that joy is temporary and fandom is pain. Add another loss in the final in 2025 to the pain.
Honestly, it feels intentional that they’re messing with us at this point.
And yet…
Go Oilers Go!! 
Since the Edmonton Oilers have sucked for so long, we’ve had to entertain ourselves in other ways over the years.
Desperation breeds creativity.
Here are the three Oilers-themed songs I created while in Mexico—because apparently that’s where peak hockey content happens now for me. The first one somehow became our goal song, which still makes me laugh every time.
Rock bottom has its perks in the other two attempts! 
I spent a lot of time walking through the Edmonton River Valley in 2018–2019, during the period when I was seriously considering moving back home.
Those walks did a lot of the thinking for me.
I thought I could adapt, but then the Universe reminded me of who I had become.
I thought I was cool!
I am the only one who does! 
I put in a lot of miles going up and down that river, with my longest walk clocking in at over 10 miles (16 km). Those weren’t casual strolls—they were thinking walks. The kind where decisions quietly sort themselves out one step at a time.
Below are a few of my favorite walks pulled from my Strava history—proof that sometimes the best clarity comes from just putting one foot in front of the other, over and over again.
It was cold AF some days—but also unbelievably beautiful.
The kind of cold where your body has no choice but to work overtime just to stay warm, which honestly made it a great workout. Nature plus suffering equals cardio, apparently.
Here are some of my favorite walks, all filmed in the Edmonton River Valley and posted on my YouTube channel:
NorthAmericanDarrell – YouTube
If nothing else, they’re proof that you don’t need perfect weather to get outside—you just need a decent jacket and questionable judgment, and good company. 
