The polls are in : Free Hugs Day... success!

Monday morning...




I headed out, fully equipped with a big smile, good humour, and a duct tape Free Hugs sign. Where to go? Well, who needs hugs the most? The business district! So I went an setup shop in downtown Regina, on the windiest day yet, right outside the banks, looking to hug some suits.


Suit-hugging is harder than... well, no, it's about as hard as I'd expect it to be. Although there was the odd person that didn't even flinch (*grumble grumble, free hugs, grumble, hugs won't make the market move, grumble*), most people were fairly receptive. Lots of people weren't into the free hugs, but at least they got a smile and/or a laugh. I even did get to hug a few suits.




Monday afternoon...

More hugs! Celeste came and found me in the afternoon. She was late because she'd been blown off her bike at an intersection. I'm telling you, it was *windy*.




A few girls though it was just so cool, they decided to hang out and give some hugs for a couple hours.



There was even another Free Hugger!



Observations:

• I hugged far more women than men. A lot of men told me, "maybe if I were a blonde." Love has nothing to do with sex. Just ask anybody who's been married long enough.
• The best hug I got was from a man.
• I was offered money for a hug. The sign quite clearly stated they were free. I just smiled and hugged.
• Even though most of the people that were huggers were doing it just for the fun of it, there were definitely a few people that really needed a hug. Hugging them was the most rewarding.

Monday night...

I biked 100 km with Celeste, with an awesome tailwind. These were our last kilometers together. I decided that I needed to get back on my own schedule, and try to push to Winnipeg for Friday. Turns out I'm probably not going to make it, but I gave it a good shot...

Free Hug Day was a blast, and a success! I hope you all got some hugs.

Sept 10, 2007 -- Free Hug Day!

Support your huggers, go and give some hugs!

Visit the link on the side menu for the Free Hugs Campaign.

Huggle!

Friends!

I still can't believe the prairie sky...



It was a pretty groovy feeling when, at 5:30 as the day of cycling was winding down, a car filled with two old friends came a honkin' up behind me on the trans Canada in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan! They were driving across Canada, which I found out about a week before our visit. So we tried to co-ordinate a meeting, but since we were both on loosey-goosey plans it was impossible to pinpoint a meeting time/place -- hence we said "see you on the trans Canada on x day"... and whammo, there they were! We all got a campsite, and introduced the only other camper (a German fella) to a good Canadian night -- beer, laughter, guitar, and roasted marshmallows! They gave us lots of food, as they were almost at their destination... veggie chili "just-add-water", a bunch of trail mix type stuff, and my personal favourite, a new addition to my knowledge base, quinoa!





I'm still traveling with the girl that's headed to Montreal, it's nice to have company. Poor girl probably wasn't counting on the chili though. We've been doing a lot of 'renegade' camping... just putting up our tents wherever we can; people's backyards (with permission of course), open grassy areas, abandoned campgrounds. It's great! Here we are roasting marshmallows via camp-stove on the side of the road at lunch one day...




Now I'm in Regina, staying with an friend from my time at Nortel. Regina's a great city, the little bit I saw of it. I meant to go exploring the city, but got caught up with some people I met who are making their way across Canada in their vegetable-oil fueled car. We played guitar and shared laughter, and I found out about how to vegetablize a car.

But tomorrow; tomorrow I'll be seeing a little more of the people of Regina. Why you ask? Because it's Free Hug Day! I am about to go and make my signs, and then stand in the busiest section of Regina tomorrow morning before heading back out onto the road. Wish me luck, I hope to give a whole sh*tload of hugs, spread some smiles, and give people a good start to Monday!

Ohhhh and notice the new "route map" on the side! It's the best I can do to show where I'm at. The distances aren't EXACT, but they're pretty close to accurate.

Until next time, hug on!