A few weeks ago, I traveled to the Out Islands of the Bahamas on a rickety 6 seater plane. There was evidence of fire on both wings and the engines made desperate sounds but I felt no fear. Perhaps if I knew what I heard later: flights landing on a 45 degree angle, windshields crashing in on the pilots lap, perhaps I would have been afraid then, but I had not yet heard these stories. The tiny plane danced in the air before we came to a dodgy landing on a tiny runway.

The previous week, I had left Toronto and my job of 5 years to move to Prince Edward County. In the space of a few days I moved my things, unpacked and left to clear my head. If I was going to sit and think about the next chapter of my life, I might as well do it on a warm, Caribbean island.

Let me be clear; my destination, Long Island, was no resort. It’s an isolated place where two people on the beach is considered a crowd. I wanted to live there and experience life on a remote Bahamian island.

I wrote a lot. One day I went to the marina. It was a beautiful day; 80 degrees, bright and sunny and I drank a cold beer and watched two kids laugh as they brought their boat to dock. The water was blue, a deep turquoise, clear; clear enough to see a big needlefish swimming around. He was surrounded by a school of tiny silver fish, so many that the water twinkled with each turn they took. Just a couple weeks prior, I had been in my Toronto office, dealing with clients and worrying about deadlines. People asked why I would leave a promising career in an industry I always wanted to work in to live in a tiny village. As I sat at the marina, I realized why.

In my island paradise, I had time to do everything I needed. No rushing. Long Island relies on the mailboat; it brings all mail and supplies to the island weekly. There is no such thing as fast food. When the boat is late, food is scarce, but nobody gets mad. Coming from a world where some folk get angry if you take longer than an hour to answer email, this was a welcome reminder that a stressful life is unnecessary. My new home, although different in many ways, has a similar mindset.

I learned a few other things. Convenience is a luxury. Fresh food is better than fast. I have more than I need. I have also learned that there is no sense in being angry when something isn’t on time – the typical Bahamian attitude is that things will get done when they get done. This is not lazy, but practical. I hope I can continue these new, calm feelings that I have brought home.

Have you ever been on a trip that opened your mind to a different way of life? I’d love to read some of your stories in the comments below.

I’m a huge Loretta Lynn fan. So much so that I drove all the way to Ithaca, NY to see her in March.

Imagine how happy I was to find out she was coming to Massey Hall. Stoked! So, like any normal music fan, I made my way to Ticketmaster’s site, where I was prompted to purchase tickets through Live Nation. I went through the usual process, asking the site for the best two tickets available and inputting my credit card information to pay for them.

Let me get this straight: I’m not upset about the price of the tickets, I’m not upset about where my seats were and I’m certainly not complaining about the quality of the show. My problem lies with Live Nation and their shady business practice.

When I went to their website and selected the option of “2 tickets, best available” I expected to receive the two best seats available at that time. As I found out at the show, this was not the case.

A few days before the concert, I noticed a Groupon deal selling tickets for half price. No problem, if a venue hasn’t sold out, it makes sense to run a special and try to fill the house. I wasn’t upset about paying full price because I (wrongly) assumed that Groupon customers would get the seats that were left over and that I would have better seats than these cheap ones. I was wrong.

Here’s my receipt. As you can see, I paid $168 for two tickets to the show.

Before the show, I met a friend at the Massy Hall bar to catch up over a quick drink. He was really happy that he’d found these Groupon tickets, as he couldn’t afford to go to the show otherwise. Again, no problem, I know he’s a huge Loretta Lynn fan and I was happy that he got to see her. The moment I developed a problem was after our drink, when we went into the theatre to take our seats. Can you believe we were in the same (15th) row? Still, fine, maybe… if he was over on the side with a somewhat obstructed view as I was. But no, he was right in the middle! 15th row centre, one of the best seats in the house!

I tweeted about this, asking Live Nation why this was the case.

Talk about a canned response with no explanation whatsoever. They could have answered me honestly and left it alone, but the lack of response and clear disregard for the customer infuriated me. Here’s their response:

It’s common knowledge that the giant ticket companies and entertainment promoters are in this for the money. They’re driving prices up and making it harder for both artists and fans. I usually stay out of the debate but this situation really bothers me. It’s a prime example of why the music industry is failing and the real fans who are happy to pay for music and spend their money going to see concerts are getting left out in the cold.

I’m clearly not alone in my feelings.

In their defense, whoever does Live Nation’s social media looked into the situation, or said they did.

I still got a canned (and untrue) response but at least I was given a contact to follow up with. I did follow up on Wednesday. No response yet.