Author: makayladmarcotte

In the summer of 2019, I went on the trip of a lifetime with my best friend Halie. The Story Of All the Fish in the Sea, Come Travel with me is highlighted briefly in my Twitter Thread. This blog is an in-depth look at the story of how we used one month to backpack through seven countries and twelve cities and still come home best friends. Don’t miss the links to the behind-the-scenes moments on my Instagram. This is our European adventure:

Switzerland

On June 6th, 2019 we flew out of Calgary, Canada to Zurich Airport in Switzerland. We had roughly 10 hours of which we toured the local area and got dinner before heading back to the airport for our flight to Spain.

Spain

Madrid

June 9, 2019. We started today by touring the temple of Debod which is an Egyptian temple dating way back before the 2nd century. That is made up of 1000 pound stones that were transported to Madrid Cuartel de la Montana Park, from Eygpt in pieces and then put back together in a janga by number sort of style.

After that, we toured the Renia Sofia Museum which has a large collection of modern and contemporary Spanish art. I really enjoyed this experience, even though the museum was short. There was lots of Pablo Picasso Dali, Salvador, and feminist art.

After the museum, we walked Parque del Buen Retiro which is the largest park in all of Madrid. We stumbled upon it kind of by accident but it felt like a cleaner, hotter central park. We hung out there until we were ready to do the inside tour of the Royal Palace tour. Finally finishing the day with Tapas.

Barcelona

June 11, 2019. While in Barcelona we explored Les Ramblas Street, the heart of downtown. We saw Sagrada Familia Cathedral church which has been under construction since before my great grandparents were even born and is supposed to have all 18 tiers completed in 2026. We ate Paella and to be completely honest I actually didn’t care for it that much. It is a seafood and rice dish and while I love seafood something about the spices just did not do it for me. My favorite part of the city was our visit to La Boqueria for St. Joseph’s market, it is a famous market known for its fresh fruits, sweets, flowers, meats, etc., and we ate oysters and mussels and it was probably the biggest oysters I have ever seen.

France

Avigonon

My favorite part of Avigonon was the Maison Du Savon De Marseille, this beautiful natural french soap shop. All the bars of soap were made in-house with fresh products and there were hundreds of different types. I bought 10 different bars and had to carry them in my backpack for the rest of the month but it was worth it.

The Bougainvillea vine is famous in this area, there were purple flowers everywhere we went. This small community happened to have an opera-themed carnival in town when we passed through. We rode on several rides including a large Ferris wheel which let us see the entire.

Nice

June 14, 2019. We got up extra early and climbed the 2000 steps of Castle Hill to see the coast view of Nice.

Then we took a bus to Cannes and jumped on a ferry from Cannes to Isle. St. Marguerite where we finally got on a catamaran to Lerin’s Islands. We snorkeled and cliffed jumped for the afternoon and it truly reset the soul. Once we traveled back in land to Nice, Grayson, Halie, and I had dinner at La Cucina a family-owned restaurant. We had the best charcuterie of the entire trip.

While at dinner we met four local girls who had just come back from studying abroad in Canada. We had wonderful conversation and they took us out to the “disco” to dance.

Monaco

June 16, 2022. We jumped over to Monaco for the day, we were not able to afford to physically stay overnight but lucky it is a day trip by train from Nice. Monaco is all about the rich, famous, and expensive. I was celebrating my 25 birthday, and a few friends Halie and I met at the hostel’s joined us for the day. We rented a day bed at the Fairmont hotel’s Nikki Beach Club. We drank pina colada’s and smoked mint and strawberry hookah out of an apple (not normally my thing but when almost in Rome, do as the Romans do I guess). It was nice to have a day break to soak up the sun. Before hoping the train back to France, we saw the Monte Carlo casino which was interesting since it is commonly referenced in film and history. But, honestly, the seaport and city views were of much more interest to me.

Italy

San Gimignano

June 17, 2019. We went into San Gimignano which was a small quiet town just outside of Florence, I was not expecting the view, it was referred to as ‘wine country’ because there were vineyards everywhere. We toured Palagetto vineyard and did a delicious wine tasting.

I ended up shipping six bottles of wine home for me and six bottles for my mother. I also bought truffle everything – oil, butter, and spread. My mother is Italian and she loves to cook and truffle is way higher quality in Italy than back home in Canada.

Florence

June 19, 2019. We saw Michelangelo’s David AKA “The Famous Naked Man”. The Duomo Cathedral which we climbed has 463 steps in a circle, talk about dizzy for the view. The last tour we did was the Loggia dei Lanzi which is an open-air sculpture museum and I was grateful for the open air with heat. While Florence is known for its art and leather, truly we were in love with the food. Pear & cheese filled pasta, wine, champagne & cheesecake. We celebrate my 25th birthday by singing Karaoke at a local bar called the Red Garter.

Orvietto

June 18, 2022. While traveling to Rome we stopped in a beautiful small town Orvietto. Halie, Grayson (a newfound travel friend), and I walked around to tour the shopping, drink coffee, and toured an extremely old church built in 1209. We found a cute stairwell with incredible flowers, while we were taking turns getting our photo taken (in Grayson’s pink hat) the local woman who owned the house came home. She proceeded to visit with us for over an hour and share the history of the house and what she knew of the town

Rome

June 20, 2019. Rome is the city of sightseeing; I threw my coin in the Trevi Fountain which supposedly means I will marry an Italian man or return to Rome. Either way, I was okay with the fortune/luck outcome. We saw the Colosseum which is the largest amphitheater in the world, it took 6-8 years to build in 72 AD. It is estimated to have held between 50,000 to 80, 000 spectators for gladiator fights. We tour the Vatican which might as well have been its own city. I was able to get a rosary and saint. Christopher was blessed by the pope for my grandmother. The Sixtine Chapel was unlike anything else I have ever seen. However, the heat was starting to catch up with us, and was definitely ready to head to Greece after this day. For a behind-the-scenes look at the Vatican visit my Instagram.

June 20, 2019 – We were officially stuck in Rome. After several hot hours and much frustration with translation Halie and I were basically crying in the Rome airport. They canceled our original flight and at this point, we were pretty heartbroken that we would likely be rerouted back home to Canada. We decided to rent a car and drive to a smaller airport with a flight we might make that would then require us to catch a ferry and train. After the sketchiest car rental experience ever, we hit the road.

Between driving out of Rome and the time change, we were praying this wouldn’t be the end of our European adventure.

Greece

Santorini

June 22, 2019. We made it! After a lot of driving we arrived at the airport at 2:30 am and the airport was closed. We had to wait outside the airport for the doors to open, where countless other people were sleeping outside on the airport steps. We boarded the plane at 5:15 am and were on our way to Greece. Upon landing, we caught the ferry and we were able to save the last week of our trip.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChleDq2FY2i/

Santorini is incredible, the photos do not do it justice. We had incredible food, specifically the cold coffee. I fell in love with this local bookstore Atlantis Books in Oia. It had first edition copies of Bronte, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and more. Some of the book sets hadn’t been separated in 75 years and were worth thousands of dollars. These were books I learned about and read in undergraduate school but never dreamed I would see as a part of history.

Thira

June 25, 2019. We visited the three beaches white, red and black. Apparently, Halie and I did not get the translation properly as you are supposed to take a boat to the white beach. Halie and I ended up hiking down a side of the cliff to get to the beach while many locals stared at us. Admittedly it would have been easier to come by boat but it did make for a lifelong memory.

The island is shaped like a crescent moon and is full of culture. Santorini used to be a full circle before a volcano eruption in 1646 BC and ever since it has been shaped like a crescent moon with the volcano as a sun or circle in the middle. Halie and I got our best friend tattoos in the representation of this. After Greece we headed back home to Canada, to work, family, pets, and everyday reality. We carry the memories of this trip with us.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Chldt2KFiFq/

Live tweeting was a little difficult for me. I felt like it kept pulling me out of the day, perhaps because I was with children or maybe I am just not a huge Twitter person. Doing an Instagram post after the fact as a reflection or sharing the story of my day feels more manageable to me. I can organize my thoughts better, but I also use Instagram outside of this course and Twitter is brand new to me. Live tweeting felt a little chaotic and while I did remember the hashtags and got the right number of tweets it was difficult to get a lot of the good elements of storytelling properly tied in, or strong grammar and writing.

There is a beginning, middle, and end to the story but sharing videos and photos of our day was really the key in helping bring the story to life. It was my first attempt at a Twitter thread, perhaps live tweeting most of a day was too long a time to continuously tweet about it. Next time I will try live tweeting something exciting that takes a shorter time frame, like 45 minutes to an hour.

The synopsis of my Twitter thread is that I took a day trip to Musreau lake with a few close friends (Stefanie, Megan, and Jordon) and my goddaughters (Megan’s girls Ryley and Devynn). While I assumed that the story’s major conflict would have been my godchildren’s behavior, it turned out to be some less cooperative weather in the morning.

I am starting to get the hang of Twitter threads, and have been working to apply the basic principles of storytelling to get a more complete story.

Beginning: Preparing for the trip, picking up Stefanie, and the Journey out.

Middle- Climax or Conflict: Our arrival – we ate lunch, but the weather was not improving, and at this point, I was pretty convinced we were going to have to pack the kids up and head back into town.

End: The weather got better, and we ended up having a really wonderful afternoon of bonding time.

Storytelling always includes the “5 W” questions- Who, What, When, Where, Why, and the bonus How. But according to Alison Macadam, there are other fundamental questions one should consider before engaging in storytelling. The answers to these questions might change the story in its entirety.

Storytellers might want to consider the following tips or questions to strengthen their article, social post, advertisement, etc., wherever a story can be found these questions should have been asked by the writer.

1. What is Driving My Story?

There can be benefits to asking questions at the beginning of storytelling rather than starting by accounting events or making character statements. If you ask questions and use the answers to build your story it allows the story to grow and be a journey for the audience.

Professional Tip: If you have multiple questions, you probably have multiple stories. Stick to one and answer it well. Your audience will stay with you.

2. What are my dream ingredients?

To help better plan and tell your story imagine the elements, key points, or storyspine pieces ahead of time.

Professional Tip: Ask the following prompts

• What voices are essential?
• What complicated issue must be explained?
• What quotes will address your driving question?
• What moment or scene will make the story unforgettable?
• What transition will tie the pieces together?
• What will give the story personality?

Cast a big net of ideas and then choose the best ones to incorporate into your story or writing.

3. How will I engage my audience- & hold them?

Professional Tip: Always try to put yourself in your audience’s shoes.

What interests you? what would you enjoy reading or listening to? Try to be as creative as possible and then outline your big ideas, emotional arch, or plot. Remember why would you want to read it, and why is it important? know your target audience and why the story would appeal to them.

4. How will I ensure my story is fair to the people & ideas it represents?

Make sure your story is clear to the audience that even if it is being told from one perspective that different viewpoints are still present.

Professional Tip: One of Pixar’s Rules of Storytelling states “if you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel?” If your story involves real people and real ideas, I think this is a strong question to help determine if the story is fair and how the perspective being written might make others feel.

Even when the story focuses on one person or situation, ask yourself where the conflict resides. Last but not least, a story is never going to fairly represent all characters (fiction or fact) this is why novelists sometimes write the story from the other character’s perspectives. Alison Macadam shares that transparency is built by telling the audience where they can find related stories.

5. What will the audience remember when it’s over?

The audience rarely remembers the entire story. We will remember key plot pieces, favorite characters, or maybe a detailed setting this is because we have an emotional connection to the material.

If your reader could only take away one thing from your story, decide what you want it to be and focus on developing that material.

Professional Tip: You can build your stories to have the impact you want them to have. You just need to keep the impact in mind while creating the story.

In conclusion, if you remember to ask these questions at the beginning of writing or telling your story it will help guide your story. There is no single correct answer to these questions. You as the author of the story get to choose which answer help you complete your story.

Like many women, I grew up being exposed to stories of princesses.

Cue:

• Ariel- The little mermaid
• Jasmine- Aladdin
• Cinderelle – Cinderelle
• Snow White- Snow White & the seven dwarves
• Belle- Beauty & the Beast…

The list could go on, but you get the point. These stories have the same major plots a beautiful princess finding love and needing to be saved by a charming prince. I watched PIXAR’S Brave as an adult and it has stayed a favorite of mine. Brave gives young girls a new female protagonist ‘Merida’ to look up to. Brave celebrates her independence and skills (archery, knowledge of the woods & horseback riding) as well as her free-spirited nature. It tells the next generation that a girl’s worth is based on her and she can problem solve for herself.  

It created a universal emotion; everyone loves a strong, independent woman or at least the feminist in me does. Merida doesn’t need someone to save her, and her story is about her finding out who she is and connecting to her family. The main love plot in this film is the relationship of a mother and daughter growing and changing.  

The movie is set in medieval Scotland and has rich visuals full of greens and greys. It has many scenes that are eye-catching including the ring of stones, large mountain scenery, the highland games, and waterfalls.

Merida’s hair is stark red and has enough movement it could be considered a secondary character.

Merida is also relatable because she tries and fails many times before she succeeds. According to PIXAR (which makes sense as it is a Pixar film), 22 rules of storytelling “You admire a character for trying more than for their successes”. Merida tries to be a good daughter, and independent or true to herself in all the wrong ways before she succeeds and accomplishes this goal the right way. She also tries to save her mom by reversing the spell incorrectly before mending the tapestry. She never gives up and her courage and heart are present. You admire her character and grit more than her ability to prove she can rule and not have to marry a prince.

The movie Brave follows the Aerogramme Writers Studio the Story Spine as seen below:

Once upon a time… Lord and his Lady celebrate their daughter’s (Merida) birthday. She sees a willo-wisp, her mother explains they can lead her to her destiny. Suddenly a black bear attacks and her father fights the bear. Lord Fergus lost his leg to the bear known as Mor’du.

Every day… Merida is a brave, independent princess who spends her days’ horseback riding, practicing archery, and exploring the forest. She fights with her mother over not being a “proper” princess.

But, one day… Clans accept the offer to fight for Merida’s hand in marriage. Each of the firstborn of the clans will compete in the category the Princess chooses. Merida suggests archery, she claims as the first-born as well, she’ll be ‘fighting for her own hand.’ She defies her mother and makes a bullseye.

Because of that… Merida flees, where the willo-wisps bring her to a witch. Merida asks for a spell to change her mother. Her mother turns into a black bear! Merida learns that if they don’t want the spell to become permanent, they will have to “mend it”.

Because of that… Merida and her mother bond during her time as a bear. If they do not find a way to reverse the spell, she will stay a bear. Merida finds the stones and realizes that she is in the castle in the legend her mother told her about as a child. The brother who attempted to seize power went to the witch and turned into Mor’du.

Because of that… Mor’du attempts to attack Merida. Elinor saves her daughter, and they go back to the circle of stones.

Until Finally… Merdia knows what needs to be done. Merida mends the tapestry and saves her mother. And then ever since then … Merida and her mother accept each other.

This story was the first of its kind (with movies like Frozen to follow) I believe it is a timeless story and inspires others to be themselves.

I experimented with live-tweeting a story in real-time, with a day ski trip with friends. My live-tweet story highlights the 8 point story arc and includes a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Beginning: Tweets 1,2, & 3

The first tweet of the day is the Statsis our trip started the same as any other trip we have taken we planned where we were headed, met up with my friends, and grabbed a cup of coffee before hitting the road.

The second tweet expressed the Trigger of this story, we hit a speed bump and the check tire pressure symbol came on. We had no choice but to pull over and figure out if the tire was just low or if we were going to have to turn around. We set out on a Quest for a gas station and to buy a tire pressure gage.

The third tweet was a positive Surprise a kind lady at the gas station let us borrow her pressure gage which was important because the station didn’t have any. We looked over the tire and much to our relief it was low but the tire did not have any holes. We were able to fill the tire up and get back on the road to the ski hill.

Middle: Tweets 4, 5, 6

The fourth tweet featured our arrival to the hill we got a good parking spot and maintained our quest for a good day of skiing and bonding time.

The fifth tweet is when we got put in a Critical Choice the thing is when we made the choice I didn’t in fact know it was the “choice” that would affect the story. When we got off the top of the chair life we chose the easier path of skiing straight down rather than hiking all the way over to the right of the lift.

This led to the Climax or tweet six, we were lost. When we arrived at the bottom of the hill we had no idea where we were and came out on the opposite side which was far from the chair lift. We made the ultimate choice to head into the trees and figure out the unknown area.

End: Tweets 7,8, & 9

Tweet seven showed us hiking uphill in ski gear, as a result of choosing not to hike at the top of the mountain we got lost and then had to walk and hike to get back up and into the parking lot. Tweet eight explained we had planned to do another run before taking a break but the direction we chose to ski down changed the plan for the day. We ended up having an early lunch.

Tweet eight and tweet eight nine featuring a photo of the map of the mountain was the Resolution of the story. We reached a new stasis, we learned from our mistake, and when we got to the top of the mountain referenced the map before making a choice.

Tweet ten is the completion of the story and a reminder that more adventures and stories will take place in the future.