Top 8 of '08, with Guest Blogger Kirsti Anne Wakelin

From the New York City agent to the Vancouver city illustrator -- Kirsti Wakelin.

Kirsti is the most tech-saavy artist I know -- she maintains at least two personal blogs, oversees the CWILL BC blog and was the guiding light behind the recent CWILL website overhaul as well. She has answered my endlessly moronic questions with a patience beyond her years. On top of her kindness to geeky authors, one look at her blog or her website will show you her incredible talent as an illustrator.

Here is just a taste -- be prepared to be blown away...

Kirsti Wakelin's Top 8 Travel Moments

I spent most of the year holed up in my studio where nothing exciting but work happens so there wasn't much 8 of 08 fodder there. I didn't have time to read even half of 8 books or venture out to 8 unique restaurants (we have our staple 2 or 3), and there aren't 8 tv shows worth mentioning. I'm sure I saw a few good movies, but I'm a very tough critic. Besides, I can't remember what I watched last week, let alone at the beginning of the year.

However, I did spend a month in Scotland, Wales and Paris this summer and it was the highlight of my year. So I decided my 8 of 08 should be some of the most memorable, enjoyable or inspiring events from my trip (in chronological order). I'll warn you though, I'm not the fun kind of traveler that gets up to all sorts of exciting and unbelievable shenanigans that make for wild and crazy stories. I'm the kind of traveler that spends part of a hike crawling around on a Welsh hillside in the sheep poo photographing sundews.

8 Painting on a cliff above crashing surf at Yesnaby

7 Watching puffins barrel in for awkward cliffside landings on the Brough of Birsay.

6 Being hit by a falling (and deceased) hedgehog while driving between Kirkwall and Finstown.

5 Walking over, around and through viking village remains, standing stones, neolithic subterranean homes and burial mounds all around Orkney.

4 Pimms on the lawn under a sunny Orkney sky and gin and tonics on the lawn in sunny Wales - both in the company of fantastic, generous and funny relatives.

3 Riding in Wales and feeling as if it were mere days rather than years since I was last on a horse.

2 Exploring Dartmouth (during a torrential downpour) to see where my grandmother grew up.

1 Painting in le Jardin du Luxembourg all afternoon while the sun slowly sank and turned everything gold.

Thanks so much for this peek into your trip, Kirsti! If you'd like to see more of Kirsti's fantastic art, you can dive into her blog HERE.

~kc