Meeting J.E. Taylor

My time in York, Maine

I made it to my destination. I made it to Portland.

For about five minutes.

I had plans to meet people in Portland that fell through, and it was around this time that I picked up the pace I was going in. Fall was here, and winter was coming. If I wanted to get to my grandmother in time, I would have to move a bit. Besides, there were people I wanted to meet.

I’ve had J.E. Taylor on my show multiple times. Jane is one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met. I was pleasantly surprised when she came on my show the first time. She’s a great writer, but a great person. We have similar values and have enjoyed chatting. What would it be like in real life?

The short answer, great.

First though, I boarded the train from Portland to Portsmouth. That train man is so cool. It’s an incredibly cheap way to get to the end of the state, and so comfortable. Two stops in, I’m off and downtown Portsmouth.

It’s a brief stint. I just had lunch and worked on some freelancing until I was picked up. Jane and her husband, Darren, were awesome people. They took me to their trailer in York, Maine.

York is a tourist town right at the edge of the state. Lots of harbors, beaches, seafood and quiet. As someone used to being in Western Canada, I always thought of the Pacific Ocean as a place of beauty. The Atlantic in Maine is just as breathtaking. Now, we were at the end of the tourist season, for most people this was the last week. I showed up at the end of the time, as everyone was starting to wind down for the year.

The three of us hung out the first night. It was chill getting to chat and connect in real time. Jane is exactly who she is in the videos you see on spilling ink. She was a little nervous seeing me in person at first, but when she realized I was the same guy, it was cool.

Jane has hit the point in her life where she is ready to have fun, and that was the whole point. Saturday morning I got to walk into town with the two of them and see the city. Later, I got to work on my own stuff in the trailer, and that night, I did a special episode of spilling ink in which we talked about stuff, but it was a real cool experience to get to do the show in person with Jane.

Sunday, I was off to New Hampshire. I got some money for my ticket to Boston from Darren, who was super nice, and I was off.

As quick as it came, it was over. My time in Maine was amazing. I had some genuine magic happen on this part of the trip, and got to see one of the prettiest states in the union. I wish I could have been leisurely with the next parts of the trip, but the end of October was approaching, and my time on the road needed to pause soon. Still I had a bit of this leg of the trip to go.

Normally, this would be it, but I figure I’d do Jane a solid for the kindness she showed me. She currently is prepping to launch a kickstarter. If you want to see just amazing an author Jane is, take a look and hit the button.