I've been really putting a lot of thought into what I want my next few steps to be in the coming years and I think I'm honing in on the best options for me. One of the things I had really been pondering is taking a working holiday visa in New Zealand and spending a year or two working and travelling around New Zealand, Australia, and parts of Asia. This would probably be more life changing than my trip here to Europe and the experiences I've had here for sure but I think the one thing that eats away at me is how difficult it is to see my family from here.

Flying home from Europe is costly but flying home from New Zealand is completely out of the question. There's absolutely no way I'd be able to go home to visit with flights one way averaging $1, 500 not to mention the 16 or so hours attached with the travel. I can't even fathom what 16 hours on a flight feels like when I'm already struggling with the idea of spending over 7 hours on a plane to get home in a few months. There's just no freaking way I'd be able to see them and yes, there's skype or facebook messenger and whatnot but it really isn't the same. After I lost my mother, I really felt a strong connection to my family which I definitely had before but even more so now you know? The idea of not seeing them for another one or two years is ALMOST too much for me to bear.

That's where Iceland comes in. I was doing some research about place sin the world that are experiencing a Hospitality skill shortage and Iceland popped up near the top of that list. One of the things that appealed to me right off the bat was the fact that it was significantly closer to home than New Zealand first off which would make it so much easier for me to come home to visit and vice versa. Secondly, Iceland always ranks near the top of the happiest and most peaceful countries in the world which given the current political climate, is endlessly appealing. Iceland is naturally stunning, seasons are similar to Canada, and there's plenty of hospitality work. All of this on top of the fact that there really isn't a huge vegetarian / vegan community which sounds like a challenge to me! How exciting would it be to live there for a while and maybe open my own little place to bring awareness to the vegetarian / vegan movement and show people how amazing food can be even without meat! 

I know I'm constantly going back and forth with ideas about what I want to do next but when it comes down to it, being closer to my family and friends is really important to me and so is seeing new places and things, so Iceland kind of seems like a perfect compromise. 

Anyways, that's all for now. You can expect I'll change my mind a hundred times but for now, I'm just excited to get home and spend some time with all of my fam and friends :D 

HAPPY VEG

As the end of April approaches, I've started to look at flights back home and ballpark what I'll be spending to get there but I've also kind of been looking at what I want to do when I come home as far as a vacation. Now, you might assume that this experience has been my vacation but in all honesty, I've worked very hard the entire time I was here and sacrificed a lot to get to see all of the places I've seen so far.

Obviously when I get back home I'll need to return to my old job at the restaurant if they have space for me or find another job but before I do that I'll be taking some much needed time off. I started looking at trips to Cuba from Toronto for a week in September. Honestly, with the money I come home with including what I already have saved in my account, I could easily take a week in Cuba all inclusive and still come back with money to spare until I get back to work.

Going somewhere tropical has never really been something that I wanted to do too heavily because I hate the heat but after this year in Europe, I'm kind of ready to see something completely different than this. I've never gone anywhere tropical in my 33 years on this planet and I think it's about time to go and relax on a beach for a week sipping free fruity drinks and just relaxing. I think a trip like this will help put me in a better place mentally to think about what I want my next steps in life to be. Next steps in regard to whether I want to move to New Zealand or commit to staying home and working on my blog. I still don't know what direction to take although things keep getting clearer for me day by day. 

I was actually having a chat with someone at the hostel today about being in my thirties and still having little to no clue what I want to do with my life. I mean, I have ideas but I am still all over the place you know? I envy my friends sometimes that have their careers and their houses that they own because they have something that they've worked so hard for. I will always have this travel experience for sure but I can't help but think about how nice it will be to on my own little something. 

Why is getting old so hard? :P

HAPPY VEG

With just over 4 months to go before I head back to Canada, I've really started planning what I want my next few steps to be. Obviously I will go back to working on new recipes for the blog and focusing on putting together another ebook featuring photos I've used my DSLR camera for which I think will make the next book so special, but I have a few directions to go with life in general. 

I'm really considering applying for the New Zealand Working Holiday visa. This travel experience has certainly enlightened me to the world of travel to say the least. I always knew I wanted to travel but I never really knew how much I would love it until I actually settled here and started travelling around Europe. There's no sensation quite like wandering the streets of a new place where every person, place, and thing is completely new and exciting. Going to New Zealand would grant me 1 or 2 years at my discretion to travel around Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Asia which I'm sure would be a life altering experience to say the least but I have my hesitations.

Being away from my family and friends back home is difficult for sure but the life experience is most definitely worth it. My hesitations are with relocating and setting up a new life somewhere else again. The process of relocating, living in hostels, moving rooms constantly, sharing rooms with several people, tax appointments etc., this was all so taxing on me for the first 3 months that it almost felt to be too much. Now that I'm 7 months in of course it's been nothing but a wonderful experience since then but it was truly a struggle to get to the point I'm at now and frankly, I didn't really succeed the way I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud that after my first try I came back and made this work but there were some shortcomings you know? I was unable to get an apartment because I ran out of money and succumbed to living in the hostel permanently where I frankly overpay for what I get and I didn't start travelling until 3 months into my time here. There was a lot I could have done differently to really make the most of this.

As I said, super proud of myself and happy that I've achieved what I have but it was not easy whatsoever. The thought of having to do all of this all over again so soon after I get home is a bit daunting and weighing heavily on my decision to apply. Like I said, I know it would all be worth it in the end but it was so difficult to get set up that I just don't know if I'm willing to do all of this again. On the opposite side of things, it would allow me some more access to new places in the world I would likely not visit otherwise and give me so many new experiences. It's definitely a struggle to decide whether I want to go through all of this again.

Also, I really want to put all of my attention into developing my blog further. My goal with the blog was always recipes and animal news. I've continued on reporting animal stories from around the globe but I've yet to dive into cooking videos or really develop some food photography skills. This is something I desperately want to do when I get home and I worry that relocating again will put this on hold even further which I'm not sure I'm ready to do. I'd likely get an apartment which would mean I could get pets which is another thing my life is desperately lacking at this point. On the other side of this argument is if I decide to stay in Windsor back home, I'm conceding to staying in Windsor which if you've never lived there let me tell you, there's NOTHING going on. It's such a boring place to live and with the exception of having my family and some great friends, there's not much else worthwhile about that city.

Ugh, as you can see nothing's changed with me. I continue to want to take myself in 100 directions instead of focusing on one and juts putting 100% into it you know? Being creative like this has its drawbacks because I can see myself doing billions of different hings but never get to one of them concretely. I'll never really be personally successful if I don't focus on one direction. What do you guys think??

HAPPY VEG