I have 3 months left y'all, like, 3 months. Where the hell did the time go? I have to admit, the first two months were less than enjoyable and felt like a year in themselves but after that, things really started to fly by. I honestly believe the reason for that has been the travelling, what an experience it has been. I have seen some seriously amazing places and consider myself super lucky to have had this opportunity. With that being said, I also have come to the realization that I have 3 months left until I come home and so many places I have yet to visit.
Finances are going to play a big part in where I go in these remaining months because I have to also start planning for my return home which is going to be costly. I need to have money for the flight itself which is going to run me up to 600 euros because I have so many suitcases and then I need to have some support monies for when I return home in case I'm unlucky when it comes to my job and have to locate a new one. That period of time without a job could be costly as well so I'd like to have a nice security blanket of money in the bank for when I return. Considering all of the money I need for returning home, my priorities are to travel to as many countries as cheaply as possible before I get home. I desperately want to see Greece, probably most of all I'd say. On top of Greece, I'd like to See Paris, somewhere eastern European like Romania or Prague, Switzerland, and Italy or Spain. I don't really know how I will manage to get to all of these places in what little time I have left but I'm going to try. This week I'll be heading to Brussels with a day trip to Frankfurt Germany and then two weeks from now I'll be spending two days in Luxembourg which if you haven't seen pictures of, is like a fairy tale. I'm looking forward to these trips but I also must admit that the process of going to the airport constantly and security and waiting blah blah blah is kind of getting old lol When I get to these places I'm all for it but the process is getting tiring, I'll be happy to get back to Canada and avoid the airport for a while that's for sure. HAPPY VEG
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There have been so many highs and lows when it comes to this experience here in Dublin for the past year but one of the very best things about this experience has been meeting people from all over the world.
Living in the hostel has had its lows for sure, I mean you basically forfeit any personal space or alone time which can at times be a bit overwhelming. There's also the fact that I have very little space to store food leaving me eating the same things all the time and as someone who was writing and testing new recipes and ideas every week, it's especially difficult to be eating the same shit every day. There's the not being able to have pets thing which is also not my favourite thing. Despite all of this, meeting people from all over the world and engaging in meaningful conversation with them has far overshadowed any of the negative things about this trip. I've had the pleasure of connecting with people from every corner of the globe and it has really opened my eyes to some of the differences, struggles, and positive things about living in different parts of the world. You know, we all have our perceptions about different cultures based on what we've read or what we're told but often times, we couldn't be any more wrong. Last night, I spent over 3 hours speaking with an older German lady about everything you can think of. We discussed her thoughts on living in Germany versus being here in Dublin and her perception of Germany was so different than what I had experienced in my four days there and also speaking with her shattered that age old perception that German people are cold. She was so friendly and engaging and really loved Dublin because she said she felt like people come together here and want to be together despite having to work which she said was so different in Germany. People there she said, only come out on the weekends and often times the streets are bare through the week because people don't care to go out or do things when they have to work the next day. Also, she had a very fond perception of Canada despite never having been there. Canada typically is seen in a favourable light although I've had a couple older Irish people who still associate us with Britain and despise us for our connection. As I said, it's so interesting to hear other perspectives from across the globe, it just goes to show me that we all have our own misconceptions or ideas about people, places, or things, often because of what we read or are told but never because we have experienced it ourselves. If this experience has taught me one thing, it's that people from all over the world have their own problems but that we are all the same. The grass is not always greener on the other side despite sometimes feeling like where you are is the worst, we all have issues. It has taught me to be more patient with people who speak English as a second language although I was never necessarily impatient, but it has taught me just how difficult being somewhere and not speaking fluently can be. I'll tell you, being in Germany or Holland and having people be patient with me and speak English to me was such a warm and welcoming feeling, it really made me appreciate the struggle that people who come to Canada with little English go through. It has also taught me that we all need to be more open and helpful to one another. As I said, there's a general consensus that all Canadians are super sweet but having lived there, it's not necessarily the truth. I've witnessed the negativity in my hometown when it comes to immigrants, or homosexuals etc., I've seen the hate or lack of tolerance or understanding. The fact is, we as humanity need to be more tolerant and helpful to one another, we're all cut from the same cloth and face struggles in our everyday lives. That's why it's been so important for me to go through this, it really opened my eyes to so much about different cultures and different types of people. I've really grown this year and I think that's been the very best thing about this experience. HAPPY VEG Time is really going quickly now as I wind down towards my going home date. I can't believe I'm approaching a year here in Ireland, it feels pretty surreal. I think even more so because the first time I came here I returned home after two weeks, so this just feels extra special to me you know?
I've got a trip to Brussels coming up in exactly two weeks and then I've got some pride events next month which will bring me to July. Other than that, I desperately want to see Greece but it's only going to get more expensive with the nicer weather so I'm really hoping I can still make that work. Aside from that, I want to see somewhere in eastern Europe like Poland or Romania and then if I can somehow manage it I'd like to visit somewhere in Spain. After this, it'll be time to fly home :) I've been doing a lot of thinking about whether I want to take the visa for New Zealand and spend another year or two away from home. There's the one side of me that thinks I'd be crazy not to take advantage of the opportunity but then the other side of me can find a lot of potential cons.
So I'm really leaning towards staying home and focusing solely on building my blog. I want to dive into cooking videos, more animal rights vids, and getting back into 2 or 3 recipes a week. I would love to actually take the time to put together a hard cover cookbook with 100 or 150 recipes not released on the blog, something I specifically put together for a hardcover. All of this requires me to be pretty grounded for a while you know? Also, I love the idea of getting a nice apartment and a cat / dog and being close enough to my family to visit whenever I'd like. As far as travel goes, I've had such a wonderful experience here making my way through Europe but the constant travel has also exhausted me a little if I'm being honest. I like the idea of taking one or two trips a year throughout the United States or somewhere in Canada because I haven't seen really anything in Canada yet embarrassingly enough. All I know is I'm so excited to see my friends and family back home :) Feels like it's been ages and I'm really looking forward to reconnecting!! HAPPY VEG |
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