It's so crazy but since it's basically August now, I can officially say that I'll be coming home next month. In less than 8 weeks, I'll be returning home to Windsor Ontario where I will gladly see all of my family and friends again. At the same time, I'll be saying goodbye to some amazing people here in Dublin, an amazing opportunity, and an experience that most definitely changed my life.

Time is such an interesting thing you know? When I first got here to Dublin, coming home seemed like forever away and now here I am, planning to return in September and it seems like just yesterday I arrived here again doe eyed, hoping for an amazing experience. I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity because I have learned quite a lot about myself this past year on top of having the opportunity to do some travelling across Europe and meet some amazing people.

I still plan to take at least one or two more trips but at this point I can't confirm where they're going to be. I'm being indecisive and also have to try and save money for when I come home so that I can hit the ground running. I need to have money for so many things when I get home and thankfully, the Euro is worth more than the Canadian dollar so whatever I bring back with me will be nearly doubled when I transfer it over.

How do I move on from this? What a weird experience going home is going to be. Will I be able to just move on from this without wishing I could go back every minute of my life? It's weird. It's like dangling a permanent vacation in someone's face that secretly has a time limit. Would I live in Dublin forever? No, I don't think so, but I could have stayed for another year at least to continue to travel through Europe. There's so many reasons I wish I could stay for a while longer but as I said, the time is running out here so I need to get myself back in to Windsor Ontario mode.

I will try to thoroughly enjoy my friends and time remaining here knowing it is coming to an end. 

HAPPY VEG

Ugh, I'm starting to get so sad. I'm leaving Ireland in approximately two months and although I knew this day was coming and was initially super excited, the reality of going back to Windsor Ontario and being like, normal again is really leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I've had this amazing opportunity to travel and kind of live this extraordinary life here in Dublin and I can't seem to picture myself going back to Windsor and just doing regular shit again.

Obviously there are some good things, like seeing my family and friends again but I'm also back in Windsor lol. It's not a super exciting place to live and there's honestly not a lot to do. It's depressing lol With that in mind, I've started really thinking about what comes next and what I want for myself in the immediate future.

I still have to put a lot of thought into moving to New Zealand for some time. The deterrent is simply the flying for 15 or 16 hours. It's a looooong flight and I just don't know how I'd handle something like that when the flight from Europe to Canada nearly has me in a straight jacket by the end of it. Not to mention, everything is pretty far away from New Zealand in that it won't be as easy for me to travel like it was here. What's been great about Dublin is it's literally 4 hours maximum to get from place to place whereas I;m looking at 8, 9, 10 hours to fly out to various spots for travel. It's a lot for me to ponder.

For now, I'm just trying to plan to get readjusted to my life back home. I know the weather sucks, I know it's boring, but it's home. I have a very important wedding to attend in August and after that, I will kind of decide what my next step is. If I do decide to take the working holiday visa for new zealand, I'd be leaving in September or October of 2020 which gives me about a year to put away all of the money required to make it work. 

Planning for the future sucks guys. I think it was easier before I had this experience because it's like now, I'm always going to be looking for the next adventure as opposed to short term planning like before. I'm always going to be working towards something better than what I have lol Ugh, we'll see what happens but I know I'm getting sad about leaving Ireland. That much is for sure.

HAPPY VEG

Another Pride has come and gone and I must say, this was one of the very best ones yet. For the past few years, I would either forget to book the time off or just not care about going out and celebrating so this year was fun because I was hyping it up to myself for over a month. It's so fun to have something to look forward to especially something like this that brings so many people together for one purpose, to celebrate being happy and proud.

Compared to the Pride in my hometown of Windsor On, this was definitely bigger and much better. Interestingly, I recently looked at a map that showed which countries were the most gay friendly and both Canada and Ireland made the top of the list. I've had my share of problems in Canada when it comes to being gay, particularly when I was younger. I've had it all thrown my way you know? I've been ridiculed, teased, and had stuff thrown at me for crying out loud. However, as I've gotten older, I've noticed that things for myself anyhow have gotten much better and I think I would agree that for the most part, Canada is pretty progressive. 

Dublin however is a different story. I have experienced absolutely nothing negative here in all honesty. The people here seem so tolerant and when comparing the pride here to my city, there's really no comparison. Nearly every business had flags or decorations and even the apartment buildings would have individual apartments displaying flags or deco, it was actually such a cool experience. It was evident to me that Dublin and Ireland belonged at the top. 

The parade was much bigger and much better than what I had expected although they could have had some more floats as opposed to people marching but other than that, there were thousands of people celebrating. As for the parties, super fun! We had tickets to a block party that was pretty phenomenal. Two separate areas each with their own bars and stages, live music, singing, and so much dancing. I really had a blast and was so happy to see so many people coming together all throughout the city just to celebrate with no negativity.

Next year, I might drag my arse to Toronto where I know the Pride's are always bigger and much more fun or I might just ride the high of this one and sit the next one out lol We'll just have to see but this was truly a wonderful experience!!

HAPPY VEG