​I spent the first week being home doing whatever my heart desired and it was fabulous! Mind you, I was sick the entire time but it was absolutely wonderful to be free from responsibility or obligations.I spent the entire week visiting with a few friends, testing new recipes, and relaxing. After my rather stressful week prior, it was a much needed change.

I returned to my job at Healthy Mama's yesterday and had my first shift back. It was bittersweet returning to work, I loved seeing everyone again but also felt like I wasn't supposed to be there. So weird to think that just two weeks ago, I thought I was in Dublin for another 2 years! Needless to say, that thought has been looming over me and kind of ruining my return to normalcy. With that being said, it was truly great to reconnect with the some of the girls.

I am also waiting on instructions to start writing a newsletter and recipes column for the Vegetarian Society of Ireland. I expect her to email me in the next few days so I'm looking forward to starting that. I love the idea of being able to help them get things off the ground again and I couldn't be more excited to get down to business. Not to mention, this will also help me better my writing and learn more about the world of animals through studying. The more I learn about the atrocities happening to animals around the world, the more eager I am to lend my voice / support to various causes. 

It's been a reflective and peaceful week but it's definitely time to start getting back into things. I want to be back in Dublin for Sept / Oct of next year to enjoy a full year there so I need to get my butt started on saving. I'll need significantly more than last time so it's up to me to get that ball rolling. 

​Catch up with you all again soon!

I have officially landed back in Canada after a very long and arduous trip back Thursday. I was unable to find a direct flight so I had to fly from Dublin to Montreal and then to Toronto afterwards. We boarded 15 minutes late, flew out over an hour late, and spent 40 minutes dilly dallying in Montreal before we flew home. I can't tell you how ready I was to get the hell off of that plane by the time we landed. Not to mention, I got off the plan an hour late and had no way to communicate with my dad to coordinate our meeting. In the only stroke of good luck I could've asked for, my dad was coincidentally late and we both met up at the exact moment we should have. I was so ready to get the hell home at this point.

My last few days in Ireland were incredibly stressful after I realized the Canadian dollar had dropped so low against the Euro. Ultimately, I was left considering what my next move was knowing I was technically losing half of my savings. Every decision I made regarding money was beyond stressful as I tried to pinch pennies everywhere I could. This realization of the drop in the Canadian dollar ultimately ruined a good portion of my trip to Ireland.  I basically had 2 choices, pray I found a job in the next week or cut my losses, call the trip a vacation and come home to regroup. Despite my wanting to say, the responsible side of me knew I couldn't stay.

Coming home, I felt a bit defeated but only because I was so underprepared for the experience. I am accustomed to failure and it really doesn't bother me anymore. Part of taking a risk is knowing that there is always a chance it won't pay off and that's exactly what happened.

I had never travelled before, never flown, never visited Europe, none of the above. Instead of looking at my coming home as a disaster, I'm looking at all of the positives! I flew for the first time and LOVED IT! I stayed in a hostel for the first time, travelled alone for the first time, visited Europe alone for the first time. How could I not be proud of myself? Ultimately, this experience has taught me an awful lot in a short amount of time. 

1. CURRENCY - I had not even considered monitoring the currency while I was there. Just before I left, the Canadian dollar was sitting around 69 cents to the euro which was fine and I had financially prepared for. Without even considering it, the currency was fluctuating rapidly and had dropped dangerously low. I only discovered it after withdrawing money and seeing what actually came out of my account. Without realizing it, I was spending double what I was withdrawing every single time. That's a substantial hit to any budget!
2. INDEPENDANCE - When I got dropped off at the airport on the way to Dublin, I was next level overwhelmed. I cried repeatedly and just kept asking myself if I could handle this. After arriving in Dublin, my instincts kicked in and I truly hit the ground running. In a matter of two days, I had learned so much about myself and what I was capable of. I was surprising myself at every turn and it was so invigorating. There was no more fear of the unknown, rather excitement at what I was up against.
3. INTRO / EXTROVERT - I consider myself a healthy mix of both of these characteristics. I have always struggled with wanting to be more of an extrovert but felt so reserved when it came to certain social situations. Upon first walking into my hostel room, I was pretty overwhelmed and unsure of what to expect. That quickly went away and I found myself having some pretty great conversations with strangers from all over the world. I surprised even myself but in these situations you either sink or swim and I refused to sink into my bed and throw headphones in. I wanted to be the extroverted version of myself I needed to be to make this experience what I wanted.

Lastly, it took a lot of responsibility and intelligence to decide I had to come home. Did I want to stay? Of course! Was I financially able to stay? No, and that's why I made the choice to come home. 

Through this, I've learned now what I'm up against in Dublin and what I can actually handle. If my finances had been doing better, I very easily could've stayed. I was starting to really like Dublin and the people I had met there and it wasn't the easiest decision to come home but it was the right one. For now, it's back to cooking, blogging, and getting this cookbook together. I'll go back to Dublin with a lot more money and a lot more confidence the second time around!

​

I've been in Dublin for a week now and I've spent a good portion of my time sightseeing and trying to get my life back into some kind of order. For someone who's literally never travelled before, this has been an incredibly big adjustment. There's so much work that goes into an International move, I've admittedly felt overwhelmed and unsure if I made the right decision.

​With that being said, I've been enjoying the experience and everything that comes along with it. I've been lost countless times, struggled to switch my phone over, missed several buses, and encountered many other challenges all within my first week. I wasn't expecting this to be easy and it certainly hasn't been but the point of this was to challenges myself. I wanted new experiences, new challenges, and new everything, and I've certainly tried to face these things head on. 

​There's something so rewarding about taking this kind of chance and throwing caution to the wind. My emotions have been a roller coaster going from positive to overwhelmed in seconds but despite this, I'm here and I'm trying. All I can do is my best and that's exactly what I'm doing. 

I've found a place to live but also spent quite a lot of money as well. I'm in the process of finding a job which is turning into a debacle thanks to this hurricane. I skipped handing out CVs in favour of online applications but will be printing out CVs tomorrow to hand out with hopes of finding a job by week's end. Cross your fingers for me.

​This journey is hard, stressful, and enjoyable at the same time and I look forward to returning to my regular routine of blogging, working, and activism. I think once I can return to my routine I'll start feeling more positive. Until then, I'll continue enjoying this ride of uncertainty because it's all I can do right now.

HAPPY VEG

The past two weeks have been pretty crazy as far as getting myself together for this move. I've been trying to keep a mental checklist of everything I need to do but I end up starting a new mental checklist every ten minutes so it's been a bit of a tizzy I must admit. I've also had a wrench thrown into my plans with my proposed living situation falling through which was shocking but also admittedly fine for me. I kind of enjoy the idea of going and checking out the places in person upon my arrival. I've already set up a viewing so I'm looking forward to that.

Saying goodbye to friends and family has most definitely been the hardest part about this move so far. Saying goodbye to all of my work friends was brutal. I met quite a few people between both jobs who I would definitely consider friends as well as all of my current friends. I've been lucky enough to spend a good amount of time with all of these wonderful people but saying goodbye is always super hard. Saying all of these goodbyes has also reminded me of how much love and support I'll always have here.

I've been overwhelmed with all of the well wishes, love, and support, I've received over the past few weeks. I couldn't be more grateful for all of these wonderful people and I'm looking forward to periodic visits over the next two years from some of them. A little taste of home while I'm away will be most welcome.

Tonight is the very last night I'll be sleeping in my bed at home. It's quite a surreal feeling. I've moved a handful of times prior to this but this one seems a bit more legit. I'm moving across the world, kind of different. Lot's of things going through my mind at the moment but I think I'm ready. I'll be heading to my grandma's house in Owen Sound to spend a few days with her and my family prior to flying out. I'm expecting a lot of laughs, some peace and serenity before the storm, and some time to reflect. 

It's time to truly say goodbye, not forever of course, but for now. I'll miss my friends and fam so very much but I expect to stay close to them while I'm away. Here's to new adventures!


HAPPY VEG