So I went to Canada! It's pretty easy to fly from Ireland to Canada...but I tend to do things in a more roundabout way than necessary. So instead of flying directly from Ireland to Canada, I decided to take a slight detour and spent 2 months travelling around Australia and New Zealand along the way.....only a few thousand miles off course! It was a great decision, I enjoyed the whole experience.
As a solo traveller, I like to join groups when I go to unknown places, as I am not the most organised person, and there is a possibility that I would see nothing if I was left to my own devices! So I booked 2 trips with G Adventures, one on the east coast of Australia, from Sydney to Cairns, and another around both islands of New Zealand. These trips are great to get you out of your comfort zone. As I mentioned before, I'm quite anti-social, however on these trips you are basically spending 24 hours a day with a group of people you just met. It's weird how relationships form so quickly during this time. Now when I look back at photos from those trips I see things I did with people I felt like I had known for years, when in reality, I had met them earlier that day, or maybe a day or 2 earlier. It's like a parallel universe that has no relation to your normal life.
I would highly recommend a trip with G Adventures to anyone who would like to do something a little different. To date, I have done 6 different trips with them, and I don't have anything bad to say about them! I am hoping to get the chance to join some more of their adventures in the future.
But, I digress. This was a stop on my way to circumnavigating the globe, not all in one fell swoop, but I ended up doing it eventually!!
I got to Canada at the end of February 2017........the middle of winter in Canada, after leaving the height of summer down under. This was a shock to the system! It was FREEZING! It was snowing! I was very jetlagged. It was at this point, during my first few days in Canada (Vancouver to be exact) that I thought I had made a huge mistake! What was I thinking? I had spent a good chunk of my savings on my journey to the Southern Hemisphere, and here I was with no job, no connections, no friends....far, far away from everyone and everything I knew.
I stayed in an Airbnb for the first 2 weeks of my Canadian journey. It was a nice house, just outside the centre in a nice area. I remember my first experience in Vancouver was a good one. After getting the Skytrain from the airport, I then had to get a bus. When I arrived at the station, I was completely lost, I had no idea what direction I had to go, or what bus to get. I was laden down with a large rucksack on my back, a backpack on my front and trying to figure out Google Maps when a young couple with a child approached me. They were not exactly "rough" looking, but I was a little nervous. But that feeling disappeared when they asked me if they could help me out as I was looking a bit under pressure with all my luggage and the lost expression on my face. They showed me exactly where the bus stop was that I needed to be, and what stop to get off at. I was supremely grateful!
When eventually I made it onto the bus, I tried to pay by card, which I discovered was not possible! I was preparing myself to get back off the bus as I did not have one single cent in Canadian money at this stage, but the lovely bus driver told me it was ok, to take a seat, and he would tell me where to get off......Canadians, eh!! Salt of the earth, they are!! I made it to my cosy little apartment and pondered my decisions.....
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