The Facts of Travelling Alone

Recently, I embarked on the awesome, yet terrifying adventure of travelling alone. I have had many friends who have tried it before- some hated it, some like it and some love it more than travelling with friends. For this October half term at work, I decided I was going to test this out and go to Lisbon alone!
Why Lisbon? Its pretty close to the UK so in-between my busy work schedule, I could get away for a few days. Also, its warm. The weather is 25 everyday and sunny. It is never 25 and sunny in England.

Thoughts before travelling: Before I left on this adventure I had 100 opposing thoughts going through my head. At first, I was travelling alone because I didn't really have any other option. Then I got excited about it and saw it as a new experience. By the time that wore off, I was freaking out over little details such as am I prepared to eat dinner at a restaurant on my own? ( I apologize to the one person who heard this fear being stated probably 100 times) Am I prepared to spend days by myself?
Will I be safe? There is an obvious risk as a female traveller alone, as there is a risk doing any sort of travelling. However, I was really prepared in this trip. I found a female dorm hostel that was 9.5/10 rated for all attributes. I made sure I had transportation figured out to and from the airport so I did not need to stop with a suitcase (clear sign of tourism) and ask for help. I brought all forms of technology communication to stay in touch with the world. I bought my Lisbon travel guide and was ready to go.

Luckily, a few teacher friends in the UK were also making their way around Portugal, so I knew that for at least one night I would have some friends to hang out with and make sure I was 100% okay.

Now that the worries are over and the trip is done, I've created my list of perks and erks of travelling alone.

Perks: 
1) Freedom. I did what I wanted and when I wanted too. (I'm 13- I do what I want!: said every child on every day time television talk show such as Maury and Jerry Springer). I didn't need to take into consideration any one elses' wants, wishes and needs or compromise my own immediate impulses. If I woke up at 6:45 and wanted to get going I could, if I wanted to sleep in until 10am I could.
2) Cheap. When travelling alone, I am more inclined to stay in a hostel (hoping to meet fellow travellers) and this reduces costs greatly. I am less inclined to sit down and have two big meals a day or stop every other hour and have a drink.
3) Personal satisfaction over the tiniest of tasks. Eg. Mastering the tram/metro system in the first hour is a huge accomplishment when I'm travelling alone. Eg. Getting lost and then finding your way when you can't read a map if your life depended on it is a major accomplishment. Eg. Eating alone and not crying in the process- huge accomplishment. Eg. Showering daily- in reality you probably won't see anyone in Lisbon ever again so you could technically just go your vacation without showering.
4) Independence and self confidence. This sounds corny, but travelling alone really shows you how independent you are and boosts your confidence (except in situations like the eating alone noted below). Realizing that you can travel alone and master new cities and countries that don't speak your language or you've never been to before really boosts confidence in your independence.

Erks:
1)  Freedom. How is this an erk? Well- if you are me, and you are left to your own freedom- you just go. My first full day in Lisbon, I had seen everything including a neighbouring community because I just kept going.
2) Eating alone. Even though it was a huge success, it still sucks. It is even worse, when the waiter  pulls your table away from the one attached to it while you are sitting at it and announces really loudly that its because you are alone.
3) Drinking. Not that I'm a raging alcoholic on a normal vacation; but who doesn't like a drink or two while on vacation. Problem- when travelling alone and you sit down at a cafe and order a glass of wine, you begin to feel like an alcoholic.
4) Boredom due to anti social behaviour.  This is the case for me, not for everyone. I am in no way anti social, but I'm definitely not a get in your face and cling to new people person either. I am extremely fortunate that I was able to meet up with some friends for two nights so I could engage in social situations and behaviours. However, once they left, I realized that travelling alone can be lonely at times--especially at night. During the day you can be go-go-go; however, at night which is normally a more social time, it becomes very apparent that you are travelling alone and have no friends so you sit in your hostel common room drafting a blog hoping someone will come in to talk to you.


Overall, I had an amazing trip even with some erks of travelling alone. Lisbon is beautiful and the transportation system is so cheap and convenient that I was able to do day trips to Cascais (a beach town) and Sintra (a fairy tale town).

Tram for the super steep streets of Lisbon

Rossio Square- Lisbon

Covent ruins in Lisbon

Belem

Belem 

Commercio - Lisbon

Cascais  

Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra

Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra

Pena Palace- Sintra

Pena Palace- Sintra

Pena Palace- Sintra

Pena Palace- Sintra

Pena Palace- Sintra

Things I'm Thankful For Round 2

It's been awhile since I blogged, so I guess the first thing I am thankful for is blogging this evening.

It has been a crazy second year of teaching in England. I also assumed that after Year 1 everything got easier, but that's a lie. New classes mean I need to do all new data and seating plans. Marking plans and styles change at schools so I have to find 'shortcuts' or get into the groove of new ways of marking all over again. In addition, second year teachers can no longer use the excuse that they don't know what they are doing or didn't know they had to do anything----everyone knows we do!

However, even through all the craziness of a new school year I am still thankful for many things.

1) I am thankful for my family. Even though its been almost a year since I saw them last I am still getting constant support from my family back home. I am also thankful for the soon to be new member of my family, my future nephew!

2) I am thankful for my friends, in Canada and in England. As with my family, even though I haven't seen many of them in over a year, I am thankful for my friends back home who have stayed in touch and kept me grounded to my life back home.
I am thankful for my friends that I have made in this country, whether they still I've in England or not. They have and continue to support me in my every day life, let me vent about stupid work issues or share a drink (or two) with after a long work week.

3) I am thankful for Skype. Its amazing how far technology has come that I can video call my family and friends as often as I like. It almost mass it seem as though we are not half a world apart.

4) I am thankful for having a teaching job. If i were to be in Ontario right now, the chances of me having a full time teaching position are almost none. The chances of me even supplying are risky. The opportunity to have my own classroom and teach full time is the best and even when I have bad student days I still love what I am doing.

5) I am thankful for well behaved kids and/or strict parents. Even if I have a terrible class(es) in a day or week. there are always those few students who make my job amazing. They are polite, kind, sincere and helpful whenever possible. My most recent encounter with this group of students is having the opportunity to start at make-shift Model United Nations club with a small group of these students.

6) I am thankful for the 27th of every month. PAYDAY!

7) I am thankful for the ability to travel. If you hadn't guessed or heard it yet, I am addicted. I love travelling the world and seeing/experience different architecture, culture and life. I am so thankful for the opportunity to travel and experience the world.

8) lastly, I am thankful for days that it doesn't rain! England has hit its winter season of rain, rain and more rain. I am now thankful for days that it doesn't rain.

Happy Thanksgiving!

All in a Years Time

What makes a year?

In the words of Rent: 525,600 minutes. To me, it’s much more than that. It has almost been one year since I left Canada and made the journey overseas. I have seen more of the world than I ever expected and gained a lifetime of experiences. I have changed incredibly since I left Canada- my perspective and scope on life has broadened as I think any traveller can agree with. I have seen and experienced things that have changed my life—for the better. The purpose of this blog is to sum it all up. What has made a year for me?

As a Traveller:

I have travelled to 12 countries and experienced many cultures over the past year including:

London, England

Luton, England

Brighton, England

St.Albans, England

Bath, England

Liverpool, England

Greenwich, England

Milton Keynes, England

Dublin, Ireland

Wicklow, Ireland

Cork, Ireland

Cliffs of Moor, Ireland

Galway, Ireland

Krakow, Poland

Katowice, Poland (airport only)

New Delhi, India (airport only)

Kolkata, India

Bihar Province, India

Paris, France

Barcelona, Spain

Brussels, Belgium

Brugge, Belgium

Utrecht, Netherlands

Zwolle, Netherlands

Giethoorn, Netherlands

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Budapest, Hungary
Bratislava, Slovakia
Vienna, Austria
Prague, Czech Republic

Most memorable---India. This year I had the great opportunity to travel to India and work Impact Teachers to train teachers in the province of Bihar. I had never travelled to a place so far away from Canada or with such a different culture than Canada. I had the most amazing experience and came away a better teacher. The teachers were so keen to learn and valued every tip or lesson you taught them. The teachers and staff at all the schools were the most gracious people I had ever met and the students were amazing. It definitely renewed my energy for the remainder of the school year. I love India and would go back any day!

Most unique--- Giethoorn. I didn't know that places like this existed. I wrote about Giethoorn a lot in my Belgium/Netherlands blog but for those who missed it, Giethoorn is a canal town. There are no roads and every house is on its own island connected by bridges. People get around with small motor boats and canoes/kayaks. It was the most beautiful and quaint place I have been and am so glad we made the effort to get out there.

Favourite City- Prague. After being in Prague for half an hour I knew I was in love. The city has a great mixture of historical and 'tourist' attractions' with an amazing town square and atmosphere. The town square has musicians playing all the time and great places to grab quick street food, sit down at a nice restaurant or grab a cheap beer.  

As a Teacher

As a first year teacher I was doomed to be overwhelmed. Add a whole new curriculum, teaching standards and system—and the word overwhelmed doesn’t begin to describe how I felt at points this year. I started off the year with a huge learning curve and to be honest, I wasn’t mastering the system yet. I was struggling to come through with lessons that my school thought was good—even though in Canada they would have been amazing lessons. However, I never gave up and finally I figured it out. To be honest, I don’t think I can pinpoint anything down to determine what I was doing differently, I think at one point in the year you just get it. There are still times that I doubt the British school system or find flaws based on my training in Canada with the system but I have found some positives and things I will bring back to Canada with me whenever I return. I started the year off struggling but by the end of one year I was given a promotion as a coordinator for History—I clearly figured something out.

Upsides of the Year

·         All the travelling- I never thought I would get the travel bug, but I did. After one week in Ireland, I couldn’t stop and I don’t know if I ever will.

·         The people I met-My transition to the UK was made a lot easier when over 15 Canadians joined me in Luton. I have become extremely close friends with many of them.

·         Family Visits- I was very luck this year because I had many visits from family including my grandparents, dad/stepmom, my mom and of course having my sister come to the UK with me to help me settle in for the first week and a bit.

·         Doing what I love- I have always wanted to be a teacher—ever since I was a young child. Having the opportunity to be a full time teacher has been amazing. As hard has leaving home was, I would never have been able to have this experience if I did not leave Ontario.

Downsides of the Year

Saying goodbye to home- When I left Trent University I thought it was the hardest goodbyes I would have. I had to say goodbye to a lot of amazing people and close friends, many of which I knew I would not see on a regular basis anymore because of distance in our hometowns. The goodbyes I have said in the last year have been far most the hardest. Leaving Canada in August I not only had to say goodbye to many of those people from Trent, but also to my family. My sister is my best friend and knowing that I wouldn't be able to text her every day and complain about pointless things or go to the mall with her whenever we were both free was hard. Even though for the last few years I did not see my parents every day because I was gone at school- saying goodbye and knowing it would be months before I saw them was a difficult thing to accept. Thankfully Skype exists.

Saying Goodbye to UK friends- Not only have I had the difficult experience of saying goodbye to home, but not all the amazing people I met this year are staying for another. I have had to say goodbye to some of my closest friends and have shed some tears over it in the last few weeks.

Missing major events back home- The downside with travelling is that life back home still goes on. During my year in the UK, I have had friends and family get engaged, married and pregnant. Events which I always thought I would be a part of, but unfortunately am overseas. Don’t get me wrong- I love living in England and having the opportunity to work full time, travel and pay off debts is incredible but I do wish I could be there for those key events in my family and friends lives.  

Overall

This year has had many ups and downs but overall I have loved every minute of being in the UK and the travelling I have been able to do because of my new location. I have been reunited with family from England that I had not seen in years and have met the most incredible people and experience the most incredible things. I am looking forward to my new position next year and the new places I will get to travel to. 

London with Sarah -August 2013

St. Albans Beer and Cider Festival -September 2013

The Cavern, Liverpool - October 2013

Ireland- October 2013

Ireland- October 2013

Paris- December 2013

Bath- January 2014

Krakow, Poland- February 2014

India- February 2014

London with Mom- April 2014

Barcelona, Spain- April 2014

Giethoorn, Netherlands- May 2014

Bruges, Belgium with Jackson- May 2014

Budapest, Hungary- August 2014

Budapest, Hungary  with Rachael- August 2014

Bratislava, Slovakia- May 2014

Vienna, Austria- May 2014

Prague, Czech Republic- May 2014

7 Waffles, 6 Cities and 5 Blisters Later

This past May break, I made my way from England to Belgium and the Netherlands and as the title of this blog indicates: 7 waffles, 6 cities and 5 blisters later I returned back to England. Here's my adventure!

Brussels, Belgium

The first place we went was Brussels in Belgium. Brussels is an awesome city with tons of entertainment. Not only is Brussels the capital of the EU but it is also home to the comic strip TinTin. We could not have planned it better--the weekend we arrived in Brussels was not only the E.U. elections (which gain a lot of publicity in Brussels because it is the capital of the EU) but also the annual International Jazz Festival. In the centre of Grand Place, there were chairs and vendors set up all facing a giant stage that hosted jazz artists from all over each evening. It was a great way to relax after dinner or grab a drink during the day. 

Brussels was also the first of many AirBnB experiences I had. AirBnb is a medium for people to offer rooms in their houses or rental properties to travellers at decent prices. It not only beats the cost of any hotel but allows you to meet some amazing locals and their families as well as get insider information on what the city has to offer. The place we stayed at in Brussels was about a 15 minute walk from Grand Place and a 10 minute walk to the train station we trained in and out of. It was a huge house with 3 or 4 floors that each had several bedrooms on it. The owners rented the house out to their employees during training periods in Brussels so each floor was its own living area. The only downfall-we had no hot water. The lady we rented the room from let us know ahead of time, but for those who don't know already--i often go days without hot water when the hot water at my house stops working so it felt just like home in Luton. 

Belgian Waffle Count-3

A castle we found on our walk to EU Parliament

EU Parliament

Jazz Festival in Grand Place

My favourite view in the whole city

Grand Place lit up at night

Tin Tin and Snowy taking the skies near the train station

Bruges, Belgium

Now many of you know that Bruges is one of my favourite places on earth but the only time I went was in highschool and I felt it necessary to return now that the travel bug is in me. I have to admit, I still love it. 

For starters, our AirBnb in Bruges was amazing. Although nothing is a far walk in Bruges, we were extremely close to the Markt and Berg (in the centre of town) and the place we stayed at was awesome. We were 4th generation subletters. The man who owned the house, rented it to someone who rented it the people who let us stay in the extra room. The couple was a Belgian man and a woman from Canada, although she was not there during our stay. Each morning he made us breakfast on our patio outside our room and let us use his kitchen if we wanted to make lunch or dinner there. Which is exactly what we did on Wednesday when there was a giant market in the Berg so we got some dutch sausages, potatoes and bacon wrapped chicken. 

Bruges is a city with many canals and great to walk around. It is very quaint and lovely. We walked almost every canal in the city and even expanded to do a windmill walk in the rain. Before we left, I bought a Lonely Planet Bruges and Brussels book and in Bruges the book was spot on about amazing restaurants and bars to visit. We found with the help of the book an old monk tavern that was underground and had an amazing yet relaxing vibe to it. The best way to experience Bruges is by riverboat canal tours and the morning we were due to the leave, the sun finally graced us with its presence and we got one canal tour in before heading out of Belgium. We also got a touch of Dutch language before heading to the Netherlands as half of Belgium speaks French (like in Brussels) and the other half speaks Dutch (Bruges). 

Belgian Waffle Count- 4

Canal near our house

Markt

St. Annes Windmills

Underground monk tavern

Berg

Utrecht, The Netherlands

Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands that is not as popular as Amsterdam for tourists but should be. It is a large city and highly student orientated so the culture and vibe of the city is awesome. There are canals going throughout the entire city in the centre and in the neighbourhood areas. On either side of the major canals are restaurants or pubs, most of which had lower level patios right at the water. Our time in Utrecht was fairly cold and rainy, but we found one of the restaurants with a covered patio and heat lamps outside so we could not resist. We found another underground pub in the city centre that had live jazz music at night performed by up and coming locals. It was an awesome vibe and we went there both nights to experience it. 

The one astonishing thing about Utrecht was the biking culture. In most of europe, especially Belgium and the Netherlands biking is huge. However, in Utrecht is is astonishing how many people use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation. We looked like odd ducks walking everywhere because unless you were in the city centre, everyone was on a bicycle. You were more likely to get hit by a bike then by a car in Utrecht. 

Utrecht is also where we got introduced the house boating culture in the Netherlands. Every major canal had 50+ houseboats and I don't mean the crappy houseboats you can rent for a week in Canada---I mean literal houses on water or the nicest two storey trailer you have ever seen that can float on water. 

The family we stayed with in Utrecht was so nice and generous. A mom and her two children who lived about a 20 minute walk from the city centre hosted us in a great bedroom with a table to sit at. They provided us with a mini fridge, microwave and tea if we wanted it in the morning. The first morning, they invited us to their family breakfast where we got dutch pancakes plus a whole assortment of other foods. They were great company! They even let us use their bicycles for the two days we were in town---although the difference in dutch and american style bicycles plus the fact that I have not ridden a bicycle in ten years led to the most embarrassing moments of my life when I could not ride the bike and we had to walk......

A bike parking lot--this was just one section and there was about 10 of these throughout the city. 

The houseboats in Utrecht

windmill and petting zoo off the canal on our walk to the house

Giethoorn, the Netherlands
Giethoorn has officially become my new favourite place in the world. It is a small canal village. Each house is built on its own island surrounded on all sides by canals. There are bridges going across each island to connect them to each other. You can only get through the village by boat on the canals or a small sidewalk and bridges. It was the most quaint and beautiful place I have ever seen. Even though it was a bit of a journey and out of the way during our trip, it was incredibly worth it! We rented a small boat for the day and travelled through the canals. The pictures do not do the village justice. Breathtaking!

Zwolle, The Netherlands

In order to go to Giethoorn, one of the closest cities was Zwolle. It was not a place we expected to find much in but ended up loving it anyways. It had a great town centre even though we only had a few hours to experience it.

This was one of the nicest places we stayed us the whole time. The hosts were a young couple with a beautiful house and a cat! I have missed my cat back home a lot so it was great getting to hug and play with a cat again for a bit. The room was in an attic loft and had a pull out couch, bed, television as well as coffee and tea for us in the morning. I still cannot believe how amazing the whole house was--even the room they did not inhabit but rented out to others.

The room in Zwolle

Amsterdam


Before I talk about Amsterdam, I need to talk about the place we stayed at first. It is called Hotel Not Hotel and it is by far the COOLEST place I have ever stayed. It is a small hotel with approximately 15 rooms. The rooms are themed (rather randomly). There is a 'tram room' that is inside a tram shaped room, a birds nest room that you have to climb up a ladder into the room but the coolest of them all was the type we had reserved--a secret bookcase room. On the upper floors overlooking the lounge and open area were rows of bookshelves. Some of the bookshelves had secret key holes that opened up into rooms. The hotel prided itself on the bare room with only beds in them because if you are in Amsterdam why spend time in your room?

Tram style room

Crisis Free Room

Secret Bookcase Room

Amsterdam itself is a very popular and busy city. It is another high population canal city that led to many canal walks and just experiencing the city. Many people go to Amsterdam for the plethora of museums, but it was too nice outside to spend a day in a museum so we just walked around and experienced everything. The main touristy attraction we went to was the Anne Frank House--which was a great experience as it is in the actual house that Anne Frank and her family hid out in for three years.

One of the staff at our hotel also gave us the recommendation of a music and food festival in a park in Amsterdam. I love food and I love music so it was a great recommendation even though we accidently walked to a park on the opposite end of the city. It was a huge park with food vendors lined up in the centre and periodically a tent with a band would be providing entertainment. I ate the best food there!

The nightlife in Amsterdam is interesting. We expected a busy and active night life in the city centre but because the city centre is based around the 'Red Light District' most of the clubs were 'adult' clubs or strip clubs; which we obviously did not go into. We later discovered there was another area that had more clubs we were expecting but it was far out of the way from where we were. The 'Red Light District' is an ...interesting....area. It is interesting to see the differences in the culture around prostitution in different countries or cities. In Amsterdam it is such a public act that people who live there don't even blink when they see rows and rows of windows lit up in red with ladies waiting for customers. It is definitely a different outlook on prostitution than back home or in many places of the world where it is either illegal or an 'underground' culture.

Final Thoughts
I had an awesome vacation and would recommend going to all the places we ventured to in the Netherlands and Belgium. I officially dream of either living on a house boat in the Netherlands or in a canal town (maybe both). It was one of the first vacations I took that travelled across more than one country and so many cities in such short time but it was well worth it. Between AirBnb and indulging in Belgian waffles and cones of fries, it was one of the cheapest vacations I have taken in a while.



The travel bug has me, but where will it take me next?