Top 20 of 2014

It’s funny the differences in culture from Canada to the United States. If you look on my Facebook you’ll see a difference between my friends from the United States and my friends I’ve made abroad. My friends in the States are posting about their office jobs, husbands, and kids. My friends here in Canada and abroad are posting about the perks of travelling, photos of their latest adventure, and where they’re off to next.

I’m not saying one is better than the other. When I was little I told my mom I wanted to travel around the world, but I then that idea faded like most childhood fantasies. Then I grew up and I thought all I wanted was to settle down and raise a family in a nice little house in the suburbs.  But by accident I changed.  I never planned on being on my own, but last year I set off by myself for the first time just to take a few weeks to think about the current state of my life and I never went back.

My mother keeps saying I need to stop and settle down. That I'm Peter Pan. I'm not though. In my previous life I was spoiled and I never did anything on my own including pumping gas or paying a phone bill, not because I have a rich family, but I was sheltered. I'm more grown up, fearless and responsible now than I've been in my entire life.  One day when I settle down, I won't have the freedom or the ability to do what I am doing now. And when my last day and my last breath comes will I regret all the places I never saw, or be thankful for all the beauty in the world that I did get to see? Option number two please.

It is all of this that came into mind on my walk to work today. My mind is a battlefield of in which on one side I want to be home to give my mommy all the things I promised when I was 10, such as a stone house by a river and a house full of grandkids vs. seeing and experiencing the world. Remembering what I've managed to do in one year though reminds me why I'm just not ready to come home yet. So here is my year summed up in 20 highlights.

1. Snow tubing

Mt. Norquay, Alberta

 

2. Dog Sledding

Canmore, Alberta

3. Walking on rivers and lakes 

Lake Louise, Alberta
 

 

 4. Hockey games!

 

5. Montreal, Quebec

It's a spa, on a boat!

 

6. Quebec City, Quebec

 

7. Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 

9. Working on a lavender farm and winery

And learning how to mow the lawn and ride a tractor

10. Tofino, British Columbia

Seeing whales, riding on a sea plane AND attempting to surf.

 

11. Hiking

 

12. Drumheller, Alberta

Where the dinosaurs are

13. Canoeing  

 

14. Camping

And got to hang out with horses

 

15. Petted wolf dogs

 

16. Columbia Icefield, Alberta

And stood on the Athabasca Glacier,
and rode in the only snow coaches available anywhere besides Antarctica

 

17. Toronto, Ontario

 

 

18. Ottawa, Ontario - The capitol of Canada!

 

 

19. Niagara Falls, Ontario

 

20. Went snowboarding

 

 

America, The Not So Brave

Let’s face the fact America. It’s not our way to travel. It’s our way to look at magazines and the travel channel and say, “I want to go there,” then put it on our list of things to do, but rarely cross it off. We don’t encourage our youth to go explore and work abroad. Our youth stays at home and watches shows about teen pregnancy and keeps up-to-date with the latest celebrity gossip. Our youth goes to school, then goes to more school, then goes and works a 9-5 and perhaps will travel for a week or two later on in life.

What’s the point of going away? you may ask, since we obviously live in the best country in the world. Fun fact, there are a whole lot of patriotic citizens from other places that think that their country is the best in the world, but that doesn’t stop them from supporting their young people to go and explore the world. What do you gain from travelling? You gain independence. You get out of your comfort zone and develop a better understanding of other cultures and a broader understanding of the world around you that you would have never gained sitting at a desk for the rest of your days.

 Afraid to go off because you’ll be alone? When you travel you meet others doing the same. Your acquaintances become your friends who become your family, and the thing about family is, you take care of each other.

Another reason that you stop yourself: money. Money?! Who cares!! No, just kidding. You do need money to travel, but you don’t need to be rich. You just need base funds and a good work ethic. There are working holiday visas out there, emphasis on the working aspect.  You can go somewhere halfway across the world, somewhere you only dreamed of and you can work while you’re there so you can have a steady income.

In the end the real reason that stops us from travelling or perhaps pursuing another one our dreams is fear. Fear helps us makes excuses. Fear helps us put off our dreams for another day, another week, another lifetime. We have one life, and a life spent in fear is a life wasted. The world has never been more open or fuller of opportunities. Take a chance, take a leap. You’re not average, you’re exceptional. So live your life that way. 

Tunnel Mountain, Banff, Alberta, Canada 2013