The answer to the big question of where should I go on my next trip has been found.
First I’d considered a South American adventure as I haven’t been to that continent at all (that and Antarctica are my last 2). But Plan A was scrapped when I realised that with the period needed to save up for the trip. By the time I could get there it would very annoyingly coincided with a couple of big sporting events (a world cup and an Olympics). This tends to make places busy and expensive and really not a good time to go.
Then I thought about Africa or India as a possible Plan B as I have only been to the north of the great dark African continent (Morocco and Egypt) and I’d never experienced the beauty and chaos of India at all.
But then Plan C came a calling and it goes by the name of Canada.
Blame Canada and their changed visa rules for my new plan as I was checking out visa situations for my travels online noticed that there is a working holiday in Canada program that is called international experience Canada.
As soon as I read about it I knew my decision was made and my travel goal was clear.
Forgive me for I shall be Canadian (well at least for a year).
I am hoping I will fit in easily as I can already pass the Canadian test by understanding the sentence:
Can you pass a serviette, I dropped some poutine on the chesterfield when my tuque slipped over my eyes*
Thus I got to thinking about how I would do it.
Seems the best place to start is Vancouver. Not only it is supposed to be a wonderful city but that’s where flights from Aus/NZ land.
I could get a job at a ski resort (Whistler I’m looking at you), mount a Mountie (that uniform is hot and police carry their own handcuffs), shop at their local stores (mountain equipment co op), get a job at their chain of coffee shops (Tim Horton’s) and freeze my butt off in their icy winter (wait it gets to minus what???).
Later I discovered that I could also get a similar visa for the Czech Republic.
I love the idea of getting a place as a base in Prague and spending a year there while travelling around Central and Eastern Europe. There is a whole bunch of Western Europe I haven’t seen yet either.
While it would be brilliant to be able to do both, I don’t think I can due time and financial constraints.
If I have to pick one which seems to be the case then I will still go for Canada.
Thinking about it what I really want to see in the Czech Republic is Prague and Cesky Kromlov and I could probably do that in a week.
Canada is much bigger (hugely!) so it seems that it really needs more time to see it. Plus as it is a working holiday the lack of a language problem (well except maybe French in Quebec) is a significant incentive.
So Canada it is.
I am now thinking about the details such as what else shall I see while I’m ‘in the neighbourhood’.
My Canadian friend DannyBoy had once told me that there are flights from Canada to Greenland and if I am gonna go there I need to go to Iceland too. If only to see the total WTF of the situation.
I also considered the camp counsellor USA thing as it has an age limit. I don’t hear my biological clock ticking. I hear my travel clock and it says ‘oh I have to do that before I’m too old. Should I do it now? Otherwise it’s never’.
But then I asked my friend who did it what she thought and she said it is really stressful and not worth the money.
So I think I would probably be better off just saving up and maybe doing things like a road trip across the USA (route 66 baby). Or maybe finally taking that Caribbean cruise I have been dreaming of for most of my life.
So anyway the grand plan is to get a job in Australia, save up the cash, figure out answers to big questions like what will I pack? Can I go carry on only in cold climates? (Being a working holiday makes this harder).
Then I shall dress warmly and make my way to the great white land in the north of America.
Oh the excitement. Maple leafs ahoy!
*the translation is can you pass me a tissue/napkin as I dropped some of a dish consisting of fries covered in gravy and cheese curds on the sofa/couch when my warm hat slipped over my eyes.




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