Some Background on the Author!

BACKGROUND

As a kid growing up in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, I remember playing outdoors and scoping out the woods (more like undeveloped lots) with my sister and the neighbourhood kids. We’d play house in the trees there, and build forts out of sticks and branches found lying at our feet.

Blueberries grew everywhere. They were fat, juicy ones that turned our tongues and mouths blue. We’d gorge ourselves on that ripe fruit in the summer behind our parents’ backs, and then feel stomach aches later on that were, in our young minds, entirely worth the taste of those delicious berries.

The world for me was Newfoundland, and I loved living there. The world seemed so big, and yet I knew nothing of what lay outside my city walls. On trips out of town, I would stare at everything passing by the window, wondering what those strangers’ lives were like, and how these people fit into the world around them; were moulded by it.

Looking out that window as a kid, I knew nothing about the world, but I knew I wanted to discover it—to see more.

In my late seventh year, my dad got a job in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, in Burnaby. I had no idea where this strange land was, and felt a rush of apprehension at this big adventure laying ahead. We’d be travelling across the country, my parents said. I was scared, but beneath it all, I felt a thrill like nothing else I’d felt before. This was my chance to see the world!

I lived in British Columbia for eleven years. I finished elementary school in Burnaby (twenty minutes from Vancouver), and then moved to Surrey when I was twelve. My scope of the world was getting larger.

I learned about public transportation, airplanes, and memorized all of the other provinces in my country. Whoa, Canada was huge!

In my senior year of high school, I was president of the Environment Committee, and began dreaming of spreading my wings. I dreamed of trekking the Amazon, of seeing Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, and of seeing the other side of the Atlantic Ocean—Europe.

When I was seventeen, I graduated high school with Honours. I won a few community scholarships that allowed me to jump immediately into post secondary education. I had no idea what I wanted to study, and to be honest, didn’t feel in the slightest bit interested in studying—I wanted to travel!

After my first year of general studies—I still couldn’t make up my mind on a major—I packed up my things and moved to Toronto. My sister and mother both lived there, which made the transition all the more fluid. It was my chance to crack my adolescent shell, live as a young adult, and see the booming metropolis at the heart of my country.

Toronto was amazing! I met so many friends, and learned a lot about who I was, who I wanted to be, and where I wanted to go in life, and in my travels.

Now I live in Montreal. I’ve been here for over two years, and I love it here. The mix of both French and English is interesting and is much different from Toronto and Vancouver (who are entirely different from each other as well).

It’s laid back here, and the culture is unsubtly different from Anglophone cultures I’ve lived in, due, I suppose, to the cultural differences between French and English speakers. My French language skills have improved dramatically. I’d consider myself bilingual.

I’ve been across the country, and lived in all three of our largest cities. I love my country, and have learned so much from each locale. I learned to be humble, polite and respectful of others in Newfoundland, and was raised well by my dad.

British Columbia taught me how to be responsible and hard-working, and to remain true to my roots and respectful of other cultures and beliefs.

Toronto is a metropolis of fast-paced living and dozens upon dozens of cultures living together in not-so-perfect harmony. It taught me to be tough, and thickened my small-town skin. I grew older mentally from living in Toronto, and value all that I learned during my two and a half years living there.

Montreal is a great place to live to relax, and to melt into your surroundings. It’s still big city, but the mode of life is chilled out—just what I needed at the time.

About a year ago, after I’d already begun studying Journalism here in Montreal, I knew I was ready for another change—another chance to see where my dreams and feet could take me.

I began planning my trip to Europe. After years of wishing and scheming, I’d made up my mind. I knew it would be tough, but I also knew I’d make it happen if I utilized my resourcefulness and ambition.

I began checking online for cheap deals. I learned about companies such as Zoom Airlines, who chartered transcontinental flights to both London and Paris airports. That was great. The price was right, and I was on track. I started to get excited. Friends told me about European airlines such as Ryanair and Sterling, who flew passengers at discounted rates—very discounted rates. I couldn’t believe how cheap it was to fly from destination to destination, and how little time it took. It is actually cheaper to fly point to point than to take the train!

Organization and planning took me about eight months from conception to completion. Spanning nine countries in five weeks, this trip would be both jam-packed and tightly organized. I reserved all of my hostels and planned activities in advance, while still leaving room for spontaneity.

My friends and family were shocked and amazed at the time span I’d allotted for the amount of countries I’d see, but I remained steadfast and confident that I’d made the right choices. I worked hard at planning this trip, and sacrificed time and loaned money to make things possible.

I’m in debt, and can barely afford day to day life and expenses now that I’m back home. I’ve only just returned to Montreal, and I’m still smiling from ear to ear.

But you know what I tell myself each time I worry that I’ll never make ends meet?

It was all worth it, dammit. ;-)

-Jenny