As I reflect on this past school year, I can't ignore the places that I've been lucky enough to see on school breaks. In October, my mom and I did a whirl wind tour of Milan, Venice, Lausanne, Geneva and Paris. In November, I took a long weekend and went to Berlin, and learned a lot on a free tour in a snow storm. February half term break saw a bunch of friends and I head to Amsterdam for four days of legal mayhem; in addition to a weekend in Glasgow with my flatmate. At the end of March, I spent a fabulous long weekend in Paris with my cousin, taking in the sights and sounds of a city I definitely plan on visiting again next year, as I won't live 2.5 hours from Paris for my entire life! On the April Easter break, my cousin Jeff came over, and we spent 5 nights in Ireland, enjoying the accents and beer, but not the prices. And finally in May I took a relaxing three night trip to Ibiza to soak up some sun, sand and to generally unwind.
If someone this time last year would have told me that I'd be going to all of these places, I would not have believed one word of it. Not a single one. Probably because in June of last year, I was busy preparing for coming over, and making sure that all loose ends were wrapped up. Things like deciding what to keep/bring with me/throw out were filling up my brain, in addition to saving money and making sure I had all the documents in order to move to a city I hadn't even visited before. I also think it's a cultural thing as well. People at home generally have a different way of spending (usually very limited) vacation time. Often it will involve a trip somewhere south in the winter to get away from the snow and cold, and then spending summer holiday time at a cottage or at a beach not excessively far from home. Whereas people over here will easily spend a week in Spain, or southern France or Greece without giving it a second thought. Not to mention taking 'city breaks' and visiting a new and foreign city for a long weekend. This is most likely because all of these new places are so much more accessible, because the countries are so much smaller than Canada, and they are all closer in proximity. When at home, you can drive for 24 hours before you are out of Ontario. We Canadians have a much bigger task when it comes to being familiar with our 'entire' country.
One thing I definitely want to take back with me is the idea of visiting the great places that are close to home. Living in Toronto, there are many cities that are much close to the places I've been this year, like Montreal, New York, Boston, Chicago etc. Hopefully when I'm back I'll be able to keep a bit of this travel bug and see some neat places closer to home.
Either way, now I find myself looking to the year ahead and thinking about the places that I want to see on the half term breaks next year. One thing I can tell you is that my weeks off are already filling up quickly. I want to spend more time in Italy and I would love to spend the February break next year skiing. Croatia is also on the top of my travel wish list. As mentioned previously, more time will be spent in Paris, with Barcelona and Edinburgh being other cities I feel are 'must do's' before heading home. Portugal is also appealing, as is spending more time in Germany (I visited Frankfurt and Munich two summers ago), or possibly visiting distant relatives in the Czech Republic.
I'm not sure if one year will be enough!
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