Find any expat blog where the expat has returned to their country of origin, and you'll find the same stories over and over.It's weird being here. My friends here don't understand my experience. This, that and the other thing here now drive me crazy. I miss my expat home and friends there. (So if this post is tl;dr for you, just look at those four lines and that's basically it.)To recap, I'm back in Canada for a few months getting ready to move to Japan in July as an assistant language ...
Canada
A Canadian Winter
It's been a long, LONG time since I've been in a real Saskatchewan-style Canadian winter.And I don't even think I can call this one a 'real' one, as it's been one of the mildest I've seen in my life. The photo above is from my first day here in January and it was nearly -30C... but now we don't even have snow (the photo below is from yesterday). However, rocking up from the Caribbean tends to make anything under 25C feel a little chilly.Everyone here keeps asking me what the hell I'm doing ...
How Taking a Walk at Night Was a Revelation
The other night I felt like taking a walk.I used to walk everywhere before I moved to Roatan. When I lived in Vancouver, one of the biggest cities in Canada, I regularly walked to/from work downtown to the neighborhood I lived in (Kitsilano). I walked home drunk by myself from downtown after going to the bar with friends. I walked to concerts, dinner dates and shopping. I never had a problem in 5 years of living there, and I never felt unsafe.When I first moved to Roatan it was a ...
The Definitive Guide to an Incredible Weekend in Ucluelet, BC
I have mentioned a few times here on the blog that I am an island girl at heart - yes, I love my little rock in the Caribbean that I live on, but I was actually born on an island! Vancouver Island, to be exact. I'm currently in Canada for a 5-week break from Roatan, and when one of my best friends offered to have me come out to Vancouver Island and stay for a long weekend in Ucluelet, one of my fave little towns in Canada, I jumped at the chance.Ucluelet (you-kloo-let), or more ...
5 Places I Could Visit Again and Again
For me, there have been some places where I've traveled that just got under my skin in the best possible way. Places where I could see myself living, or visiting over and over (or both, in the case of my current situation!) Here are 5 places I've been that I absolutely loved, and could travel there again and again:1. Roatan, HondurasDuhhhh :) Not only is Roatan now my personal "Cheers" (where everybody knows your name), I visited this little Caribbean island a few times before moving here, ...
Vancouver Review: Eating My Way Through Vancouver
In keeping with the last two posts about eating, I figured I'd better round out the trilogy with my last food post: eating my way through Vancouver.It was no secret that during my visit to Canada I was more than prepared, after a year of lackluster Honduran food, to eat all the things. My lifelong love affair with food was kicked into overdrive during my 3.5 weeks in Canada, especially in Vancouver. This city was made for eating!So sit down and grab a snack - this one is ...
Vancouver Review: Hiking Lynn Canyon
I went hiking the other day. By accident.Who goes hiking by accident??Well, I was out with my lovely friend Michelle and we were on the hunt for a birthday present. This present hunt took us out of her cozy loft and into a drizzly grey Vancouver morning. I. Was. In. Heaven. I have been waiting for a year to be chilly - Roatan does not afford one such luxuries such as not sweating 24/7 and not thinking you are going to die of heatstroke. We somehow ended up near Lynn Canyon Park in ...
Vancouver Review: Food Cart Fest
I'm back in Vancouver, BC and making the most of my last week and a bit in Canada. Today I hit up the 2nd Annual Vancouver Food Cart Fest (are you surprised I went to something all about food?) which was a great way to spend a Sunday. For anyone looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon in the summer, go check this out.It's located between the Cambie Street Bridge and Olympic Village, over at 215 West 1st Avenue. My friend and I walked over from Commercial Drive, but ...
Hi from Canada, eh?
Bad news = my Canadian accent is back with a vengeance.I'm on day 14 of 25 of my great Canadian summer holiday. I'm still hanging out with my family in the vast prairie of Saskatchewan, where the sky is never-ending, the nights are chilly and the mosquitoes are giving Roatan's a run for their money.I only had 10 days here in Saskatchewan and I spent 3 of them in the neighboring province of Alberta at my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, and another 2 to the 'big ...
10 Things to Do in Vancouver, BC (If You’re Broke, But Awesome)
So I promised my good friends Emma & Ed over at Stuff & Things who I met on Roatan that I'd send a list of cool (but cheap or free) things to do in Vancouver, BC (my adopted hometown) for their trip. Mostly eating though, cause Ed loves food and I love food, so yeah. Then I figured, why not share it with you all as well?a spring day in vancouver - walking from kitsilano to downtownIf you don't have much cash and you want to eat good shit and see cool shit in ...