Start of a new beginning....what number is this?

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Well, I am off on a new adventure. This time trying to mix practical skills, formal education, AND travel.

Let me first start off by saying that this is the first blog I have ever written. I thought it would be a cool way for my family and friends to track where I am and what I am doing. Right now, I am sitting in the business class lounge at the Vancouver airport, ready for a new start at a new school, entering into the second semester of my Masters of Science in Global Health. I don't always travel this way. In fact, my first significant traveling experience brings back memories of traveling on rickety old trains in India for 60 hours, sleeping on a wooden bench, sharing my seat with three other people during the day. However, that was when I was thirteen, and my mom had taken my brother and myself away from school for a year to experience India, a reality much different from the business lounge I sit in now. This is a treat and I am enjoying every minute. The abundance we experience in Canada is not appreciated or realized. This, is a sad reality, even in the face of growing food prices in 2013, according to the Vancouver Sun.

Anyways......this is a new beginning for me. I am off to Maastricht in the Netherlands to take part in an exchange as part of the global health program at McMaster University in Ontario. Though the cultural differences won't be substantial, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Though, realistically, I should have written up a budget before I said yes. Sometimes I say yes without thinking when it comes to dramatic changes and travel, and deal with the consequences later. This is how I ended up in Thailand at 17 years of age, teaching English to 1200 kids a week in a high school where I was one of two foreigners. I didn't realize what I was doing, or what I had committed to until I ended up in Bangkok. That's when it hit me. THAT is when I was like "hmmm....I wonder what I have gotten myself into here." To be honest though, this is the rush I chase. Some people speed, others do cocaine. I travel. With or without consequence, good experience or bad.

So, here I go. I have two hours before I board my 9 hour flight. Then I travel two hours south to Maastricht where I will walk to my new studio apartment and get ready to start over. Yet again.

My head is spinning. Not from the complimentary wine, but from my excitement and the nerves. Committed now. There is only forward. Ciao for now Canada.

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Comments

[Marian]

Safe travels, dear friend!
Hi Kazz! So good to see this blog- It really is a great idea as I never know where in the world you are or what you're up to. Thanks for sharing. Wishing you the best in marveling in all the worlds beauty and educating yourself simultaneously! Love you!