Blogs from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, North America

Home Sweet Home as they say. It's almost been 2 weeks since I arrived home from BOB, Best of Britain tour and it's time I end this travel blog. But first I'll add some final points of what I hope you will find both interesting and helpful. A bus tour is an excellent way for a novice traveller to travel alone AirTransat offers an OptionPlus package; check it out if you will have more than one piece of check in luggage; the other perks that come with his are ok too The Travel Director on a bus tour will make or break your trip; I was really lucky, Rachel, our director, was phenomenal You can purchase a local SIM card for your phone; saves roaming charges. I bought one and added time to it (pay as ... read more

Hey! So this is my first blog post.... not too sure who I'm talking to. Definitely Nathan, probably Marianne and Mrs. Wiersma, hopefully Julia, Robyn, Jess, and Mariah (here after known as the spcom girls)????? If there's anyone else, Hi! I'm glad you're here :). Maybe you'd all like to make a comment for me?? So the title is completely true, proof above, I haven't known what I was doing since Sept 28th 2012 when I found out I was going on exchange. For those of you that don't know the story, I applied last winter to go on exchange but wasn’t approved because my advisor was mean :(. I switched programs and majors, both to nicer advisors who approved me; unfortunately no one told me this. So when I got the e-mail saying "hey Sarah, ... read more

Wow, it was such an amazing day today (Saturday)! We went to the biggest maple syrup festival in the world, in the small town of Elmira. First we were brought to Elmira with the usual yellow school bus. They use those busses for a lot of trips and this was already the third time I went on one. There isn’t a lot of room for your legs but that would be expected from a little children’s bus. When we arrived at Elmira we had to walk down a street to get to the main festival street. In that street were a yard sale and a horse and carriage coming down the street. The houses all had a front porch and big trees in front of them. Oh and of course most of them had the Canadian ... read more

Yesterday I started writing another entry, but somehow I pushed a button that leads to the previous page, so I have to start all over again.. Luckily that it's Sunday, perfect day for sitting at home and writing. Alright, where to start? Since I've arrived in Waterloo a lot of fun stuff happened already. It wasn't snowing as was the forecast, but there still is old snow everywhere so it looks beautiful! When I was in the van that brought me to the University, I didn't really feel like I was in another continent. Also didn't experience a cultureshock yet, it just feels so natural to be here. The busdriver was a really nice man, he told me what I definitely should see in Waterloo. Too bad I was to tired to remember anything. Just remembered ... read more

After 8 months of travel, I have decided to come home. Don't get me wrong, I adore travelling, with the constantly changing environments, ability to meet new and very interesting characters, the exposure to new cultures, etc., it can be EXHAUSTING!! Seriously, I travelled largely by hitchhiking, which can be described as the ultimate test of ones' patience, not to mention faith in the kindness of complete strangers. Picture it, standing or sitting for hours on end, waiting, waiting, WAITING! Watching one person (Read empty cars) whiz by you spewing toxins and noise your way can be tough. Especially if you are travelling solo, as I did for the final three weeks of my travels. It isn't very encouraging seeing this one person one car trend, especially in Morocco and Portugal, countries most people would associate ... read more