In 19 days, I leave for a solo two month trip to New Zealand, Australia, China and Panama.
I was talking to my aunt, who’s daughter is living in New Zealand after going on a two month trip down under a year earlier. She said many people are blogging about their travels, but very few are talking about the days leading up to the travel.
Well, that’s for a few reasons. Firstly, as I have been learning, planning big trips around the world is very time consuming. The majority of the issue is that you don’t have very much time in between your regular life schedule and your trip planning to sit down and write about it. It is difficult to balance it all. But, those who are truly dedicated can always find time.
Secondly, they want you to see all the beautiful things they are experiencing while in a different place. They don’t think you want to hear about spending every day on the computer, endlessly researching their destinations. But why not??
The point of this blog is not just to show you how beautiful our world is but it is to show you that it can be a reality for you. The point of this blog is to show you the reality of travelling – all the ups and downs, all the challenges.
In a perfect world, I can wake up in the morning and decide to hop on a plane to China, Japan, or Australia, etc… But it’s not that simple. Not only does my minimum wage pizza slinging job hold me down from buying a last minute plane ticket for some unplanned adventure to the other side of the world, but the rest of the world is also very different from Canada.
As a woman in Canada, I have many rights. I can walk down a street wearing short shorts and a tight shirt that only covers half my upper body, if I so please. I can walk around the town without any supervision/guardian, without anyone’s permission. I have a decent paying job. I have the right to vote during elections. I am an independent woman. In other parts of this world, none of that would be allowed. In some places, by my age I would be a mother of many children, married to a man I met on my wedding day, stuck in a house I cannot leave.
You learn so much about your own country when you travel. Even before I have left, I am already learning things. I realise how lucky I am to have been born in Canada. A country so accepting of the female gender. I realise how “free” Canadians really are.
Being from a country like Canada also makes things interesting to travel. You have to realise that you are leaving your homeland and entering someone else’s. You have to realise that these places around the world all have different rules and different beliefs. You have to accept that their culture is different, and you have to adapt to the new environment. If you don’t allow yourself to adapt to the change, it can get messy real quick. You don’t ever have to agree with other peoples beliefs or cultures, but you most definitely have to respect them. If you don’t respect the culture you’re in, you can get yourself into a lot of trouble – and not necessarily just with the law.
Today I mailed my information to get my Chinese Visa. After going through the check-list of things I needed and putting together all my information for the trip, I realised how much work it was just to be able to ASK to enter China. You must have your itinerary set out – all your flights and hotels booked. Depending on how long you are there and how many places you are going, booking everything can be a long process. You want to find good comfortable flights, you want to find good safe hotels or hostels, all while sticking with your budget. You need to figure out what you want to see while you are there and most importantly you have to be realistic about what you have time to visit. (REMEMBER – You can’t see everything the first time, you can always go back.) It took me many, many weeks to work everything out, which was really a wake up call for me. It’s what made me realise how different each country is.
But after today all I have to do now is wait & hope my visa is granted!
If you are looking for a place to get a Visa or Visa information for your own trip I highly suggest VisaHQ. They are very clear on what you need and extremely helpful with any questions or concerns you may have. This site allows you to have all your visa applications in one place, keeping you well organised throughout the process!
