In honour of my 31st rotation around the sun, I recently sat down to reflect on 31 of my favourite life lessons from the past 31 years (read the first 15 here). Here’s the second part of a blog post 31 years in the making. When someone shows you and tells you who they are – believe them the first time. My mother shared the following quote with me a few years ago: Here are some times I didn’t heed this advice: About ten years ago, a man I was in a brief relationship with yanked my jacket off me aggressively…
31 Life Lessons I Learned By 31
If you believe that life is an educational experience, then everyone you meet has the potential to be a teacher and every moment may reveal a lesson. To this end, I have been blessed with more lessons than I can count – so in honour of my 31st birthday, I thought I’d share the 31 most important things I’ve learned, divided into two posts (you’ll find the first 15 below). Perhaps some of them will serve you – or have served you – as they have served me. Fly to Berlin, though your flowers may be wilted. When we graduated from Marianopolis College’s Liberal…
My Shitty Christmas in Asia
“It’s the most, wonderful time, of the year…” Andy Williams sang sweet lies to me as my visibly bored students crafted Dear Santa letters. It was rounding 10 pm on Christmas Eve. At 10:05, I wished my students and co-workers happy holidays and jumped in a cab to finish packing for my trip to Malaysia the next day. The next morning, I checked in and bought myself a green juice while I waited to board my flight to Bali, with a two day stopover in Kuala Lumpur. I gazed over at the only other white girl around. She was sipping on…
Why I Cancelled My Trip to the Maldives
For some of you who follow my social media channels, you might recall my gleeful announcements a few months back that I had been invited on a press trip to the Maldives. What was truly unbelievable about the invitation was that I had only been blogging for three months – with only a few thousand followers on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest combined. Like I said: UN. FUCKING. BELIEVABLE. And, sure enough – it was. In reality, my invitation was based on unsavoury motives, from a man targeting impressionable, attractive, young bikini-clad newbie travel bloggers. Here’s how it all went down. January 8th,…
Me, moments before sending an e-mail turning down a job with a six figure salary
10 Times “No” Changed My Life for the Better
As a naturally curious person, I would define myself as being a yes person. Yes to trying new (vegan) foods! Yes to speed dating! Yes to world travel, and yes to joining the student council! I’m all about yes, because yes invites love, opportunity, and growth. Except when it doesn’t. Here are the few occasions that made me grateful for no. The time the McGill Faculty of Law said no to me I had been putting off my law school applications for years. I had already earned two degrees – a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, and a Master’s degree in International Affairs. The…
The Letter I Wrote to a Stranger in Hanoi
When I was in Hanoi, I decided I should check out Giang Cafe, the birthplace of a local culinary invention called egg coffee. On Monday evening, I took note to try it out before leaving on Thursday. On Tuesday, I traipsed around town, visiting the Temple of Literature and a few other spots. Hungry for lunch, I noticed a cafe I believed to be The Note Coffee – the #2 most recommended cafe on Trip Advisor in Hanoi after Giang Cafe. I walked in, and asked if they served lunch. They said no, so I left. The day after, I took…
What I Learned After Visiting a Spiritual Healer in Bali
This is the first of many posts that will document a massive paradigm shift I experienced on a spiritual level over the past few months. In short, I have become vividly aware that if you’re not living your divine purpose, your body and mind will turn against you and attack itself. In my case, it was a combined diagnosis of depression, panic disorder, adjustment disorder and anxiety. More about that in a later post. It’s hard for me to pinpoint a beginning to this major turning point in my life – because really, my path started the moment I took…
Travel Dares!
Last month, I held a massive snake (what is it anyway? a python?) around my neck for at least a solid five minutes on a dare from a friend. Not only was I convinced the snake was going to choke me to death as it slithered around my neck, I was also fairly certain that it would bite my face off ( it kept going in for “kisses”). Naturally, neither of these things happened, and I emerged a little braver and more badass that day. As such, I’ve decided to pray my parents don’t read this and invite dares from my…
So You Wanna be an ESL Teacher?
For the past four years, I have been making ends meet as an ESL teacher. The creative freedom, flexibility, personal fulfillment and influence I have as a teacher are what keep me in the ESL bubble – and it’s also a good industry to consider if you’re looking to save a good chunk of cash and travel. But I never planned to become a teacher. Teaching found me. “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai After completing my Master of Arts degree in International Affairs a few years ago, I experienced a…
