Category Archives: Travel

11/26/11

Do I own all this stuff? Or does it own me?

Now that I’m officially in Travel-Packing-Logistics Mode, it’s difficult to look at everything I own. I used to say that I LOVED the idea of just having my passport and a suitcase full of the barest of necessities to set off on an adventure around the world. Pure romanticism, I know. My real feelings are sadly, another story.

Maybe it’s easy for some people, but for me, it’s difficult trying to limit myself to a few handful of tops and bottoms that will last me almost a year abroad. The first half of my exchange is fine: I’ll be stationary in a dorm room up in Norway from January to June. But once July hits, I’ll be essentially living out of a backpack for 4 months. I consider myself to be a pretty light packer when it comes to shorter trips, but I haven’t the faintest idea how to pack for both hot and cold climates, pack light and pack within flight luggage restricts for such a long period of time. It reminds me just how much I’m leaving behind. Which, for the most part, I take to be a good thing.

The decision to leave behind everything I know in my life – everyone I know, my job, my school, my beloved Vancouver – to take my first step in becoming a globetrotter hasn’t been an easy one. I still have mornings when I wake up terrified by the whole ordeal. What this packing challenge presents to me is this decision in the context of my relationship to my possessions. Material goods. Stuff. It’s testing me to figure out for myself just what is most important to me and what doesn’t.

To put it bluntly: what can I live without truly?

In terms of possessions, clothes pose the biggest dilemma for me, actually. I never used to care much for clothes, but in recent years, I’ve become comfortable with dressing myself with confidence – as yet another outlet for my self-identity. This is all fine and dandy, and I am so glad I managed to get over my earlier fear of clothes and self-esteem. But here is an opportunity to test the waters of who I am, stripped (figuratively, of course) of this outlet.

As for other things I could probably do without, but in the context of what I will be doing abroad that I will be bringing with me:

1. Laptop: for school classes in Norway/Tanzania as well as for independent research in the field. If it weren’t for the academic factor, I probably wouldn’t lean towards bringing the hassle that comes with it.

Although the fact that I can stay connected via Skype, Facebook, and blog on my WordPress and Tumblr still is an added plus.

Current plans for an Ultrabook… expensive, but light, powerful, and durable. After much debate with my mom, I’ve decided to go with the security risk.

2. Kindle E-Book Reader: I love reading, but bringing 50 books with me travelling is just not feasible. With the Kindle, I have access to thousands of books in the palm of my hand.

3. Ipod Touch: I need my music! Long hours of transit time will most likely bore me to death.

4. Cell Phone: just a cheap one – nothing fancy. It’s mostly for security measures more than anything else.

What can I say? I like to stay connected, even if I’m on the move. If I’ve learned anything about myself, it’s that these connections are very important to me and it just so happens that technology serves as a convenient means for me to do that. I’ve researched the most light-weight and space-saving ways of doing so because of this. As for toiletries: toothbrush, soap, small brush… maybe a little thing of hand lotion because I get dry skin. For my 4 months out of a backpack at least, I’ll be giving up on cosmetics and hair care (wouldn’t miss ‘em too much anyway).

This packing process is definitely teaching me more about myself. I can’t wait to see how I change once I actually depart.

(I do see the irony in buying packing/travelling gear in this resolve though.)

11/18/11

Signed my housing contract…

…after about 5 badgering emails later. It had already been at least 3 weeks since I sent out my housing application and I was getting a little worried that they would never get around to sending me my contract. UMB housing is done separately from the school itself so I was pretty much fighting with the housing department to get them to send me the contract that I needed so I wouldn’t be homeless in the New Year. But it’s here today (along with the first fall of snow in Vancouver!) and I’ve read, signed, scanned and sent it back their way. Now all I have to do is wire 6 months worth of rent before January 1st and I should be well on my way! 😀

Now that I’ve almost got housing out of the way, I can finally start applying for my student VISA. Thank goodness.

Things left to do for Exchange Planning (from the top of my head… I have an actual list somewhere):

-apply for Student VISA

-get immunizations for Africa as well as info about malaria tablets, etc.

-talk to my bank about wiring money among other things

-talk to credit card people

-get my cell phone sorted out

-figure out what I’m bringing in terms of clothes (need a nice pair of warm sturdy boots and some actual thermal pants)

About 2 months left ’til I depart! Time is flying by! :O

10/13/11

I started vlogging!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRZO_COZLuM

First time ever vlogging! This video was a test run to see if I could even manage to record myself, edit, and create a vlog. I only took one take and used what I had to make this… instead of studying. I’m planning on doing periodical videos on my exchange abroad to Norway. I’ll probably have one done more closer to my departure date and one when I get there. We’ll see how things go. 🙂

10/7/11

I booked my flight ticket today.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 || Icelandair # 680:

  • Seattle/Tacoma Intl (SEA) to Reykjavik Keflavik International (KEF)

Departure (SEA): January 24, 3:30 PM PST (afternoon)
Arrival (KEF): January 25, 6:45 AM GMT (morning)
Class: Economy Seat: 18C

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 || Icelandair # 318:

  • Reykjavik Keflavik International (KEF) to Oslo Airport (OSL)

Departure (KEF): January 25, 7:35 AM GMT (morning)
Arrival (OSL): January 25, 11:05 AM CET (morning)
Class: Economy Seat: 15C

One-way ticket for $466.

The difference between YVR (Vancouver) and SEA (Seattle) was about $150, hence why my mom is driving me 3+ hours down to Seattle for my flight. That’s going to be an emotional road trip.

My classes officially start on January 31st and end in late June. I have about a week to get settled at UMB before the real game begins.

I may not know shit about travel logistics, but I’m slowly getting everything together piece by piece.

Breathe, Megan, Breathe.

09/30/11

Learning to fly.

There is a day where every parent comes face to face with the hard reality that they have to let their child fly free into the real world. But I don’t think Africa was where my mother had in mind for me. At least not for the long term.

When I first told my mom that I wanted to go abroad for a year, she was completely supportive. When I told her I wanted to go to a school in Norway with a 2-month field course in Tanzania, she was still very supportive, even though she wasn’t as comfortable with the field-course portion. So recently, when I found out more information concerning field research during my exchange, naturally, I told my mom about it. She didn’t take it too well. Or to put it another way, she took it as well as she could.

The notion of me completing my own field research in a possibly unstable country, with no real institutional structure and being pretty much on my own, well, scared her. It’s understandable – I mean, I was in the same position as her when it dawned on me that I would have to completely step out of my safe, comfortable bubble to reside in a place that may be quite risky. It took me time to get to the point where I was set on taking such risks. I knew that my mom had not really realized what field of work I was actually wanting to go into when I applied to the GRS program even. But I rolled with it. I wanted to find out for myself if this path was the one I wanted to be on – to find my resolve in residing in a developing country, if only for a time. Once I found that resolve, I knew I could look right at my mother’s face and tell her that this was what I wanted.

Because, in the end, there’s nothing my family can do or say that can stop me from my own life choices. I know that, and my mom knows that. But I know that if I had even the faintest doubt in my mind about this path, my mom would try to coax me out of it. Not because she doesn’t respect my decisions but because she, as a mother, wants me to live in my comfortable bubble of a life for as long as possible. No parent wants their child to be in a risky environment, right?

I want my mom to understand my resolve. I want her to understand that I want to step out of my bubble – to see the world for what it is – good and bad. I want to face challenges, find myself in uncomfortable situations, and fall down over and over again, because that’s the only way I will grow as a person. That is the only way to expand my world: to learn – to experience – and truly give back. I have been born into this seat of privilege and I don’t want to take it for granted. I don’t want to be naive. I want to live my life fighting myself out of a life of apathy and ignorance.

For these experiences, I’m willing to put myself into risky environments. To make sacrifices. To find out, truly, if I am a person that can work in the field of Global Health and Development on the ground – not behind a desk. I need to know. That is why I’m going. Some part of my mom knew that when she walked out of my room today. She wasn’t happy – but she hadn’t tried to persuade me out of my decision.

We all have to fly away from the nest some day.

09/25/11

The Opportunities of Exchange Abroad

Earlier this week, I went to a Go Global Country Session, where you get to mingle with incoming and outgoing exchange students from every country you can think of this week. I experienced a number of things through this event:

1. People appreciate my keen attitude. Someone commented that I was much more outgoing and talkative than a lot of the exchange students who had come back from exchange. I see it this way: if I can’t be open to being social and keen at UBC in my home of Vancouver, how can I ever expect to do that just miraculously when I arrive in Norway? Practice is key!

2. There are really people from all over at UBC. First person I approached was a girl on exchange from Edinburgh, Scotland – who was originally from Germany. Rad. 8)

3. I met an Oslo native! Her name was Jannicke (cannot pronounce it for the life of me) and she was on exchange from the University of Oslo in Norway. She was very helpful in answering all my questions about Norwegian culture, people, and most importantly, how to eat decently in a nation with one of the highest per-capita GDP in the world. She also offered to give me a tour of Oslo when I arrived as she would be back home as well. 😀

4. I met a returned exchange student from Norway! His name was Robbie, and he had actually done a semester in Bergen, Norway (on the other side of the country from where I will be) AND a semester in Australia afterwards. He was super helpful in telling me about how to get cheap airfares, figuring out cell phones, addressing financial concerns, and basically any exchange planning logistics that I was fuzzy on. Plus it was super interesting to hear about his travels in between his studies: he went to Ireland, Russia, Egypt, and to places as far as Japan as well as stopping off in Iceland and exploring Norway. He even admitted he was all over the place. I could tell he really enjoyed his year of adventure though.

5. Ask ask ASK! It never hurts to ask even the silliest (or what you think is a silly) question. Requests to reiterate and explain something further are perfectly fine too compared to the alternative: nodding like you understand so you don’t lose face. : I had to overcome that initial ‘oh, I probably seem really annoying with all of these questions…’ and the ‘oh, I really don’t know anything and they might think my questions are just really stupid…’ It gets easier the more you do it. Besides, chances are there’s another person with the exact same question, who is too afraid to ask it for the same reasons.

6. There’s a girl I know who’s going at the exact same time as me! Her name is Sam, and she just transferred into the same program as me. She’s doing the same field course in Africa with me too. 😀 It’s wonderful knowing that I won’t be so alone, but I am glad that it’s not like 20 other people from UBC going at the same time as me. I would never be able to connect with UMB students if I was being smothered by UBC exchange students.

7. I have free reign of doing whatever I want for school credit from October-December 2012. The field course in Uganda according to a friend is just from August-September. I have a choice to do one of the following afterwards:

a) go back to UMB and take a couple more courses (because I did pay for 15 credits).

b) go back to UBC and do an independent course for the rest of my credits (but that would waste money).

c) complete a research paper or do some field research under the guidance of a UMB prof with possible funding – at this point, I have no idea where this would be (but this is the most appealing option for me – what a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! :D).

Option C has been the route for many GRS students before me: I know girls who have gone to Tanzania for independent field research, their findings and papers being sent to governments and institutions to advocate for policy changes. There are so many doors of opportunity to choose from with this exchange of mine and I cannot wait to go abroad now more than ever!

All I need to do this keep my open, keen attitude. That is my key.