Tag Archives: travel

01/2/12

Hello and Goodbye

It’s the start of a new year, which calls for a moment of reflection of who I am and how far I’ve come – especially with the advent of my departure to Norway drawing closer every day. The fact that I’ve been planning this adventure for over a year and that I’m about to embark on it all on my own in just a couple of weeks is surreal. Classes in Norway. Backpacking through Europe. Field Research in Tanzania. I’m about to leave everything I know behind to explore what is unknown all on my own. The idea is exciting and terrifying at the same time. But if I think about it, anything worthwhile I have ever done or accomplished in my life has felt the same way: exciting and terrifying. This year-long exchange is no different.

When you know that you’re going to be leaving home, you start to appreciate everything that you have so much more. For me, it was a number of things: my favourite pair of shoes, being woken up to my parents chatting downstairs during breakfast, the jingling of my dog’s collar – even my brother’s tendency to tell me interesting facts and tidbits at inconvenient times. Even the routine of transiting to UBC or heading off the work and taking in the soothing smell of pool chlorine seemed all the more precious to me. I started to count ‘lasts’ in the latter months of 2011: last Imagine Day, last day of teaching swimming lessons, last Halloween, last day of classes, last time I’ll see my friends until next year. All of these little things in my ordinary life seemed extraordinary and I realized just how much everyone I’ve met and everything I’ve experienced have shaped me to be the person I am today. And as this person, I will grow to change even more with this new adventure.

I have never left home on my own for so long in my life. Two weeks were the longest I’ve been away just from my family. I feel like nothing more than a coddled child if I had to be perfectly honest. This exchange, if anything, will force me to grow up very quickly. I have had days where I would curl myself up under my bed covers because I was afraid of taking such a big leap out of the comforts of bubble called home. Often I feel like I know nothing and would have nothing to offer when I would have the opportunity to meet and work with people abroad. But then I stop myself to think about what I do know and what I have experienced. I think about the place that has shaped me and the wonderful people that I have met. And then I realize that I have nothing to be afraid of. Every person has different experiences that have shaped their identities and I have mine. No, I have not travelled extensively. But I’m about to. All I can do is offer the best of myself and that’s nothing to feel inadequate about – I should in fact be proud of it.

This coming year will not always be easy – even more so because I will be mostly on my own. And yes, I will feel small and ignorant at times. But I am willing to trip and fall over and over again in order to listen, observe, and learn. If I lose confidence in myself, I will remember that I chose to step outside my bubble and to take part in this exchange. By the end of this journey, I will have left behind new friends and new places I would have once called home. I will be a different person when I come back home to everything and everyone I know and love. So even though I might be scared of such a drastic change, I welcome it with open arms. I will be brave and step outside my bubble. I will get on that plane on my own. I will remember that I am following my dreams and living my passion. And then I will smile with my head held high.

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.)

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.

09/25/11

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.