I don’t waste time “easing” into Canada, France, and a handful of countries whose governments didn’t issue me a passport but where I feel comfortable. I land, insert the proper SIM card into my phone, pretend jet lag isn’t a thing, and just resume life wherever I left off, in whatever language people around me speak.
On the downside, living several lives in several countries is exhausting, and I scattered pieces of my heart in too many places around the globe. But on the plus side, life is interesting, and I think I can put “adaptable” on my resume.
It took me a long, long time to get to this point, both mentally and practically.
Technology helped a lot.
Back in the early 2000s, going travelling meant going off the grid. Sure, you could check your emails once in a while… from an Internet café. Calling home involved buying an international phone card and finding a public phone somewhere on the road. As for the news, the world may as well have stopped spinning—your options were to buy a local newspaper in a language you’d understand and hope for an international news section, or just wait until world events make their way to you, eventually, days or weeks later.
I started travelling with a laptop around 2008—it was getting hard to find Internet cafés. And I started using my phone with a local SIM card in 2022 because, by then, being unreachable was no longer an option.
So now, even when I’m away, I’m always in touch with my friends, wherever they are, I chat every day with Feng and Mark on Skype, and I’ve heard about obscure local news.
Being connected makes life easier in my case—I’m not running away from people, I just enjoy exploring the world. Honestly, I don’t miss the “off the grid” feeling that much, except maybe for the news.
It wasn’t spring at all when I landed in Ottawa two weeks ago, and I knew it wouldn’t because, well, see paragraphs above. The trees were bare, and it was “nice and warm” according to Canadian Winter™ survivors, “pretty chilly” according to me, who just don’t wear shorts when it’s 10°C.
It’s finally getting warmer this week, I think.
And this weekend, the tulips bloomed. I still don’t understand how the fragile bulbs can survive months of freezing temperatures (including frost, just last night!), but they reliably show up every year in May around Dow’s Lake. Go figure.
The Canadian Tulip Festival always draws crowds. For most Canadians, they are the first patch of colour since the fall. For newcomers, they are proof that Canada isn’t frozen year-round.
For me, they are the sign we’re going to jump from winter to summer—Ottawa doesn’t really do spring.
At least, I hope so.
Really beautiful pictures. Nicer than those in the tulip photo contest here in the Albany NY area. I wonder if you would consider a post on SIM cards; how to get them for foreign travel, etc. etc. I am quite old so this might not be something you want to do; most readers may already know this stuff. Thank you for all your years of posts.
Hello there!
This is a great idea—I’m actually writing a post about cellphone plans but you’re right, I should also focus on SIM cards. I may be younger than you (?) but honestly, I’m learning on the road as well, all countries are different. Thank you for your suggestion! 🙂
Tes photos sont superbes! Je suis passée au jardin botanique pour voir les magnolias et c’était superbe. À bientôt
Merci! J’adore les magnolias… tu as des photos?
J’ai vu que tu n’écrivais plus beaucoup, ou le fais-tu ailleurs?
Non je n’écris plus beaucoup, un peu de mal à m’y remettre.
Je comprends, ça peut prendre du temps et être frustrant… moi sache que je te lis avec plaisir quand tu publies!
(Et la santé?)
C’est gentil! Tout va bien, j’ai réécris finalement 😉
Et j’ai eu le plaisir de te lire à nouveau! 🙂