“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain
I’m in
vacation mode this week. My brother, some friends, and I are going to Vegas for
the weekend. I know I went to Vegas not too long ago, but I’m excited to be
traveling with a group of friends this time as well as my brother who has some
very fun activities planned for us that I didn’t get a chance to experience
last time I was there. We’re going to let loose and just have some fun. It’s
the perfect way to kick off Spring I think. I’ve packed shorts, bathing suits,
and summer dresses; I can’t wait for the warm weather. I’ve loaded my iPod up
with some new tunes (I’m loving Thirty Seconds to Mars’ album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams right now). I can’t wait to make
some new memories with some good friends. Well, that’s all for me this week,
I’m going to let Nicole take charge of the rest of this blog post.
Enjoy her
travel tips and stories,
--------------------------------------------------
I've spent most of my life in my little corner
of the world. However, recently I have had the chance to explore a few other amazing
places in this wide world of ours...and if you haven't tried it, I would highly
recommend it!
Growing up on the west coast of Canada, most of my family vacations took place in western Canada and USA. One of our favourite vacations was going down the Oregon coast. We would often stay in the state campgrounds, but instead of tenting, we would rent a yurt. We would go hiking, explore the sand dunes, or go for long walks down the beach.
When I was in grade 11, I had my first opportunity to travel outside North America, when I went on a music tour to Austria with my school band. We visited four different cities in Austria, and also made a quick stop in Germany. I got to see sights such as a palace, a fortress, and a salt mine. We even got to perform a concert in a beautiful old monastery. It was an amazing experience, and though I had always wanted to travel, this trip definitely got me hooked.
The next big trip I got to take was just after I graduated
from university. At the time, my mom’s two brothers were living in China with
their families. My grandmother wanted to go visit them, but didn’t want to
travel alone, so I got to be her travel companion. I have to admit, China was
definitely not in my ‘top ten places I want to travel to.’ That said, I had an
amazing time, and am so glad I had the opportunity to visit. We spent a few
days in Shanghai with my one uncle and his wife, and then flew to Xian to spend
about a week and a half with my other aunt, uncle and three cousins. We got to
experience real Chinese food, crazy traffic, millions of people, packed buses,
and very warm weather, all in a country where we didn’t speak the language. I
was very glad to be staying with relatives who spoke the language and knew what
to do and where to go. One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to the
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, which is where the famous terracotta
warriors are on display. It was incredible!
Most recently, my travel adventures took me back to Europe. At
this time two years ago, I had just recently arrived in Sweden, where I
attended Holsby, a Torchbearers Bible School, in the small town of Holsbybrunn,
for their two month ‘Spring School.’ While most of my time there was spent at
the school, I did get to take a four day trip to Stockholm, which was so much
fun. I got to see and do some really neat things including staying in a hostel
on a boat, visiting the Nobel Museum, Skansen (the world's first open-air
museum, founded in 1891) and the Vasa Museum.
Once my time at school was over,
I met up with Samantha and we travelled around the UK for about a month, where I
saw even more amazing sights. Some of the highlights include watching Singin’
in the Rain at the Palace Theatre, riding the London Eye, visiting the Tower of
London and Tower Bridge, seeing the Roman Baths, Shakespeare’s hometown, and
Old York. I will say though, that one of the most incredible experiences we had
was being in London for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and sitting
in St. James Park watching the Diamond Jubilee Concert with thousands of other
people!
My travels didn't end in England though. Samantha flew home, and I
traveled on to Paris where I met up with my parents, my brother and some family
friends, whom I travelled with around France and Italy for another month before
finally flying home. While with my family I got to see some of the iconic
French and Italian sights; the Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, the Arc
de Triomphe, the Colosseum, the Ponte Vecchio, and the canals of Venice. There
are not enough words to describe how amazingly fantastic this last trip was!
After coming home from Europe two years ago, I haven’t had
the chance to do any more travelling, but hopefully I’ll get the opportunity
again soon; even if it’s just a short trip somewhere here on the West Coast.
There’s a lot of things to do, and lots to remember when
planning a trip, especially if it’s your first time travelling. The more you
travel the more efficient the planning process becomes, but each trip is always
different, so there’s always something new to remember. And there always seems
to be a million questions you need answers to…do I need a passport or visa?
Where am I going? For how long? Where will I stay? Do I speak the language? How
do I get there? How much will it all cost? What do I take with me? I can’t even
begin to answer these questions, but I will say a couple of things. First of
all, do some research! It’s always a good idea to know at least a bit about the
area you will be staying. Also, it’s good to have a plan, but make sure it’s a
flexible plan. You don’t want to plan every minute of your day and then
discover something amazing once you’re there but not have any time for it. At
the same time you don’t want to show up with no plan and end up wasting your
time trying to figure out what to do. Plan to be spontaneous!
Here’s a couple of websites that have some more tips and
tools for planning your next big trip (or your little ones too!)
This one is from the Canadian government (if you’re not from
Canada, I’m sure you can find a similar page on your country’s website): http://travel.gc.ca/
This one is from travel guide and guide book author Rick
Steves: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips
Happy Traveling!
Nicole
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