Before my arrival in the UK, I had hoped that I could travel a lot more this time around. Last time I was in the middle of my Masters and not going to lie, it was a lot of hard work. I did two big trips while I was up in St Andrews, but they were out of semester time. This time around I thought that, since I’m working, it will mean no bad feeling that I’m not doing work over the weekend, right?
Since my arrival back in the UK, it’s been very different from what I expected. Financial circumstances as well as work and having to move away from a big centre to Stirling has all made it slightly difficult to travel outside the UK.
I however decided to make the most of exploring my host country, Scotland. I’ve made it to 7 new places on the mainland, and visited two of it’s multiple islands. I’m super proud! We’ve been places that the Brit had never been to before. And I was also able to finally visit London in the manner it deserves!
I still wish I was able to do more and see more of course! I had so much hopes that I’d be able to spend some weekends abroad. My travel wish list for this year included : Croatia, Iceland, Denmark, Italy and Ireland.
This comes back a little to the lesson I learned earlier this year during my Scottish road trip – I am a slow traveller and I would rather take a full week off than rushing a weekend abroad, which is one of the reasons why I haven’t done that.
I mean we are only in May – only about 7 months into this life abroad – I will have another six months to this year and perhaps many more years of being in Europe to plan more trips. And we are indeed already planning trips to 3 of those destinations. Which is exciting! I shouldn’t be complaining too much of course.
Did I tell you that I’m going home in about 2 weeks? Exciting as well. I’ve been feeling a bit home sick and it’s going to be good to be home. I love going home and seeing everyone again and getting to enjoy the pleasures that Montreal brings me, either to bathe in the sun or to stuff my face in poutine. I’m really looking forward to it!
I just can’t help but feel that if I wasn’t spending a fortune and most of my holidays to go home then I would be able to visit more new places. Do you know what I mean? I feel guilty for thinking like that, but at the same time it’s a reality isn’t it?
What do you think? What do you prioritise? Do you prefer travelling as much as possible right now or trying to head back home every once in a while? For those of you who are expats, what’s your best way to cope with all this?
I’m hoping that one day I get to find a balance and afford to go home often and visit new places. Ah a girl can always dream, right? xx
