Who could have guessed July would come around so quickly?
Does this happen every year? Does the summer finally approach and suddenly, the days go by faster and faster, and the room keeps spinning and I am left wondering what on Earth I’m doing sleeping on my couch? Oh, sorry. I’m hungover.
Reasons why I may be hungover
But it is summer and it is beautiful and the beer is cold. This year has already been pretty good, travel-wise, and I have made many, many more plans already. There is a little board beside my blender with a list of important dates and I’m anxious for them to happen.
This year, I’ve already completed a three-week backpacking trip through Cuba with an assortment of wonderful strangers. A week-long trip to Yellowknife. A weekend-kidnapping to Montreal. Here’s what is next.
In July, I’m hoping to check out a few small towns around my city, making day trips on the weekend, and celebrate some birthdays! July seems pretty tame and I’m happy for some down-time.
In August, I am headed to Prince Edward Island for a week-long vacation with my family, the first in a long while. A weekend in Nashville with my best friend and then a cottage weekend to answer the age-old question: can J survive in the woods without hair products?
September is a bit light at the moment. For the first time in 21 years, I will not be going to school. THIS IS SO WEIRD! I’m not sure how I will handle it.
October might see a weekend trip to Portland, Oregon! The boys want to check out craft breweries, I want to browse the book store and we want to check out a few gin distilleries. And most importantly, I have convinced them to let me book a house boat for our accommodations. Score!
November, November – my favourite month of the year. I will see two very special, wonderful people get married before heading out to Istanbul for a week to celebrate my birthday! I am finally fulfilling a promise and a wish at the same time. I have been meaning to visit my friend Hakan, who I met when we both did an exchange at the University of Trento in 2011! IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS! I struggled with this trip, to be honest. Less than two hours after I booked that trip, there was an attack at the airport. I thought about cancelling – I had twenty-four hours. Millions upon millions of people fly through Istanbul everyday. I can’t be afraid.
Hakan and I in Siciliy!
And finally December. Hopefully, I have enough vacation time to head out for another three weeks. I have a few countries in mind – Bosnia; Uruguay; South Africa or Colombia.
2016 already sounds like a great time.
***********************************************************************************************************************
I wrote this on July 3rd. I had been meaning to put in some photos and some links and publish it shortly after. But my accident was on July 5th and this blog has been silent since. So, instead of rewriting it, I just thought I would leave it like this and update it below.
July was a month of downtime for sure, but not one I did willingly. It was imposed, a consequence of a concussion and some limited mobility. I did not really do much in terms of exploring, but my couch certainly saw me quite often. July seems like a blur and it is. There are spots in my memory that are still hazy. So, we move on to the next month.
August was quite adventurous. A week in Prince Edward Island with my family that saw me buy a ton of booze to make up for a sober month. A four-day jaunt to Nashville to eat everything! A weekend in the woods with the boys that started with a grocery store run that almost had me pulling my hair out.
Background credit: Nashville. Photo credit: My best friend
September, despite its weirdness of being school-free (oh my goodness, do I miss being a student! Is this a bad sign? Should I be worried about my well-being?) was really busy! A weekend in Toronto to see the adorable, hilarious and amazing Trevor Noah. a bridal shower for one of my favourite people in the whole world. A trip to Montreal to see the Queen, ADELE. A lot of yoga classes.
And here we are in October. No trip to Portland is planned, but instead, a camping trip with my cousin, a bachelorette party at the most gorgeous spa, a Jack and Jill and Thanksgiving festivities. November will see a wedding and me heading off to Istanbul and I’m so excited that another of my travel friends will be joining me!
Since I have been quite busy spending my vacation days, I will only be taking a short one-week trip in December to Puerto Rico! I will frolic on beaches, visit the city of Isabela and practice my terrible Spanish.
So 2016, despite its setbacks, still seems like a pretty good year!
And of course, the proudest moment in 2016 – handing this in.