6,000 Kilometres

This morning I waited as the Skype call connected to Gabriel’s cell phone. His day was almost over, and mine was just beginning. Perhaps the thing that makes being apart so difficult is the time difference. When I’m ready to go to sleep at night, after a long day at school, I turn off the light knowing that, across the Atlantic, my boyfriend is about to wake up, eat his hagel slaag, and make his morning commute through Amsterdam.

Today, when Gabriel recounted his walk into the city center of Amsterdam, I felt a pang of something unusual. Jealousy, perhaps?

“Did you see the canals?” I asked, imagining walking along the Keizersgracht on the brick roads, watching as bicycles zip past and trams whiz by.

“Yes, they were there…”

“You’re so lucky.”

The thing is, Amsterdam affected me like no other place in the world. I have such a clear recollection of the tiniest details of the city. The textures, the smells, the sounds…I absorbed them all at such an intense level. When Gabriel describes how he ventured to De Bijenkorf for a new blanket, or scoured the Kalverstraat for some new video game, I can’t help but conjure up all of the images that my mind was so hyper-sensitive to for the last year.

“You’re so lucky,” he said. “You’re there with your family and the people that are the most special to us in the world.” And he is absolutely right. Perhaps, for now, Gabriel gets to experience the intricately gabled homes, rocking boats, and oliebollen stands and I get to experience daily life with my family.

So today I learnt what he bought at the Albert Heijn, and he learnt about my holiday party last night, but most importantly,  we reminded each other to appreciate where we are, at this very moment in our lives; even if it is 6,000 kilometres apart.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to all of those American bloggers and readers out there. In Canada we celebrated our Thanksgiving a month earlier in October. This morning, however, I couldn't help but get in the festive spirit as I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC and read all of the beautiful, thankful blog entries from those U.S. bloggers that I read daily.

In the spirit of this holiday, here is my list of things which I am thankful for:

• My wonderful family - after being apart from them for a year while living in Amsterdam, I missed out on a lot of wonderful family holidays and memories. This year, I've returned to Canada with a new-found appreciation for family time.

• My niece and nephew - This year we are celebrating the holiday season with my 1.5 year old niece and 4 month old nephew. I don't know what we did without them! They are a constant joy, source of entertainment, and reminder of how precious and special life is. I am so thankful to be their Auntie Heather.

• Gabriel - My long-distance love of 3.5 years. Even though our current relationship consists of Skype calls at odd hours (thanks time-difference), I love him more than ever and am so excited to see him in December.

• Old and new friends - Starting the MBA program with my oldest friend of 22 years, Courtney, has been a great experience. It has been wonderful to spend so much time with her and embark on this new chapter of our lives together. It's also been great to meet new people and develop new friendships through the program as well.

• My memory - After a year of photography, travel, and pure leisure, I am so happy that my elephant's memory hasn't escaped me yet. True to form, it has pulled through on my exams, and I'm so glad that I can confidently enter examination rooms without worrying that it is going to fail me! Thank you memory:)

• My life - I am thankful each and every day that I get to be young, free, and in this exciting stage of my life. To have so many opportunities, and so much to look forward to, is truly a gift.
  

There is so much for me to be thankful for. Last, but not least, thank you to the wonderful friends I've met via blogging. You all have been so kind to stick with me through the transition from Europe to Canada, and I can't thank you enough for the many kind e-mails and words of encouragement you've given me.

Amsterdam Cartoons

{via}

Every once in a while, I sift through some Dutch blogs on Expat Blogs to see if there are any new and exciting additions to the tight-knit Dutch expat blogger scene. Even though I'm back in Canada now, I will never forget those bloggers who were so kind, supportive, and welcoming when my blog began back in Hilversum.

This evening I found a blog called Munt Thee (mint tea in Dutch), who had just posted about her favourite Amsterdam blog, XTOTL. She showed a few of the cartoons featured on XTOTL, each depicting comical daily life in Amsterdam. I've spent about an hour sifting through the site, and I have to say that it is so refreshingly genius that I just had to post about it! Chronicling everything from the Dutch gangster teens hanging out near the FEBO to the white-jean clad Dutchies strolling the Herengracht, Toby Morris' cartoons are phenomenally well-done and such a dead-on depiction of Amsterdam life.

Here were a few of my favourites from his site. Now go check out the rest yourself!

I'm sure all of you expats have seen him there too.
{via}

I posted a similar real-life photo of this situation here.
{via}

Ijscuypje was a staple in me and Gabriel's diets this summer. Stampot is a Dutch winter food, which signifies the end of the summer season in the Netherlands!
{via}

A Memory-Keeper’s Dream Gift

This year, I’ve decided that I want to make Christmas gifts truly memorable and meaningful. Instead of hurriedly purchasing something, enduring the stress of the crowded malls, and fretting over price limits, I’m going with a much more personal solution.

Have you heard of Blurb books?  I first heard of them when a blog mentioned that they turned their entire blog into a book form. Genius! I had to try it out, and created a photo journal for my Dad’s 50th birthday. I sent it to Canada from Amsterdam, and he was truly surprised by this professional-looking book featuring high-lights of his year.

After quickly downloading the software, Blurb Booksmart, it’s incredibly easy to put together wonderful books in a variety of sizes, themes, and page-counts. I initially had the idea of creating a Blurb book for everyone on my shopping list. Here are some of the ideas that I’ve come up with:

• For a special aunt or grandmother – a beautiful recipe book of family favourites, complete with photos of the foods and family anecdotes.
• For a new parent – a small book of their baby’s first year, a fun picture book that’s great to show off to friends and family (this would also work good for a grandparent’s “brag book”)
• For a little one in your family – an ABC book complete with family photos illustrating each letter of the alphabet
• For a friend or significant other – a photobook of a special trip you took together or the memories from this past year

I know that I would love to receive something like this. It’s so personalized, and much more meaningful than any gift bought at a department store. I’m a huge scrapbooker, so any opportunity to showcase memories in a less time-consuming way is much welcomed for this holiday season!

Has Anybody Traveled to the Jungle Before???

We finally finished booking everything relating to our Argentina trip. Such a relief, since we had both been putting it off a bit too much. When we initially booked our flights, I hadn't realized that we would be traveling to such a variety of places, and had no idea that during our two weeks in South America we would be flying to three other locations. I'm not complaining though! I'm so eager to see, learn, and experience as much of Gabriel's life in South America as I can.

Gabriel took charge of the Uruguay portion of our trip, while I focused on Argentina, specifically Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires. When we initially planned our trip, we didn't count on going to Iguazu. I must say though, that is the part of the trip I'm most excited for (besides seeing my long-distance love, of course!)

We're staying at a beautiful lodge, set on stilts in the treetops of the jungle. Complete with the most luxurious-looking rooms, rustic and chic, with gorgeous woodwork and tons of fun activities, like zip-lining through the jungle! I'm SO looking forward to it...that is, until I found out what kinds of wildlife we can expect to see....

I'm NOT a fan of spiders or snakes. I've heard there are lots of these. One site even mentioned an anaconda?!?! I sure hope those aren't just slithering around... Other "interesting" animals include jaguars, pumas, and caymans...

Really?! Has anybody traveled to this part of South America before? Am I likely to run into an enormous spider or snake?

Last night I saw a tiny spider in my room and kind of freaked out...if I can't handle that little guy, how am I going to handle these thriving jungle species?!

On a positive note, I'm really excited about the possibility of seeing some primates, as I majored in Primatology for part of my undergraduate degree (random, I know...) I always tell Gabriel he looks like a South American spider monkey, so we'll see if I can find any of his fellow creatures :)

Isn't he cute?

I need tips on what to bring with me up to Iguazu. Of course I'm planning on lots of bug-spray and non-slippery shoes...if only there was a special type of spray to ward off spiders...


Photo via {here} and {here}

Amsterdam Scarf Style

When I left Amsterdam in September, I was intent on observing the styles of the city, and bringing a taste of them back to Canada. I love how the women in Amsterdam dress: so effortless, casual, classic, and chic. I remember one September morning, scouring the shops on the Kalverstraat and De Negen Straatjes, looking for the new Fall merchandise, making mental inventories of what was on the racks. I also remember buying way more than I should have, but that’s another story!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m obsessed with scarves. Whether it’s a chilly summer night, or the dead of winter, you will always find me wrapped up in a scarf. I loathe coats, hats, and gloves, but will gladly wear a scarf when the weather gets a bit cooler.

Although the past few years I have been wearing Pashminas that I’ve collected throughout Europe, this year I’ve stored them away in lieu of a better option. All of the women in Amsterdam were stocking up on thick, long, chunky-knitted scarves. In earth tones and creamy knits, they are wrapped doubly, sometimes triply, around your neck, and paired with cropped leather bomber jackets and tall leather boots.

Perhaps I’m not in Amsterdam anymore, but I still have my “style-scout” there (aka Gabriel haha!) Determined to keep a bit of European essence in my everyday Canadian life, I’m bundling up in these chunky knits.

The above scarf is from The Gap, and was bought after seeing it in October’s VOGUE. Below, a fun version from Lululemon.

What fashion items do you turn to when the weather starts to cool?

Exchange Opportunities

As part of our MBA program, students are given the option of spending a semester abroad at a partner institute. Obviously, given my much-talked about passion for travel, I am snapping this opportunity right up! Once you live abroad, I feel that many people will never be truly satisfied settling down in a particular place for very long. At least that's how I feel. I crave the challenge, the experience, and the culture shock that comes from moving overseas. The Netherlands was just a taste of what will surely be many more stints abroad.

So, my options for studying abroad include: Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, India, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Australia.

There are so many choices, I'm having the hardest time deciding. Part of me obviously wants to go back to The Netherlands, but another part of me wants to experience a different country. My next inclination is to go to Denmark, studying at the Copenhagen Business School would be a dream come true. Then I began thinking of less-obvious choices...why not push my boundaries? Why not study in India? Sure, it would be much more difficult than returning to Northern Europe, but it would definitely be a glimpse into one of the largest emerging markets in the world: something that is invaluable for business students.

I know I ask a lot of questions here on the blog, but that's because I really do value the wealth of responses that I receive. So many viewpoints, from both men and women, young and old, I really do take them all into consideration. As for the camera question I posted a few weeks ago, I've decided to go without my expensive DSLR. It was such a hard decision, but the hassle of bringing it, and putting an unwanted target on my back in an already-dangerous situation (especially since I will be traveling by myself during some of the trip), just wasn't worth it. I'm going to invest in a better small pocket-sized digital camera though, so we'll see how that goes!

Back to my initial question: Where would you go, if given the chance, to study for 4 months abroad?

a) Austria
b) Germany
c) India
d) The Netherlands
e) Belgium
f) Denmark
g) Sweden
h) Australia

Photos via {here} and {here}.

Have a Wonderful Weekend

Oh, what I would give for a piece of Dutch appeltaart right now!

This weekend I'm planning a trip to the market (I've stayed away far too long), a day with my niece and nephew baking cookies, a girl's martini night-out, some Skype dates with Gabriel, and a long Sunday of statistics and finance assignments. What are your weekend plans?

Wishing a relaxing and enjoyable November weekend to all my friends, followers, and readers of Life Abroad!

Trip Planning 101

If there is one thing these past two years of travel have taught me, it's how to efficiently plan a trip. It seems that Gabriel and I have become masters of trip planning. We both subscribe to different methods of the planning process: I'm the frugal, weigh-all-the-options, read-all-the-reviews, buy-all-the-guidebooks type of planner, while Gabriel is more of a last minute, lets-get-it-done-and-over-with type of planner. Despite our differences, Gabriel and I have managed to make planning a trip a relatively seamless and hassle-free process: I do all the pre-planning work, and Gabriel jumps in at the last minute to make the final decisions! It works, and I wouldn't have it any other way :)

After countless trips, there are a few tips and tricks I've picked up along the way. Now that I'm knee-deep in the planning process for our South America trip, I've decided to share with you all some of what I've learned, and how to make this stage of the trip a bit easier.

Tip #1
Find the cheap flights and book them before all else! Unless you have a very specific destination in mind, finding cheap flights is a great starting point to planning a trip. The best travel deals usually appear roughly 2 weeks before departure. This is when seats are the cheapest, and you are still able to plan sufficiently for your vacation.

Tip #2
Book flights directly via the airline. We like to use Expedia, Travelocity, and other search engines to find cheap flights. However, we use them only as a starting point. After finding which airlines offer deals, we then click on over to the airline's websites and book via them. This cuts down on a lot of the hassle, and you can sometimes get an even cheaper deal (since they don't charge the booking fee that some intermediary websites do!)

Tip #3
When booking your flight, always look on Seat Guru for the best seats. Seat Guru allows you to find the specific plane on the airline you are traveling with, and details each and every seat. It shows its advantages (like extra leg-room) and disadvantages (like inability to recline seats). It has been such a helpful tool, especially for long flights where you want the best seat possible.

Tip #4
After the flights are booked, begin looking on Trip Advisor for hotels. Trip Advisor is, quite possibly, the best invention for travelers! If you don't already know about it, Trip Advisor allows regular people to submit reviews of their hotels. Here you will see detailed photographs of the rooms and facilities, and read blatantly honest reviews from real travelers! Sometimes there is such a disparity between what a hotel's website shows, and what the reality of it is. We don't book a hotel unless it has favorable Trip Advisor ratings, and we have yet to run into any major hotel mess-ups. If it's not Trip Advisor approved, we don't stay there! After finding a favorably rated hotel, we then go directly to the hotel's website and book via them (no third-party booking fees, and less mix-ups at the front desk when you arrive!)

Tip #5
Guidebooks can be your best, and worst, friend. I love travel guidebooks. I find them inspiring, beautiful, and fun to read. However, they can also steer you to places you would otherwise have opted out of, and may just detail the obvious. In the Netherlands, I relied upon my Lonely Planet guidebook to show me lesser-known places of interest. However, while traveling to Mallorca, I found that the guidebook wasn't filled with useful information. Instead, it heavily detailed vacations for children, and popular tourist spots. If you are looking for something off the beaten path, the best guidebooks are still, in my opinion, the Lonely Planet series.

Tip #6
Plan out some, but not all, of your trip ahead of time. There have been times where I have planned our trips to a tee, and other times when I completely had no idea what we were in for. I find that a happy medium between both of these extremes makes for the best trip. Knowing a bit of the history of where you are visiting makes the experience much more enriching and engaging. However, leaving room to explore and take in the sights as you experience them can often lead to unexpected and memorable moments!

Tip #7
Opt out of 'breakfast and dinner included' while traveling throughout Europe. We've found, in general, that it is often cheaper and more authentic to find food in the European countries you are visiting, rather than eating a pre-set breakfast and dinner buffet that is three times as expensive. The first time we were in Spain, we opted for the meals-included package. Bad move. The food was so horrible, and we had paid so much extra for it, that we felt obligated to eat their stale bread and mushy paella. The second time we returned to Spain, we opted out of this package, and ate all of our breakfasts at traditional Spanish cafeterias, and dinner at gorgeous tapas and seafood restaurants. Our wallets, and bellies, thanked us in the end!


These are just a few of our trip-planning tips. Of course every trip is different, and every one needs its own method of research and organizing. However, these are the seven basic tricks that we use every time, and definitely make for an easier planning process!

What are some of your tried-and-true tips for vacation planning?

Oh Canada

Canada is such a diverse and beautiful country. With the small fishing villages of the East, the Rocky Mountains in the West, and the prairies, vineyards, and large cities in between. After living abroad, I realize that I now see Canada in a much different light than I did before.

I warmly welcome the open fields, rolling hills, and spacious land that surrounds me (The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world!) In particular, I’ve noticed how the skies here are so vibrant and the clouds take on such beautiful formations. Perhaps that is because I don’t live in a city, whereas in Amsterdam, the large vistas of sky weren’t readily available.

Yesterday, my parents, my little 1.5 year old niece, and I took a trip down to one of the Great Lakes, where we played in the newly fallen leaves, fed the ducks, walked along the woodland trails, and watched large boats make their way through the locks of the canal.

There is something so peaceful about being in nature, and my niece made it all the more fun with her collections of pinecones, sticks, and rocks. The unusually warm weather, coupled with the bright colours of autumn, made for a perfect Saturday afternoon.