Where am I Wednesday

Ten years ago on this very spot in Rockwood Conservation Area in Ontario, Canada. I watched my friend marry her Mr Right. This week I got to return and enjoy more of the park.

Where was I Wednesday

So there I was in my hotel room in Toronto attempting to get an early night sleep so I would be all refreshed and rested and looking fabulous as I started a tour the next day and meeting strangers who I am going to spend that next 9 days of my life is daunting enough....it hit me.... 

My next destination

Barely back from my trip to Thailand/Cambodia/Singapore and already people are asking what's next.

I must confess I am a little sad that my trip has come to an end and how quickly that end arrived. I am back home in Australia spending Easter weekend with family at the Sunshine Coast, so I guess I can't really complain too much can I.

So what is next.....

I am home for about 8 weeks, during that time I will be catching up with family and friends and hopefully getting some relief teaching work. The pay is pretty good and I can be flexible with the days I work.

And then, in about 64 days, I take off again, this time US/Canada bound!!

I have never been to the States so I am super excited about that. And first stop is Nashville for CMA Fest, which has long been near the top of my bucket list! From Nashville I spend 5 nights in New York before starting a Top Deck 28 day USA Road trip tour, a few nights in LA before heading to Canada.

I have been to Canada before. Back in 2005 I took 6 months off work and headed over. The main reason for my trip was to see my friend Katie get married.

So it's been 10 years since the last time I was in Canada and I must confess I have been a slack friend and not kept in touch with Katie very well (and she's not very Facebook active - terrible excuse I know!) but I am super excited to see her and spend some time getting to know her 3 children, none of whom I have met.

I have no real plans for the 6 weeks I have in Canada other than to catch up with friends as I did a lot of touring around there when I was there in 2005. 

The last photo of Katie, her husband Mike and I

So that's what I'm up to next, what about you?? 

What have you got coming up that you are looking forward to?

Linking up with My Home Truths for I Must Confess and One Mother Hen for Open Slather.

to talk about good times..

I was recently asked about the last time I felt truly excited about something.

Instantly thoughts of my overseas travels came to mind. I have been lucky to have been overseas on several occasions and always look forward to the next trip.

I had gone to New Zealand in High School as part of a Netball sports trip but it took some 10 years before I ventured overseas again. I had always thought of travelling overseas but something always stopped me and if truth be known, I was probably just chicken. So, in 2005 when a friend of mine from Canada invited me to her wedding, it was the kick up the butt I needed to make the trip - no excuses now! I took 6 months leave from work, got myself a work visa and off I went!

Katie and I met when she did a Uni Exchange Year in Australia and came to Mt Isa on a teaching practicum and worked in my classroom.

After the wedding I went on to explore Canada on my own for a few weeks before getting some work at a diner in Banff.

Joe Btfsplk's Diner in the main street of Banff.... no longer there apparently :(

Some happy snaps...

Canada is such an amazing country and I loved every minute - except when I had to leave!

That year I also spent a few weeks discovering the UK. As it was my first time overseas and I was travelling solo, I stuck to English speaking countries!.

I didn't have a digital camera back in those days so my digital pics are limited! Loved the UK but got a glimpse as to why they are so miserable all the time....They never see the sun!

Sadly it took some time before I travelled again, I had settled back in Toowoomba, bought a house so money was often tight. It was only that I had enough frequent flyer points from my previous overseas trip that earnt me a free flight to NZ. So, in 2009 I did my first (and last) Contiki tour. This time travelling with some close friends of mine..

2011 was a big travel year for me! I had been working out west, living in teacher accommodation and working a job that had extra financial benefits due to the amount of time I spent away from home. In January I spent about a week in Vanuatu! Such a beautiful beautiful country, and so cheap to get there! Seriously, I think a week in Vanuatu is cheaper than a week at the Gold Coast! Vanuatu has been twice voted the happiest people in the world! As a tourist sometimes it's easy to forget that it's a third world country. The resorts and tourist attractions are so well maintained and the people seriously are SO NICE! My friend who was meant to come with me was sadly caught up in the massive floods that were engulfing so much of QLD at the time and I look back now and think that I was even lucky to make it to the airport and out of the country. Luckily I was also able to find another friend to take her place, as I'm not sure it would be somewhere I would want to travel on my own.

Was SUCH a hard time - Sunset Bungalows (Left) was where we stayed... I think you can see why! On the Right was the Day Spa where I spent the morning being pampered by a gorgeous little local lady who I swore was reading my mind!

The children performed traditional dances for us! They were so cute I wanted to bring one home! On the right is a local man who cooked us a traditional meal.

Later in 2011 I took some long service leave and travelled to the UAE and then onto Europe. A close friend of mine teaching in Abu Dhabi prompted me to venture overseas again. It also gave me an excuse to travel to a country I probably would not have travelled to solo!

So much money in this country it's ridiculous!!! Such beauty!

After a few days there I headed off to England solo for a few days, caught up with a few friends and then on a tour around Italy, Switzerland and France!

Some of the main highlights of the trip was spending my 32nd birthday at Wimbledon! Love tennis and during the rain delay of 3 hours got to see many of my favourite players! Nice was one of my all time favourite spots, possibly due to the cocktails on the private beach with our own personal waiter and the remnants at Pompeii were just crazy! Was determined to drink Champagne in France and do something reckless and out of character - parasailing over the Swiss Alps seemed to be appropriate! We were in Monaco the day Prince Albert of Monaco almost didn't get married to Charlene but saw them driving along the streets on their way to the Casino for the reception.

Now since that time overseas holidays have again come to a halt. This January I had hoped to travel to Vietnam but sadly that will only happen if the house sells but after 3 weeks on the market and not even a sniff of a sale, it's not looking likely!

A definite on the bucket list after Vietnam is the USA! Just a shame it's soooo far away! One day.....

Linking up with Kirsty at My Home Truths this week for I Must Confess... this week's prompt was to talk about time... seems appropriate that I link up given the title of my blog!