Sunday Recap: February 15

Is it really Sunday already? Time sure is flying by. I blink and it's the weekend. The good thing about that is the trip to Paris to meet my mother and sister is coming faster and faster. I am sure the next nineteen days will be a snowball effect and I'll be on an airplane to Paris grinning from ear to ear before I know it.

Our plans for Paris are to arrive in one piece before finding our airbnb apartment rental. We are staying on Île Saint-Louis, one of Paris's two natural islands. We will be a three minute walk from Notre Dame Cathedral. We will seek and destroy crepes, macarons, fleur de sel caramels and not too mention copious amounts of croissants.  We will do the free walking tour put on by Sandeman's New Paris before enjoying a walk up the Arc de Triomphe.

The next day we are heading out to Versailles. We are giving the beautiful palace a full day so that we can enjoy it at our leisure. I am very excited and hope the weather for our trip is lovely. Fingers crossed for that.

Besides trip planning, I did not get a whole lot done this week. I worked some longer shifts which meant leaving town in the dark. Last weekend as well as this current one I have only had one day off. More money for amazing food in Paris my mind screams, my body though rejects the idea and wants the rest and recovery of an extra day off. 

I have also been having some interesting dreams lately, I wonder what they are trying to tell me.

All packed up

So I'm leaving for the airport at 4:30 am tomorrow. My flight is at 7:05 am. I am really excited.
 Though I am not very excited to have to wake up that early but I need to do it and when I land in Amsterdam it will be so worth it.  I am not packing my laptop so will not be right away. Will be instagraming lot though.

I'm just going with my backpack and I am packing light. Hope to bring back some unique souvenirs, lots of memories and hopefully make some friends.

One week till Amsterdam

I cannot wait to set foot in Amsterdam next Saturday. I plan to take the bus to Museumplein and walk to my hostel the Flying Pig Uptown hostel where I will be staying from October 11-16.

Once I check in and drop off my bags I intend to Noordermarkt and enjoy some tasty food until I get full and then I will head to Begijnhof Courtyard Gardens which is a little garden surrounded by beautiful homes. I've seen it on many lists of places to visit so hopefully it is not too crowded. After the gardens I will head to the Civic Guards Gallery which is a free art gallery with some beautiful paintings for me to admire.

I plan through my time in Amsterdam to go to the Anne Frank House, unfortunately the tickets online are already sold out so I will have to queue up early to beat the crowds. I am going to go to the Rijksmuseum, Albert Cuyp Street Market and go on a Sandeman's New Amsterdam free walking tour. Lots of other things planned but I hope to get a lot done and meet some nice people at my hostel.

Anyone reading have any suggestions for Amsterdam?

Going to Amsterdam!

So my week of holidays in October was approved so from October 11th to the 16th I shall be in Amsterdam. I fell in love with this city in my short time there in April. I will be staying at the Flying Pig Uptown Hostel which was recommended by Nomadic Matt one of my favourite travel bloggers.

The hostel is really close to the Vondel Park so I look forward to spending time there. The plans are so fresh but I will be working on them until the day I leave. I am quite excited to return. 

A Happy Wednesday

 March 5

Shawn had her drivers test this morning and she passed! Now she has her class five! Mom and I were both so happy for her.  She stomped her N on the ground. Happy to get rid of it finally.

A snowy Saturday

February 22

 My Saturday started early. A bit too early. I woke up around 5:30 am. Not having gotten much rest having got home at midnight and no longer could sleep. I debated going downtown to the travel expo and decided that I would go. On a little solo adventure downtown. I got ready and prepared to leave and thats when I found out that sometime during the night it decided to snow.

Letting work know...

Handing in my letter of resignation went a lot better then I thought it would. I have enjoyed my work for 4 years and to think that I only have 16 more working days is crazy. I gave my verbal resignation on Wednesday and this morning I handed in my formal letter.

I know people will miss me but they will slowly get over the fact that I am leaving and I'll fade into the background and become one of the ones that once worked for the Hub.

The manager has asked that I keep in touch and Beth will keep everyone updated with a board of my travels so I guess it gives me something to look forward to writing a mini-newsletter with some photos to share with those that are not having super awesome great adventures like I will be having.

It is also a relief now to have this formalized as now I don't have to worry about everyone finding out that I am leaving.

We leave to pick my mom up from the airport soon and we're heading to Powell River tomorrow morning on the first ferry so I'll post again soon. Taking my camera. Hope the weather is good.

44 days.

It's a Tuesday...

Staring at maps, exchanging Iceland kroner into Canadian, typing up more lists...

There is a lot to plan and a lot of adventure going to happen over the next couple of months.

I am really interested in climbing Mount Snowdon in Wales. It is the highest mountain in Wales and located in Snowdonia National Park. A thing that draws me towards wanting to climb this mountain is my mother has climbed it when she was younger and on a family trip to Europe. I wonder where she keeps her certificate of the climb as I remember seeing it a few times growing up.   I haven't climbed many mountains and look forward to this one. It seems to be a good place to sit and have lunch and enjoy the spectacular views if it happens to be a clear day.

I have planned out a little more, just barely. I think it is more of a faint guideline that I may trace. After three days in London if I do not end up somewhere else with some new friends in some direction I will head South West. I plan to visit  Brighton before heading to Dorchester to see the Durdle door and then upwards to Stonehenge, onto Bath and then into Wales to eventually get to Liverpool to visit Jamie.

Cannot wait -  54 days.

Happy happy Tuesday

I called Rogers today to find out how many months I had left on my contract not really remembering what I started it but I got good news. My contract ends with them March 12! Just 4 days before I leave.

The lady was super nice and understanding. Informed me that I had to call in February to inform that I was cancelling. Can do! Adding that to my list of things to do.

My bank appointment with Scotia went really well the other day. I feel really confident with them. The lady who helped me,  Jocelyne was super nice and helped me go through setting up a bank account. She made sure I understood everything which I thought was great. Money is something I hate talking about. I don't like feeling stupid over things I do not know and she really helped a lot. I will need to set up an appointment with BMO and change my accounts to lessen the fees before moving most of my funds to Scotia. The cool thing about Scotia is that they are linked to so many different banks abroad so that you don't have to pay crazy fees.

SCREAMING1!

I booked my flight!!!!! I know I should have waited until I have my visa but I booked it. I kept seeing all the prices and didn't want them to go any higher.

In 117 days I'm going to London with our without my visa. I am planning to apply in January for my Youth Mobility Visa.  I have made a big list of what I need to do and have printed out the application form and have filled it out, noting what I need to fix and make clear on my more polished one when the time comes.

The flight leaves from Seattle which requires my sister to drive me. I'm hoping maybe we can go to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch before my flight, ha ha! I am flying with Iceland Air and have a small layover in Reykjavik. I think thats pretty exciting. I leave on MARCH 16TH and arrive on MARCH 17TH in London at 12 pm.

Difficulties

Why is making decisions so hard?  Book the tickets or not! Wait or not! I need to sleep on it some more.

Flights

Alright, I have started to look at flights but nothing is set in stone yet. I need to figure out how much time I need for my visa. I am planning to leave on March 18th it seems.

I am trying to decide if I want to do a little side trip and travel a little before going to Manchester and trying to find work.  I have found a flight with Icelandair for $398 to Manchester and another to Paris for $409 with Icelandair.  I'm playing around with Momodo.com and getting all excited and at the same time nervous as it makes it all more real. I have found another flight to London for $398 from Icelandair. All these flights are leaving from Seattle which is a two hour drive from Vancouver and will require my sister to take me there. All the flights from Vancouver are at least $150-$200 more expensive than flying out of Seattle. Thats money in my pocket if my sister takes me.

I can find the flight to Manchester for $398 on March 18th, 20th and 25th. This flight is just about $98 more than the fee for the visa application.

I need to get rid of more of my belongings which is going to be difficult. I also need to call my mother and find out what she would like to do with my car. Have to figure out what is going on with the insurance but it ends in June which is when I will be in Europe!

New quotas?

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2013/september/08-rules

This article for October posted in September by the UK Border Agency states that they will be " setting new youth mobility scheme quotas for 2014."

As currently Canada has 5,500 places for the visa. I hope that the number does not shrink and that I am one of those numbers.

Book: Live & Work in Britain

So I took this book out from the library in my quest for more information.

Live & Work in Britain by Nicola Taylor

The parts on the working holidaymaker (what the Youth Mobility Scheme was called ) is very small and I am not sure of its accuracy now. The book was published in 2008 so there can be a lot of changes made to the system since it was published.

The first part mentioned about the scheme is this:

"The working holidaymakers scheme allows young Commonwealth citizens the opportunity to come to the UK for an extended holiday which they may help fund by working in the UK up to a maximum of two years. To qualify you must be a Commonwealth citizen, be aged 17 to 30 inclusive and either be unmarried, or married to a working holidaymaker who is taking the holiday with you.

During the period of stay, you may take employment incidental to a holiday but not set yourself up in or run a business. You can choose when to work and when to take your holiday breaks, but you are not allowed to work for more than a total of 12 months out of the 24. You must also be able to prove you have enough money for your accommodation and living expenses for the first two months after you arrive, or for at least one month if you can show that you have arranged a job in advance."

So I am not sure about the whole working only 12 months of the 24 because I have not read that anywhere else. I think this might just be old information.

The website for the UK Border Agency states that "You will be able to live and work in the UK for 24 months under the youth mobility scheme."

October and what is left of it.

Wow, this year seems to be coming to an end so very very quickly.

I am still saving towards getting the Youth Mobility Scheme visa. I still have a lot of questions.

Like should I get an HSBC account because they have the option of the Passport which can link your accounts. This would save me hopefully from the struggle of opening a bank account in the UK.

Do I need to purchase my plane ticket before the interview?

Where should I go?

Ha ha, lots to think about.

October has been a lot of fun. For Thanksgiving six of my friends and I decided that we would make the trek from Vancouver to Edmonton to have Thanksgiving with our friend Tayla.

I drove as my passengers were unable to drive, two not knowing how and one had an expired license and on top of that did not know how to drive standard.

We drove through Kamloops and through Jasper National Park in the Rocky Mountains to reach Edmonton. The drive there was beautiful.

Rocky Mountains. Photo by Jon McRae.

We had left on Friday morning at 4 am and drove all the way to Edmonton only stopping a few times so we made really good time and arrived in Edmonton around 5 pm. We had a really relaxed dinner on the Friday night by ordering in Boston Pizza. I was exhausted so I had an early night.

The next day we had a good breakfast before heading to go grocery shopping for our fixings. That night we went to the West Edmonton Mall to Tony Roma's for dinner. We met up with my mother, uncle and aunt for dinner. It was very nice to see my mom. I always miss her so much.  After the delicious dinner of ribs we enjoyed London Fogs at Second Cup before heading back out to Beaumont where we were staying at Tayla's parents place.

My Sweet Potato. Photo by Jon McRae

I was in charge of making Mashed Sweet Potatoes. We went to No Frills the other day and this was the monster I found. I have never seen them so large before. I chose this one as well as two smaller ones. My dish turned out very good. The whole Thanksgiving dinner was amazing. We had a bacon blanketed turkey, stuffing, veggies, mashed potatoes, soup, buns. I am sure I am forgetting something but all of it was so good. Everyone was stuffed afterwards but we managed to fit in ice cream and pumpkin pie.

The next day a few of my friends had to head back early to Vancouver so we had our goodbyes the night before and on the Monday we drove Scott to the bus station downtown Edmonton before going back and having a relaxing time outside enjoying the entertainment of Tayla's dog Frank.

We drove back to Vancouver leaving Tuesday morning at 6 am and arriving in Vancouver around 5 pm. The drive back seemed a lot longer than the first ride. I think we were all just tired of being cooped up in the car for so long so we made it as fast as possible. On the way back from Edmonton we saw three Elk in Jasper National Park and were able to stop and take a few photos of them.

Elk. Photo by Jon McRae.

The trip was a lot of fun and I was very happy to see Tayla and everyone back together again. I look forward to more adventures but I think they will be solo ones to Wales, to Greece...the places are endless.

I must get back on track with finding where my path leads me.

Books

So I read through the two books, and would have to say the Gap Year Guidebook definitely helped me a lot more than the other one. I found How to Work in Someone Else's Country to be more orientated towards people who are moving abroad through companies and how to handle those situations versus going abroad and finding work there. I did enjoy reading on how to acquaint yourself with the locals and other suggestions it had. The Gap Year Guidebook had a chapter on working abroad which I found very helpful. The book is from the UK so has a bit of info about taking a gap year in the UK but that is based on someone not leaving their country so it does not have much info in the regards of the Youth Mobility Scheme.

The Gap Year Guidebook

How to Work in Someone Else's Country

This has a list of books recommended in a travel book. It also lists a bunch of useful websites.

Better luck with the next books that I check out. Got to stay positive.

Love Paige xoxo

There and back again

In reference to me being a small fish in a big pool. Did my pool time this morning. Felt really good. I think I'm going to invest in a swim cap and some goggles and try and improve a lot more. Got a good morning out of this nice old man who said he wanted to say hello but I never stopped swimming. Thought that was sweet and also a boost as sometimes I feel like a snail in the water trying not to sink and just keep going. They had the big pool open to start so that was a lot harder as its a lot more swimming to do in one lap. I just keep thinking of Michael Phelps, Grant Hackett, Ian Thorpe, Pieter van den Hoogenband and just trying to imagine how they ever did/do it.

I got two books out of the library today in my efforts to do more research.
How to Work in Someone Else's Country by Ruth Stark
The Gap-year Guidebook 2013: Everything You Need to Know About Taking a Gap-year or Year Out

Hopefully I can read them and get a better feeling on how to set about this big journey of mine.

Also enjoyed some Menchies Frozen Yoghurt which is fab. If you have one near you. Please do try it.

Love Paige
xoxo

About me

A little about myself. I'm 23. Female. I live in Burnaby and I own a very handsome exotic short hair named Ricky.

He's quite adorable, isn't he?

The goal of this blog is to write down my thoughts, and the roads I will take in order to move to Europe with the Youth Mobility Scheme.  I have been to Europe twice. My first trip was with my school in March of 2008 for a quick jaunt through London and Northern France ending in Paris. This trip only served as a sampler for me and I was determined to return. 

I saved and planned my own trip. My mother asked if she could join me and I quickly agreed and she came with me on my second trip. My second trip was a month long tour of England, Scotland, France and Spain. I had a really great time with my mom and my only regret is that my sister was not able to join us and I think that will always hurt me whenever I think of this trip. I hope that once I move she will be able to come visit me and I can take her on an adventure. 

I am still in the planning stages of this endeavour but to make a blog about it makes it seem more and more real. I am saving for it and have that goal in mind. Today I went on the Burnaby Library website and placed a hold on a few books that I hope will help me read more into the fine details of this adventure I am planning. I have yet to choose my destination  I am leaning towards England but improving my Spanish and exploring more of Spain entices me as well.

This is me. Hi.

I hope to move within the next 6 months. Which puts me at January. I have always dreamed of spending Christmas in Paris, so I may aim for that before flying/busing/training on to my final destination. It's all up in the air, all very exciting, all going to happen.

If you read this and have experienced travelling to Europe with the Youth Mobility Scheme or Working Holiday Visa please let me know your experiences or let me know your blog url.

Lots of love, 

Paige