Saturday 7 February 2015

New Adventures

Aaaaaand we're back!

Hi everyone.

As you can all see, I've decided to use the same blog as my 2012 adventures in Bangladesh and India. This is both for your benefit, in case you're at all curious about my previous travel experiences (I know, so selfless of me), and for my own, so that I can keep everything in one spot and because 100daysofcam.blogspot.com already autocompletes in my web browser.

Anyway.

As the subtitle mentions, this blog is going to document the four months I spend on exchange at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, which will be the last semester of my undergrad degree (yes, I need these credits to graduate). After exams are finished, the plan is to travel indefinitely. I don't have a return ticket or a defined destination - we'll just have to see where the world leads me.

 An exchange has been on my radar basically since I started my undergrad, and so it's incredible to finally be making it happen. Plus, I've been itching to travel the world since I've been back from India. It feels like ages ago already. I've had to appease the bug with a bit of North American travel - visits to Vancouver, Boston, New York, Chicago and Winnipeg were all incredible and tons of fun, but I'm more than ready now to be back in Asia.

Starting this adventure is not without sadness. Since it's my last semester of undergrad, I'm saying goodbye to Ottawa as I've known it and a number of people who are incredibly important to me and have been such incredible friends through my undergrad. People tell me that I'll meet new friends on my adventures; undoubtedly this is the case. But I'm not looking to replace the people I've left back home - they're already perfect. I'm happy to add new friendships, which can hopefully be as meaningful as the ones I've left in Ottawa (and all across this country, really, from Vancouver to Montreal to Halifax) but I'm also looking forward to seeing my Canadian friends again in the not-so-distant future.

This post is being made pre-departure at the airport, so I've got all of the travel excitements and anxieties piling up and overflowing. I'm flying from Toronto to Munich (8 hours), with a short layover there before heading onwards to Ankara (about 3 hours), getting me to Ankara mid-afternoon the day before my orientation classes start. The plan is to meet my new roommate at the airport (he'll be flying back to Ankara from his hometown in the east) and together we'll make the trek to what will be my new home. Somehow, in those next few hours, I'll figure out how and where I need to be the next morning, and how to get there, and just hope the jet-lag isn't too bad haaaaaaaaaaaaaa. But actually, my orientation week looks super packed and super fun, and I have a feeling it will be a good start and might produce some storytelling gems!

So with that, I'm off! Can't wait for this adventure to get underway! See you on the other side of Turkish customs!

1 comment:

  1. Greetings old friend!
    I have to say I'm impressed with your blog! Good luck and safe travels to you on your worldly adventures. I look forward to reading more about it!

    ReplyDelete