Author: The Impatient Tourist

Traveling Alone

So you’re going to travel alone for the first time ha?

You think you’re built for that life ha?

You’re sick of waiting on your friends to get their shit together so you’re gonna go do it alone ha?

Okay, that’s enough Juvenile. Sorry.

I must get asked about what it is like to travel alone the most. The planning of it, execution and the fears in doing so. Taking that leap into seeing the world alone is simple for some and very scary for others. I use to tell people to ‘just grow up and stop being a scaredy cat‘ for travel, until I realized other people are not as accustomed to being alone as the rest of us. For example, I’m an only child – we just function differently. We can eat alone, go to the movies alone and yes, travel alone. Other people may be more comfortable in group settings because those are the only ones they’ve ever had. This is where I come in to help you out and get you past that hurdle. 

Before I start the list I will say this to all of those scared to travel alone; think of ALL the things you are missing out on because you’re always waiting for others. Do you want a life full of waiting or a life full of experiencing? Ok.

THE LIST

Pack light and smart because you will have to navigate through some unknown territory all alone and want to keep your belongings safe.

BE SOCIAL. Yes, leave that introvert-socially-awkward-don’t-make-eye-contact stuff at home. I promise you, some of the most interesting people you will meet is when you travel alone. There is this worldwide community of people who travel alone and you will be submersed into it and love every minute when you get to meet them. 

Bring a selfie stick. I personally do not travel with one because my arms are super long, but if you like taking lots of pictures and will no longer have folks accompanying you – take one. 

Learn that it is totally OK not to have something to do or have something planned on some of the days you’re on the trip. Many of the coolest and most authentic experiences you will have while traveling are from talking to hotel staff, AirBnB hosts, restaurant staff etc. about what to do in the area you’re in. Locals know best.

Further to the point of #4, if you like to plan exceptionally early (like I do) then go hit up sites like Viator and book your tours/excursions/passes before you even arrive to your destination. For those locations that are very busy or touristy (i.e. the Vatican) you will be very happy you booked ahead and didn’t need to stand in a line of thousands to purchase a ticket and then wait in another line of thousands to enter it. 

Trust your gut. This applies to men and women when traveling alone, if it doesn’t feel right just don’t go to that place or hang with that person. I have definitely done some questionable things during all my solo travels but nothing bad happened because I know what kind of people and situations to avoid. Remember, you are in a foreign country and are more than entitled to a certain amount of paranoia. 

Further to the point of #6, do NOT let that paranoia keep you from exploring. Last thing you want is to be on a trip you planned a year for and you’re too scared to leave your room. Before traveling to your destination make sure you read up on how tourist-friendly the area you’re staying in is. Can you walk around there at night alone? Can you club alone? If you plan accordingly and stick to safe areas, your room will only be seen for the 5 hours of sleep you may get per night. 

It is totally OK to feel homesick. Skype your boyfriend or girlfriend. Call your mom. Whatsapp your friends. Whenever I’d feel that loneliness creeping in on a trip, I’d call my best friend in a Wi-Fi spot. During Christmas I was alone in Singapore and it hit me HOW alone I actually was on a date that is pretty meaningful in my life so I Whatsapp video called my boyfriend in the middle of a park in downtown Singapore and was there for a good hour talking to him. Remember you are physically alone for a temporary time, live in the moment of how awesome being wherever you are is – your family and friends will still be there when you get back.

Self reflection will happen and sometimes it will be emotionally overwhelming. The thing about traveling alone is there is a lot of time spent in your own head. You are experiencing everything alone and you will grow as a person while doing it and will also learn a lot about yourself. It can be very scary but it can also provide such incredible clarity that would not have been possible if surrounded by the noise of other travelers. Embrace it all. 

Go do it. Stop waiting on your friends or family to pick a date or a location bla bla bla. You know exactly where YOU want to go, so get to going! Start your planning (or heck, e-mail me and I’ll plan it for you) and go live your life without the constant waiting on others. 

I hope these 10 things helped some of you in your plans/considerations of traveling alone. I spent seven years in post-secondary schooling and I can tell you that some of the biggest life lessons were learned while traveling alone and not while at school. 

– Mirna 

Chicago Baecation Recap

I love Chicago. 

I love Chicago the way I love Nutella. I just really can’t get enough of it and I like it in so many ways that it would take posts on posts to explain it properly. 

This past weekend was my fourth time going to Chicago. I went once with my best friend, another time to get my mind together after a breakup and a third time to go to the NFL Draft. This time I took my boyfriend on a little baecation for the weekend because I wanted him to have an awesome 30th birthday and also for him to see how incredible the windy city is. 

Friday, March 31st – Arrival

On Friday we went to Billy Bishop Airport and took a Porter Airlines flight to Midway. Flying from Billy Bishop is so much better than Pearson because as a downtown dweller it means less time spent traveling to the airport and more time enjoying the free snacks and water bottles at the airport (picture below). I also love flying with Porter! The people who work for them are always so nice and you get to drink and have snacks on the airplane at no additional cost. Also, their complimentary shuttle from downtown to the airport comes in handy. After much beer, wine and chips – we landed at Midway.

The subway system in Chicago may be a bit dated, however, I would choose their system over Toronto’s ANY DAY. I love the 3-day unlimited rides pass for $20 and I also love that both of their airports are connected to the subway. No extra fees or needing to take a special subway or bus, you just hop on the subway lines and can make your way downtown so easily. 

As we boarded the subway to our destination, we were accompanied by some gentlemen we had met on the Porter flight who were heading to Chicago for a wedding. We mentioned that it was my boyfriends birthday, at which time they handed him a bottle of Crown Royal to start drinking on the subway. I will neither confirm nor deny if this happened, as that may be considered lewd behaviour – to some. Not me.

We arrived to our hotel for the weekend, the Millennium Knickerbocker. This is an old school looking hotel in downtown Chicago. I loved everything about it. I booked the king room which was a nice size for the two of us and came with complimentary Wi-Fi and a very nice bathroom. In their lobby they even had a jazz band playing by the bar on the Friday evening which gave us the real feel of the history in the hotel. 

After relaxing for a little while in our room it was time to take my boyfriend to eat the most important meal in Chicago – deep dish pizza. I love deep dish pizza. I LOVE IT MORE THAN THAT THIN CRUST THING THEY SERVE YOU IN NEW YORK. Yes, I said it. I prefer Chicago deep dish pizza to that thin stuff in New York. We went to the closest Giordano’s we could find via Google maps. Upon arriving there was a bit of a wait, however, you can pre-order your pizza which takes 45 minutes to make anyways so it was at least being worked on while we waited for a table. 

I realize between Gino’s East, Lou Malnati’s and Giordano’s everyone has their own favourite pizzerias in Chicago and you can stick to whichever one you like best. For proximity and the massive screens they had both NBA and NHL on, Giordano’s was very good for us. This was the perfect meal to send us into a food coma and sleep to prepare for our busy Saturday.

Saturday, April 1st – Birthday

I thought I was going to sleep in on this weekend getaway, but as someone who has been waking up at 6am on weekends for the past three years – no chance. My boyfriend was still asleep and since it was officially his birthday I took a stroll to the hotels lobby to get some breakfast for us. Let me say this, holy shit breakfast at hotels is expensive. I know I should have just assumed that and maybe planned better, but I didn’t want to be gone long so I could surprise him as he woke up. I purchased the two breakfasts and made my way back up to the room and surprised him. The food was OK, not the worst breakfast I’ve ever had nor the best. At least the miniature jars of jam that it came with were really cute.

After lounging around for a little bit more, we started our walk to Navy Pier. The scenic route along Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive is always something to be delighted about, especially on a day where it was sunny and 15 degrees. My next birthday gift was a lunch boat cruise on the Spirit of Chicago. All I can say is WOW about the whole experience. The staff (shout out to our waitress Nicky) and the ambiance was incredible. The cruise came with a buffet lunch and a two hour ride on the water. I purchased some extras for our ride like the shrimp cocktail and also a window seat. Another thing we decided to purchase while on the boat was a 45-ounce rum punch drink. Yes, you read that right, 45 ounces. It didn’t even matter than we had a massive buffet lunch, once that rum punch hit we were both wavy. 

There was a DJ on the boat playing some music and people did dance, we saw some get down real hard to the Cupid Shuffle. Many people aboard were either celebrating birthdays or anniversaries and ALSO drinking that 45-ounce rum punch –  very jubilant crowd. 

As we disembarked from the cruise we were also handed freshly baked cookies by the staff and I was able to take my 45-ounce glass with me home as a souvenir. Overjoyed, and birthday boy was having a great day.

The plan after the cruise was to go shopping, that definitely did not happen. Due to the large consumption of alcohol we fell asleep in our hotel room for almost four hours. Wasted the afternoon, literally. When we woke up and realized it was evening and that the NCAA Final Four games were on, we decided to just order some food and watch those. 

Now it was time to party. I had read about there being a reggae lounge called The Wild Hare with live bands and a Twitter follower of mine had sent me a flyer for a hip hop club named The Evil Olive that also had a dancehall/afrobeats/soca room in the back. At the reggae lounge the cover was $10 and the crowd was definitely there for the vibes and food, not so much dancing. We stayed there for about 30-45 minutes taking in the wonderful singing on stage but we decided that we wanted to go dance and not just observe that evening. At this point we left for the hip hop club. 

Cover for me was $10 but for my boyfriend it was $20, also, he had a light sweater that he had to put in ‘mandatory coat check’ – odd. I was a bouncer for five years and had never witnessed a mandatory coat check, especially of a light sweater. This place was booming. The front had a large dancefloor with an elevated area for the DJ and many strobe lights. I hoped to walk through and hear Faneto, that did not happen. We went to the tiny room in the back that was designated for dancehall instead. 

This room was so small and the people were not even dancing. I loathe that there are so many people (men and women) who spend all this money to go out and look nice but do not dance and just spend the whole night Snapchatting themselves pretending to have fun. It was a strange thing to see as my boyfriend and I came there for the sole purpose of dancing. The DJ was OK, his choice of dancehall songs to mix was very odd. I would say he was maybe a notch above the dancehall selections top 40 clubs in Toronto play. Eventually some people began dancing (3am) but by 4am we were ready to leave and go to sleep. 

Sunday, April 2nd – Departure

On our final day in Chicago, I took my boyfriend to my favourite brunch place there called Yolk. I had been there numerous times on my previous trips and their red velvet french toast stuffed with cream cheese was calling my name. The place was very busy and we were eventually seated. The french toast was delicious and so was the raspberry lemonade that felt like it was being served by the liter. 

Following this large brunch we walked over to Millennium Park to do some touristy Chicago things. The Bean, the stage, the walkway to the Art Institute of Chicago and the front entrance of it. I wanted my boyfriend to see all the wonderful architecture that Chicago has to offer that is not inundated solely by glass structures of condos on condos on condos. (Sorry, Toronto)

Sadly it was time to return to Midway for our flight back to Toronto. I love that our hotel had a bag hold for no extra charge so we didn’t have to spend the day carrying our luggage around while sightseeing. After picking our bags up we hopped back on the Red Line and then the Orange Line to be on time for our 7:30 pm Porter flight. 

Overall, this was an awesome weekend getaway for both of us. He got to celebrate his birthday being inebriated on a boat and I got to eat more pizza. Most importantly, this was another person I had converted to loving Chicago. To understanding that there is more to Chicago than just media headlines. I hope to be back in July for my 5th time, so I can attend the Taste of Chicago!

– Mirna

 

 

 

Why You’re Terrible At Packing

As I sit here taking the 11 minutes that may be required to pack my bags for Chicago this weekend, I reminisce on all the people in the past two weeks I have helped with their packing woes. Then I think about how I traveled for 17 days through Asia with just 14lbs with me. It is a HELL of a juxtaposition because some of my friends don’t know how to pack under the 50lbs for a checked bag maximum – nonetheless JUST a carry-on.

This has all lead me to one conclusion: you people can’t pack properly because you’re too vain. 

VANITY. This is what keeps many of you from packing properly.  In the age of Snapchat, Instagram and now Facebook stories (I guess?) you need to have a different outfit for every one of those selfies. Your contour has to be perfect. Your fitted has to match your shoes. Heaven forbid you get seen in the same pair of shorts twice in a week right? No. Stop it. You’re being ridiculous, but I’ll get back to that.

Packing lighter can make your trip both cheaper and less frustrating. I understand if you are going for just one week to Cuba, you can pack that 50lb checked-in bag and it will sit in your room the whole time so it really isn’t a nuisance. But for those traveling to multiple countries in one trip, why put yourself through that?

In 2015 my friends and I did Madrid, Barcelona, Athens, Santorini, Venice and Pula in one trip. If only I could have been a bit smarter then, oh how I wish. We ALL traveled with a carry-on and a 50lb checked in bag. Do you know how shitty it is to be lost on the narrow streets of Barcelona in 28 degree heat and pulling 50lbs with you? It sucked. On top of that, although we were lucky enough to get very good prices for airfare within Europe, it would have been cheaper if we didn’t have to pay for the checked in luggage.

I learned my lesson from this trip and when I went to Shanghai, Bali, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore this past December I carried with me a large 3lb ‘personal item’ bag and my 11lb waterproof carry-on bag. 14lbs all together for 17 days of shenanigans. And you know what? It was more than enough.

My personal bag had: tablet, charger, phone, charger, electricity converter, portable charger, passport, four currencies of money, hand sanitizer, a pen, chapstick, 3 allergy pills and my headphones.

My carry-on had: two pairs of denim shorts, one dress, two sandals, three bikinis, two tanks, two tops, a sarong, a purse, two sunglasses, undergarments, small toiletries and Melatonin and Malaria pills and a deflating pillow.

14lbs. That was all I needed. While traveling I had a pair of leggings on with a hoodie and a long sleeve shirt (airplanes are cold, Shanghai wasn’t warm) and my comfiest pair of running shoes. The heaviest items I wore while flying to avoid packing them and to be warm on the 13 hour flight across the world. 

When packing all I thought about was; what was the lightest option for moving around easily, saving time not having to check in or wait for bags after landing and the smaller cost for not having to pay for a checked in bag for flights within Asia. What never crossed my mind was how I’d look in some repeated outfits or without every single piece of makeup I own.

This is where I come back to my original point of vanity being a lot of your issues with packing. You worry too much about: what if I don’t have this? what if I have to go out? what if someone sees me twice in same outfit? what if something gets dirty? 

You’ll manage. I promise. 

Unless it is an absolute necessity, you will find another one of whatever piece of clothing is needed when you travel. (probably for cheaper too) If you’re going out you can wear your shorts with a nice top. If someone sees you in the same outfit twice, it won’t be the end of the world. If it gets dirty, then pay the small fee in many countries to have it washed. When I was in Bali, after a week of sweating and being in my clothes I got all of my items washed for $6 to wear for the next leg of my trip. It is doable.

Also to the ladies, you do NOT need to bring your 36 pieces of makeup on a trip to a hot place. In reality, you don’t have to bring that on a trip anywhere, but especially when it is going to be hot every day and you’ll be sweating and going swimming. Makeup is heavy and will take up all your room if you let it. I’m not saying don’t bring any, but your massive contouring kits are really uncalled for.

This also goes for men and shoes, wear the shoes you will be traveling in (pick black ones, just in case) and then your sandals. There is no need for you to have 4-5 pairs of Air Max in your bag, if you don’t match once or twice with your fitted I promise it won’t be the end of the world either. 

This is what I want you to think about next time you are packing and that vanity starts creeping into your head. Would you rather have a different outfit and pose in front of Scarborough Town Center OR have a similar top on in two pictures but those are at the Vatican and at the Parthenon? No one cares that you’re wearing the same top twice in those pictures, the whole point is you’re glowing because you’re on vacation and you’re somewhere that many people wish they could one day see too. 

Switch to lighter travel everyone. You will not regret it and will realize how ridiculous you were lugging around massive bags or paying overage fees and how how much quicker your time in airports is. 

– Mirna 

How To Travel In A Group And Still Remain Friends After

Not everyone is a fan of loner travel like I am. I personally love the freedom of doing what I want, when I want and planning it however the hell I want. I realize, other people are afraid of traveling alone and just overall may prefer to travel in groups. But what do you do when your friends are waste or shitty at planning?

This is where I can tell you, you are not alone. Many people have friends who are good humans in this country, but god awful in others/while planning to go to others.

I have come up with a ‘how to’ properly travel in a group trip without losing your mind or friendships.

  1. Don’t travel with broke people; not everyone is in the financial situation to travel but for some reason SO MANY feel that it is still a brilliant idea to travel anyways. Tell them politely to wait for the next opportunity, trust me, they’ll weigh you down and piss you off once you get to your destination. You know the ‘oh I’ll just have ice water and a sugar cube at dinner’ people? Or heaven forbid there is an emergency on the trip or you miss your flight and they now stuck in Lebanon selling milk on side of road to get home. Don’t do it. Tell them to save up and maybe next time.
  2.  Someone MUST be the designated asshole; so there’s five of you planning a trip to Ireland, one of you has to put the other four on a schedule and on notice. This person is in charge of making sure that deposits are paid on the proper dates and telling the other four that if they fail to do so, NO trip for them. Simple. No hurt feelings, it’s just business and one person being flawed/late on their payment could cost the rest of you more money or even an awesome spot that had a deadline to book.
  3. Schedule. Schedule. Schedule; you have to set payment dates, and I mean HARD payment dates. If the payment for your villa for Cropover is due December 15th, then all of those coming should have money ready December 1st. This gives you all until next pay week to make the money back JUST IN CASE one or two people suddenly can’t go. This is where the designated asshole has to lie and give an earlier payment date to everyone, because stuff like this can and will happen. You need to have time to adjust. Best case scenario? Everyone actually gives you the money on December 1st to pay – now it’s paid. The end.
  4. Don’t plan trips with closed-minded people; so your friends are fun, some are eccentric, but are they the type to just stay on the resort? Are they the type that want to do super-touristy things while you enjoy a more real experience? Will they only want to eat McDonald’s in Greece but you traveled there to eat, I don’t know, Greek food? Consider these things before you even put forth the idea of a group trip. You don’t want to be in Italy with someone who is fun to party with but doesn’t know what the Sistine Chapel is.
  5. Start small, then go big; do try smaller trips with your friends before you go all out and have 15 of you going to Phuket. Small trips to Montreal or Niagara etc. will show you how reliable your friends are with minimal planning and saving needed. If they are seamless at a road trip weekend to Montreal, then those are the people you would like to plan a much bigger trip with. Look for how reliable they are, how timely and how responsible. You don’t need to find out that someone is completely unreliable as you arrive to your hotel in Tokyo with no reservation because they forgot to do it/did it wrong.

Luckily, I have been blessed in never having any issues in the group travel I did partake in. Probably, because I strongly believe in these five things and because I’m usually the designated asshole. I really do hope these tips help keep your travels happy and your friendships solid. 

Extras: If you plan on using AirBnB for the first time, click here for a free credit towards your booking! Also, if you plan on using Uber for the first time,click here for a free credit towards the ride.

– Mirna 

Myself + my friends Sherry and Jummy in Athens. (Yep, we are still friends after the trip) 
Myself + my friends Sherry and Jummy in Athens. (Yep, we are still friends after the trip) 

The Cost of Travel Vaccinations

Yesterday I went and conquered one of my biggest fears – needles. I have had a needle phobia since I was eight years old, when we were having all the medical tests done to come to Canada. Something along the lines of, I remember a LOT of blood being taken out of me and ever since then I have been terrified of needles.

For my upcoming trip I will be going to Shanghai, Bali, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. This is a new part of the world for me as I have only ventured to the Caribbean and Europe. This trip is largely the reason I began blogging again, because I wanted people who do not travel much to get a glimpse into how much work goes into a long/large trip.

The one part of their traveling budget people overlook is vaccinations. I know I definitely did not think of this as part of my budget until my nurse friends brought it up. The cost of vaccinations is rarely spoken about in general and let me warn you, this next picture is the scariest thing you will see this Halloween weekend.

You see that number there, on the bottom right?

$539.50 CAD (aka $402.75 USD aka $366.60 EURO…..)

As I am someone who works on contract currently and have no benefits, this was all paid by me. According to most people I spoke to, travel vaccinations aren’t really covered by anyone, it is usually up to the traveler to pay all this themselves. OHIP in Canada does not cover these either, but it will cover the Tetanus and MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccines I still have to get. (ALL of you should be up to date with Tetanus and MMR, I’m just a big chicken so I’m updating them now)

I went to this place called Passport Health in downtown Toronto – I read very good reviews about them online and these prices actually fell in line with what I read everywhere else about the costs of travel health prep.

Luckily for me, I only had to get one needle from them and I opted for the ViVAXIM combination one that is for Typhoid and Hepatitis A  = $120.00 

I will have to go back to re-up on the Hepatitis A within six months to make it last longer so if I go abroad like this in next two years, I won’t have to do all of it again.

The other costs:

My office visit: $69.00 (but I filled out the medical questionnaire before arriving and got $10 discount)

Dukoral: So this is something I will have to drink three weeks before departure, followed by drinking a second dose two weeks before departure. This is to protect my tummy from Cholera and E. Coli = 2 doses x $59.00 = $118.00

Malarone 250mg/100mg: These are pills that I will take 2 days before, every day during and two days after my trip to protect me against malaria. The nurse at the Passport Health Clinic told me it is unlikely for malaria to be an issue for the countries I am going to. This was something I actually insisted on getting just to take extra precautions. My blood attracts bug bites of all kinds like this Bosnian kid attracts metal.

They love me and I know I will be bitten all over even even if I use every measure of protection I can, so I rather pay the extra money and sleep better at night NOT thinking about contracting a serious disease like malaria = 23 pills x $9.50 = $218.00

Azithromycin 250mg: These are antibiotics I will take with me to have just in case I get ‘Bali belly‘ or just any kind of serious internal issues that will keep me on the toilet instead of out enjoying my vacation = 6 pills x $4.00 = $24.00

I realize this is a lot of money spent on not ‘necessary’ healthcare, more like cautionary. I am choosing to travel there, of my own free will, I am putting myself in some new types of possibly harmful situations. But as my mom says, IT IS A YOLO!

I rather be protected and properly prepared than heaven forbid get sick while there or come back with some disease that will have me hospitalized and unable to work. #ItsNotOneOfThose

The overall experience of going to this Passport Health clinic was amazing. The nurse (wish I could remember her name, sorry) was so nice to me and took her time with me, since I am a big chicken and had to lay down and be given a lollipop to settle my nerves. When I arrived she also had a THICK folder set up with all needed information for my trip.

This folder had for China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore everything and anything I needed to know to keep me safe.

This included:

  • suggested vaccines for each country

  • what illnesses to look out for in particular parts of each country

  • travel advisories

  • passport/visa requirements

  • culture

  • laws

  • climates during time of travel

  • LGBT travel

Yes, my arm hurts and its been over 24 hours.

Yes, my wallet is burning because I could have bought so many cookies with this money instead. 

However, YES I feel good about all of this because I know in the long-run these preventative measures are needed to keep me safe on my trip. (Update: I did not get sick or have ‘Bali Belly’ even once during the entirety of my trip and I ate everything in sight. Jan/2017)

Travel vaccinations and travel vaccination costs should be something you guys should really ponder about going forward. I hope this blog piece was informative and helpful to any of you intent on traveling to parts of the world where vaccinations are recommended.

Safe travels!

– Mirna