Working Abroad // Part 1

I don't think I've ever really spoken about my gap year on here, have I? Well, it wasn't really a proper gap year as I didn't go before university. I finished uni with my psychology degree and then worked for a year to save up all the bucks I needed and then off I went! 

I wanted to move to Canada for years. Half my family immigrated there when I was a little 'un and I pretty much spent every summer there since I was 18. My aunts lived in Kingston, Ontario and my cousin in Ottawa, so I usually divided my time between these two awesome cities. 

I had been perusing the Bunac website for months and one February morning I woke up and just decided to fill in the application form for my visa and see if I got accepted. For those of you who have never heard of Bunac, they do lots of work, volunteer and travel programs like Work Canada Camp America. The application was pretty straight forward, you give them your information (and your monies) and they sort out your visa. If you like they will also sort your flight out so that you are flying with a group of Bunacers heading to the same city. This is what I did, as I though it would be a good way to get to know people before I even landed. 

I originally planned on living in Ottawa so that I would have some family around me, but then that really wouldn't be much of an adventure, would it? So I decided to move to Toronto. A few weeks before I was due to leave, Bunac released all the email addresses of everyone who was on my flight so that we could get to know each other before we left. This was the best thing for me, as before I had even left Scotland I had arranged to share a house with four of my fellow Bunacers! I had arranged to go in the October that year, so I had plenty of time to save up all the money I needed for my adventures. 

I was flying to Toronto from London, so a week before I was due to leave my best bud and I decided to spend the week in London. So I bid farewell to all my family and friends (this was much harder than I imagined) and had an awesome week being a tourist in London. I said London a lot in that sentence, didn't i? When the morning arrived that I was due to fly out I was SOOOOO nervous. My friend dropped me at the airport and I headed off to meet my new house mates. Luckily everyone I met was absolutely lovely and feeling exactly the same! However, I do remember sitting on plane and thinking...I've quit my job, packed up all my belongings and I'm moving across the world to a city I've never been to...on my own!!! What was I thinking?!

Bunac arranged a room in a hostel for our first night's stay in Toronto. So we were all picked up at the airport and dropped off here. After ditching our bags, we headed straight to the pub to plan our adventures for the next year...oh and to find somewhere to live!

...part two coming soon!!