Home Sweet Home

After being gone 2.5 weeks, there truly is nothing better than your own home. I got asked while I was in Montreal if I was homesick. The answer: absolutely not. My freshman year of college, I was homesick a little at first. But then I learned to love Miami and still miss living in Oxford to this day. When I studied abroad in college, I was homesick for the first few weeks. However, I slowly learned to love and appreciate the differences between the culture of the USA and that of other countries. Taking those leaps of faith of going to college 4.5 hours from home and studying abroad as a 19 year old were life changing. I spent the summer living in Virginia Beach for 10 weeks, and the following summer in France. After college, I moved yet again to a new city. Columbus doesn't feel like my "hometown" and never will... but I am settled in here. The problem though, is that all of the traveling and living abroad has given me the travel bug... when I'm in one place for too long, I feel this strong urge to get OUT. It doesn't have to be far, but I love the change of environment. The only problem is my champagne taste on a beer budget. Thank goodness my dear husband is the one who handles our finances. Otherwise, we'd be leaving for a trip to Venice, Italy and then for a week-long cruise in the Greek Islands. Apparently that is not the typical vacation when you are 26. Someday. We will be visiting New England in a few weeks, for which I am super excited :-)

What do I miss though, if I love living in another place?
1- my husband & family
2- my friends
3- Mexican food

Yup...always those three. Weird, I know. But you just don't eat Mexican unless you are in the USA or Mexico.


So anyways, Montreal... things I liked regarding the culture:

1- people SMILE and say BONJOUR in the streets, instead of just staring straight ahead like in Europe
2- people in general were very polite
3- I have never felt SO safe in a big city
4- they are taking great steps to make the city eco-friendly: they don't give you bags at stores unless you ask... there are escalators that go on a super slow speed when no one is around them and then speed up when you walk past the sensor.
5- like Europe, you were allowed to take your time with a meal... which was great when it was just me, and a hot mess when it was me AND the two children for whom I was nannying.