Traveling to Another Country
My trip to Toronto, Canada is my second time outside of the country. I want to go out of the country often. Going out of the country helps you know more about other cultures and it exposes you to a world outside of your comfort zone. Leaving New York for Toronto taught me about the type of traveler I am. I am not a big fan of planes but I want to travel so I was a little anxious by the process of TSA and turbulence. This is exactly what happened during my time at Toronto, Canada.
My sister and I left in March and we were met with the possibility of heavy winds and delays. I am not a big fan of planes, probably because of the lack of control or just the idea of heights. I couldn’t figure it out and I wasn’t going to spend an hour thinking about it. Instead I just decided to download some movies from Netflix to watch on the plane ride. When at an airport I learned it is important to ask questions because I didn’t know anything about boarding time as our boarding number was called over the loud speaker three times.
Looking at my phone to check for the weather, I was horrified at the words 14 degrees. Just getting off the airplane I realize that we must walk six long blocks from the subway station to our hotel. The winds were heavy and it was not easy to carry our suitcases and bags with us through the busy streets. Luckily, I had worn extra t-shirts under my turtleneck so I wasn’t that cold. I learned that going to a foreign country it is important to figure out both the weather, check in time for the hotel and alternative ways to get to your hotel faster. We were only six blocks away from our hotel so we didn’t mind walking. However, if we were somewhere else and much further I would of called an Uber.
Toronto was for a special occasion, it was my birthday weekend and I always wanted to go out of the country. Toronto was easy to get to and cheaper. My favorite part of Toronto was the people. I don’t know if it was because we looked like we were tourist but everyone was cordial with us. From the waitresses whom had to explain to us that Canadians do not use debit but credit as a form of payment. To the college students whom welcomed us. The people there made my experience in Toronto much easier and less stressful.
This experience has made me aware of my travel anxiety. Occasionally I felt that I needed to know everything so nothing jeopardized our safety. However, I cannot control everything and the point of traveling is to have fun and experience new things. I am not going to let my anxiety stop me, I will learn from it and continue traveling. After this trip I have aspirations to go to London next.