A Trip to Montreal and How to Embrace your Wanderlust || The Shipra Diairies
Wanderlust – it is all the rage for us fellow Gen Y’ers.
While growing up (which I still have a lot to do), I made one promise to myself
– no matter what career I end up in or whatever happens, I have to live a life
where I’m constantly traveling and exploring new things. A promise like that is
easy for anyone to make in their youth. At age 15, I thought, by 25, I’d be
completing medical school, getting married, and have already traveled about 75%
of the world. But, here I am, at the totally rad (do people still say rad?) age
of 23, eating a bag of spicy jalapeño Cheetos,
binge watching NCIS, writing this post, and theorizing every excuse out there
to work from home tomorrow. Living the life people, living the life. Things did
not work out the way my 15-year-old self thought they would, but hey it could
be a lot worse. I have a job, good friends, a college degree, and my parents’
house to live in for free. Despite these awesome perks of adulthood, I
have been struggling to be an actual adult, and that promise I made to myself
years ago is still taunting me – sort of like the gym membership I should
probably use more often.
While growing up (which I still have a lot to do), I made one promise to myself
– no matter what career I end up in or whatever happens, I have to live a life
where I’m constantly traveling and exploring new things. A promise like that is
easy for anyone to make in their youth. At age 15, I thought, by 25, I’d be
completing medical school, getting married, and have already traveled about 75%
of the world. But, here I am, at the totally rad (do people still say rad?) age
of 23, eating a bag of spicy jalapeño Cheetos,
binge watching NCIS, writing this post, and theorizing every excuse out there
to work from home tomorrow. Living the life people, living the life. Things did
not work out the way my 15-year-old self thought they would, but hey it could
be a lot worse. I have a job, good friends, a college degree, and my parents’
house to live in for free. Despite these awesome perks of adulthood, I
have been struggling to be an actual adult, and that promise I made to myself
years ago is still taunting me – sort of like the gym membership I should
probably use more often.
My love for travel and adventure has been one of the only
constants in my life. If you have read any of my other posts, you know that I am
trying to figure out life, while trying to survive and be happy. I have been
stuck in a rut, but my trip to Miami in January of this year changed that. It
was my wanderlust revival. I felt so alive going on this adventure. Granted it
wasn’t a huge trip, but it was big for me. It gave me the confidence that I can
live the life I saw for myself. Coming back home from Miami, I made one more
promise to myself. This year I was not going to shy away from adventure. This was
my only New Year’s resolution. No matter if the adventure is big or small, I
was always going to say yes to it.
constants in my life. If you have read any of my other posts, you know that I am
trying to figure out life, while trying to survive and be happy. I have been
stuck in a rut, but my trip to Miami in January of this year changed that. It
was my wanderlust revival. I felt so alive going on this adventure. Granted it
wasn’t a huge trip, but it was big for me. It gave me the confidence that I can
live the life I saw for myself. Coming back home from Miami, I made one more
promise to myself. This year I was not going to shy away from adventure. This was
my only New Year’s resolution. No matter if the adventure is big or small, I
was always going to say yes to it.
So, if you are the person who loves to travel but always are
using reasons to not do so, just stop. There will always be an excuse. Not that
much money, school, work, family events, etc. I’ve used all of them before.
Money will come and go, that’s just how it works. Plan trips according to your
budget. How many have you have actually seen all that your state has to offer? Northwest
New Jersey is still somewhat of a mystery to me. If you have a small budget,
then just drive around and find something new to do near you. It’s that simple.
With school and work, unless you live in some alter – reality dictatorship, we
all have days off. Use those days! Family events – your family will always be
there; so, missing your 2nd cousin’s 3rd birthday won’t
be the end of the world. All I’m trying to get at is if you have the
opportunity for an adventure, don’t say no to it. Because sooner or later,
you’ll be sitting on the couch at the ripe age of 85, eating your TV dinner,
wishing you had gone on that trip to Cancun with your buddies that one spring
break.
using reasons to not do so, just stop. There will always be an excuse. Not that
much money, school, work, family events, etc. I’ve used all of them before.
Money will come and go, that’s just how it works. Plan trips according to your
budget. How many have you have actually seen all that your state has to offer? Northwest
New Jersey is still somewhat of a mystery to me. If you have a small budget,
then just drive around and find something new to do near you. It’s that simple.
With school and work, unless you live in some alter – reality dictatorship, we
all have days off. Use those days! Family events – your family will always be
there; so, missing your 2nd cousin’s 3rd birthday won’t
be the end of the world. All I’m trying to get at is if you have the
opportunity for an adventure, don’t say no to it. Because sooner or later,
you’ll be sitting on the couch at the ripe age of 85, eating your TV dinner,
wishing you had gone on that trip to Cancun with your buddies that one spring
break.
With this philosophy, I’ve planned several trips for myself
this year. Miami was such a success, and I can’t wait to go back. Then it was
Montreal, and boy was that an adventure. A few of my friends and I set off from
Jersey on a Friday, and spent the weekend in Montreal. Although it was a very
short trip, I had an amazing time. We were all constantly laughing, exploring
the sights, eating amazing meals (well 90% were amazing, there was one bad
dinner in there), and enjoying every bit of this new experience with new
friends. The friends I traveled with are friends I’ve made only about 9 months
ago, but they have very quickly become my closest friends. We all got along,
which made everything perfect. That’s another word of advice that I have. Don’t
take trips with people you don’t get along with, or else you probably won’t
enjoy it. The only complaints I had from this trip was that it was FREEZING, we
were there for only a very short time, and that one bad dinner. The highlights of my trip were the
sightseeing, hanging out with my friends, and climbing an icy mountain in heels
and seeing my friend Edwin trying to save people on that icy mountain, oh and
falling from the lofted bed (which has been forever memorialized in a video).
All in all, it was a solid trip and I can’t wait to go back.
this year. Miami was such a success, and I can’t wait to go back. Then it was
Montreal, and boy was that an adventure. A few of my friends and I set off from
Jersey on a Friday, and spent the weekend in Montreal. Although it was a very
short trip, I had an amazing time. We were all constantly laughing, exploring
the sights, eating amazing meals (well 90% were amazing, there was one bad
dinner in there), and enjoying every bit of this new experience with new
friends. The friends I traveled with are friends I’ve made only about 9 months
ago, but they have very quickly become my closest friends. We all got along,
which made everything perfect. That’s another word of advice that I have. Don’t
take trips with people you don’t get along with, or else you probably won’t
enjoy it. The only complaints I had from this trip was that it was FREEZING, we
were there for only a very short time, and that one bad dinner. The highlights of my trip were the
sightseeing, hanging out with my friends, and climbing an icy mountain in heels
and seeing my friend Edwin trying to save people on that icy mountain, oh and
falling from the lofted bed (which has been forever memorialized in a video).
All in all, it was a solid trip and I can’t wait to go back.
Channel that inner Jim Carrey as Yes Man, and don’t say no
to adventure. It’s now or never!
to adventure. It’s now or never!
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| The lofted bed in our Air BnB that I fell from |
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| Notre–Dame Basilica |
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| View from Mont Royal |
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| Friends on Mont Royal |
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| Notre–Dame Basilica |
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| Courtyard outside Notre–Dame Basilica |
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| Courtyard outside Notre–Dame Basilica…SIDENOTE: How dope is this picture? |
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| Edwin spots fallen passer byer |
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| Edwin tries to help fallen passer byer |
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| Edwin falls trying to be the hero |
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| McGill University Campus |
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| Inside Notre–Dame Basilica |
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| Posing near the Waterfront in Downtown Montreal |
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| Air BnB neighborhood we stayed in |
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| The Monty Crew |
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| Disappointing dinner 🙁 My food was still frozen, and don’t even bother asking Carlos about his couscous. It was bad. |
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| Brunch at the most amazing restaurant ever – L’Evidence. You have to eat here if you go to Montreal. |
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| The girls of the Monty Crew |