A California Girl’s Experience In Canada

When I was 23 years old, I packed all my things and moved from California to Canada. I decided to make the move because I have dual citizenship to Canada and America so it seemed like the most viable option since I drastically needed a change in scenery. I was 2,762 miles from home. I didn’t have to pay rent in Canada which is the top reason why I chose to come there. My family owns property in two Canadian provinces and both properties are super spacious and lovely.

I met a few really amazing girls in Canada that were my age which wasn’t really all that surprising because the reputation of Canada surely does hold true — everybody there was extremely nice. Aside from the nice gals I met though, it was a bit lonely there… on the flip-side, I was feeling extremely lonely in California too before I moved. At least I got to be lonely in Canada for free! What was nice is that people introduced themselves to me and started conversations with me in line at the store there! In Cali, it just wasn’t like that.

My parents split when I was 13 and I was 23 years old when I moved to Canada. So it had been ten years since I’d really seen my dad or spent time with him. A decade. I hadn’t had a super tight-knit relationship with my dad over the last decade. But I got to see him there in Canada and I got to hang out with him. I discovered that he can be really cool. He’s funny and super smart when it comes to politics, historical facts, and world knowledge. I already knew those things about him but I got to see it up close for myself and that was cool. I don’t think he has plans to ever return to the United States. Since I left Canada I haven’t seen my dad in person.

I didn’t have to spend any money on bills aside from my $127 dollar phone bill and my monthly student loan bill so I was focused on fully saving up the rest of my income while I lived there. While living in Canada I worked from home writing articles for my editor. I wouldn’t have minded taking a job as a receptionist or something but the opportunity never came because I decided to leave Canada. A lot of the jobs there required their employees to be bilingual in both French and English and I only know how to speak English… Most people in Canada speak a lot of French.

The best part about being there was the fact that I was easily able to stick to my diet because getting anywhere in that frozen winterland was pretty annoying. It is easy to stick to a diet when you can’t even GET to the place that sells you French fries. I also had access to exercise machines where I was living which was good because it helped me feel motivated.

I chose not to stay living in Canada for as long as I originally planned because I truly am a California girl, through and through. I originally banked on spending a minimum of six months there but it only ended up being about two months.

Over the course of two months spent in Canada, I got sick from the cold weather one time but I healed up after about three or four days! I never built any snowmen or made any snow angels but I enjoyed hot chocolate from Starbucks and saw some pretty art at the National Gallery of Canada Museum. I also never got to go ice skating or see the ice sculptures (not that I didn’t want to…) so maybe in like five years I’ll go back and check it out again with someone I’m dating or with a group of friends.