Traveling alone or with company?

The people you travel with can affect the way you travel and your trip drastically. People always ask: “Aren’t you scared of traveling alone? Don’t you want company and people to talk to?” Having traveled alone multiple times, I’m a huge advocate of being by yourself, discovering what you can offer to strangers and taking in the environment without any outside influence. 

So here I am, thinking about that very question once again. I understand if you are not comfortable being alone but I believe everyone needs to go somewhere alone at least once in their lives, and by that, I don’t mean going to the bathroom or down the street to the store. 

Stepping out of your comfort zone can do wonders to your life, your attitude towards life, understanding of other cultures and people. My biggest pet peeve is when someone travels and refuses to step out. The best example is the last few days when my family and I took a trip to the Bahamas. We were there for four nights and ate Chinese food for dinner all four nights; the same two restaurants as well. Perhaps once you get to a certain age you don’t want to experience anymore, all you want is comfort and I understand. 

But I sure hope I’m not like that when I’m older. Someone show me this blog post if I ever get like that. Either way, what I’m trying to say is one, travel alone and two, step out of your comfort zone and experience. I promise it’ll become the most memorable moments in your life. 

Have questions on how to start? Ask and I’ll get back to you right away. 

A glimpse of downtown Toronto

Stepping out of my family’s rental car, and walking down the steps to Toronto’s subway, a new sense of adventure burned inside me.

I grew up coming to Toronto every other summer to visit my extended family. Richmond hill and Markham, those are the areas I can identify with but drop me anywhere else and I’d be lost. I never enjoyed Toronto because I was always stuck at home reading, watching TV or finding entertainment for myself. A few weeks ago, I made it a mission to explore TO while I’m here this summer. It was time to see what this city has to offer, what adventures it’ll bring and why many of my friends like it here.

Today I started that mission. Breaking free from the constraints of getting around with a car, I rode Toronto’s TTC from Finch to Osgoode station. I may have taken it before but it felt foreign. I was never old enough to ride the train myself every time I came.

Arriving at Osgoode, I turned around in circles and tried to locate where I ended up. Where is my cousins office? Which road looks lively? Which street should I walk down? One of the scariest but most exciting feeling is that of arriving in a new place with no sense of location.

Subconsciously pulling out my phone, I remembered I had no Internet and could not press a small arrow and have my iPhone tell me my location. “This street looks less commercial, I guess ill walk down there”, I told myself.

Bingo! Music record stores, vintage black markets and coffee shops everywhere I looked. Blocks passed and I see from a far “The Marilyn Denis Show” TV station; the very talk show I watched just a few hours ago at home.

With a tad bit of familiarization, I wished I could go in and tell them how much I enjoyed the show. Sometimes exploring a city is not about that new adventure you get to brag about, sometimes it’s simply about finding familiarity in the midst of blind exploration.

It allows you to connect the dots from the places you’ve been and the stories you’ve experienced. Everything you see, hear, feel, eat and smell will shed light to your next travel story, but the best part is, you don’t know how yet.

10 things I notice playing basketball at the park

I went out to the park this evening with my dad to do some sprints at the basketball court only to find myself playing a game of full court 4vs4 with these guys playing on the other court.

It’s always entertaining to play against guys that I don’t know. I realized some of the thoughts going through my head at the time were things I think about every time I play so I decided its worth a post.

10. I introduced my name out loud to all of them and only 2 had the politeness to introduce themselves to me, and shake my hand. How disappointing.

9. “I’d play harder if I had a team I liked playing with” said a guy on my team. How rude!

8. The guy who played defense on me/whom I guarded never actually played that hard. I thank you for making it easy but me but just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean you gotta look bored!

7. I set a brilliant pick, guy who I set the pick on ran straight into my chest, turned to me and continuously apologized. Awww that’s sweet but wait, didn’t I set the pick on you? I should say sorry for blocking your defense on my teammate.

6. They weren’t very friendly, no small talk at all. But maybe it’s just me who thinks its necessary.

5. They automatically had me play small forward and all the shots I made were right under the basket. There should be something wrong with that considering I’m the smallest on the court.

4. I shouldn’t be getting those easy layups under the basket, com’on lets play some defense!

3. I need to try and play every day to get my shot back on par. I’m pretty out of shape.

2. I miss getting trained by Coach Price. Yup I said it.

1. Despite how negative those thoughts seemed, I had fun and can’t complain about being able to play pick up again!

I have yet to write about my time in Philly and New Jersey the past two weeks. Ill get on that as soon as I get Internet on my computer again!

For now, ta ta and smile!