As some of you may know from my overload of Instagram pictures, last week I visited Québec City, Québec, Canada. Many of you may also know that I have a severe case of the adventure bug. I had dreamt about this trip for months, so when the weekend finally arrived, I was absolutely ecstatic. I fully immersed myself in the Canadian culture, and I had no idea what to expect. While the trip didn’t go at all like I had imagined it, it exceeded my expectations by a landslide…
The minute I stepped off the ferry into Québec City, I was awestruck. Here I was in quite possibly the most adorable city in the world, with my friends, and a weekend of possibilities ahead of me. I took the funiculaire (funicular railway) to upper town and arrived, only slightly frost bitten, at the beautiful Château de Frontenac. After making sleeping arrangements with my lovely roomies, watching a crappy Canadian sitcom (as one does), eating dinner out, & roleplaying a British soldier for the night (story for another time), I was completely wiped.
The next day was even more jam packed. I enjoyed breakfast and was ready for the day ahead. After exploring a waterfall and taking a tour of an ice hotel, I was able to chill (no pun intended, I promise) for a bit with my friends. We strolled along lower town, ate lunch, & went shopping.Then, we got right back in action at Village Vacances, tubing down steep slopes and trying not to fall off a sharp 180 degree turn. Basically picture a waterpark designed just for the winter. Once we had our fill of adrenaline, the bus took us to a sugar shack in the middle of nowhere for dinner. There was spoon playing and line dancing involved. Was it extremely strange? Yes. Would I go back? You bet.
Sunday came along, and with it a small wave of sadness washed over me as I knew it was the last day in this wonderful city. Everyone took pictures by the hotel before boarding the bus. Even though I loved spending the last two days in Québec City, I had been anticipating Sunday because I knew I would go dogsledding. Believe me when I say, dogsledding was the most euphoric moment of my life thus far. And the best part is, I only fell off the sled once! After the ride was over & many husky puppies had been held, everyone was reluctant to head home. Nobody was ready to face the monotonous eight hour bus ride. Little did we know, it wouldn’t be monotonous at all.
Shortly after crossing the border back into the U.S., the bus decided it would be as good a time as any to break down. It wasn’t the only thing that broke down either. I was a wreck, asking questions anxiously every 5 seconds. I didn’t have service, which left me without any way to contact my parents. Fortunately, the bus was up and… crawling shortly afterward. Then it stopped again. And started. And stopped. And started. And stopped. We made it to a gas station where we could all use the singular bathroom inside and buy snacks to keep us filled until dinner. The poor bus was able to make it to a roadside Pizza Hut in a small Vermont town before giving up completely. We waited for the new bus to pick us up and loaded ourselves with carbs and sugar. By the time the new, functioning bus arrived, we were all exhausted. Some people passed out right away, others slowly drifted off to sleep, but nobody stayed awake the whole time. We made it back home safely around 2:00 A.M. on Monday, and our principal kindly reassured us that we would be excused if we came to school late that day.
So what is wanderlust? It’s a feeling in your soul. It’s what makes your heart feel warm and fuzzy. It’s living life instead of watching it happen. It’s waking up after an eight hour trip to a charming city. It’s dancing to a fiddle version of the macarena and laughing at yourself. It’s turning a bus ride into an impromptu night club. It’s playing Cards Against Humanity at 10:00 P.M. in your pajamas on the balcony of a 4 star hotel. It’s appreciating how attractive your dogsledding guide is and then falling off the dogsled. It’s sitting at a Pizza Hut booth, exhausted and hungry, and finding everything funny. It’s sitting on the curb of the Pizza Hut parking lot and shouting the slogan at the top of your lungs. It’s making a group chat and sending dirty history jokes to each other. It’s being stuck on a bus, too tired to formulate words, but at peace knowing you’re in the company of some wonderful human beings.
My trip to Canada was incredible. I encourage you to get out and explore the world, because it has so much to offer.
What’s your favorite place you’ve visited? Where do you want to go? Leave a comment!
Special thanks to Alice and Billy for their photography skills 🙂
Safe travels!
xo, Liv
Alas, spring break has flown by and it seems almost unreal that I will be going back to school tomorrow. This year I didn’t spend break at an exotic destination. No, I wasn’t vacationing in the Bahamas, Florida, or Hawaii, rather I spent it at my own high school.
Olivia Gaidry 