In which I announce plans to conquer all of Europe, or at least all of Europe’s cafés
There are few things as effective at making a month seem to crawl by at a snail’s pace as a feeling of overwhelming anticipation is. It’s not that I hate September in general – though I’ll admit that all those years of back-to-school anxiety have slightly tarnished September’s image for me – and it’s certainly not that I’m such a huge fan of October that I just can’t wait for it to arrive. On the contrary, I would generally prefer not to expedite the weather’s inevitable decline towards an endless string of grey, rainy days.
Here’s the thing, though: When October holds something really exciting – no, actually, insanely exciting – it’s hard not to wish away the rest of September. Because when October finally rolls around, I won’t be in Victoria. I’ll be in Paris, living in a little studio apartment and spending my days working from cozy cafés, throwing myself head-first into French culture, and eating my way around the city. And because it’s nearly impossible to book a flight into Europe without feeling compelled to add on a few little hops around Europe, I’m also spending some time in Italy, namely the Cinque Terre and Florence. Then, just to shake things up a bit, I’m heading down to Marrakech, Morocco for a few days before finally returning home.
So that should explain why I’m so eager to put this whole month on fast-forward, right? This whole trip is something I’ve been wanting to do for several years now, but the timing was always way off. Between the demands of work, everyday life, and a relationship, it just didn’t seem like there was any room for travel that didn’t fall under the “quick getaway” category. But it’s funny how situations can gradually shift and life can throw in a few curveballs until one day you realize that absolutely everything seems to be urging you to pack up and go, go, just go – in my case, it was a newly ended relationship combined with an overwhelming urge to explore the world and the realization that living in Victoria feels positively suffocating that compelled me to start making plans and booking flights. Because really, there’s nothing like a little globe-trotting to keep things looking bright. And I’m incredibly lucky to have the kind of career where it’s just as easy to work from an office in Victoria or a string of cafés across Europe (and even luckier to work with an amazing company that values flexibility and totally understands why I need to do this).
This trip is, in equal parts, an escape from the clutches of Victoria, an exploration of some newfound freedom, and a chance to finally make that dream of waking up to a view of the Parisian skyline come true. And I couldn’t possibly be more excited for October to roll around.
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