A couple of years ago, I went to Krakow (or ‘krakuf’ as the locals pronounce it) – one of the oldest cities in Poland, dating back to the 7th century, and the Polish capital city from 1038 to 1596.  It’s amazing that this beautiful city, now a major academic and cultural centre, started as a small hamlet on Wawel Hill.    Now, on top of the hill, overlooking the Vistula River, is the Royal Castle […]

First impression of Brussels after arriving in the train station: Yuck. And as we progressed to our hostel in the low-income part of town, my second impression wasn’t much different – but I was pleasantly surprised by the price and variety of food: Persian, Turkish, Greek and all kinds of African food too. But after a nice walk through the rough parts (which are not even that rough, but you may stand out depending on […]

After 5 jobs, an internship and a couple temporary positions, there are a lot of things I’ve learned at work that I’m excited to take with me when I go on exchange to Paris in September! So without further ado, I present to you… 5 lessons to take with you when you travel abroad! 1. Do things that scare you As a pretty risk averse person, the only way to get me to do something […]

Visiting Hong Kong is an exciting non-stop experience, as I discovered on my short one-week stay on this island. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, with over 6,400 inhabitants per square km (vs Canada’s average population density of 3.2 per sq km!), Hong Kong can make Manhattan look like a provincial town! Expect to see an interesting mix of history, culture and shiny glass buildings in this 21st century city. The […]

A blog post from Guest Blogger Sheila Fee, who is part of the Study and Go Abroad Team. *********** A few years ago, I was lucky enough to go to Australia for Christmas. It was spectacular! We left the cold dreary drizzle of Vancouver late in the evening. On the plane, we tucked in to the usual dinner and movie, deplaned in the middle of the night in Honolulu to look wistfully at the palm […]

Years ago, I managed to convince a couple of my friends, Jon and Mike, to go trekking with me in Nepal.  We left England in May bound for Kathmandu, and then jumped onto a bus to Pokhara to start the Annapurna Basecamp/Jomson Trail. My first piece of advice for readers – have an open mind when travelling in Nepal – and dispel any pre-conceived ideas you may have about public transport.  There didn’t seem to […]