It was early June, 2018 and I’d already been overseas for almost two whole months. After my bus ride, I got to the airport in London and felt awful. My throat was swollen, my head and body ached, my nose was blocked, I felt so much pressure in my ears and I knew I was coming down with a cold. Never have I ever lost my voice when being sick, but this was the first time. I remember trying to check my bag in and I struggled speaking to the check in agent… to the point she asked me if I was okay. Nothing really prepares you for being ill when travelling. It’s not fun and it’s an uncomfortable reality that we all push through. I was over the moon to get through customs, get something to eat and drink and sit down with my eyes closed as I waited for my flight. When it came time for boarding, I felt a little better and was ready to get some sleep on the eight hour flight. I ended up sat next to a man named Simon and had a great conversation with him for most of the flight, excusing myself for the coughing and sneezing and hoarse voice as we chatted away…
I officially lost my voice after that.
Turns out I was hit with tonsillitis…it was a difficult three weeks from when I first landed in Boston to the end of June. I couldn’t talk, my asthma was horrible and I couldn’t do much else besides lay in my bed. After a trip to A&E and the “Camp Doctor” as we called her, I was on the road to recovery with quite a bit of medication. The more rest I allowed my body (and voice) to have, the quicker I recovered too. I missed my week of lifeguard training and the majority of staff training at camp. Finally by the third and fourth weeks, I was starting to feel more like myself and spent my time playing catch up by completing my lifeguard training and meeting all the staff members for that summer. Thankfully, my friends from previous camp years helped and supported me as much as possible through my time of being ill. They never failed to make me laugh and made me feel safe and at home which is all I could’ve asked for.
I couldn’t believe it was late June already and I was thinking constantly about what I wanted to do next after camp finished… my original plans ended in August and I had no return flight to Australia. I knew I was going to have to come up with an idea soon. I thought of England and Europe and how cool it would be to live there for a while, but the thought of Banff kept coming to my mind… living in a place like Canada would be a dream! It’s a place I never thought I’d visit, let alone live- especially Banff of all places, as it was hands down, the most spectacular place I’d ever seen in my life. I came to learn that I could apply for a two year working holiday visa for Canada and that was my incentive to do it and apply. Over the course of camp, I dedicated the entire month of July on my weekends applying for the visa, as we didn’t have much WiFi, I waited for the weekend to use the only building on day camp to get all my paperwork done, I even had one of my camp friends take professional photos of me for the visa.
Once I submitted my application I was eager to see if it had got accepted. It was quick, not a day later I checked my emails and I received one saying I got the visa! I was absolutely buzzing and so excited for this new chapter in my life. Next was finding a job. I started looking on Facebook backpacker groups and indeed for jobs in Banff, I wasn’t too worried about what I’d actually do for a job, just something that could keep paying the bills and adventures.
July turned into August and I enjoyed the rest of my summer at camp, making some incredible memories and truly wonderful friends. I couldn’t believe it was already my third summer there, it was my home once again for nine magical weeks and in such a small amount of time I’d learnt so much and ultimately, helped a whole heap of kids have the best summer ever! My two best friends Aine and Molly made an appearance for the last two weeks volunteering on the resident camp side. It was so good to have them both there, the banter was back and we were so ready for new experiences together. Everyone at camp spent the last day at “campchella” and we all had such an awesome day with the kids for one last time. Packing everything up and saying the last goodbyes was never easy, I was never ready for the summer to end!
It wasn’t really the end though as Aine, Alex, Molly and I had a road trip planned for a week to explore around Maine and New Hampshire. We stayed at Alex’s house for a few days after camp before our roadtrip. We did a hike around Blue Hills Reservation with Alex’s mum, Kelly, which was so much fun and went to get coffee from Mary Lou’s every day. An inside joke was born whilst the three of us stayed at Alex’s house… something we still quote to this day.
We borrowed some camping gear from camp, got the car packed and was off, Alex driving her famous Jeep at the time. The trip up to Maine consisted of lots of music with Khalid, French Montana and Frank Ocean on repeat. We got to Greenwood where we stayed in this stunning and rustic Airbnb called “Bob’s Chalet” it was absolutely massive! Even though our intention was to explore, the only thing we did was visit the World’s Largest Telephone near Bryant Pond as we ended up spending the whole time making the most of Bob’s Chalet, chatting and laughing away for hours. There was a big balcony with hammocks to chill in and get incredible views. I’d never stayed in a place so peaceful and unique.
We then drove down to New Hampshire and camped for two nights in the White Mountains. It was one of the coolest campsites I’d ever been on, it was enormous as there were both upper and lower campsites. There was a little community too and a house that people could visit for WiFi, to cook food, get water and just to chill out. After setting up camp for our first night, we were really in the middle of nowhere and our views were spectacular. We explored around the White Mountains, did a few hikes and of course cooked our food on the fire at night. Our second night we moved down to the lower campsite and had another fire and chilled out for the night. I also had a FaceTime interview for a job in Banff at a hotel as a housekeeper. With the job I got staff accommodation which I was so thankful for and after a successful interview, I’d secured a job and place to stay! Hell yes!
We got back into Boston after the roadtrip of a lifetime. We returned the camping gear, said goodbye to Alex and made our way to New York City for a few more nights. The three of us stayed in the Bronx and our accommodation was interesting to say the least. It was in someone’s apartment, one room with a double bed. New York City in August time is sweltering hot and the thought of the three of us sharing this one double bed was comical. After arriving at our Airbnb, our host (male) took us outside the apartment after welcoming us and gave a tour around the neighbourhood of the Bronx. As three females travelling together, it definitely took us by surprise and had us slightly worried at the time as this was something we’d never experienced before at an Airbnb. Thankfully the man was just very nice and wanted to show us around! We spent so much time walking around different places such as Times Square, around Brooklyn and over the Brooklyn Bridge, around Wall Street and Central Park, seeing the Empire State Building, the Met and paying our respects at the World Trade Centre. One memory we never forget is having a group of rats run at our feet just as we’d sat down in a park after walking over the Brooklyn Bridge! The true NYC experience. I always loved visiting New York City was always just so grateful to be there and soak it all in.
Aine and I left Molly in New York City, and we flew back to England. I visited my friend Poppy, who was a life guard with me at camp this summer just gone, for a night in Swindon which I loved! We were obsessed with pesto pasta which we made for tea whilst I was there and I got to spend time with her, her mum Sheila and some of their family friends which I was unbelievably grateful for. I then headed back to my Aunty and Uncle’s house in Great Yarmouth for a week, lazing around on the beach and soaking up all the sun I could. Aine and Molly were so happy for me for the fact I’d gotten my visa and job for Canada, Molly also made her way back to England and we decided as a spontaneous last trip before I left to visit Aalborg in Northern Denmark for two nights.
We flew into Aalborg and made our way to the Airbnb we were staying at, it was such a peaceful and quiet city, especially in comparison to New York where we’d just been not two weeks ago. This was the second place in Europe I’d visited and we clocked some serious mileage exploring around the city. We walked over this massive bridge called ‘Limfjordsbroen’ to get into the main hub of the city, where we got spectacular views of the harbour and all the boats on the way. I was so impressed by the different architecture as we adventured around. The atmosphere too, felt so comfortable and relaxing. We also found this music park called DeSyngende Træer Park (Park of Music) which was awesome to come across. We came to learn that the trees around the park were planted by singers and bands that visited the city and the trees were accompanied by pillars that played songs of the person/ band that planted it! One thing about Aine, Molly and I is that we can walk or sit for hours and chat about anything and everything. We found a pub that we ended up sitting in for a few hours playing card games and laughing the day away and later on also wandered around a cheese and wine market that caught our eye. Those two nights went way too fast and before we knew it, we were at the airport waiting for our flight back to London. Luckily enough, RyanAir was celebrating their 50th anniversary and to our surprise, we got welcomed with free food, tea, coffee and cake to celebrate before our flight! They even had a massive chess board which we played whilst waiting for our flight.
I only had a bit of time left in England before jetting off to start life in Banff, not knowing what the future was going to hold. I couldn’t wait! I’d felt like my life had been pushed into fast mode and time was flying by, I kept making a conscious effort to be present and thankful for every opportunity that popped up. This is what I’d been dreaming about and I was finally living it.
Stay tuned for my next post. If you ever have any questions, feel free to DM me on my instagram: the_runawayredhead.
And in the famous words of Molly “Wonderful, cya!”
The Runaway Redhead
