I’ve never traveled alone before—I’ve only ever traveled with family. You see, earlier this school year my cousins moved to Montreal, which is only a six hour bus ride away from where I live. Then earlier this month I had my reading week and thought, “Why the hell not?” and booked a ticket to spend the week with them.
I’m one who likes to get shit done early. As soon as I want something or I want to do something I get impatient and do it…my family is the complete opposite so it took a while for me to finally get the carry ons that my mom hid away. But, once I got them I realised something very important—I suck at minimizing space when packing. Sure I’m good at packing light but somehow my clothes end up taking up all the space in my bag even though they weren’t bulky clothing. Don’t ask me how that happened because I have no idea.
Anyways, I took this trip using Megabus and if you’re going to take a long trip with them I’d recommend springing for a reserved seat with a table unlike me because those have a lot more legroom than the general seats. Also, it’s good if you are taking a bag with you on the bus. Trust me, you do not wanna have to contort your body to fit.
Also I made the dumbass decision of wearing my heeled boots instead of the sneakers I packed away. Don’t do that, especially if you’re going somewhere similar to Montreal with a lot of hills and cobblestones. Walking from the bus to the car picking me up was insane even though I only had to cross a street. You do not want that to be the first thing your feet experience.
Like I said earlier, I ended up staying with my uncle’s family who just moved to Canada. He still lives out of the country for work so it was just his wife and two kids and now me. First of all, can I just say the even though it is the same country and only six hours away, Montreal and Toronto are very different. My first thought was “Where is everyone?” It’s odd. Not a whole lot of people walk around there and while here I can look out my window and see people everywhere, I can’t do that there. Everyone was inside or they were driving. Oh, and if you’re planning on going anywhere too far to walk, get a bus pass. I got the one with ten trips available on it.
Okay listen, I’m a total oddball in my family because I don’t eat meat. I was vegan but I switched over to pescatarian. That’s another story. Anyways, everyone in my family—basically every Lebanese person or even Muslim that I know—eats meat. They all eat animal products except for pork or gelatin from an animal. In short, people other than my immediate family is not used to my diet at all. But they really did try hard and the food was so good. They got my plant eating stamp of approval.
Another thing: if you don’t speak French, that’s fine. Most people, if not everyone, speaks English. Except for this one girl who looked very confused after I tried to apologize after stepping on her foot in my heels and then forgetting the word for ‘sorry’ in French. Oh well. It’s fine.
All in all I had a lot of fun. Montreal actually felt and looked like fall, I met a cool chick on the bus ride back and we talked about books and her tattoo, I ate a shit ton of good food, and I got to go somewhere new and see some great sites (@zeinab_jawad on Instagram).
Let me just leave you with some final tips that I have learned:
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Bring snacks and a drink with you on the bus. I was starving and my throat was so dry on the road.
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Download some songs for the ride. I use Spotify and I don’t have premium or data because I am so used to having wifi everywhere I go.
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Bring a book. Megabus says they have wifi on the bus but it never works. I took Motley Crue: The Dirt and, I have to say, that book was enough to entertain me the whole ride. It was disgusting and full of entertaining stories.
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Bring sunglasses for the ride. I don’t know about you but moving vehicles always lull me to sleep and you do not want to wake up to the sun blinding you.
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Bring your skincare supplies. No matter what, after spending hours on a moving vehicle whether that be a plane, a bus,or a boat your skin will dry out. At least mine did. I think it had to do with the A/C being on.
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Speaking of the A/C, turn it on from the beginning of the ride. It will get hot and the A/C isn’t all that great on a bus so you might as well get it right at the beginning. And if you’re one of the lucky ones without someone sitting beside you turn the one meant for the other seat towards you too. Trust me, it is hot and stuffy and you’ll need it.
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If you’re going to wear heels, make sure they’re comfortable. You remember the boots I mentioned earlier? I wore them on a hike. In my defense I did not know that where we were going was a hike and neither did my uncle’s wife. But it’s fine. They went with my outfit, I got great pictures, and my feet survived. What more could you want?
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And lastly, don’t forget your bras! I forgot mine and didn’t realise until the next day I came back and asked my mom where she put all my bras. I apparently forgot them all back in Montreal and had to buy some new ones. Yeah…don’t be me. Remember your stuff.
Even though my first “solo” trip wasn’t really completely solo I still consider it to be one. It was my first time going anywhere out of the city alone and staying somewhere I have never been before. I would definitely recommend going to Montreal if you get the chance. It’s like little France with its many cafés and old cathedrals. Old Montreal is all cobblestones and people singing on street corners. Someone was playing over the rainbow in the subway and I was a very happy girl. My tip is to get out of your comfort zone and get out of your area. Go and see something new.