Toronto—On Time
Traveling abroad as a solo female traveller will excite every cell of your body. You’ll feel it the moment you book your one-way ticket, your heart fluttering as you click “complete”. This is where the slow travel journey begins and a “new you” emerges. There’s a certain type of person who will pick up the call and start traveling abroad not for a vacation, but for true personal expansion. One who seeks transformation by being immersed in new places, new relationships, rich culture, language, and adventure through slow traveling. This is the life-changing impact of slow traveling and exactly what I experienced as a solo female traveller, abroad for the first time. It all started with a one-way ticket overseas….
By Robin Who
I’m at Venice airport, standing in front of the Departure screens.
My 23 kg luggage is already on its way to the plane, and I’m left with my small backpack. Computer, notebook, passport and wallet. I’m ready to go. One-way, no return.
I feel the other side of the ocean calling me, and I’m excited to answer. So many thoughts are going through my head.
“What if I don’t like it there?” “What if I don’t meet anyone?”
“What am I doing with my life?”
That was me, 5 and a half years ago. And luckily, I decided to shake those thoughts and the sadness of goodbyes away.
Shortly after, at a bar with my tramezzino, I started to concentrate on my feelings instead. When thinking about landing in Toronto, I felt shivers of joy in my heart and a burning fire filling my body with endorphins. It had to mean something.
I couldn’t explain why I chose Canada. I wasn’t sure it was the right choice either. I had finished my studies, I had my friends and liked working in events in Italy. I got to spend time with my family after time abroad. So, why leave? It almost made no sense. It’s easier to continue in a country, especially job-wise. But there was something stronger that was pulling me, once more, abroad. This time without a finish line. I had NO idea what would happen. I just knew I wanted to experience life and see more of the world. Well, I wanted to see the whole world so choosing where to go was not an easy decision. All I knew is that it would make me grow as a person. I never saw traveling long-term as “escaping”. Sometimes it's simply what you need to grow. To find new versions of your true self and feel whole. We're blind to the different options, and the possible outcomes when we stay stagnant in an environment. Human nature is to be curious, evolve, and seek clarity and purpose. The thought of a new chapter was making my inner fire burn so intensely that I decided to start somewhere and commit to how I felt.
So, I made it happen. I worked several jobs to save money for the working holiday visa, the flights and my first month there in hostels. My plan was to find a job and a room once there and see what happened. My idea was ‘to follow the sun’ and go from Canada to Australia ( I was scared of Canadian winters). Did I know how it would all unfold once in Canada? Of course not.
Spoiler: I never went to Australia (not yet, I will of course at some point!). Life took a different turn and I wouldn’t change any of it.
The first couple of months in Canada, it was crazy. I landed, got to the hostel, met the first people on this journey and went out with them. The day after I took a walk around the city and I remember thinking “This is not exactly how I expected it. I thought it would be….more”.
Meanwhile, I had to find a job to survive. By the third day, I’d printed my CV, having set up my social security number and phone, and I started applying everywhere. I applied in person at restaurants and bars to find a job to get by and online for jobs I wanted for my career. One thing moving has taught me is that the first months are always the toughest, especially work wise (unless you already have a job to go to). I found companies wanted local experience, something I did not possess. So, I started off working three jobs in hospitality and events before I landed a supervisor position at a ski resort. That’s what I had to have, there was no other choice.
And even though it was tough and not what I expected—what made me stay was the people I’d met. The friendships and connections turned that ‘meh’ city into a city that will always have a place in my heart. Full of memories.
After one year in Canada, I took a break and then a job brought me back. I struggled with visa situations and understanding how all of that worked. But, now I’m an immigrant in Canada. My new base. My home for three years. That was not the plan at all!
The unknown brought me here. It even brought me a job I’m passionate about and which gives me the freedom I want: I’m now a travel coach and a language educator sharing my experiences with other women ready to set off on their own journeys.
The truth is, when you commit to this kind of bold move, you are taking a leap. Trusting yourself more than anything. Booking a one-way ticket has a lot of stigma around it, a stigma I chose not to believe in.
I saw travelers as free-spirited beings, ready to absorb the world. And not as people escaping problems or real life. What I’ve learnt is that real travelers create and enhance their lives through their travels. Sure, sometimes it can be part of a healing process, but it is not an escape from life.
If anything, adventuring on a new chapter, knowing only your first destination and not much else, is embracing life at its finest: the present moment.
But we always have those fears when booking a one-way ticket. That day 5 years ago was not my first one-way ticket and yet those thoughts were crossing my mind, especially closer to the actual departure day.
Questioning the unknown is natural, even as a seasoned traveller or as a nomad. It’s human nature. Throwing yourself into the unknown is not easy. What you learn by doing it, is simply taking control of those fears and choosing to be curious instead of scared. Bravery comes with learning to go through fear and overcome it. It’s not the absence of fear.
Life isn’t a straight line. It’s many roads, in many directions. Sometimes they even take us backwards. But one thing is certain. At each new crossroad we reach, we are a different version of ourselves. Because experiences change us, and our perspectives. How we feel about the world and about ourselves. That’s the power of traveling. That’s the self-growth and development hidden behind that one-way ticket.
Do I know where I will be in 5 years? No. I hate that question. None of us has the actual answer and to be honest—let it be so. It would be so boring to know exactly what happens in our lives.
The only thing we can do is accept that time goes by and the only control we have is what we do with that time. We are the pilots.
So, I invite all of the beautiful life—loving soulful women out there to take the leap. To trust your burning inner fire. Because I know it will be transformational for you. Because that’s what your next chapter title is supposed to say.
