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(28/55) Japan is one of the few places I have expe

(28/55) Japan is one of the few places I have experienced culture shock. I was planning a 6-week trip to South East Asia for the winter but I bought a plane ticket from Toronto to Tokyo because it was a crazy deal, and I was going to visit my cousin at the end of the trip. The flight was super disorienting because it left mid-day, but the time difference was exactly 12 hours so I ended up just missing a night sleep. I arrived in Tokyo tired and confused, and attempted to navigate my way around the most confusing subway system I’ve ever encountered. Needless to say, I arrived at the hostel hours later. Despite this being one of the worst things you can do for jet lag, I immediately went to sleep. The name of the hostel was bedgasm and it was honestly one of the comfiest hostel beds I’ve ever came across haha. The next day I woke up feeling a huge pit of anxiety in my stomach. Typically when I arrive in a place I am jumping with excitement to go explore, but I had to force myself out of the hostel that day. I felt paralyzed to move and I just wanted to be in the comfort of my home where the toilets weren’t singing at me (okay I actually liked that). I was still exhausted and confused from the time difference/travel, and terrified of the public transit system. I was annoyed at myself because I wanted to be experiencing robot fights, sushi trains, and all that other weird and wonderful Japanese stuff. But all I could do was muster up the energy to go walk around my local area. Luckily for me, I wasn’t far from Sensoji Temple. I still managed to get lost along the way, but once I got there I just stood in amazement; watching the locals line up to pray, feeling a wave of calm come over me. Although I had a list of about 20 things I wanted to see in Tokyo that day, it felt like a huge accomplishment to have just gotten that one. On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at a cat cafe because I missed my cat so much haha. It wasn’t the perfect day in Tokyo, but it got me moving. Have you ever experienced culture shock before?

(27/55) When I saw that the next country up was Pe

(27/55) When I saw that the next country up was Peru, my heart skipped a beat. My trip to Peru in 2016 is one of my favourites ever. It was the first time I did two very important things: Go to South America, and hike a multi-day trail. I knew I was in love with South America before I ever stepped foot on the continent, and that trip only solidified those feelings for me. What I didn’t know was how much I would love multi-day treks. Hiking the Inca trail was something I always dreamed of doing, and even though I booked it six months in advance of going, truthfully I didn’t train myself as much as I should have. Despite me being out of shape and my hiking buddy falling out of a window in Peru the week before our trek, we still managed to complete it, against all odds. The moment captured in this picture is one I’ll never forget. They say that the second day of the Inca trail is the hardest because it’s a constant climb to the highest point of the trek, dead woman’s pass (encouraging right). It’s the highest elevation point of the trek at 4,215 m high, which is nearly 1,800 higher than Machu Picchu itself. While this day was by no means easy, I actually found the third day the most difficult. My legs were so exhausted from the day before, and the weather outside was miserable. I remember our guide telling us that this day was the most beautiful of them all, but I couldn’t see two feet in front of me. It was nearing the end of the day and I had fallen behind most of the group. I was feeling quite discouraged, so I sat down to take a break. A few minutes later the clouds started to break up and you could see the landscape for the first time that day, and suddenly nothing else in the world mattered. I was glad that I had fallen behind everyone else, because I had this beautiful piece of the world all to myself. With all this time I’ve been thinking about everything I want to spend more time doing, and multi-day hikes is definitely one of them. Have you ever done one before? Share where and let’s inspire each others future travels!

(26/55) Other dreamy places to spend a night: slee

(26/55) Other dreamy places to spend a night: sleeping in hammocks on a remote island. My time in Panama seems to be synonymous with islands. The first time I came here was a week on Bocas del Torro, and the second led me to the incredible San Blas islands. If you’re traveling between Panama and Colombia, you can fly, or you can take a boat trip through the San Blas Islands. I highly recommend the latter. There are 365 islands and cays to explore, mostly uninhabited. We spent four days island hopping between them all the way to Colombia. No electricity, no Wi-Fi. Just endless beaches, coconuts, fresh fish, and some pretty spectacular coral reefs to explore. What else do you need?

(25/55) What’s the best place you’ve ever spen

(25/55) What’s the best place you’ve ever spent a night camping? . For me it has to be on top of Acatenango Volcano in Guatemala. The first time I went to Guatemala was on that same trip to Belize, but I only had enough time to visit Tikal. I met these backpackers who told me they were going to Antigua to do this overnight hike where you could watch a volcano explode. I had to go back to work in Canada and was crushed I couldn’t join. The idea of that volcano hike infiltrated my mind and never left. Fast forward less then two years later and I had finally gotten approval to take a year off of my job. I could have started anywhere in the world but that volcano was calling me, so I booked a one-way flight to Guatemala. It also happened to be a very cheap flight 🙂 . It was only the second day of my trip and I was on top of a volcano camping, watching another one explore in the mist of a beautiful sunset. I will NEVER forget that moment. I couldn’t believe that after so much day dreaming and planning, that I was finally traveling the world for a year. I knew there were so many more adventures coming my way, and that this was only the start of something amazing. It was the best feeling in the world.

(24/55) Takin it Belizey 🍹 . There are many re

(24/55) Takin it Belizey 🍹 . There are many reasons to love Belize, but for me it’s because it’s the place that inspired me to become a diver. The first time I went to Belize in 2016 I had barely been snorkeling let alone diving and was terrified of the water. I met a local who offered to take me ‘snuba diving’ which is a cross between diving and snorkelling that you can do without being certified. It was my first time seeing the underwater world below a few feet and I was HOOKED. I didn’t have time to become certified on the trip but I made a promise to myself that the next time I came back to Belize I would be a diver. I kept that promise and three years later I returned not only dive certified, but with my advanced and dozens of dives under my belt. This meant I was able to dive the famous blue hole where you go 40m underwater. It was completely surreal experience to look back on how far I’d come being terrified to go a few feet under water to diving to the depths of the earth. Diving is without a doubt one of the best things I’ve ever learned to do and I can’t wait to explore more of the underwater world! Have you been diving before?

(23/55) That time I got Chichén Itza to myself 😍 . We were road tripping around the Yucatan and in typical Lora fashion, I planned way too much into the itinerary for a day. After spending the afternoon swimming in one of Mexico’s beautiful cenotes, we realized we were barely going to make it to Chichen Itza before the last entrance time. But it couldn’t have worked out better, because by the time we got there all the big tour groups had left. There were only a few tourists left walking around, leaving the most beautiful pyramids I have ever seen to myself. Of course I tried to stay until the very last possible moment, testing the patience of the security guard. I can’t imagine having gotten such nice photos had we showed up a few hours before! . Have you ever had a travel fail turn into a travel win?

(22/55) Back to travel stories! So I was in Helsin

(22/55) Back to travel stories! So I was in Helsinki, but after having my life savings drained in Iceland the week before it was just too expensive to stay. 😂 I heard that you could get to Estonia via a two-hour boat and that it was much cheaper there. So we hopped on the ferry and arrived in Tallinn a few hours later. I immediately fell in love. With it’s medieval charm, walking around Old Town Tallinn feels like you’re in a fairytale. It’s the perfect place to get lost wandering around, with all the small alleys, courtyards, and winding side streets. But funny story about the streets… We went out one night on a pub crawl in Tallinn which went on to the wee hours of the morning. Eventually I got tired and decided to walk back to the hostel. It wasn’t far, but along the way my phone died. Now I have no sense of direction on a good day, let alone at night in an ancient walled city. I legit spent HOURS walking around Tallinn that night, until the sun came up and a local kindly pointed me to my hostel, which was embarrassingly close to where I was 😳 . Have you ever gotten completely lost in a city before?

(21/55) My visit to Finland was short and sweet. F

(21/55) My visit to Finland was short and sweet. Funny enough, I had bought round-trip tickets to Helsinki on a great deal, but ended up spending most of that trip on a free layover in Iceland and in another country nearby (but that’s a story for tomorrow) . And even while I was meant to be in Helsinki, I ended up on this little island just a short ferry ride away. Suomenlinna, the ‘fortress of Finland’, was built in the 18th century and used throughout history as a fortress during times of war. Today, it’s a UNESCO world heritage site and a popular place to day trip from Helsinki. You can also spend the night here which I recommend - the sunsets are just lovely. I’d love to go back to Finland and explore it more, especially the Northern regions. Did you know Finland was ranked the best country to visit for wildlife in 2019?

(20/55) This is the story of how Iceland went from

(20/55) This is the story of how Iceland went from being my favourite country in the world to least. The first time I came here was on a road trip in 2015. We spent a week driving around the country and I fell head over heals in love with it. I’m a huge nature lover so to be able to drive from waterfalls to geysers, volcanoes, and glaciers within a matter of hours.. well, that’s my version of heaven. When people asked me where my favourite country was, I would promptly respond with Iceland. I wanted to go somewhere special for my 30th birthday last year so I planned a trip back to Iceland with friends. To be honest, the trip was cursed from the beginning. We had our first flights cancelled on us because of wow airlines going under. After buying new tickets for double the price, my friends missed their flight and had to buy a third set of tickets because Icelandair doesn’t have a rebooking policy for missed flights. We were finally all in Iceland and all was well for a few days until the night of my birthday. We went out to a music festival and came back to our Airbnb only to find someone had broken in and stolen all our belongings (laptops, cameras, drone, ect.). In a decade of traveling nothing like this has ever happened to me, so to have it happen in the country that’s been ranked the safest in the world for the last 11 years was just a slap in the face. The cherry on the cake was a few weeks later I received an email from the Iceland police. I thought oh great, maybe they found our stuff. Nope. It was an 800 Euro ticket for speeding. I’ve never been so rejected from a country before 😂 I’ve accepted what’s happened but I can’t say that Iceland is the first country that comes to mind when people ask me what my favorite is anymore. That said... Iceland does have some pretty magical waterfalls. 😛

(19/55) One of my favourite places on earth - Cost

(19/55) One of my favourite places on earth - Costa Rica. In the winter of 2015 I did a road trip around Costa Rica with @sgsilva2000. I had never been to Latin America before and was completely taken aback but by the beauty of the country and the presence of so much wildlife. It was this country that sparked my passion for traveling this region of the world and for that reason it will always have a special place in my heart. I like Costa Rica so much that I’ve been back three times since! This past January I did another incredible waterfall themed road trip with @ioanasbucketlist (road tripping is the best way to get around Costa Rica). At the time, neither of us had any idea what was coming to the world of travel. Looking back on how much freedom we had then, it feels like a different world. I feel grateful to have gotten some travel in during 2020 and am forever dreaming of chasing waterfalls again. Ps. How beautiful is this waterfall?! It’s Rio Celeste near La Fortuna. The magical blue colour comes from mixture of sediments from the meeting of two different rivers nearby. It really looks that blue! 📸: @ioanasbucketlist

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