Life In Montreal – EdventureGirl

Well, I have my customary cup of writing tea (Earl Grey) to the right and my haggard old laptop flipped open with this lovely old blog on the screen again. I know it has been a few years. I lost the itch to write during COVID, since it felt like there was not much worth writing about. You know how we all fell into that weird grind of sourdough bread, long naps, existential crises, and dwindling savings accounts? Or no savings account at all, in my case. Some folks found that crunch to be a great inspiration for writing, but my little brain shut up tight like a clam while I focused on my next steps.

I won’t bore you too much with some long-winded recap of the past few years, but here are the highlights:

I moved to Ottawa and spent about three years there making friends and spending time with a lovely partner
I’m still playing instruments and trying new things
My writing work came to a screeching halt during the pandemic and I turned my attention fully to building websites
I launched a business that flopped
I relaunched a similar business after many tweaks – it flew!
I got a “real” job for the first time – thank god for this new love of remote work in the corporate world! It’s fun to have a steady income without sacrificing my location independence
I got another sweet hedgehog and my dream cat
Traveled to two new countries – Jordan and the UAE – visited the border of Palestine, but could not enter as it is currently under occupation
Had about a million doctor appointments and a couple of ER visits as I sorted out my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome symptoms
I left Ottawa (and the partner) and set up a new life in Montreal this past summer

… and that really is just about it. Time has been weird since I turned about 25. It’s speeding up, but the days all kind of mush together into a messy, beautiful haze. Lately, I find myself missing this writing space and really enjoying reading back on old posts. I’ll work on posting more frequently again. How many years can we take this thing?

My Little Life in Montreal

These days, I find myself in my new apartment – my very first 100% MINE apartment – still feeling as giddy as a kid and not-very-adult-at-all despite hitting this milestone.

Does it feel weird to be settling into a nest for the next few years? Yeah.

Is it also the most exciting thing I’ve done in a while? Absolutely.

I fell in love with this apartment the moment I saw the kitchen cubby with its massive window, which looks out on the dome of a neon-cross-topped basilica and a steep, forested hill. Within seconds, visions of a pink & green dream apartment filled my mind. I moved in just a few weeks later, hauling some second-hand furniture kindly donated by my ex and a massive beanbag that barely fit in the U-Haul.

It’s funny how those little “welcome to adulthood” moments never really stop hitting you. When I was 18, it was the realization that someone had to actually stock the house with toilet paper and cleaning supplies (somehow didn’t realize this until I was stranded in a shitty moment). At 24, I about fainted in Ikea upon learning that a CHEAP couch costs 2K+. This year, it was the sudden slap of reality that my dream apartment wasn’t going to magically manifest out of nowhere, and YES, throw pillows really do cost $30 a pop these days.

Holy $$$, my guys.

Because I’ve never stocked a house with the intention of staying for more than about a year at a time, I’ve never taken decorating too seriously. I had no clue that it cost this much. Naive, yeah? But hey, you don’t know what you don’t know. I’m still worldschooling out here.

Over the past six months, building my Rainbow Nest has been my favorite project. I painted one whole wall with a green and white line-art plant mural. The bathroom used to be freakishly white, but now it pops blue and orange with a surfer theme and a toothbrush holder that looks like an actual tooth. Plants seem to be propagating themselves and taking over every nook and cranny. A cat tree with a sleepy orange teen cat has shot up next to the big window overlooking the city. I even put up a real Christmas tree this year, another first for me in my own place. There have been so many firsts, friends. My next project is an aquarium set up with a cheapo diamond-shaped 30-gallon tank I found on FB marketplace, then maybe a gallery wall and some new curtains.

There’s no moral to this blog post, really, but I guess one takeaway is the obvious one: life can be SO GOOD and full of learning moments, whether you’re living the road life or living at home. Adventure is all around us – all of us – and we’re all moving in our own seasons. I understand the concepts of privilege and I recognize that we’re not all standing on the same bucket to see over the proverbial fence – but my point is that I encourage you to find these joyful adventurous moments and build beauty for yourself and your neighbors whether you’re traveling, living at home, pursuing activism, or taking a rest. There’s no pressure to be or do more. The light is right where you’re already standing. <3