Oh Canada. For 3 days and 3 nights.

Almost two years ago, I was sitting in the basement of my mother-in-law’s house in Germany, discussing with my husband which country we should try next.

US – can’t go there (that’s why we were in Germany)
Belize – too hot. And other issues.
Stay in Germany – too restrictive

Where else could we go? Well, we had heard glowing reports of Montreal, as well as other parts of Canada. (Relatively) cheap housing, easy (or at least time-consuming) immigration, job demand even for immigrants. Good idea. Let’s try it out.

So we bought our tickets. Franfurt to Montreal. Perfect. We started planning where to stay until we found a permanent place. And then (only then) we started looking at the weather report. Did you know that Montreal has the same average winter temperature as St. Petersburg, Russia? Brrr….

Hmm… big problem. Germany was having a very mild winter that year, but I was already freezing my butt off (hubby, too!) We were going on long walks with the family, wearing 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, double socks, plus hat, scarf, gloves, etc. It was horrible! And that was “mild”? Montreal was apparently colder. And what about heating costs? Maybe it’s not going to be so cheap. Panic!

Then we remembered our Canadian friend in Belize. From Victoria. Listening to her, Victoria and BC in general = Heaven. Mild climate, amazing restaurants, lots of music and culture. On the coast, great shopping. Lots of suburbs around. What else could you want? We looked at housing listings. Oooh…quite a bit more than Montreal. But of course they don’t list EVERYTHING online. The good deals are often in the local papers, or just advertised locally. Right?

At this point, we had spent all the money we had on the flight (not to mention my and my son’s flight to Germany), with no possibility of making an extra $1000 or so in the month we had before our flight. We had even borrowed from my father-in-law. We could swing a couple hundred, maybe, but that was it.

I found a great deal. Greyhound had a special that if you started or ended your trip in the US you could ride just about anywhere for $99 US. Awesome! So for $300, we could go from Montreal to Vancouver, BC., taking the ferry to Victoria. We ordered tickets for Montreal to Vancouver, WA. There was a bus change to go from BC to WA, and we would just get our bags and not change busses. Brilliant.

But what does that mean, exactly? Montreal to Vancouver. It means 3 days and 3 nights. On a Greyhound bus. No showers, no beds. But it would be a great way to see the country. We were crazy, but we’ve been crazier before (Belize? With an outhouse?). We could handle this.

And we did. We had one night in a Montreal hotel, from which I had hoped to walk to a grocery store. I didn’t make it. We were in the middle of nowhere (I hadn’t figured out the bus system at this time). So armed with a huge loaf of the coarse, sturdy German hausbrot, packets of peanut butter and strawberry jam from the hotel, and a bit of pocket money to buy the occassional burger and fries or chicken strips at A & W to split up in sandwiches, we started on our journey.

Was it fun? At times. We had a bag full of toys, books and games for my son. But he spent the majority of his time looking at the window at the miles and miles of snow covering Canada until we passed the Rocky Mountains in the night, and playing with children along the way. Was it uncomfortable? Not as much as you would think. For most of the way the bus was almost empty and there was plenty of room to spread out. Was it crazy? Definitely not the craziest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s up in the top 10. Was it worth it? I think so. How many of us have taken a trip like that, and seen so much of a country? Granted, we only got glimpses, and our impressions were mostly from A&W’s, truck stops, and weird bus travelers like ourselves. But I started to think that Canada was a country of open-minded, interesting individuals who were more likely to ask you “where you from, eh?” in a nice tone of voice rather than yell “Go home Yank!”. And I got that impression throughout our stay, although It might be a bit skewed. We ended up WWOOFing, and that lands you with some fantastic people who are not at all typical.

To make a long story short, we did not stay in Victoria. It is a beautiful, fun, amazing city, but it is known for some of the highest rents in Canada. Hmm… But WWOOFing really saved our butts. Free rent, and organic produce? Any day. We’re back in Europe now. France this time, but we still like to quote my son, as he woke up in the middle of the night several times on the bus and groggily asked “What province are we in?” That’s the question all right.

photo credit: Kevin_P on morguefile.com