MadLil'Duck

I think I won't be visiting Canada during winter then

Snow...I like...just not over here and mainly for ski trips And I don't think I'll ever visit Canada just to ski.

If it snows in Belgium, I pray it is on a Friday evening, stays snowy on Saturday and then the gets all of Sunday (duh that's what the name stands for ) to make sure I can go to work snow-free on Monday
Weather hardly ever does as I hope, so I do get my icy-moments too. Same problem with the melting snow and frozen ground over here. I am always very lucky that I never break anything. Then again I can't complain, our winters are nothing like yours

Climate change is a huge problem. I do believe we need to change a lot to help the earth recover. I am however also skeptic and I do believe in reoccurring natural phenomena...Albeit somewhat more outspoken due to human interventions

sunnykerr

I wouldn't recommend visiting Canada during out winter, except maybe for people who really like winter and nature pursuits, because then those people would probably have a very special experience they wouldn't be able to have anywhere else. Otherwise, there's nothing particularly wrong with our winters, except of course that it does get crazy cold here, but I don't feel like there's much for a visitor to see or do. We all hunker down for the duration and focus on family.

I mean, sure, there's probably great skiing to be done, but I'm sure we're not unique there either.

Your praying for snowfall on Friday night that has all melted away on Sunday reminds me of my "praying" for snow for Christmas. When I was a kid, it wasn't even in question that we'd have snow for Christmas, so a white Christmas is the Christmas I grew up with But, with climate change, it happens more and more that we have "green" Christmases. I'm not a fan of snow and ice, so I usually wish for snow to fall of December 24 and have melted on December 26.

What you're describing as skepticism is basically the consensus of the global scientific community. Yes, there are natural cycles that would happen anyway, where the earth would get warmer/colder in alternation. But human action has made it so the changes are happening exponentionally faster than is normal. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. The planet will survive, whatever happens. It's human existence on the planet that is compromised.

livstevi21

God I miss travelling so much.

MadLil'Duck

Sunny what you don't see for the visitors, is exactly what they do see
Sometimes I do wonder why tourists come to my city, but then again, when they tell me why they come I do get it. And that's the same with reasons why I would like to visit Canada. You might think "nah, nothing to see or do" and I would be in awe of many things I do get to see.

Livstevi21 I get that but soon...Things are bound to get back to normal soon...

sunnykerr

I get that, Marijke. I do. I know people who don't live here every day will marvel at something that seems quite boring to people who do live here. The thing I'm trying to communicate here is that, with the exception of winter sports and I guess winter panoramas, there still isn't a whole lot to do here in winter.

I get the novelty of seeing everything under two feet of snow, but what are you supposed to do with that?

There are hockey games aplenty, but again once you've seen the one...

In summer, heck even in spring through to fall, we have festivals, there are amusement parks, wilderness trekking if you're into that sort of thing, museums (although I suppose they're also open in winter, but they have outdoor exhibits in summer as well), all matter of food extravaganzas... Well, when there isn't a pandemic on anyway.

Montreal, Quebec City, thr province as a whole and Canada in general will always have to offer whatever makes it attractive to tourists. I get that. But we who live here just put on a better show when we're not hunkered down for the duration.

MadLil'Duck

Those hockey games, do they have them in spring or summer too?
Because I can put that on the to-do-list too.

I love visits in spring/summer. I look at a lot of pictures from countries before trips, but I tend to choose winter or fall shots, because than you can be flabbergasted with how it looks all green and fresh Am I weird in that way?!

When I was 10 until my 13 we went skiing in Slovakia, near Bratislava, and it is my goal to visit the same region in spring/summer the next time I go there.
I am also more of the "never do the same trip more than once"-kind of woman when it comes to travelling abroad.
At least now I am, my parents did Slovakia 3 times with me, so there are exceptions

I do hope to see a lot of places before I am no longer able to

sunnykerr

The hockey season does not go into summer. In summer, you might catch grass hockey games, played outside in a park. But for the arena experience, the play-offs are usually in the spring and then it's over till fall. So whether you can catch a game will depend on if certain teams are still in the running... That could also mean tickets are more expensive, though.

I don't think it's weird to want to get the lay of the land by looking at snowy pictures, but also leaving yourself room to be surprised like that. Me, I have a lot of anxiety when I don't know precisely what I'm getting into, so I would need pictures of exactly what I'm gonna see, but I can see how that works for you as well.

See, where you're a "never travel twice to the same place" person, I know I could easily be a "travel to the exact same place each and every time" sort of person. Because I really do get anxious when I don't know what will happen. I'm open to some differences and changes, though. I'm just saying it's very reassuring for me when I know what's going to happen.

Maybe that would make me the ideal cruise customer. Same boat, different itineraries. Same, but different.

MadLil'Duck

I get the anxiety too That's a reason of my "look at the pictures"-strategy
I do like to see a lot of new things, but I need some fixed images too .
That's why I always do Google Street View, when I have to drive somewhere.
Just to know what the neighborhood looks like.

A cruise would be good in case of the anxiety. It's a traveling/floating hotel so the room stays the same. And if you know where the ship docks - you can look up a lot of things beforehand.

I have been a little absent because we did some "city-tripping" and playground exploring in our own town We found out there are 38 playgrounds over here been living here for 35 years and only knew of 2 We only visited 10 of the 38, so next weekend we probably will do some more of them. The 8-year-old wouldn't mind

sunnykerr

I love that you found the time to "travel," even if it's just around your own city. Given the times we're living in, that's so awesome and imaginative. And isn't it great to be making discoveries?

I have no sense of direction. So I routinely have to look up any "travel" I have to make because I never remember how to get from home to wherever I'm going. I think that's probably why the Google View thing wouldn't necessarily reassure me, because I would be sure to forget the sequence of places pretty quickly.

But I need to have a general idea of something. Even if it's just the general direction of main streets so that I know hwo to readjust when I get lost. Because I always get lost. Except in malls, for some reason.

Having a base of operations is one reason why I did think that I just have to try a cruise. The flip side is that I really do have terrible aqua or hydro phobia, whatever the word is for "terrible fear of drowning even when being nowhere near in danger of it"

LLamacorn In Training

Doing some local traveling throughout the summer which will be nice!

sunnykerr

I have no travel plans for the forseeable future.

reason to believe

I miss traveling by this point!

sunnykerr

I guess I haven't travelled enough to miss it that much.

But there's a big question mark over whether we do the shopping trip to Vermont this year. It will depend on my stepdad.

sunnykerr

And I am now obsessed with the idea of taking a cruise. I have never done that.

Any recommendations or advice?

LilMouse

My favorite cruise line is Royal Caribbean, though I did also go on Celebrity and Norwegian and I liked those cruise lines too.

Any particular destination you want to go to?