Halifax: I made it! I touched the Atlantic!

And sometimes, things just do not work out the way they are supposed to.

The adorable streets of Halifax.

I don’t like when blogs simply superficially show off all the cool, happy stuff without mentioning what happened in-between. So I’ll be honest here—sometimes, travelling is nerve wracking.

As I said in my last post about Ottawa, I needed a break from the traveller’s lifestyle—not just physically because of my unbalanced diet but also mentally. I was moving cities every second day and didn’t feel like I actually arrived anywhere. Before meeting Alex from Sweden in Montréal, I hadn’t had a full conversation for three days.

And, probably worst of all, I found out that the train I was supposed to take to Halifax was fully booked. I totally underestimated how many people would want to visit the coast in the middle of the week and the next train wouldn’t come until two days later—time I did not have.

So what to do?

Skip Halifax and try to go to a different city instead? But I was so excited to see the east coast… Pay the extra money and fly there? It would be a lot faster than the train but, of course, I didn’t budget for this.

So what is the first thing you do in such a situation? Find a Starbucks, sign-in to their free Wi-Fi and call your mum. Because parents always know what to do.

And my mum told me what I was playing with in my head already: You can get the money back. Yes, you have to work for it, but it’s “only” money. You can’t get the memories back if you skip Halifax now and who knows when you’ll get another chance to go there? So I treated myself to a plane ticket.

Lovetrooper and Captain Pride made an appearance as well!

It was so worth it! I stayed with friends of a friend here and always had someone around to hang out with or to join me for the Pride Parade that happened in Halifax over the weekend.

I had never attended one before, and it was so much fun! It’s a big, happy party on the streets where you get loads of free stuff like buttons, stickers, pens and some sweets. It reminded me a lot of the German carnival tradition where everyone dresses up and goes to a big parade to get free candy.

In contrast to this big, happy party, I spent another day quiet and by myself. My friends were working, so I hopped on a bus and drove a bit out of town.

I was all by myself, but just as happy! I could see the real, rugged east coast like you might have seen in pictures. Rocks and bushes and waves and nature were everywhere. It was similar to the shoreline around Victoria, but nevertheless so different.

My highlight was that I suddenly discovered blueberry bushes right next to the trail which slowed down the second half of my hike around 300% because I had to stop every 2 feet and stuff little, sweet blueberries into my mouth. I developed the habit of eating all the wild berries that I could find (and that I could identify as being safe to eat!). I saw it as free vitamins that easily complemented my diet and saved me a lot of money. I guess that’s why I was eating so bad in big cities—there weren’t any free berries around.

I made it!

And then, to conclude my time at the east coast, I did what I came for—I went to the beach and touched the water. It sounds simple but it was the biggest goal during my travels.

I can now say that I touched the ocean on both sides of Canada—even though I learned then that Canada is considered to have three coasts. So I guess I’ll have to come back one day and touch the sea in the north…