Bye bye Grande Prairie

Hi!

It’s been 2 weeks since I left the safe environment of my Canadian host family to go travel. I had a crazy 2 weeks, I will tell you all about that later. But first, one last blog about Grande Priarie!

Living in Grande Prairie for 6 months has been an interesting experience for me. In winter I experienced the coldest temperatures on earth (litteraly, GP was the coldest place on earth one day!), I lived on an acreage about 35min out of town, I did everything by car, I took care of 4 little boys, I learned how to ski and climb and I stayed long enough to see the snow disappear and make room for fields full of grass and farming land.

I learned a lot in the past 6 months. I learned that I never want to live as remote as I lived in Grande Prairie. I love riding my bike to work and walk to the store when I’m at home. In GP I had to take my truck everywhere, I had no choice.

I learned that even though I loved those 4 boys unconditionally, I never want to have 4 kids, let alone 4 boys, haha! I have a lot of respect for all parents with a big family.

On the other hand I also learned I AM capable of taking care of 4 kids. You feel like you need to be an octopus and have 16 eyes all the time, but the love you get in return is priceless.

I learned that even if you don’t have a lot of friends, friendship is so important and I can’t live without it. Thank you so much Katrina and Emily to always be up for an adventure, listen to my crazy stories and travel plans and just hang out with me.

I learned that I need new challenges or something to keep me active. I learned how to ski AND climb in the pas 6 months. I’m still a beginner skier en nowhere near a good climber, but I love doing both and I want to keep doing them and get better.

I learned that I perfer to live in a more open minded city. I missed an LGBTQ+ community. Although I did go to 1 amazing event. Thank you Katrina for introducing me to Drags & Bags!

I want to thank Lexie and Lester for giving me the chance to be their au pair and being a part of their family for 6 months. And I want to thank those 4 little monkeys for putting up with me for all that time. I can only hope they all grow up with the same wanderlust as me and they will come visit me in Belgium or wherever I will be in the world…

Love,

Joke