Leaving Toronto (Final Thoughts)

January 15th, 2026

I'm sitting in Pearson right now waiting to board, about to leave on a five-month journey to Europe. Excitement doesn't really cover it. I've been lucky enough to travel a lot in my life and live in different countries, but this feels different, and I get to share it with a bunch of friends who are travelling across Europe at the same time, which makes the whole thing feel even more surreal. It's strange that the day has actually arrived. My roommates and I talked about this so often, built it up so much, that some part of me half-expected it to always just be a thing we were excited about rather than a thing that was actually happening.

I'm going in with zero expectations. I just want to make the most of it. I start work the week I get back, so between now and then I'm giving myself full permission to be financially reckless and entirely present.

I guess the real question is what I actually want to get out of this. And honestly, I don't know. People say exchange changes you, that you come back a different person, with a different sense of yourself. I'm not sure I fully buy it, or maybe I'm just wary of going in looking for some kind of transformation and coming back disappointed. Maybe the better approach is to not go looking for anything at all, and just see what finds you.

I'm sure I'll come back and read this when it's all over and laugh at myself a little. But more than anything, I hope that when I do, I'll wish I could go back and do it all over again.