This article is published in partnership with Tourism Nova Scotia, who sponsored this post. Tourism Nova Scotia are inviting us to dream now and travel later.
In 19 years in London, nearly 20, this will be the first year that I won’t have once left its boundaries. I have barely left my neighbourhood. Instead, my life was distilled to essentials and became very simple. That is a luxury I know. My work was affected but I didn’t lose my job. I don’t have kids to homeschool. I accept the changes, I understand the need to be still for a while and I am embracing it, as much as I can.
Short days and long dark nights give ample time to dream
Summer was easier, it was even lovely. Now it is winter. The days close early and my time outdoors is brief, if at all. As the days close further I withdraw and I start to daydream, as I love to do when I can steal a chance. I even dare to make plans. Loose plans, no dates. Expectations carefully managed. Plotting places I want to return to, people I want to see. Friends and family to reunite with.
It is a small tight list, built on top of my list of my lifetime, however long that will be. In there is a plan to visit Nova Scotia with friends. The idea of Nova Scotia was planted in my head many years ago by my father. Friends of his had relocated there, it sounded like a fascinating place. Then I made friends with Nova Scotians in London, and then more. They moved home and now I go to visit and explore, to soak up the culture, the terrific food and wine.
There is an easy familiarity between Irish people like myself and Nova Scotians. The same sense of fun, an easy-going attitude to life. The same love of story and song. Continue reading