study abroad Archives • The Bliss Movement

Barbados, Tips, Planning and Packing, Travel

5 Things You Should Know Before Studying Abroad

Check The Boxes You’ve received your acceptance letter – now what?! First things first: the practical things. Book your flight, order some foreign currency to get you started over there and do some research. What does the weather look like at that time of year? Pack accordingly. Make sure you have the documents needed: passport, student visa, travel and health insurance, etc. Read up on the culture, customs and laws. If, like me, you have a practicum to work while there, figure out what the appropriate professional dress-code is! What was appropriate in[...]

Tips, Planning and Packing, Travel

Packing Tips: 5 Tips for the Over-Packer

My first trip of the year is coming up in exactly one week so you can bet I've been itching to pack for the last month! Unfortunately, I think there is such a thing as packing too early and have had to practice restraint. I made it until this past Thursday and couldn't take it anymore - in a heart-racing frenzy I pulled out my summer clothes and the packing began! If you've ever gone on a long trip or even a one week holiday, you'll understand me when I say that packing is a skill that is best when practiced to perfection. While there is a huge difference in packi[...]

Personal Development, Self-Care, Travel

An Open Letter To The Man I Met Abroad

It hits at the most unexpected times. It's not written in stone and it can sneak up on you when you're least expecting it. We all know the feeling: the undeniable tightening of the chest, the butterflies soaring in your stomach and the endless need to hear his voice, see his face. Love has a funny way of working and travel has a funny way of making itself a larger priority. Maybe it's not really love if it doesn't come first but it has gotten pretty close. The first time I saw him he was singing in a café that my friends and I went to every Wednesday: a guitar s[...]

Barbados, Personal Development, Self-Care, Travel

4 Lessons Learned from Living on an Island

Before living on an island I had no idea what to expect. Warm weather, the sea and days relaxing on the beach, obviously, but I had no idea just how life changing it can be to immerse yourself in island living. It has shifted my perspective on reality and I am determined to incorporate the life lessons I've learned for the rest of my life. Island time is a real and inherent thing that you will come to love if you end up living on an island. As you embrace this concept of time, the stress and anxiety begin to fade and you finally begin to take in the life that[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Travel

Welcome To The Belly of The Dragon: How a Stigmatized Barbados Community Opened My Eyes and My Heart

Those of you who have been following me will know that from January to June of this year I was on a study abroad program in Barbados. Lucky me, right? Usually, when people think of Barbados or the Caribbean in general their immediate thoughts are beautiful white sand beaches, crystal clear turquoise waters, and the warmth that we all desperately crave for eight months a year up here in Canada. You'll probably be staying in all-inclusive resorts, living in luxury for a week or two for a reasonable price. Barbados is your island getaway where you can eat, drink and[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Travel

On Living, Learning and Leaving

Time moves at a different pace when your senses are being stimulated by all the wonders that the world has to offer. Home feels stagnant; there is a desperation to continue living a life that is elsewhere. The mystery of the earth and all that creates it pulls me from home time and time again. This time, I was pulled when I least expected it, to a place I had never dreamed of experiencing. Uprooting in the middle of my final year of my degree, I boarded a plane and stepped out onto a Caribbean island, determined to create a life for myself during the following fo[...]

Caribbean, Mood and Mindset, Self-Care, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Travel

Giving Yourself Permission To Do Nothing

I have a cup of tea beside me, a bowl of mangoes and am looking out over the waves from the Atlantic Ocean crashing onto the black sand beach at the bottom of the hill. My only plan for today is to have a pot of tea being constantly refilled and perhaps taking a stroll down to the water. There's no urgency to play tourist today, no desire to leave the house at all. I know, it sounds blissful, doesn't it? To be sitting up in a beautiful, open concept home for free thanks to an amazing offer on Couchsurfing.com, perched on a hill high above the sea in the Caribbea[...]

Barbados, Budget Travel, Caribbean, Tips, Planning and Packing, Travel

How To Travel To Barbados on a Budget

Barbados is known for its white sandy beaches and being the birthplace of Rihanna. What it's not known for is its affordability. The Caribbean isn't a popular place for those on a backpacker budget, as many are drawn to the extreme budget prices seen in Southeast Asia or South America, but the Caribbean is home to some of the most beautiful islands in the world and shouldn't be missed just because it seems a little pricy. Here are some traveler tips to make the most of your time in Barbados without breaking the bank: Shop Local Food prices in the supermarkets can[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Travel

The Day I Learned to Crack Open a Coconut in Barbados

"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour, but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun." -Unknown The bus weaved it's way up and over the hills that make up Barbados' east coast, winding down the road until at last it came around a corner presenting the most beautiful of views, capturing us all into silence. We were high above the rugged coastline, looking down upon the many cliffs that jutted out into the Atlantic and the palm trees that dotted the shore. A very religious island, Easter in Barbados[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Mood and Mindset, Self-Care, Travel

The Traveler’s Shift

I zoom through. Cities, countries, museums and temples, I zoom through them all. That has been my past travel experience nearly everywhere but Thailand. It paved the way for the title of this blog, a whirlwind. A travel affair where I leave after one short, intense kiss. I land in one destination and move frantically through it, desperate to see it all in three days or a week and then I disappear, leaving a city or a country behind me without seeing but a sliver of it. I've questioned this way of travel before and yet I continued to justify it. In some places th[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Travel

Monkeying Around at Barbados Wildlife Reserve

Imagine a place where diverse wildlife are allowed to roam freely, interacting not only with one another but also with the people visiting the reserve. You walk down a brick path lined with mahogany trees and a family of monkeys come jumping out in front of you. Red brocket deer walk past close enough to touch without a care in the world, completely unafraid of your presence. Tortoises saunter slowly down the path and rest in the cool dirt, peacocks show off their beautiful colors, and a giant python sleeps the day away. These are just some of the things you[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Travel

Errol Barrow Day at Rockley Beach

Everybody loves a good reason to have a day off. For Bajan's one of those days lands on January 21, or what is more commonly known as Errol Barrow Day. Everybody seems to know of and speak highly of Errol Barrow, Barbados' former prime minister. A man who, from what I've been told, was not only a fair leader of this island but also a devoted activist who led Barbados to independence and contributed to many great things for Barbados. To commemorate his memory, January 21 has been declared a national holiday in his name and the majority of Bajan's on the island are[...]