Prince Edward Island, 2011
For some reason, I’d had an obsession with visiting Prince Edward Island since I was in high school. Maybe I was tired of suburbia and the big, bustling city of Toronto. Maybe I wanted to see the water again. According to my high school yearbook, I wanted to end up living in PEI and writing for a small newspaper.
It’s not the same dream I have today, but I definitely see the appeal. So getting the chance to visit, even for a few days, was almost a dream come true for me.
My sister, my grandparents and I spent a few days in PEI. Of course, while we were there we did the whole Anne of Green Gables house tour. I wasn’t super into Anne as a child, but it’s a quintessential part of visiting the Island. So we went.
My grandma saying hello to Prince Edward Island.
We had raspberry cordial and ate a lot of fish and chips. But mostly, I just really enjoyed sitting by the water, as I do. Some things don’t really change.
In reflecting on this trip, I realized that I was always a super anxious person. It wasn’t until after university (post-PEI trip) that I understood how anxiety-ridden I was, and became more conscious about changing my emotional reaction to certain things. But I’d always loved being by the water and found it truly calming.
Moving forward, I consciously sought out destinations that would allow me this moment with nature that made me feel very small and relaxed.
Red sand beaches in PEI.
Getting to spend a few days in the place I always wanted to live as a teenager taught me a few things. First of all, it taught me not to romanticize places. I may have wanted to leave home, but everywhere has its own problems. PEI is very quiet and I loved my loud city. Because it’s surrounded by water, PEI is also filled with bugs (huge spiders – no thank you).
The experience also taught me to continue dreaming and making things happen. As a teenager, I never thought I’d be able to go anywhere besides my hometown, and I did make it to PEI. I learned that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to keep dreaming, and to keep updating and changing your dreams. That was the only way I was going to reach new territoty and explore places I never thought I’d end up.
Feeling trapped my whole life has been horribly traumatic. But this was the first time I felt like I could do something I wanted. I could end up anywhere and do anything. It might take some time before I could travel on my own, but once that time hit, there was nothing keeping me in my house that I wanted to desperately to escape.
