Let me set the scene. We catch the train from Niagara to Toronto at 5:45pm. Very efficient and friendly service. Met some Aussies on the train who are heading to the International Rotary Conference. All is well.
We arrive in Toronto, get slightly lost looking for the hire car place. We then have a bit of difficulty getting the car because my credit card does not match the name the car is booked under??!! (my husband’s and he doesn’t have a credit card). Weird issue but still all good.
We leave the car park……… at 8pm………. raining………… driving on the right hand side of the road………. in a city we have never been………two hungry kids………dusk……….. with a sat nav that cannot get signal in amongst the skyscrapers.
Cue a stress attack……..The ‘Stressaholic’ returned in style….and I wasn’t even the driver!! I ranted and raved. I blamed my husband. I cursed myself for not at least looking at a map to have a general idea of where we were going. I told myself I was an idiot.
In the meantime, while I proceeded to freak out……. the kids fell asleep……… my husband expertly drove around the city until we got navigation signal and then we drove to the hotel.
So what purpose did my anxiety attack serve? None. Zero. Nada. Apart from raising my blood pressure and risk of heart attack!
Like the lady at the hotel said this morning. You made it here (albeit late) and you are all together. THAT IS WHAT MATTERS. So why on earth do I do that to myself? I don’t know but I still really struggle to control it. I have strategies, yet I forgot to use them….
Anyway, I shouldn’t be too hard on myself I guess and at least the Stressaholic has only appeared once so far this holiday!
Back to the present, here I am in Toronto! The majority of today has been practical things like washing and shopping but we did squeeze in a trip to see the CN tower.
We were lucky enough to sit with a local Canadian man today while eating lunch in a food hall. We talked about all sorts and he told us lots of little things we otherwise wouldn’t know. The thing that struck me was, we allowed probably a good 30 – 45 minutes to just sit and chat with him and it was so worthwhile ( for him too I am sure!). Too often we are in a rush to get where we are going and we seldom take time to talk to people. But, we miss out on so much being in a hurry.
Today reminded me the cities we are visiting are not just about the sights but about the people that inhabit them. We are all so different but in so many ways the same.
SAA
The Travel Bee 