Life Updates: 2025 Edition

On January 11, 2025February 5, 2025 By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

Happy 2025! How strange to think we’re already a quarter of a century into this millennium. As I’ve shared before, I absolutely love this time of year, not only because I love winter, but also because I love beginnings. I find it really exciting to think about the year ahead and all the things we’ll do and see, and since we’ve got a few bigger changes on the horizon (as well as exciting travel plans, as usual), I thought I’d share a little life update for those who are trying to keep track of us, especially if you want to keep your address book current…which, honestly, good luck! 😆

Our Next Move

So, as you might have deduced, we are in fact moving again! We’ve been in Ottawa for just about two years now, so my feet are definitely starting to itch. Plus, I’ve been feeling extremely lazy as far as my language use is concerned. I mean, I could use French in Ottawa, but English is more common and obviously much less work for me; therefore, in addition to having a new home base to explore, I’m also looking forward to being forced out of my linguistic comfort zone much more frequently. So, with those things in mind, we have chosen to move to…drumroll, please…Québec City!

The good news is this move doesn’t feel quite as tricky as past moves because we’re only crossing provincial borders, not international borders, so there’s infinitely less paperwork! Hooray! The bad news is we decided on March 1^st as our move-in day, so we only have 50-odd days to make this happen. Oh, and it’s the dead of winter. Good thing I like a challenge!

You might be wondering why we chose Québec City instead of Montreal or pretty much any another city in Quebec since they’d all meet our very basic requirements of A) somewhere we’ve never lived before and B) French-speaking, and, honestly, you wouldn’t be alone in that. Just like when we chose Ottawa over Montreal or Toronto, people were a little confused, and well, I guess we’re doing it again. What can we say other than I think we must just be drawn to over-shadowed cities. Also, Québec City is even further north, so I’m hoping for even more snow and longer, colder winters! Who’s with me?!

On the Job Front

The next most common question we get after “Why QC?” is “What about your jobs?” Well, Tucker will be keeping his current job, just as a fully remote employee (again). He was actually hired as a remote employee back in 2023, but it just so happened that the umbrella company of the team that hired him had an office in Ottawa, which is how he became a “hybrid” employee in the first place. Anyway, since his entire team is remote (and spread quite far across the US and Canada), he doesn’t expect much of a difference for him aside from no more snowy commutes.

My job situation is a little less obvious at the moment. Duolingo is…going through…some…things right now, and they have not opted to renew my contract (at least not yet…but also, maybe never…?), so I’m in somewhat of a transitional phase. I’m not sure if I want to continue freelancing/working remotely or if when we move, I might want to teach in-person again. Honestly, I’m also playing around with the idea of applying for literally anything bilingual in an effort to improve my workplace French, so really, who knows what I’ll be doing this spring, but if you happen to know someone who needs a Quebec-based linguist/teacher/writer, do let me know!

Guess it’s time to update all the things…

What about Jenn?

Obviously, Jenn will be coming with us to Québec City, and I doubt the slight change in climate and scenery will matter much to her. She’s definitely got her snow legs now, and her much-loved heating pad will be making the journey with us as well, so no worries there. We’re also only looking at apartments that have balconies, entirely so she can sunbathe in the summer months. Plus, we have promised her that we’ll choose somewhere nearer the equator after Canada, so she can officially start her retirement somewhere warm and sunny (as she should).

Looking Ahead

Of course, where that next place might be is still a bit of a mystery, even for us. We’re planning on spending at least another two years in Canada, which will hopefully allow us to gain citizenship, enabling us to come and go as we please (without having to keep up with the paperwork). However, to complete this process, we’ll have to reside in the country for over three years, apply, take, and pass an exam and interview, and then wait a bit longer for everything to process. So, for now, we’re keeping track of the various deadlines, continuing to learn what it means to be Canadian-American, and just enjoying our time in the Great White North.

Actually, with all this time on our hands, we’re now toying around with the idea of buying property here, fixing it up, and then renting it out when we leave. Unfortunately, I have such a fear of commitment and strings that I’m really not sure we’ll go through with it, but we do love a good project and doing anything new, so stay tuned! We’ll most likely rent for at least six months to a year before we’d take that particular step, but if we do, I’m sure I’ll have a lot to share about the process!

Other Fun Things

We have plenty of other fun plans for 2025 as well! Tucker is going to be putting in more effort on his French now (he basically has no choice); we both dabbled in running a bit more last summer and are eager to start that up again when the temperatures rise a bit; and as a surprise to no one, we’ve got a plethora of trips planned for this year. Next month, we’re off to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories to hopefully see some more aurora and find out how much colder -40 feels. Then we’re looking at Newfoundland in the spring, Peru in July, Maine after that, and a family trip to Central America in the fall if we can swing it! And as always, our offer of hosting anyone who’s interested in visiting our home city is still good, so maybe we’ll see some of you in Québec City later this year!

Honestly, 2025 has a lot to live up to, but it’s off to a great start, and I can’t wait to see how it all shakes out! Happy New Year everyone!

International Trip Planning 101

On September 21, 2024September 21, 2024 By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

So, you may have noticed that we go on a lot of trips. I can tell you, very honestly, that I think about future trips pretty much every day. My mind is always putting together itineraries and thinking up plans for future adventures (both near and far) because I love every aspect of the process! However, I’ve noticed that some people get a little anxious when planning things either far in advance or far away, which is totally understandable. And if you’re one of such people, perhaps a little unsure of how to plan an international trip (or even if you’ve just wondered how exactly we do this so often and seemingly so quickly), this post is for you! Strap in, it’s time to plan!

Who?

We often start with the question of who. Is it just me and Tucker? Or do we have family or friends joining us? What about Jenn (our dog)? The number of people/animals and their particular interests and abilities often affect all the other questions, so first you have to know who will be with you.

When?

Next up is when. This is an important question both in regards to where you’re coming from and where you’re going. We always try to find a nice balance of traveling over a holiday (which means less PTO time needed) and avoiding the crowds at our chosen destination. Often this means choosing to travel over US-centric holidays like MLK Jr. Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, etc. Our preferred duration is typically eight days (ideally Saturday to the following Sunday if we can swing it). If you’re leaving the continent, it’s also good to remember that the travel days to and from your destination won’t really feel like vacation, and sometimes it’s really nice to have an extra day after you get home but before you have to go back to work: aka a buffer day.

In addition to carefully picking our days based on the holidays being celebrated around us, we also have to be aware of holidays in the places we might be visiting. Those are usually pretty easy to check online, but we also try to be aware of the seasons more broadly, which can be a little trickier. Depending on where you want to go and what you want to do, you might want to avoid peak travel seasons (like Europe in summer), rainy seasons (like Central America in fall), or even seasonal extremes (like the UAE in summer or Iceland in winter). Ultimately, it’s a bit of dance between what you want to spend (because some seasons are pricier than others), what vacation time is possible for you, and what you want to do/see at your destination.

I will just add that there’s really never a wrong time to travel. There are busier times, more expensive times, good weather days, bad weather days, etc. And unfortunately, no amount of pre-planning is going to stop the occasional storm from blowing in or that surprise festival/event from happening, so don’t sweat it too much! We once went to Fuji, Japan and didn’t see Mount Fuji. How iconic is that?

Where?

Now the big question. Where to? Usually, this is an easy one when it’s just me and Tucker because we want to go everywhere, but even we still find ourselves asking questions like where is the cheapest flight? Where can we do a lot in a short amount of time? And other similar questions. More recently, we’ve also been asking ourselves about priorities. Where are the places we want to go most? Over the years, we’ve realized that you never know when a global pandemic or political unrest might arise to make a lifelong dream of yours come to a crashing halt, so when choosing where to go, just know that you won’t remember the price of the plane tickets, but you’ll be telling stories about what you did and where you went for the rest of your life.

If you’re not as much of a geography nerd as I am, you might also just not really know what kind of places you’d even like. Or what it’ll be like when you’re there. Luckily, the internet has this well and truly covered – there are countless YouTube videos, blogs, websites, documentaries, basically anything and everything you might want to know about a given destination online, so you can always start there. Of course, recommendations are also great, but definitely take them with a grain of salt because everything about travel is highly subjective, and in my experience, no two people feel the same way about a place (just ask Tucker and I how we both feel about Bratislava).

If you’re still struggling with narrowing down all the options, I also think it’s a good idea to combine your other interests with travel, so if you like hiking/nature, maybe a trip to South America would be perfect for you. Or if you’re history buff, it’s hard to beat Europe. Foodies typically love Asia, and those really up for an adventure don’t mind the long flights needed to go trekking in Africa or scuba diving in Oceania. There’s really so much to see in every corner of the world, so again, don’t sweat it too much! It’s all about the journey not the destination, right?

How?

Speaking of the journey, once you’ve decided (roughly) where you want to go, how do you put it into action? The order in which we typically book things is pretty much always FLIGHTS -> LODGINGS -> EXCURSIONS. Essentially, I have an idea of where I want to go, very often the main country or region I want to see and a possible “home base” or “anchor city”, which is where we’ll fly in and out of, but until we officially look at flights, even that might change.

When we check the flights, we might see that it’s much cheaper to go to a different, nearby city and take a train to where I initially wanted to go. Or I might see there are a lot more flights to a different city in the area and start researching why that is, possibly choosing that as our base instead. We like to let the flights guide us somewhat, but if you already know where you want to go, just book it! Unfortunately, post-pandemic travel is super variable, and there’s no longer a reliable system of finding cheap flights. Gone are the days when leaving on a Tuesday or booking 4 months out might save you some money, so save yourself the headache and just book when it makes sense for you. We usually start our flight search on an aggregator site like Momondo, which allows us to play around with the days, times, and paths to find the best option, but when we do our actual booking, we prefer use the airlines’ websites because they’re much easier to contact if there’s an issue.

Once we’ve figured out how we’ll get in and out, we then work on where we’ll spend our days. If we’re somewhere like Europe and we can easily get from city to city or even country to country, I might split the trip into two or three stops, usually in somewhat of a circle to ensure we get back to the airport city. Other times, I rely on day trips to see more for my money. This is often the easiest way because then I only need to find one hotel/hostel/Airbnb for the duration. In any case, when booking a place to stay, we tend to use Booking.com because the filters really help us narrow down all the options based on what we need for a given trip (i.e. “parking”, “dog-friendly”, etc.). We also have the added bonus of being able to look back at places we’ve stayed in the past, which we’ve used on several return trips.

Whether we go for a loop or a series of day trips, I love a good map!

Throughout our years of traveling together, we’ve basically run the gamut, staying in dormitories, pods, hotels, inns, apartments, houses, etc. It really all depends on what you want to spend, what you’re comfortable with, and what’s available in the destination. My advice when choosing a place is to really focus on the most recent reviews. If there aren’t any reviews from the last few months, there’s probably a reason for that. You should also pay particular attention to the things that are most relevant to you. If you can’t sleep when there’s too much noise, search for that in the reviews. If you have to have AC, make sure you check that on the amenities list, etc. Also, remember that if you are bringing any electronics, you’ll likely need adapters to be able to use them abroad. We’ve forgotten so many times that I now have an army of adapters at home.

Okay, now that flights and hotels are taken care of, we can start looking into the things we might want to do while there. Usually, there are very few things I book in advance aside from transportation and lodging, but if we’re going somewhere very touristy (like Paris, Angor Wat, etc.) then we might need to pre-purchase tickets to the main attractions. Similarly, if we’re making a trip down to Peru with the main goal of seeing Machu Picchu, then I’d like to make sure we have any tickets, tours, or whatever else we might need for a large-scale excursion like that. Thankfully, so much of this can be done online these days although the final process might not be super clear until you actually arrive. There have been many times when we weren’t sure if we did what we were supposed to do ahead of time, but it has absolutely always worked out once we were there. Embrace the ambiguity as part of the adventure and remember that you’re a tourist, not a pioneer – there’s always someone to ask for help if you need it!

What?

And finally, the best part! How will you spend your days? Usually right after we book our flights, I like to start with a general Google search of “things to see in _____”, and go from there. I also love to read blogs written either by other tourists/travelers or even better, by people who live there. This is not only practical, but it also serves to get me super excited for the upcoming trip! Once I have enough ideas/information, I usually end up making a general list of things we might want to do, see, and eat while on the trip, which we can then check off as we go. Of course, I don’t think I’ve ever checked everything off of one of these lists, and things are typically added to it throughout our trip as well, but ultimately, it really helps us in coming up with plans while on the go and making sure we don’t forget anything in all the excitement of exploring a new place.

Once we’ve made it to our destination, we typically spend the first day or two just walking around to get our bearings and get acquainted with the area. We’ll usually wander around the major points of interest on a map or group some of the items from my list and do our own sort of walking tour. Most major cities have their own free walking tours that you can join if you prefer something with more structure. We’ve done many of these throughout the years and have always enjoyed them. Tucker tends to focus on the food during our travels, so whenever we’re hungry, we’ll usually find a park bench or a café, and he’ll go on the hunt (through heaps of Google reviews) for a place that possibly ticks even more things off our list.

Of course, our own research only goes so far, so another thing we love to do is ask locals what they would recommend. Usually starting with taxi/Uber drivers, we try to ask several people throughout our stay what they would recommend to tourists as far as things to see, foods to try, places to go, etc. This is why the list usually ends up with so many amendments! But some of our absolute favorite places were only discovered once we landed and started talking to locals about their home, so don’t be shy! Things are always changing, and those who live there always know best!

So that’s how we do it! As I was writing this, I started worrying whether or not this would be helpful to anyone since there really is so much variance between people, destinations, trips, etc. But hopefully something in here stuck out to you and might be of use during your next trip-planning session! Happy planning and bon voyage!

So Canada, eh?

On July 8, 2023July 9, 2023 By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

And just like that, we’ve already been living full-time in Canada for over a month! It’s absolutely crazy how fast it goes! It’s also crazy just how quickly we can fall into a routine and feel extremely comfortable with so many new things, like seeing Canadian plates on our car, switching from “buenos días” to “hello, bonjour”, and/or re-adapting to hot, humid summers back down at sea level. As always, we’re so excited to be in a new place, learning new things about a country that we’re honestly a little surprised to find ourselves in! Actually, I think it has surprised a lot of people because some of the most common questions I get these days are: “Why Canada?”, “How did you choose Ottawa?”, “Why not somewhere in the States?”, and the ever-popular, “Where are you going next?” All great questions that I’m going to do my best to answer in this post!

Why Canada?

To answer the “why Canada” question, we’ll have to go back in time a little, back to when we made the decision about which country to move to after living in China for two years. Picture it: it was 2019; there was no hint of a pandemic, but after two years of studying Mandarin and struggling to find work squarely in his field, Tucker really wanted to go somewhere English-speaking. Of course, I wanted a country with any other language because that’s a huge reason I love living abroad: the constant language practice. So, we narrowed down our search to bilingual countries, and with the shorter flights for family visits and the possibility of driving our pup home with us, Canada jumped to the top of the list!

Even now, after so much time has passed and so many things have changed (pandemics, cars, jobs, etc.) Canada still offers the amazing opportunity for me to work with French-speakers and Tucker to work with English-speakers, with both of us able to diversify and grow our careers in our respective fields simultaneously. This is how we chose Ottawa. While there are a lot of truly amazing bilingual cities in Canada, Ottawa seems to be one of the most evenly split. It’s the nation’s capital, representing bilingualism both in practice and by law, and it’s also located right on the border of Ontario and Quebec, meaning that every time we cross the river (aka the provincial line) we’re guaranteed a language switch. It really is the best of both worlds! Not to mention, it’s an incredibly beautiful city surrounded by so much nature and history!

In addition to the languages/work prospects available here, we both just seriously missed winter. I know when I say things like this, a lot of people roll their eyes and think “just you wait”. But I really think everyone underestimates just how much we love the cold, and especially the snow. We’re so excited to get back into snowboarding regularly. We can’t wait to try snowshoeing, natural-rink ice-skating, curling, snowmobiling, and maybe even hockey at some point. Winter people are our people, and we are ecstatic to be back in a country full of them! It’s finally our chance to really test our love of winter! This time as adults with a car to scrape ice off of and a dog to walk in minus-20 degree weather – sounds like fun, no?

Things like this do give us pause though…

Why not the US?

But, of course, the US gets pretty cold too, and there are many places there with languages other than English spoken. So why not go somewhere in the US? Another good question that I’m asked pretty frequently. Along with “do you think you’ll ever live in the US again?” To these, my answer is always the same: I lived in the US for 25 years. I have visited all 50 states. My job for the last decade has been teaching people all about the language and culture of my home country. The reason I want to live abroad is the simple fact that I enjoy discovering what else is out there! I love being immersed in a culture different from the one I grew up in. I love learning about another country’s history, language, customs, etc. Of course, I love the US too, and I write about it often: like about our incredible national park system, the joys of eating in Chicago, and what exactly I think makes the US so unique. But I also know how much else there is to explore and how much easier it is to do so if you can live it and be immersed in it every single day.

So, would we ever move back to the US? Probably not. There are 195+ other countries for us to potentially call home! How could I go back when there’s so much out there still to discover! Of course, we are starting to think more about the challenges of moving every few years and how much paperwork that requires year after year, which is why we’re also starting to consider citizenship in other countries. We’d never revoke our US citizenship, but having duel or even triple citizenship would give us so many more options as time goes on – who knows, maybe we’ll have a three-country rotation in our retirement years! We’ve also discussed the possibility of buying a boat and becoming nomads of the sea! Haha! Ultimately, there are just so many options available to us, and it seems a shame not to take advantage of them while we can. So, as much as I love the US (flaws and all), for the foreseeable future, we’re definitely planning to continue our signature country-hopping.

So where else?

This constant state of unsettled-ness tends to beg a few more questions, like: where will we go after Canada? And how do we decide which countries we ultimately move to? Really, I’d love to say it’s all extremely well-thought-out and carefully planned and executed step by step, but in reality, we have several concurrent plans as to where we might go in the future, and no idea which ones will pan out in the end! At the moment, our short list of contenders would be: Argentina, Ireland, Romania, Turkey, Tunisia, Thailand, and/or a South Pacific Island. We generally choose based on things like residency requirements, airports/travel times to and from, quality of life, how similar or different our day-to-day lives would be there, etc. However, every one of these aspects (and so many others) are changing every day, so our list has to be pretty fluid. Ultimately, we try to have a variety of possibilities (with plenty of contingencies) sometimes years in advance (because immigration/residency paperwork is no joke), but we also happily embrace the ambiguity and flexibility that comes with being perpetual expats. C’est la vie, non ?

So, where does that leave us? Well, we’ve definitely settled on two years here in Ottawa, followed by potentially two in Montreal, but if we can’t hack the winters here or if I get tired of all the English, we might be off to a different continent. Isn’t the unknown exciting? We’ll just have to see where the wind takes us! In the meantime, I hope this answered some of the “why”s and “what next”s. And as always, I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated as everything unfolds – starting with our upcoming Canadian capers! Should be fun, eh?

We Have Arrived!

On June 17, 2023June 17, 2023 By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

We did it! We finally made it to Canada! We first applied for our residencies and came up to look for jobs/apartments way back in 2019, so to finally be here with any degree of longevity/stability feels so surreal! But how did we get here? What have we been doing these first few weeks? And what are we thinking for the future?

Getting to Canada:

Where do I even begin with our journey to Canada?! I feel like I’ve relayed bits and pieces of our incredibly long and complicated paperwork journey in several posts throughout the last five years, so this time I’ll stick to describing our physical trip up to the Great White North.

For this particular move, we opted to split it into two rounds: one by air and one by car. I documented a few things about our initial fly-up on Facebook, but as a quick recap: back in early May, Tucker and I flew up to Ottawa with several suitcases in order to 1) get our apartment keys and 2) clean/set up a few things before the big drive up/move in. In theory, it was supposed to be a somewhat relaxed way of getting our feet wet in Canada, giving us more time to focus on apartment things, and also freeing up a little more space in the car for what was going to be a very long drive. Turns out, we didn’t get near enough done in that short amount of time, little issues kept turning into bigger issues, and in the end, the car was fuller this time than when we originally drove down to Mexico. Lots of lessons learned though, so at least there’s that.

The actual driving part of round two went beautifully! Guadalajara to Laredo, Laredo to Little Rock, Little Rock to Tucker’s Dad’s place in Kentucky, Tucker’s Dad’s place to Watertown, and Watertown to Ottawa. 48 hours in total, but pretty smooth, all things considered. The issues we encountered actually occurred at either end of the trip, with the first problem cropping up a few days before we even left GDL. We already knew that we were going to have to export and import our car when we crossed into Canada, and we had everything we needed to complete that process. However, at some point, we read that the export office is only open Monday through Friday 9 to 4, and we were planning on arriving around 6pm on a Saturday. Oops. And that’s why our drive ended up taking a few extra days, and we got an unexpected stop in Watertown, NY. Fun times!

The next problem (that we absolutely should have foreseen, but totally didn’t) was the fact that all of our stuff no longer fit in the car. We were so optimistic in thinking that by bringing 4 suitcases up to Canada pre-drive, we would free up plenty of space in the car…but no, over the years, we have acquired quite a few additional household things like a Roomba, an Instant pot, a laundry basket, small trash cans, a paper towel holder, a cooler, and other items that we’d never think of buying and/or keeping had we been flying to our new home. Alas, we fell into the trap of thinking, “oh, we’ll just toss that in the car at the end”. Well, I did my best Tetris-ing work, trying to fit everything into what I now realize is quite a small car, but in the end, there were still a few things we could have used in Canada that my friends are now enjoying in Mexico! More lessons learned…

Setting up shop:

So, aside from having a pile of immigration tasks to accomplish upon rolling up to our new home, we also had quite a few things we needed to buy for the apartment. But before we could get to all that fun, we first had to shelter in place. The week we were making our way to Ottawa, which lies on the border of Quebec and Ontario, an unusual number of forest fires broke out in both of these provinces. Extreme fires, it turns out, the smoke of which blew its way down to us and then into several NE states as well. This was an unexpected wrench in our first few days, but not too detrimental to our plans because I actually had a lot of work to catch up on, and staying home wasn’t a tough ask after a week on the road. Not to mention, we were categorically prepared with a plethora of masks and DIY air purifier skills!

After the smoke had cleared, we were able to successfully apply for and request all the documents we’ll be needing (and/or make appointments for them). In the next few weeks, we should be receiving our PR cards, ON driver’s licenses, Social Insurance Numbers, vehicle registration, and OHIP cards. Fingers crossed! We were also able to get the vast majority of our apartment set up (unfortunately, still waiting on a few things to make their way to us, but photos to come soon, I promise!). In the midst of all this running around, we also hosted our very first guest (who thankfully brought her own bed in the form of an air mattress), which means we’re now prepared for any/all future guests! Of course, we’ve also begun to dip our toes into what our new neighborhood has to offer by sampling a few of the many, many restaurants and pubs that surround us.

Looking ahead:

So, what’s next? Well, the usual, I suppose: trying all the delicious restaurants, walking the entirety of our neighborhood, getting familiar with our new grocery stores, and everything else that comes with finding our place in a new city. I’m super excited to report that we’ve already got library cards, a reservation for weekly trivia, and a growing list of observations to share about the differences we’re already experiencing between the US vs. Canada and Quebec vs. Ontario. As always, there’s so much to learn and explore, and for now, that’s exactly what we plan to do. At some point, we might even break out into something other than the five-block radius between us and the supermarket. Look out, Ottawa, we’re coming!

You might also be wondering just how long we have to explore here (aka how long we plan to stay this time). Good question, but I really never know. Our Canadian residency doesn’t have to be renewed until 2027, and if we stay in Canada for a total of 3 years, we can actually apply for citizenship and never worry about immigration paperwork here again, but honestly, we have no idea if we’ll stay that long. We do know that our current lease here in Ottawa is good until June 2024, so we’ll definitely be in this exact location for at least a year (and, honestly, after all this apartment set-up, we’re already leaning towards two lol). Ottawa is such a beautiful city with so many activities for us to enjoy; plus, Montreal is only an hour away, so I think we’ll definitely need at least two years to do the National Capital Region justice!

As for the more distant future, who knows? Two years in Ottawa could be followed by two in Quebec City (if we do end up loving the winters) or maybe we’ll head back to Guadalajara to thaw out? Or maybe onto Argentina, the Mediterranean, back to Poland or Asia, literally all of these options and more have been discussed, so place your bets! Either which way though, our time in Canada is likely going to fly by, so be sure to come up and visit us while you have the chance! We can definitely host you in Ottawa, or we can meet up somewhere else in this vast and beautiful country. I’m once again aiming to see as many provinces as we can, so you can bet there are already trips planned from coast to coast to coast! Hello, bonjour, Canada! We have arrived!

New Year, New Plans

On January 1, 2023 By Dani Francuz Rose3 Comments

Wow, it’s officially 2023! Happy New Year! 🎊 I absolutely love this time of year – it’s full of new beginnings, exciting plans, and fresh calendars! However, as per usual, I’ve already written quite a bit in my 2023 calendar because we, of course, have a few trips planned, and this year, we actually have another international move on the docket. So, if you’re interested in some of the ‘where’s, ‘when’s, and ‘why’s of our 2023 whereabouts, here’s what I know so far:

Moving to Canada

We’re finally headed to the far north! After receiving our permanent residencies last summer, we have officially decided to make the move and relocate to Canada later this year. It’s turning out to be quite the memorable move for us because at first, we thought it would be happening in late 2019 or early 2020, and then after the pandemic, we thought it might not be the right move for us at all, so now that we’re looking at apartments in Ottawa (again), it feels a little surreal. But before we get to the move, there are some things we’re planning to do here in Mexico first.

Wrapping up our time in Mexico

Moving to Mexico was easily one of the best decisions we ever made, and we have had an absolutely amazing time here. In fact, our love for Guadalajara and its people and culture was one of the biggest obstacles in deciding whether or not this would be the right time to move. I always feel so torn during our transition periods, because I’m never ready to leave behind the homes we’ve created, but at the same time, I can’t wait for all the excitement and novelty of a new place to call home. It’s complicated. But with this particular re-location, the good news is I have no doubt we’ll be back, hopefully often, because this time, we’re staying on the same continent!

Of course, we know at some point we will have to say adiós, but for now, we plan on fully savoring our last few months in Mexico. We’re already doing our best to check off all the lists we made when we arrived: all the places we still want to travel to, all the restaurants we still want to eat at, and all the things we still want to do or be a part of. In fact, I think next month, I’ll break down our Mexico bucket list and share some of the things we’ve been able to do and see these past 2+ years. I’m extremely grateful for each and every one of these experiences, and I do hope to make Mexico proud with one last fiesta before we go (featuring a limo, another piñata, and some of our best friends) – stay tuned!

On top of saying goodbye to the friends we’ve made and the culture we’ve grown to love, I’ll also be switching language focuses (again). I’ve spent quite a lot of time studying Spanish over the last few years, and while I’m always quick to poke fun at it or complain (as any student would), I’m going to miss it immensely. Therefore, in an effort to ensure my Spanish reaches its current potential and perhaps actually sticks with me a bit longer than my Polish or Mandarin did, I’m planning to take the DELE (a Spanish proficiency exam) in April. I’m hoping to pull off a B2 (upper intermediate level) and potentially work with Spanish in the future, so ¡deséame suerte! But also wish me luck when I switch back to le français because I have a feeling I’m going to need it.

Flying then Driving

So, it looks like we’re going to have a really fun first few months of the year, but what about the actual move? Well, it’s a lot. Right now, we’re planning to fly up to Canada in late April/early May to secure our apartment and maybe take care of a few other logistics like paperwork and furniture acquisition, but our big move will be at the end of May. Over Memorial Day week, we’re packing everything up (including the dog and all her personal effects) and driving the 44 hours from Guadalajara, Mexico up to Ottawa, Canada. It was a 33-hour drive when we originally came down from Orlando, so how bad could an extra 11 hours be?

For our second cross-continental drive, we’ve planned for several stops along the way: those for resting, those for working, and those for visiting family. We’re also planning on taking more luggage up with us on the initial fly-up, so the car doesn’t have to be quite as packed as last time…although it probably still will be. Since we’ll have two border crossings this time around, we’ve budgeted a bit of extra time around the first and last legs of the trip to hopefully side-step any unforeseen issues. Fingers crossed! And before we know it (hopefully on June 3^rd), we’ll officially be residing in Canada.

Then What?

After we arrive, I have virtually no set plans. We’ll most likely not be renting a fully-furnished place this time, so I imagine we’ll spend a few weeks unpacking, re-furnishing, and getting set up in our new place. We, very specifically, chose to move in the summer months, which should give us plenty of time to prepare for winter. Neither one of us owns a pair of boots anymore, so that’s something we’ll need to take care of. I also wanted Jenn to be able to acclimate to the severe shift in climates as gently as possible – we’re going to get her a heated blanket to help the cause.

And once we’re all set up and feeling comfy in the Great White North, I’ll be making my Canada bucket list and hopefully arranging for people to come visit! One of the best things about living in Mexico was how short a flight it was for visitors. We had a record number of family and friends come down, and I hope that trend will continue while we’re in Canada (hint, hint).

Clearly, we have a lot to look forward to this year, so here’s to another 365 days of new adventures!

Quarantine Endeavors

On July 21, 2020July 21, 2020 By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

97035948_10223156383046236_185404340779876352_o — Anything to cure the boredom!

Quarantine, for me, officially started on March 14th, and as a person who was already working remotely, this definitely led to a surplus of down time at home (something I certainly wasn’t used to). The good news is, I can always be counted on to come up with plenty of ideas, projects, games, and the like. See? Being an only-child has its benefits! And now that it seems like this phase might be lasting a bit longer than anyone would have liked, maybe some of you are also in the market for some cheap, interesting at-home entertainment! If so, take a look at my newly documented list of quarantine endeavors: twenty-something random activities, categorized, described, and, of course, photographed for your perusal. Enjoy!

Cooking-related:

If you know me, you know I absolutely despise cooking, so you might be wondering why I’ve been doing so many cooking-related activities. Well, necessity is the mother of invention, no? We had to cook at home more often, so I thought we might as well have some fun with it, starting with our monthly brunches. At the beginning of 2020, we made a plan to meet my parents for brunch on the first Sunday of every month for as long as we were in Florida. As it turned out, our leaving the country wasn’t the issue…having brunch out was. So, we took the idea to our home tables, creating a theme each month and enjoying the process of cooking together and trying something a little different. Some of our recent themes have included: Disney-inspired brunch, international dishes, and red, white, and blue (for July, of course).

We’ve also had our fair share of kitchen-y fun just trying out new (i.e. fancy) dishes like coq au vin and cauliflower rice burrito bowls. More time at home has meant more time to find recipes, meander our way through the cooking process, and really sit down and enjoy our meals. We’ve also made the most of our grocery store visits by conducting various taste tests: classic snack foods, Easter candy, and beef jerky, just to name a few. I mean, a bit of nostalgia mixed in with legitimate research, how could you go wrong? In addition to all the food we’ve been experimenting with, I’ve also taken it upon myself to finally figure out which wines I prefer, and potentially learning to like reds a bit more in the process. We live near a Trader Joe’s, and you just can’t beat Two Buck Chuck!

Swiss Rolls FTW

Reese’s Eggs are other-worldly

Game-related:

legos — Destroying it might have been more fun…

I love games even in non-pandemic times, so obviously I have ideas in this category, such as the classic: jigsaw puzzles. I love them, and recently I’ve been intrigued by all the variety there is! 3D puzzles, gradient puzzles, I-Spy puzzles, etc. Tucker and I also had a lot of fun reliving our childhood Lego dreams with a Titanic build, which we then made into a game of “who can make the best ______? Go!” Of course, I probably still gravitate most to board games, thus we’ve recently added Villainous and Sushi Go to our collection. Additionally, we’ve continued putting our own twists on some other classic games (for example, we’ve been known to play Guess Who by choosing two or three people, which makes the questioning much more complicated, especially when we stipulate “no English” – making it a great language practice as well). And speaking of innovation, it’s super fun to make up your own game! Tucker and I still play a version of “Cheyenne, Wyoming”, which is a card game we made up years ago on an overnight layover.

Artistic:

One of the things I loved seeing at the beginning of quarantine was all the artistic fun people were having. It started with the artwork challenges where people were imitating famous paintings using what they could find at home. Tucker and I did a few of these, and it was so much fun! Searching galleries for pieces that would work, collecting the props, arranging the set, staging the photo, etc. I’ve also used some of this down time to work on my cross stich and origami skills – getting ready for holiday gift-exchanges already! On a whim, I also ordered a paint-by-numbers kit, and let me tell you, if you’re looking for something that takes up a lot of time, this would be it. Eventually when I finish the thing, I also have big plans for any paint I don’t use: painted rocks for the neighborhood, a Bob Ross video, etc. Time at home really gets the creative juices flowing!

Cross stitch

Origami

Paint-by-numbers

Technology-related:

Can we all agree we’re really lucky this happened in 2020 and not 2002 because technology really gives us a lot of options. I don’t think I can have a list of things to do during quarantine without including the ever-popular, binge-watching. So, yeah, find something to watch, make some popcorn, and veg out. I didn’t get into the whole Tiger King thing, but I really loved The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Taskmaster, Russian Doll, and many others. Check out the free site Taste Dive to find shows/books/movies that are similar to your favorites. Also, don’t get hung up in doing the same things online and/or on your phone. I’ve found some really amazing websites and apps just from googling other “things to do when you’re bored/quarantined” lists. Some of my favorites include: Seterra (geography quizzes), Mental Floss (human interest articles), Bored Panda (stories of art and design), Sporcle (trivia), and Free Rice (vocabulary games). Some new apps I’ve had fun with are: 13 tile mahjong, psychedelic camera, photo editors/collage makers, and Hello Talk (social media/language exchange). Since I recently had to get a new phone, I also purposely spent a lot of time optimizing it to my exacting specifications. I tried out all sorts of settings I never would have even looked at before, and I also googled tips/tricks specifically for my phone/system. Tucker even learned a few things for his phone, which he’s had for two years now!

Quiz Up’s great too

Parasite is also worth a watch

Educational:

82579426_10221717914885431_3159004740344348672_n — My constant companions…

If you’re starting to feel like maybe you should do something with your at-home time other than just entertain yourself, it might be a great time to focus on learning something specific. I’ve been addicted to Duolingo for while now, but it’s totally guilt-free because my French is seriously improving. I also really enjoyed my 30-day challenges that included something educational (but also easy), like watch a TED Talk every day or read a random country’s entire Wiki page (which coincidentally also helped with my wanderlust). This time is also perfect for catching up on any reading lists you may have. I’ve focused on books I acquired long ago, but never had the time/access to read as well as books that have popped into my mind for one reason or another (such as Jurassic Park – aren’t you curious about how the movie differs from the book? I know I am). I’ve also been enjoying the time I’ve put into some pertinent research. Human rights’ laws, Black history, local election processes, charities, corona-viruses, and so many other things. We’re incredibly lucky to live in the information age where we can learn just about anything we want, including how to reliably fact-check and source information.

Health-related:

One concern I had (even prior to any lock-downs) was how am I going to be as active as I used to be, now that I don’t have to walk to work or traverse the vast, open spaces of China on a daily basis. One way I tried to address this problem was by setting a physical challenge for myself for each month of the year, such as walk 10,000 steps a day (March), 30 minutes of yoga a day (April), etc. Now that I find myself residing in a new neighborhood, I’ve also made a list of “walking tours” for us to complete when we take the dogs out. Just another way to get a bit more exercise and systematically see our neighborhood (and beyond) a little more thoroughly. Of course, I’ve also been dying to organize my things (which are all still in boxes/suitcases), so if you are able to, use some of this at-home time to go through your closets, drawers, even digital files and Marie Kondo your life. Also let me know when you do, so I can live vicariously through you! Finally, another health-related activity I’ve been working on is finishing up any/all beauty products I have. I came back from China with heaps of hydrating face masks, and I love throwing one on and simultaneously finishing up that tanning lotion I got way back in 2016 (at long last!).

walking — Luckily Orlando is a really nice place to walk!

Miscellaneous:

Finally, we all need to be reminded that while we might be limiting our face-to-face time, we should still be connecting with family and friends. This is the perfect time to develop new habits of regular phone calls, video chats, game nights, etc. We should definitely all keep celebrating special events too! Birthdays, anniversaries, successfully submitting your tax returns, whatever you want! Tucker and I just celebrated Christmas in July last weekend and had so much fun. I actually think eggnog tastes better in the summer. Also, even though it’s tough to do, try to keep planning. Trust me, I really know the frustration of trying to plan during a pandemic (I’m still technically mid-move), but it really feels good to talk about the possibilities, even if they end up changing. And one last one: write something! Write a postcard or a letter, start a bullet-journal, take up blogging or poetry. It can really be quite cathartic.

Happy 30th!

Merry Christmas (in July)!

So that’s my list. I hope it gave you an idea or two or maybe it sparked something completely different. This really is the perfect time to try something new and perhaps change some habits in the process. I also feel like having these small, solid “events” to look forward to have really helped keep me sane in this time of unknowns. It’s definitely been an interesting phase in our lives, but there’s certainly no reason it can’t be a fun one as well. I can’t wait to look back on quarantine and reminisce about all the crazy things we did and tried! See you on the other side!

Ruminating on Returning

On May 20, 2020December 12, 2023 By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

With so much to see in the world (and currently so much time to plan) Tucker and I find ourselves talking about trips we’d like to take fairly often. We typically have no problem jumping into the logistics and research of a given location, but we do sometimes get stuck on the initial “where should we go” question. There are so many places we’d absolutely love to visit, but there is also a growing list of places we’d really like to return to, places we clearly haven’t explored thoroughly enough for our liking, places, including but not limited to:

The Netherlands

472549_4075793461494_1409717026_o This was an obvious choice for this particular list because we only spent about 23 hours in the country. It was our first foray into long-layover travel, and we definitely fumbled our way through it. It wasn’t too difficult to get from the airport to the city center (and back again), but as we set off with absolutely no plan, it was mostly just a long walk around the beautiful canals. Amsterdam is a great walking city though, so even with our random ambling, we were able to take in the numerous and iconic bridges, bicycles, and fry-stands. We also explored the infamous Red Light District and (from a distance) the I AMsterdam sign, which is sadly no longer there.

469797_4075825502295_391371770_o — Pre-smartphone days

If/when we return, however, there many things we have added to our NL itinerary. Mostly notably, all the incredible museums that we missed! Anne Frank, Van Gogh, Rembrandt – we definitely needed more time. I also want to visit Castle De Haar, see the tulips, and maybe spend the night in a houseboat. We’ll also need to do a better job of trying some Dutch specialties on our next trip: poffertjes (small fluffy pancakes), bitterballen (fried meat balls), and some fresh Gouda, for a start.

Finland

414107_4076007586847_1513337318_o Next on our “must return to” list is Finland, which might not have been an obvious choice seeing as we spent almost three weeks there, but at the time we 1) had very little money to spend, 2) were exhausted from finishing up our undergrad degrees, and 3) had just gotten married, which as anyone who has planned a wedding can attest, left us feeling a bit burnt out. Typically when we travel now, we avoid suitcases, and we move around a lot, but as this was our first trip sans car, we failed miserably at both packing lightly and at utilizing public transportation. We also weren’t able to afford train passes or much of anything at that time; in fact, our flights and accommodations were wrangled together with the help of some of our wedding gifts and useful family connections. Regardless of what now seems like a trip very far removed from our usual preferences, at the time, it was magical.

Holiday Club Katinkulta

Newlyweds

It was actually my first trip overseas, and I quite literally cried on the plane from sheer excitement. Even with very little planning and even less travel experience, we found time to act our age in a youth hostel in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki; we then honeymooned properly in a cabin (with its very own sauna) at a lakeside resort in Kajaani, and we also watched a series of bizarre sunsets around 11pm each night. I really wouldn’t change anything about our time in Finland, but for the next visit, I do have a list of a few more things I’d like to see/do. Things like: cross into the Arctic Circle, see the Northern Lights, meet Santa Claus, go snowshoeing, step foot in Turku, and visit Olavinlinna Castle, all while listening to my favorite language in the world: suomen.

The Bahamas

536438_10200935610700815_1786181392_n Technically we’ve been to the Bahamas a few times now, but does it really count if it’s on a cruise? I mean, don’t get me wrong, cruises are fun and economical, but they definitely keep you in a bit of a bubble. For this reason, I would love to go back to the Bahamas, without the big boat. I think it would be amazing to fly into Nassau and explore New Providence Island a little more slowly and a lot more thoroughly. There are several forts I want to see on the island, not to mention the art galleries, lighthouses, and, of course, the beaches (especially the ones on the far side of the island). At some point, Tucker and I want to get our diving certification so we can explore the depths too, or if we don’t have time for that, then I want to do one of those bubble helmet dives instead!

South Korea

10448254_10204216637364431_3070467486268306490_n — Chimek

Another clear case of not enough time: our quick trip to South Korea still feels like a bit of a blur. I had just spent a month studying abroad in China, but before taking the long plane ride back to the US, Tucker and I tacked on a few days in Seoul as well. Luckily, we had our very own personal tour guide as a former student of mine (and his wife) took us around the city showing us all the famous sights and, more importantly, the best eats. We tried to act cool in Gangnam, we saw the famous Blue House, we crisscrossed the many bridges and marveled at the surrounding mountains. We were also treated to the most amazing Korean BBQ, bingsu (shaved ice dessert), chimek (fried chicken and beer), and soju (traditional Korean alcohol), which fueled our love of gochujang (red chili paste) for years to come. It was truly unlike any trip we’d ever taken, and spending the time with new friends was the best part.

10439513_10204216635244378_621124510057121214_n — Thanks Hyung-Bin and Jessica!

Of course, with so little time (and a tightly packed and carefully arranged agenda), we didn’t really even make it out of the capital. Next time, we’d love to see the notorious DMZ or head south to the highly regarded Jeju Island. I find that a lot of my Korean students speak very fondly of the nature in their home country, and I’d love to hike a mountain, view a waterfall, or whatever else is going on in the season we find ourselves in. I’m also pretty sure I’ll never get my fill of Korean food, so obviously we need more time and access on that front. I know we didn’t even try half of what was on our list, and everything we did try, we mostly certainly want to have again!

Italy

12715904_10208824855687009_3236065526047971785_o — So sick :(

Does anyone feel like they’ve ever seen enough of Italy? I feel like even Italians are always discovering new things they want to do and see in a country that clearly has culture coming out of every orifice. Speaking of orifices, mine were a bit sneeze-y, stuffy, and runny when we took our trip to Rome a few years ago. It was actually a bit heartbreaking to not be able to fully taste what many people regard as the king of international cuisines. Due to my weakened state and a surprise address from the Pope that weekend, we weren’t able to check off quite as many things as we’d hoped in planning that particular trip. Fortunately, we did still hit most of the highlights of the Eternal City, plus we got to see the Pope pop his head out of the little carpeted window in the Vatican, so how can I really complain?

For Rome specifically though, I know we need to see the Sistine Chapel and the rest of the Vatican museums (when we were there, the wait to go inside was over 4 hours long). We also opted not to go into the Colosseum when we were there, partly because of crowds but also because it just looked so touristy. In hindsight, we regret not taking a closer look at such a historic structure. And then, there’s the rest of Italy we still need to explore: the fashion of Milan, the waterways of Venice, the architecture of Pisa, the art of Florence, the pizza of Naples; I mean really, there is so so much we still have to see in Italy. I also want to have a clear nose and a few more cannoli taste-tests next time.

12716340_10208824843046693_2616482584156851991_o — Waiting to hear Pope Francis

Germany

13726595_10210193233855608_8528054797553861878_n Germany, unfortunately, represents another set of rookie moves on our part. We spent a year living just a few hours over the border in central Poland, yet we failed to A) make it to Oktoberfest and B) visit Bavaria, the most quintessential of all the German regions. While I do sorely regret not making time for southern Germany, we did really enjoy our time in Berlin and Potsdam, looking at the incredible architecture, sampling the infamous brews, and picnicking in numerous parks. It was an absolutely lovely time, but of course, I’d love to go back for a festival or two. It’s really not our fault we missed Oktoberfest; we had wrongly assumed it took place in October, but really it’s more of a September event that actually ends in early October. Ah well, it’s on the list for our inevitable return trip. As are other famous places like: Neuschwanstein Castle, the Rhine, Cologne, and, of course, Bavaria.

Mongolia

22489965_10214825998711834_2745602979160999147_n Perhaps unlike any other place we had been, Mongolia intrigued us in so many ways. It’s really a breathtakingly beautiful country that exceeded every expectation we had for it. We visited for about a week in 2017, but unfortunately, a lot of that time was taken up by work (conferences, presentations, etc.) In our free time though, we were able to pretty thoroughly explore Ulaanbaatar, including temples, yurt neighborhoods, live-music bars, and amazingly trendy restaurants. We also took a short road trip out to Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, which was honestly a bit frightening for me (mostly because we opted to dismiss the rental insurance), but ultimately it gave us the best glimpse of what life is like outside UB.

Roadtrip!

UB sunset

It was this glimpse that sparked our conversations of returning to Mongolia. We’d love to experience more of the steppes, perhaps to try our hand at some serious horseback riding, yurt living, and other nomadic fundamentals. I’m also really eager to return to Mongolia in the dead of winter because Ulaanbaatar is consistently ranked the world’s coldest capital, and that’s something I want to experience. Although, on the flip side, I also want to make the long trek out to the Gobi desert or the Flaming Cliffs; as one of the least densely populated countries in the world, the nature in the Land of Eternal Blue Sky is unspoiled and absolutely stunning. Okay, so apparently we need two or three more trips to Mongolia.

Malaysia

51666025_10218814551103151_7277803769331449856_n Last on this list (for now) is a place we actually visited just last year. On our way back to China from a work event in the Philippines, we took a bit of a roundabout path that allowed us to spend almost a week in Malaysia, well, in and around Kuala Lumpur anyway. Malaysia is a tricky country to fully explore in a short amount of time because it’s made up of part of a peninsula (West Malaysia) and part of the island of Borneo (East Malaysia), the two regions being about 400 miles apart. For this reason, although we feel pretty good about our exploration of the amazing capital city, typically called KL for short, we still really want to explore some of the other regions of this incredibly diverse country.

51743204_10218802008229587_1851030617089638400_n We never made it to a beach while we were in Malaysia, so maybe we’ll start there on a subsequent trip. There are many islands off the coasts of both West and East Malaysia that look amazingly beautiful and relaxing. There are also several world-renowned national parks, which are home to a collection of unique indigenous species that Tucker really wants to check out. Of course, as we found in KL, Malaysia seems to enjoy extreme sports as well, so maybe we’ll try the popular zip-lining, white water rafting, or jungle trekking activities while we’re at it!

65967210_10219977305371281_6241891798231285760_n Of course, there are three countries, not previously mentioned, that are and will indefinitely be on our return radar: the United States, Poland, and China. These are the places we have the greatest connection to, and thus will need many re-visits and reunions to sustain us. Luckily, our friends and family in Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Łódź, Hefei, and Shanghai continue to make us feel like we never left. Traveling around the world and learning about different cultures and languages has been a huge part of my life, and I sincerely hope it always will be. Whether we make it back to any of these places, or on to any of the other 150+ countries still on my list, I’ll forever be grateful for these opportunities and the people who have had a hand in making them happen.

Florida Adventures

On March 22, 2020September 22, 2022 By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

70592417_10220647136596643_9016034569404547072_n — Contemplating the state of the world

Have I already mentioned what an interesting year 2020 is turning out to be…well, anyway, as you may have heard, we should all be self-quarantining now. So what better time is there to write about all the adventures we had (and some we still have) planned for our sojourn in Florida, which has also been quite unexpected and rife with issues (more on that in a later, much longer post).

For now, let’s focus on Florida: the Sunshine State, the Family Vacation Mecca, the Hotbox of the East Coast. Of course, like most middle-class Americans east of the Mississippi, Tucker and I had been to Florida many times in our lives. Apparently my first ocean experience was as a two month old at New Port Richey Beach; Tucker and I both visited grandparents down here when we were little (mine in St. Pete and his in Fort Pierce), and of course, if you know my family, you know we’ve made our fair share of trips to the big WDW. We actually both remember separate trips to Pensacola for one reason or another, and as I have family in the Villages, we’ve made several stops there as well. But, when my parents officially moved down here back in 2017, Tucker and I planned and took a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Key West (with his mom this time), which I believe truly marked the beginning of our new and focused Florida Explorations.

21032627_10214365131750448_6472857985422918898_n — Sunset Key

So, when we came back this year, knowing immigration would take a few months, we decided to really see what Florida has to offer. I made a list, shocking I know, and we’ve done our best amid the global and domestic catastrophes to explore our new state of temporary residency. Here’s what we’ve done:

75580375_10221165485275036_4695034033514479616_n — Butter beer!

1 – Universal Studios

The first place I knew had to be on the list was Universal Studios. Tucker had never been, and the last time I was here was in 2006 with a friend and her family. Since then, they’ve added pretty much the only thing that could draw me away from Disney and into another over-priced theme park: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Long story short, it’s no Disney, but you really can’t miss visiting Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, can you?

75317283_10221174483419984_338793823536676864_n — So amazing!

2 – Daytona Beach

We realized pretty early on in our Florida-life that everything in the state is between 1-3 hours away from Orlando, so it was easy to plan Saturday excursions in any direction. One of the first of such excursions was to Daytona Beach, which boasts the title of “The World’s Most Famous Beach”. And while I might not go that far, it’s always great fun to share a fishbowl drink overlooking the waves.

3 – Disney Brunches

Some of the things on our list are events rather than places, as with our plan to go to brunch with family on the first Sunday of each month we are in Florida. This was narrowed down to Disney-specific brunches because my parents get a discount and, well, we love the World. So far we’ve been to Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’, Boma – Flavors of Africa, and the Whispering Canyon Cafe. Next up was going to be the Wave…of American Flavors, but I think April’s brunch might be an at-home affair.

Caramel, pecan, bacon doughnuts

Boma’s Brunch

4 – Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast

82989356_10221868133720808_9032252941439860736_n Next up, my dad wanted to try a famous seafood place (Dixie Crossroads) out on the Atlantic coast, which I quickly paired up with a drive to Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral. Although it was a quick visit, we walked along the beach and the pier, looked for the cruise ships and the Space Center, and learned that Florida has a nickname for every single section of coastline.

5 – Crystal River Manatees

Of course, I had to include Florida’s friendliest sea creature in our excursions! Tucker and I took a drive up to Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge to see some free range manatees and were blown away by the large numbers of them. While they definitely kept their distance, and rightly so, it was incredible to watch them splash and float around in adorable aggregations (which I learned is the group noun for manatees).

Three Sister Springs

Look at ’em all!

6 – Downtown Orlando

Just as I spent a lot of time exploring Atlanta when we lived there, I knew I wanted to go through the different neighborhoods and attractions of Orlando as well, you know, aside from the theme parks. One day we took a lovely walk around Eola Lake and up around Church Street. We went to see Henry IV at Orlando Shakes and strolled around all the museums on the north side. We’ve also found our new favorite used bookstore in Best Used Books and have been back and forth to all sorts of Orlando hot spots since January.

Lake Eola

Best Used Books

7 – Hop Passport: Florida Edition 89925318_10222367882414213_2624685322386014208_n

Actually, one of the main reasons we’ve been to so many random locations in Florida is due to our quest to get a stamp at as many local breweries as possible. My sister-in-law and her boyfriend gave us the amazing Hop Passport for Christmas this year, and we’ve had a great time checking off places and seeing new cities across Florida. We’re at 14 out of 96 so far, and you should definitely check out the Hop Passport for your state if you’re also a beer-lover. You just can’t beat half-off beers!

8 – Disney (free things)

Another more open-ended item on our list is to finally do some of the free things at Disney that we never had the time or energy to do on previous trips. We haven’t bought park tickets for our time in Florida this year, but we’ve had a great time attending free events, walking the Boardwalk, hanging out at Disney Springs (the free shopping and entertainment area), and so much more. If you want a list of fun, free, and non-kiddie things to do at Disney, please let me know. I’m practically an expert.

87415570_10222269939965713_2691670190680178688_n — The Boardwalk: my favorite Disney place!

9 – Saint Augustine

89857039_10222367888734371_2287005639135723520_n — Castillo de San Marcos

Finally, on our last day of freedom (pre-self-quarentine), Tucker and I drove up to Saint Augustine to learn a bit more about Florida’s very long history. We visited the Fountain of Youth, the Colonial Quarter, the oldest masonry fort in the US, and ultimately saw a completely different side to this seriously diverse state. I’d really love to go back and explore Saint Augustine even more one day; it’s really an awesome city.

And so that brings me to a few things still on our list for the oh-so-tentative future:

* Take a train

I absolutely love trains, and when I saw how frequently they’re actually used in Florida (albeit still over-priced and not terribly convenient), I knew I needed to try them out for myself. Probably after the pandemic though…

Train

* Naples/Everglades

The Naples area is deemed “Paradise Coast” and it’s one part of Florida neither of us have ever been to; therefore, it was an obvious choice for the list. We’ve also never truly been into Everglades National Park (we’ve only driven through parts of it), so we tacked that (and the obligatory airboat ride that accompanies it) on as well.

* Devil’s Den

A place that has been on my travel to-do list for years now, Devil’s Den is an underground spring with clear waters and an abundance of ancient rock formations and fossils. It looks so cool, and I really want to go! Once the water gets a bit warmer though…

Den

* Tampa/deep sea fishing

And for now, the last thing on our list is a trip over to the Gulf Coast for a deep-sea fishing excursion (during which I might just have to close my eyes or ask that we be allowed to catch and release). We’re also planning to do a more thorough exploration of downtown Tampa on this particular trip. I really love the whole two birds, one stone idea.

89038730_10222237665158863_5976912390745227264_n — Making lemonade!

Well, that’s our Florida bucket list! Fingers crossed that everyone stays home for the next few weeks/months, so we can get back to exploring once everyone’s healthy again. Until then, I might add a few more things to list now that I have such ample time for research! I also challenge everyone reading this to do the same for your state/region – it’s a great way to pass the time and make the most of our days in the future!

So What’s Next?

On September 15, 2019September 15, 2019 By Dani Francuz Rose1 Comment

69408436_10220433442734430_2978051759504621568_n — Busy livin’ it up!

Summer is coming to a close, and much like Tucker and I ourselves, you might be wondering what’s next for us? What are we doing? Where even are we? I know I don’t do a great job of keeping up-to-date on Facebook and other social media (mostly because I tend to post photos weeks or even months after the events actually happened), but I thought maybe I could share our plan and thought process here for anyone trying to keep up.

Back in the US (for family fun/easy transitioning):

My Fellowship ended and our China visas expired this July, so Tucker and I (and my parents) celebrated the upcoming changes by taking an incredible trip to Japan. We said our goodbyes to Asia (for now), really enjoyed the freedom of having zero work responsibilities, and began to plan what we wanted to do next. Of course, before any plans could really get underway, we had to make a stop back in Atlanta to visit friends and family (thanks to everyone who was able to hang out with us this summer – we had an amazing time!). After our family fun in GA, we had a bit more in FL before setting to work unpacking, consolidating, and repacking – our 10 boxes, 5 suitcases and a few odds and ends are currently all in a closet and ready to ship out.

Braves Game

Osaka Castle

Working online:

While working on getting our physical items into place, I also started teaching online. I’m currently working with VIP Kid and Lingoda, and typically teach 5-7 classes a day. VIP Kid uses their own platform to create a one-on-one virtual classroom for Chinese students aged 5-14. It has been so much fun for me to keep this connection to China (for example, I got to wish all the kiddos a happy Mid-Autumn Festival this weekend and show off my vast mooncake knowledge). I’ve also really enjoyed being able to branch out in my field by teaching kids instead of adults (for the first time ever!). So far I think my favorite moment was when I was trying to get a student to guess the word “alligator” by giving clues like “it is dangerous”, “it can live both in the water and on land”, “it goes chomp, chomp ” (with the accompanying hand movements), and he very confidently yelled “it’s a DUCK”! They really are hilarious and so impressive with their English skills!

Lingoda, on the other hand, is more of a video-conference style classroom geared toward adults. I can teach up to five students at a time, and we cover a variety of topics from specific grammar features to business communication skills. The company is based in Europe, but markets to English learners everywhere, which is awesome because not only am I being paid in Euros (how cool is that?!), but also in my less than one month of working for them, I’ve had students from over 30 different countries. I love being back “in” classrooms with mixed international groups; we have the BEST conversations! In addition to VIP Kid and Lingoda, Tucker and I have kept up with our English test recordings that we started doing in China as well. We’re both getting really good at our respective “Boy 3” and “Girl 2” voices. Needless to say, I’ve definitely been keeping myself busy work-wise, and I’m excited to say that I might never have to get out of my sweatpants ever again!

Off to the Great White North:

Okay, so now that I can work anywhere in the world, where are we going? Good question. In less than two weeks, Tucker and I are headed up to Canada for at least a month to check out the living/working situations in Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City. Neither one of us have ever visited this part of Canada, so before we make the decision to move there semi-permanently, we want to check it out in-person. Tucker is also waist-deep in job applications at the moment, and while we wait for news (and potential offers/visa paperwork) we’d like to get to know the lay of the land. By the way, if anyone knows someone looking for a highly qualified laboratory scientist in ON or QC, let us know!

Why Canada?

26239559_10215603766715548_3734380967423426505_n — In our element!

If you’ve ever spoken to me about my travel/living abroad obsession, you might be surprised that Canada is so high on our list of potential new homes. So why Canada? We have quite a few reasons: first, it’s Tucker’s turn to choose, and he’s dying for 1) someplace cold and 2) an easier language situation (after Polish and Chinese I think he wants to have even just a slight chance at fluency). We also want to bring our pups along with us this time, and since I refuse to cargo them, that means we’re really limited to the US’s two neighboring countries. Although I still have big plans to move to South America and the Middle East and some far flung Pacific island, for now, we need to be able to drive to our destination, all paws accounted for. Plus, I’ve always wanted to improve my French. :)

If not Canada, then what?

Of course, visas can be tricky, new jobs can be finicky, and Canada seems to be a place that wants long-term immigrants, not the flaky 2-3 year types like us. So, if we’re unable to get things to work out in the Great White North (or we find that it doesn’t fit our needs/wants), then we’ll be looking to Mexico next. Perhaps spending a month or two down there to assess the situation and eventually move all our stuff to our new country of residence, wherever it may be. Right now, we have two vastly different options ahead of us, countless exciting possibilities, and we’re definitely ready for whatever comes next!

Long-term plans:

So that’s what we have planned for our immediate future. We shouldn’t be too far away this time, but we are still making sure to find some new places and opportunities to explore. I promise when we settle into our new home, I’ll be sure to share the news all over my social media! As for the not-so-immediate future, Tucker and I are still both planning to take the foreign service exam next year (although I’m really having a hard time imaging myself no longer teaching!), but we’ll just have to see how that goes. We’re actually both interested in trying out some field-adjacent jobs in the future; I’ve been thinking about maybe something with international programming, and he’s been looking into hospital labs and even field service engineering. Of course, we do plan to continue living abroad in a variety of locations for the foreseeable future as well (hopefully with furry children in tow). The possibilities are truly endless!

67594092_10220113141847108_5973907176358412288_n — Soon-to-be world travelers!

We’re in China! Round Two:

On September 18, 2018September 18, 2018 By Dani Francuz Rose2 Comments

We’re back! Back in China, back in Hefei, back at Anhui University, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m so thankful I was given the opportunity to extend my fellowship until June 2019, and I definitely plan to make the most of it! In fact, I thought I’d even share a little bit about my plans for the next ten months, partially in the hope that putting them in writing will make them come true and partially so that when I look back I can justify my exhaustion!

Back with some Beijing beers

All the EAP Fellows’ locations

First, I plan to do my job, of course. Much like last year, my job consists of both teaching and teacher-training. I’ll be teaching courses like Critical Thinking and Writing, Public Speaking and Debate, and English Stylistics to undergraduates at Anhui University. I’ll also be working with my colleagues at AHU to coordinate the English Corner, help coach the student representatives for various national competitions, and ultimately join in whenever and wherever my help is needed. This semester I have an even larger group of students, but I’m super excited to get back into teaching! Now that I have a year’s worth of experience teaching at Anda, I’m ready to try out a few new ideas as well – I hope they’re ready! In addition my duties at the university, this year I’ve also been made a “Fellow Coordinator”, which means that I get to help the new Fellows ease into their China/fellowship lives and help organize and relay various outreach projects within China/Mongolia.

29570503_10216300969785189_349237882816014919_n — Some of my amazing colleagues

I also hope to go a bit beyond just doing my job and leave something that lasts within the program as well as at Anhui University. I’m dedicated to making as many teacher-to-teacher connections as possible, so that when I leave, there will still be a clear link for sharing ideas, resources, and information. I’m working on creating an online Anhui English Teachers’ group as well as organizing a province-wide conference, where teachers can get together and build lasting relationships in addition to working on their professional development. I’m the only Fellow in my province, so I feel a certain responsibility to make sure I share everything I have with my fellow Anhui teachers. I’m really hoping to create as many opportunities for them as possible, which will hopefully mean a lot of collaboration throughout the year.

Additionally, I hope to see more of China. If you know me, you know I like new places, and China is full of new places! Tucker and I are already planning several trips throughout the next year (some work-related, others just for fun), but all are very special to me because it’s usually during these trips that I can relax and remember the “cultural exchange” aspect of my fellowship. As far as in-country travel goes, we’ve made a list and hope to visit the cities of Chengdu, Chongqing, Guilin, Qingdao, Macau, and Xining (and more if we possibly can!). Of course, while we’re still in East Asia, there are a few out-of-country destinations I’m hoping to visit as well, starting with a trip to the Philippines in January! :)

More than just travel though, I haven’t lost sight of the fact that I’m living immersed in such an interesting and vast culture! This year there are many ways I’m hoping to experience more of what China has to offer, such as by joining AHU’s badminton team, attending a Chinese opera, learning to make dumplings, volunteering at local animal shelter, and continuing to explore life in our home city. We’ve already made some amazing, lifelong friends, and I want to take this year to really enjoy our time with them, learning and doing all sorts of new things. I’m also still diligently working on my Mandarin skills with the hope of taking the HSK before we leave – one of my more lofty goals, but we’ll see how it goes!

AHU’s 90th Birthday Celebration

Badminton Team

Finally, and rather importantly, I hope to spend some time planning for the future. Tucker and I have decided to move to a new place after this fellowship year is up, but we haven’t fully decided on where. Technically it’s Tucker’s turn to decide, so he’s already working on updating his resume and hunting down our next opportunity. Of course, I’ll soon have to join him in some of the mundane prepping-to-move tasks, but for now, I’m just focusing on not letting the time slip by. We have so much still to do in China, and I’m beyond excited for it all! Here’s to a successful round two!

Gathering ideas…

Where will we end up?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: