MapleJack!

March 2011 to July 2012.

On Tuesday 12th July 2011 I departed my home city of Bristol, England and set sail for the promised land of Canada, there to live and work for a year.  I was twenty-six years old.  It was my great adventure; my final screaming declaration of independence.  It was also, without doubt, the best thing I ever did for myself.

MapleJack! is the LiveJournal I kept throughout this year in Canada, and also during the preparation period beforehand.  I gave out the web address to all my friends and family before I left, so I could use it as a way to keep in touch with my loved ones back home.  I originally envisaged this journal as a travel blog, but it became about so much more than just living in Canada.  My year of cultural discovery evolved into a year of self-discovery, and in a big way.  I think I grew more as a person during this year than at any other time since my childhood.