Oct 4, 2024/Midnight
Erie, Pa.— My first time out of the country only took 21 years and a four-hour drive. I made the journey to Toronto with a couple family members for a day trip, and it was quite the experience, to say the least.
Growing up, many of my peers would come back to school after a long break and talk about the different adventures and family trips they had taken in other areas of the world. They talked about their plane rides, the different cuisines they tried, the cultural differences, etc.
My experience was very different. Any trips I took out of my home town were rubber to asphalt. Meaning, if a car could not get us there, we were not going.
As a adult, not much has changed in that regard, but I made it a mission of mine to travel and get out of my regular routine as much as I can. I have always liked the idea of being familiar with foreign lands and becoming more of a “global citizen” as Gannon often advertises to their students.
That being said, once I got my passport, I knew I wanted to see how much further I could go, even if that meant that I had to travel by car. With Erie being so close to Canada already, it only seemed right to take a trip up north as my gateway into international travel.
Whenever I go to new cities in the US, I do my best to take in the city for what it is– and not compare it to what I already know. I tried to keep the same philosophy for the Ontario area, but I could not help but to notice the differences after just minutes of leaving US soil.
The first difference I noticed was the transition from miles to kilometers. I felt as though the speed limit 100-110 km/h was a little slow considering it only translates to about 60 mph. I am sure that the four-hour drive could have been cut down to three if they raised the speed limit a tad. Signs on the side of the highway deterred us from going any faster though, as the fine for speeding was $10,000 CAD.
Once in Toronto, I immediately noticed the difference in the infrastructure and architecture. There were many large buildings covered with what looked like a million windows, and had the ominous skyscraper feeling that you get when you go New York City, but a unique look that completely set the city apart from anything I had seen before. Traffic was pretty tight, but it moved quite smoothly for such a large population of people.
We parked the car and walk around for a couple hours, which was also very different than most American cities I have visited. Most cities here in the US are not as pedestrian friendly, even in the downtown areas. A car is almost always necessary if you want to get anywhere fast. But I noticed that walking and cycling was popular– and seemed to be encouraged– with the amount of bike lanes and pedestrian friendly walk-ways and alleys.
The last difference was the people. I am not sure if it was just the big city experience, or that many of the people there were transplants from the surrounding areas of Canada, but I felt as though there was a really cool, young and fun vibe there. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and looked like they had a purpose to being out-and-about. Many of the people looked put together, and there was an extremely low homeless population, in comparison to what we see in the US.
Overall, my experience in Toronto was the first of many international trips I plan to take in the near future. I enjoyed my time there and plan to go back to see even more of the areas we could not reach in the couple of hours we spent there. As my introduction to international travel, Toronto only made my hunger to see new areas of the world and I hope cross new borders soon.
