Traveling to Canada alone

Stinjy

mossy14 wrote: »

Il be aiming for about 10k euros I should be ok money wise then to get me on my feet. Sorry for all the questions but would I be as well stay in a hotel when I arrive for a week so that I will be able to spend a few days looking for the right place to rent? not really ideal looking at places online before I arrive. Also can I bring my laptop with me and will it work there as it is or will I need an adaptor/converter ?

You'll need an adaptor plug for charging but mine worked just fine while i was there last time!

krudler

mossy14 wrote: »

Il be aiming for about 10k euros I should be ok money wise then to get me on my feet. Sorry for all the questions but would I be as well stay in a hotel when I arrive for a week so that I will be able to spend a few days looking for the right place to rent? not really ideal looking at places online before I arrive. Also can I bring my laptop with me and will it work there as it is or will I need an adaptor/converter ?

10k euro should be fine, I stayed in a hotel for 5 nights and got an apartment literally a block away from the hotel so it worked out brilliantly. My advice would be find permanent accom FIRST, once you're settled then do the touristy stuff cos its so easy to spend days doing things and putting the househunting on the back burner and thing jumping from hostel to hotel burning into cash you could put towards rent and have someplace to stay properly.

rlad

Im here now in Toronto it seems like a really cool place. Need to find accom tho can't stay in hostel for too long

lower case

rlad wrote: »

Im here now in Toronto it seems like a really cool place. Need to find accom tho can't stay in hostel for too long

What hostel are you in? Is it a nice place?

lower case

rlad wrote: »

Im here now in Toronto it seems like a really cool place. Need to find accom tho can't stay in hostel for too long

What hostel are you in? Is it a nice place?

rlad

lower case wrote: »

What hostel are you in? Is it a nice place?

In planet traveler ya it seems like a cool place first time in one but everyone here says its a good one

astonaidan

What would be people recommendations insurance wise, got the aul flight booked, time to get the insurance out of the way

goingitalone

astonaidan wrote: »

What would be people recommendations insurance wise, got the aul flight booked, time to get the insurance out of the way

the vhi policy coverage is about the best after reading through the others too . with insurance ya get what you pay for generally . best advice is go with the best you can afford !

astonaidan

goingitalone wrote: »

the vhi policy coverage is about the best after reading through the others too . with insurance ya get what you pay for generally . best advice is go with the best you can afford !

Just looking at VHI and it was 400+ figures, would this be right??

goingitalone

astonaidan wrote: »

Just looking at VHI and it was 400+ figures, would this be right??

Yeah depending what extras ya want

Faith

We were debating between go4less or VHI earlier. The basic VHI plan only allows for one 14 day trip home. Adding an extra 14 days means it's €100 more expensive than go4less for two of us. Go4less allows 4 trips home, but they're vague about whether it's 4 14 day trips (56 days total) or 14 days in total.

I think we've decided to go with VHI, just on the basis of familiarity with them. We'll be home for our wedding next year, and god forbid anything would happen in that period, we'd trust VHI more.

/edit: Actually, reading the fine print, it's worth noting that go4less insurance does not cover you when you're back in Ireland. If you come home on holidays, you will have no health insurance for that period. VHI does cover you while you're at home.

astonaidan

Regarding insured for trips home, does that mean the insurance is void if you take more than the allocated trips home??

Faith

Yep, afaik, or if you stay for longer than the allowed days.

astonaidan

Faith wrote: »

Yep, afaik, or if you stay for longer than the allowed days.

Well that rightly sucks, whats the case then would I have to get a new policy to get back into Canada

con___manx1

rlad wrote: »

alright cheers guys that gave me more confidence in goin it alone was thinking of goin to Toronto is anyone is going/already there

If your going to Toronto. I would advise you to stay in the canadiana backpackers until you get yourself sorted with a place to live. its a great place to meet people. I ended up moving into a house with people i met in that hostel.I also traveled to Canada alone.its very clean and the staff are very friendly.I lived in Toronto and Vancouver, id pick Vancouver every time.Toronto is a concrete prison and in the winter you will frezze to death.Vancouvers winter isnt bad at all, it doesnt snow too much but it rains ; ).tere are a lot of homeless in vancouver.

alexsmith

I've been in edmonton for nearly 3 m

alexsmith

I've been in edmonton nearly 3 months but partied a little at the start so only started working a month ago. I'm living with two Irish lads who are mates of mine.

But I'm starting to feel really homesick , (I THINK!!) low motivation,feel depressed etc.

I'm not sure if it's different for me cause a lot of stuff back home in Dublin changed for me (mother about to sell the family home and she's on her own, and my sister moved to New York ) so maybe that's why I feel like this it's a strange one . Il have to give it time.

Advice appreciated

Stinjy

alexsmith wrote: »

I've been in edmonton nearly 3 months but partied a little at the start so only started working a month ago. I'm living with two Irish lads who are mates of mine.

But I'm starting to feel really homesick , (I THINK!!) low motivation,feel depressed etc.

I'm not sure if it's different for me cause a lot of stuff back home in Dublin changed for me (mother about to sell the family home and she's on her own, and my sister moved to New York ) so maybe that's why I feel like this it's a strange one . Il have to give it time.

Advice appreciated

If you have some money saved and can get time off work, visit your sister ( once it doesnt violate your visa rules) spend a few days with her. It might make you feel a bit better

Edit: if you're feeling depressed talk to someone! I know lads dont like to get into personal, emotional stuff with friends or anyone really.. but don't bottle it all up talk to the friends who will listen or us boardsies if you need to! And just to sound like a total kook - find something positive in every day.

stevief01

rlad wrote: »

Im here now in Toronto it seems like a really cool place. Need to find accom tho can't stay in hostel for too long

how things going out there for you now

stevplum

alexsmith wrote: »

I've been in edmonton nearly 3 months but partied a little at the start so only started working a month ago. I'm living with two Irish lads who are mates of mine.

But I'm starting to feel really homesick , (I THINK!!) low motivation,feel depressed etc.

I'm not sure if it's different for me cause a lot of stuff back home in Dublin changed for me (mother about to sell the family home and she's on her own, and my sister moved to New York ) so maybe that's why I feel like this it's a strange one . Il have to give it time.

Advice appreciated

U need to hang in there, the fact you haven't been working is a huge factor in you feeling like this. I no cos I was in Australia without work for the first 6-7 weeks it was the worst ever, after I got work made a group of friends things really picked up for me. I find when you're away from home you really need to keep busy and be thinking about back home. You're really missin nothing back home, after I moved back home and got over the first week of meeting everyone again,that was it al the hype was gone everyone was getting on with life's. Hang in there get to work and keep the mind occupied. Make the most of what you have.

Lollipops23

I'm flying into Ottawa on Sunday, am a bag of stress/nerves. Am crashing at the vacant apt of a friend of a friend (very kind offer!) and will bus it to Peterborough to start work at a summer/fall camp the following Thursday.

The plan is to head down to TO after, every report I'm hearing is that it's pretty booming economy-wise. My folks have even booked flights for New Years, as I won't be home for Xmas

Faith

Good luck lollipops! We arrived in Vancouver on Saturday evening. I'm not sure I could have gone through with it if my fiancé wasn't with me - I was so nervous and upset leaving! But it's a brilliant adventure and the opportunity of a lifetime, and I'm sure you'll have a blast

Gavin175

Hi Guys,

I am moving to Toronto first week of October, just booked the flight with Aer Lingus, now have to sort out Insurance, good tips above, thanks.

I have been in Australia for the past 4 years and really wanted a change so Canada it is.

I am going on my own so roughly know what to expect after arriving in Oz with no job or accom, but plan to stay in Canadiana hostel when I get there.

I have met a few Canadians on my travels around Europe over the past few weeks who live in Toronto and they guided me towards living in Kings West if I plan to work downtown, anyone got any advice on that or further recommendations?

I know the jobs market is pretty competitive over there in finance so I plan on lining up some meetings with recruitment agents for when I get there and applying for prospective positions prior to departure.

Little bit nervous that I know absolutely no one over there and my mate who was coming with me has bailed, so if anyone is heading around that time or is currently over there feel free to drop me a message.

Will probably try join a local 5 a side footie team, keep active and budget conscious while I try to secure work and accom.

Gav

rlad

stevief01 wrote: »

how things going out there for you now

ah ya grand still havent got a place to live but hopefully ill get one soon

Lbar2212

I'm moving to Toronto alone on the 21st of Sept. Very nervous about meeting people and finding the right place to live, etc. Anyone got any tips on meeting people? I won't be staying in a hostel as my sister is over there so I'll just crash with her. She's leaving soon though.

kellstrom

I've been in Edmonton only for a week, seems a cool enough city, quite laid back. I stayed in a hotel the first 5 nights then luckily found a roomshare in a basement in South West, and almost a job confirmed, I'll know by the end of the week. Its a huge city, so I think I'll need a car to get about. The transit system here is good but not great, Sundays are a pain to travel about, and there's no trains out to the NW of the city. The people seem very friendly, no presence of knackers on the streets either, which is only a good thing. I'm quite into sports so looking to join a tennis/soccer/running club or somethin.

Pythia

Heading over in early October on my own and then my boyfriend is joining me a few months later. We are going on the working holiday visas.

I actually have a job already and they are paying for health insurance as part of my package. Do I need separate health insurance? It covers me for:

"eligible healthcare expenses not covered under your provincial healthcare program".

I'm excited to get over there anyway. Going to rent something short term and then the boyf and I will rent somewhere properly once he arrives.

Lbar2212

Pythia, How did you manage to get a job before leaving? Was it hard?

Pythia

Lbar2212 wrote: »

Pythia, How did you manage to get a job before leaving? Was it hard?

I'm an actuary so there is a lot of demand for people in my field luckily!

ROFY123

Hi Guys,

Im heading to toronto in january on my own, so a bit nervous and stressed out about it.

Is is hard to find accommodation there ? Also what is it like for jobs ?

Im a 21 year old male, willing to work at anything really. The main thing im looking for is a change of lifestyle!

Any tips on how to get your feet on the ground over there will be much appreciated!!