Last Updated on August 5, 2026 by Nadia Halfway

📜 Introduction.

Just 10 days after my graduation ceremony on the 19th of November 2018, I flew straight overseas to spend 4 months in Canada for a post-grad placement.

Coming from a family of modest means, I studied hard and seized every possible opportunity to secure scholarships so I could live abroad, travel, and deeply explore new countries. And here we are! All that hard work paid off when I landed one of only four scholarships available in my entire Faculty of Humanities. The programme, called Globus Placement, was specific to my university (Università degli Studi di Cagliari), but I highly recommend checking what similar travel funding your own university might offer.

Here, I am bringing you along with me down memory lane to relive my 4 months in Canada, into my life as an intern in Vancouver, my travels to other cities across the country and my DKA experience abroad.

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🍁 Why Canada?

When applying for this scholarship, we were required to find a host company on our own to undertake the internship. Doing this would earn us extra points and increase our chances of winning the grant.

As I had studied languages and had already completed an internship at a translation company in Portugal, I wanted to continue pursuing that career path. I started sending my CV and motivational letters to other language service providers but… in South America! I desperately wanted to go to Argentina, Brazil, or anywhere in South America, and I was even accepted by two companies: one in Buenos Aires and one in Lima.

However, my mum was not exactly thrilled about my decision to move to Argentina or Peru. She almost begged me to either give up the idea entirely or find another company, perhaps somewhere like Canada?

Since I had already received confirmation that I had won one of the four scholarships, and knowing what a great opportunity this was for my future career, I decided to compromise. I took her advice on board and found another translation company in Vancouver, just as she wished.

👁️ First impressions.

Dealing with the visa bureaucracy was a complete nightmare, but in the end, it all went smoothly.

So, on the 29th of November 2018, just 10 days after my graduation, I flew from Cagliari to London, spent the night sleeping on the airport floor, and took an early morning flight from London to Toronto for an overnight layover. I wasn’t questioned too much at immigration. Nobody checked my bank account to see my funds, nor was I asked to show my return flight ticket to Europe. Everything was great. I was finally in Canada! My very first trip outside the EU!

During my first Erasmus in Malaga a few months prior, I had met a lovely Canadian girl named Marina. Knowing I was flying into her city, Toronto, and had an early flight the next morning to Vancouver, she kindly offered to let me stay overnight at her place with her family. When her dad found out I was going to Vancouver, he exclaimed, “Why are you going to Vancouver? It’s like China over there!”. I didn’t understand what he meant and just assumed it was a Canadian joke… The following morning, Marina’s dad was kind enough to drop me off at the airport at 4 AM, making a quick stop at Tim Hortons for a coffee and a bagel, a proper Canadian thing.

After that, I boarded my flight to Vancouver, the place that would become my home during my 4 months in Canada. Because Marina and her family were the first Canadians I had met, I genuinely believed everyone in Canada would be exactly as the stereotype says: incredibly kind and welcoming. But, in reality, Vancouver was a bit different.

🤩 Vancouver.

I had high expectations for Vancouver and Canada in general, but honestly, I felt a bit disappointed. The city itself was nice and offered plenty of activities, but no single place truly left me in awe. I realised I much prefer ancient cities with old-world charm rather than grids of identical glass skyscrapers.

Moreover, I am probably just too European for the Canadian way of life! I found the social culture quite closed-off, which is exactly when Marina’s dad’s words finally made sense. Vancouver hosts a massive, deeply established Chinese community. In fact, it often felt like there weren’t many native Canadians around. Instead, I noticed that every cultural community, even the Italian one, operated as a closed circle.

Things that were completely normal to me like smoking a cigarette while sipping a coffee outside, going out with friends for a late-night party, spontaneous socialising, or just having a wander through little cobbled street corners, were simply not a thing here. The gloomy weather certainly doesn’t help much, either!

On the bright side, Vancouver was at least not nearly as freezing during the winter compared to French Canada, which gave me the chance to deeply explore it without freezing. In these posts, I share my absolute favourite places in Vancouver and an ideal 5-day itinerary if you happen to travel here!

Accommodation in Vancouver.

Finding accommodation for a 4-month stay in Vancouver was quite difficult. I only had a few days to find a place before starting my internship. I viewed many rooms, but finding the right one that was both affordable and well-connected to my office and Downtown (the city centre) felt like an absolute mission! To aid my search, I heavily relied on the famous Craiglist website.

At first, I settled into a house shared with an Italian-Canadian girl. She was lovely, and the house itself was good. However, the owners were incredibly strict and quite invasive of our personal space, often entering the house without any warning or prior notice.

I decided to move out after just a week and ended up finding a place with two guys, one from Ireland and one from the UK. They were absolutely amazing and so welcoming. They took me to a live ice hockey match, showed me around the city, shared dinners with me, and we even went cycling together around Stanley Park.

Placement.

The work environment was great too. The owner of the company, Lenka, was a Czech woman who lived in Vancouver and had set up the office right inside her home, long before the pandemic made remote working and home offices popular!

My internship was focused on project management within the field of translation. I learnt a great deal during those months, and the skills I acquired turned out to be incredibly useful in my future career.

My colleagues were equally wonderful. There was Cecilia, another Italian girl with a PhD in translation, who had been living in Canada for years with her Spanish husband. And then there was Lisa, a German girl around my age. I spent most of my free time with her, exploring Vancouver and its surroundings, or going out and partying with her Mexican flatmates. Later, Judy from Belgium joined the team.

Nightlife in Vancouver.

As an Italian who had lived in London, Malaga, and Lisbon prior to arriving in Canada, I was completely used to partying late and heading into clubs well past midnight.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw people queuing outside the clubs in Vancouver as early as 7 PM, even on weekends! Naturally, because the nights started so early, they finished quite early, too.

Because of this shift in culture, I didn’t party all that much during my 4 months in Canada. However, when I did go out, the Red Room in Downtown Vancouver was absolutely my favourite club.

💐 Victoria.

Having lived in Vancouver, I absolutely couldn’t miss a trip to Victoria, the picturesque capital of British Columbia. Accessible via a scenic ferry ride from Vancouver, this city located on Vancouver Island offers a completely different atmosphere. It has an exquisitely British, colonial elegance that contrasts with the modern glass skyscrapers in Vancouver! In case you travel here, be sure to visit the beautiful Butchart Gardens and to try the delicious Nanaimo Bar,

❄️ Montréal and Québec City.

Since my placement took place over December, the office closed for the Christmas holidays. So, I took full advantage of this break and decided to travel to the French-speaking part of Canada and beyond. I planned an ambitious winter itinerary that included Montréal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, and Niagara Falls.

Starting my journey in Montréal, I spent two nights braving the freezing temperatures, but I absolutely loved the festive atmosphere here.

Afterwards, I moved to Québec City. Out of all the places I explored in Canada, Québec was absolutely my favourite city. I think it was entirely down to its undeniable French charm and stunning European-style architecture, which I had missed so much while living on the West Coast.

I spent two nights here, and walking through the snowy streets felt like stepping straight into a magical Christmas snow globe!

🤒 Ottawa.

On my last day in Québec City, I started feeling extremely unwell: chills, high fever, and severe bouts of vomiting. My journey was supposed to continue smoothly to Ottawa, Canada’s capital, but fate had other plans.

To travel between cities, I was using a carpooling website. The poor driver had to pull over several times just to let me be sick on the side of the road! When I arrived in Montréal to catch my connecting car, I stopped at a café for a tea, hoping to settle my stomach, but I couldn’t even keep that down. I had no idea what was happening to me. I simply assumed I had caught a horrific strain of the flu.

When I finally reached my hostel in Ottawa (thankfully without being sick in the second car), my condition deteriorated rapidly, and I was up vomiting all night. A guy staying at the hostel kindly offered to go to the pharmacy and bought me some anti-nausea pills. But the following day, I was even worse. I couldn’t eat a single thing, and my blood sugar levels were dangerously high.

Seeing the state I was in, the guy from the hostel decided to take me to a local clinic. As soon as the doctors saw me, we were immediately redirected to the ER at Hôpital Montfort. What followed was a terrifying series of unfortunate events.

💉 Pneumonia, Sepsis and even DKA.

The extreme Canadian cold had completely spoiled my insulin, rendering it useless. At the same time, I had contracted severe pneumonia, which developed into sepsis, ultimately triggering Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA).

I was alone, thousands of miles from home, in a country with notoriously expensive healthcare, battling a high fever, a terrible cough, and relentless vomiting. This is arguably every diabetic traveller’s worst nightmare. Thankfully, that guy from the hostel stayed with me at the hospital and watched over my bags. If it hadn’t been for his incredible kindness, I dread to think what would have happened.

I ended up spending a full week hospitalised in Ottawa. I had to cancel all my travel plans for Toronto and Niagara Falls, missed my flight back to Vancouver, lost working days at my internship, and faced astronomical medical bills. Just to enter the ER as a foreigner, I had to pay CAD 900 (about €600) upfront. The final medical bill was over CAD 13,000, and the invoice was sent straight to my home address in Sardinia! Thankfully, aside from the deductible fee, my travel insurance fully covered everything.

It was, without a doubt, the scariest and worst experience of my entire 4 months in Canada. Yet, looking back, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I am so thankful for that guy from the hostel, for the exceptional hospital staff and nurses, and for the owner of the accommodation where I stayed for one night after being discharged. She prepared a lovely breakfast for me and her husband even drove me to the airport so I could finally fly home to Vancouver.

💡 Travel Tips.

If you are planning your own trip to the Great White North, whether it is a short holiday or a long-term staying like mine, here are some crucial tips I learned the hard way during my 4 months in Canada.

Visas and Entry Requirements.

If you are flying to Canada for a short holiday, you will likely just need an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization), which is quick and cheap to get online. However, for internships or longer stays, you must apply for the correct visa. Although border control didn’t ask me for them, you are officially required to show proof of sufficient funds and a return flight ticket upon arrival. Always have these documents printed and ready in your hand luggage just in case!

Travel Insurance.

If my Ottawa nightmare taught me anything, it is that you should never travel to Canada (or anywhere else!) without premium travel insurance. Healthcare here is incredibly expensive. A simple ER visit can cost you CAD 900 upfront! Make sure your insurance covers medical emergencies and repatriation.

Although I was lucky and everything went smoothly, to be honest I wouldn’t recommend the same insurance policy (Columbus) to you. If you have a pre-existing medical condition, such as diabetes, I strongly advise you to choose a travel insurance policy that explicitly covers pre-existing conditions. For more detailed information, you can read my article 5 Insurance Policies for Travelling with Type 1 Diabetes.

If you are visiting Canada in the winter season and plan to ski or snowboard, double-check that your insurance explicitly covers winter sports.

Packing for a Cold Winter.

Do not underestimate the cold, especially if you are travelling to Eastern Canada (like Montréal or Quebéc City), the Northern provinces and inland areas. You need proper, heavy winter clothing. Pack thermal base layers, a high-quality windproof and waterproof coat, and proper snow boots with good grip. Vancouver might be milder and rainier, but the rest of the country is a freezing winter wonderland!

Mind the Smoking Rules.

This was a massive culture shock for me! Unlike in Europe, smoking while walking down the street or sipping a coffee on a patio is generally frowned upon. More importantly, there are very strict laws: it is completely illegal to smoke near the entrances, windows, or air intakes of any public buildings, shops, bars, or clubs. Usually, you must be at least 3 to 9 metres away, depending on the province). Always look for designated smoking areas so you don’t get fined or told off. Moreover, even if the use of cannabis is legal in Canada, same rules apply to smoking joints!

Beware of the VAT.

The price you see on a menu or a price tag is never the final amount you pay at the till! VAT (known locally as GST and PST) is always added at the very end, so expect your final bill to be around 10-15% higher than listed (based to each province). It takes a bit of getting used to, but it is completely normal there!

Electrical Sockets and Voltage.

I won’t go into tedious technical details, but I can assure you of one thing: in Vancouver, neither my Silk-épil nor my hairdryer worked properly! The reason is simple. The voltage in Canada is 120V at 60Hz, with type A and B sockets. In Italy, on the other hand, the mains runs at 230V at 50Hz and we use the standard C, F and L sockets.

To use your devices, you’ll definitely need a plug adaptor for Canada. But be careful – a physical adapter alone isn’t enough! It’s essential to check the voltage supported by your electrical appliances. Always look for the label on the power adaptor and make sure it says ‘100–240V’ (which indicates dual voltage). However, I wouldn’t recommend packing your hairdryer, even if you’re planning a long stay. I wouldn’t recommend packing your hairdryer, though, even if you’re planning a long stay. Because of the difference in voltage, it wouldn’t work properly and would just take up space!

Internet and Connectivity.

During my stay in Canada between 2018 and 2019, things were very different. eSIMs were virtually non-existent, or at any rate, my mobile phone at the time didn’t support them. To get internet access in Canada, I’d had to buy a standard Canadian SIM card for around 65 CAD a month. The costs were exorbitant, and they still are.

Fortunately, it’s easier these days. To sort out your mobile connection in Canada, you no longer have to go through the hassle of dealing with local mobile shops. The perfect solution is an eSIM, a virtual SIM card that you activate directly on your phone before you set off. There are loads of flexible plans on the market: you can choose the duration in days, the ideal data allowance for your needs, or even an option with unlimited data. There are loads of providers such as Airalo, Saily, Quibity and Yesim, my favourite.

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❓ FAQ.

🎈 Conclusion.

Looking back at my 4 months in Canada, I can honestly say it was a complete rollercoaster. It certainly wasn’t the Latin American dream I had originally planned, nor was it the picture-perfect, fairytale experience that social media often portrays. From the initial culture shock in Vancouver and the stress of finding accommodation, to the absolute terror of facing a medical emergency completely alone in Ottawa, this trip tested me in ways I never imagined.

But amidst the challenges, there were so many brilliant moments. I gained invaluable career experience, made wonderful international friends, explored the magical winter wonderlands, and discovered an inner resilience I didn’t know I had.

Living abroad is not just about ticking off tourist attractions; it is about the messy, beautiful, and sometimes scary reality of navigating and adapting in a new world. Canada taught me so much, and despite the hardships, I will forever cherish the memories (and the lessons!) from this incredible chapter.

💬 And you? Have you ever lived abroad and experienced a culture shock? I would love to read your stories!

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