📜 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, and my travels to other cities across the country.

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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.

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 didn’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 visit!

🏠 Accommodation.

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.

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 wonderfully with the modern glass skyscrapers in Vancouver!

During my escape from the metropolis, I made sure to explore:

• The Butchart Gardens. Although they are located a little way out of the centre, these massive botanical gardens are considered some of the most spectacular in the world. Read more about this enchanted park on my blog post.
• Market Square. A beautiful open-air courtyard surrounded by historic red-brick heritage buildings. It is packed with quirky independent boutiques and local cafes. Perfect for a spot of shopping!
• The Inner Harbour. The bustling marina is the beating heart of Victoria. The majestic Parliament building dominates the scene, and if you walk by at night, it is illuminated with thousands of fairy lights.
• Fan Tan Alley. Did you know the narrowest street in Canada is located right here? Found in the heart of Victoria’s historic Chinatown, this fascinating alleyway is barely over a metre wide in some spots! It is a brilliant little maze of red bricks and unique shops.
• Fairmont Empress Hotel. Situated right on the harbour, this historic, luxury hotel looks like a proper castle. It is the perfect spot to admire the old-world architecture or to treat yourself to a traditional and luxurious English tea.
• Fisherman’s Wharf. A wonderfully colourful and quirky corner filled with floating homes, fish and chip kiosks, and, if you are lucky, adorable seals swimming around the docks.

❄️ Montréal.

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. During my short stay, I made sure to visit:

• Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. Colourful houses in this artsy neighbourhood.
• Vieux-Montréal. Basically the Old Town.
• Notre-Dame Basilica. The interior of the basilica is simply breathtaking.
• Mount Royal. A must-do for the ultimate panoramic view of the city skyline.
• The Barbie Expo. Located inside Les Cours Mont-Royal, this free exhibition features over a thousand Barbie dolls dressed in incredible haute couture outfits by world-famous designers.
• St Joseph’s Oratory. The sheer scale of Canada’s largest church is magnificent. Perched on Mount Royal, the views from its terrace over the snow-covered city are spectacular.
• Bonsecours Market. A stunning domed building filled with local boutiques.

🍫 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! During my stay, I made sure to explore:

• Rue du Petit Champlain and Place Royale. Walking down these narrow, cobbled streets lined with stone buildings, fairy lights, and artisan boutiques truly made me feel like I was back in a historic European village.
• Fairmont Le Château Frontenac: You simply cannot miss this massive, castle-like hotel dominating the skyline. It is said to be the most photographed hotel in the world, and covered in snow, it looks straight out of a fairytale.
• Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral. Located right in the heart of Old Quebec, this stunning piece of religious architecture is breathtaking and perfectly adds to the ancient charm of the city.
• The Old City Walls. Quebec is the only fortified city north of Mexico. Walking along the historic walls and gates gave me the exact dose of ancient history I was craving!
• Montmorency Park. Just a short trip from the centre, I finally had the chance to see a snowy mountain for the first time!.
• Erico Musée du Chocolat. The perfect, cosy pitstop to escape the freezing Canadian temperatures. Learning about the history of chocolate making and treating myself to some sweet, rich delights was an absolute pleasure!

🤒 Ottawa.

On my last day in Quebec 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 developped 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.

🛏️ Where to Stay in Canada.

When I travelled to Montréal, Québec City, and Ottawa (just before my hospitalisation), I stayed mainly in hostels to save some money. However, even though I was completely used to the hostel environment from my previous travels in Europe, I found the hostels I stayed at in Canada to be quite poor and, honestly, a bit dirty.

Based on my personal experience, even though it dates back to my 2018–2019 trip, I would not recommend staying in hostels in Canada. Instead, do yourself a favour and look for a good, affordable hotel or a cosy guesthouse. Just make sure it is located near a station or well-connected to public transport.

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🍜 What to Eat in Canada.

The Canadian food scene is a mosaic of flavours that reflects its multicultural entity rather than local culinary tradition.

First of all, you cannot visit Canada without tasting the undisputed queen of its street food: poutine. It’s a comforting triumph of crispy chips covered in cheese curds and a thick hot gravy. But the tradition goes far beyond that. Heading east, Québec delights the palate with the rustic tourtière, a fragrant, spiced meat pie typical of the festive season. And also tire d’érable (or maple taffy on the snow): which is a traditional French-Canadian winter treat. It consists of boiled maple syrup poured directly onto fresh snow and rolled onto a wooden stick. The coasts offer some of the finest selections of wild salmon and Atlantic lobster in the world. For those with a sweet tooth, the irresistible butter tarts (soft-centred buttery pastry tarts) and Nanaimo bars (three-layered no-bake treats) provide the perfect sugary finale.

Suggested Restaurants.

• The Flying Pig in Vancouver. In a trendy neighbourhood like Yaletown, it offers a brilliant nouveau Canadian bistro experience. The atmosphere is bustling and rustic but very chic. It is the perfect place to treat yourself to fresh, Pacific Northwest ingredients, incredible meats, and a fantastic glass of wine after a long day of exploring.
• Red Fish Blue Fish in Victoria. Located right on the Inner Harbour, this place is an absolute must for seafood lovers. Expect a bit of a queue, but their sustainable West Coast fish and chips and legendary tacones (hand-rolled tacos) are completely worth the wait. Check opening times as they close on winter. Reopening is planned for March 2026.
• Schwartz’s Deli in Montréal. It isn’t a luxury restaurant, but a true historic institution (open since 1928). It is the ultimate place to try the iconic Montréal smoked meat served in a classic sandwich with mustard.
• Aux Anciens Canadiens in Québec City. If you are looking for total immersion in Québec tradition, this is the perfect spot. Situated in the city’s oldest house (dating back to 1675), it serves historic dishes such as pea soup, tourtière, meatball stew, and maple syrup pie.
• Riviera in Ottawa. Located in a breathtaking former bank building, it is one of the capital’s most renowned restaurants. It offers a very high-standard, modern reinterpretation of Canadian ingredients.
• Tom’s Horton (different locations). You literally cannot walk a few blocks in Canada without seeing one. It is the ultimate cheap, cheerful, and comforting coffee shop. You absolutely have to try their classic filter coffee, a breakfast bagel, and of course, a box of ‘Timbits’ (their famous, bite-sized doughnut holes).
• Swiss Chalet (different locations). For a truly classic Canadian sit-down meal, this restaurant chain is an absolute institution. It is famous across the country for its slow-roasted rotisserie chicken and ribs.
• BeaverTails (different locations). Pop over to this kiosk to taste the famous “BeaverTail”, a sweet, tail-shaped fried dough topped with sugar, cinnamon, or chocolate. It is the quintessential Canadian snack!

💡 Travel Tips.

If you are planning your own trip to the Great White North, whether it is a short holiday or a long-term adventure 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 without premium health 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. If you are visiting Canada in the winter 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). 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. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it is completely normal there!

🎈 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 culture shock? I would love to read your stories!

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