Time has absolutely flown by, 1 year ago today I arrived in Canada with no idea what I was doing, no plan and nowhere to be...
The last year has been one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had and it's all thanks to a single plane ticket.
It's incredible to look back now and think about all the amazing adventures I've had, the wonderful people I have met along the way and all the things I have learned. Canada has provided me so many insane opportunities I couldn't have even dreamed of. I'm not even just talking about the breathtaking mountains I got to climb...
The job opportunities I have had here have been like nothing I have ever had before. My first job when I arrived here was driving a giant red bus on a glacier in the middle of a national park where I lived for 6 months! (If you want to know more about this, check my previous blogs)
While out there I hiked so many beautiful trails, mountains, rivers, waterfalls and summits, the list honestly goes on and on. (too may to name them all) There are blogs about some of these adventures too, so check them out if you want to know more.
End of last year I got to visit some of my wonderful friends from America! So I got to explore a little bit of the USA which was a great experience in itself! Read about that here:
I've gotten to experience all 4 seasons here in Canada, the summers are warm and sunny while the winter was the complete opposite where I got to experience -40°C (not including wind chill) and I still loved it!
Fast forward to today. I am living in a beautiful little town called Canmore, about 15mins away from the famous "Banff"that most people know about. I am working full time in a marketing role, I definitely didn't expect that coming to Canada. I am the Social Media Coordinator for a large tourism company here in Alberta and I absolutely love it. I have so many amazing opportunities to travel with work, network & meet talented creatives and I am lucky to work in an office of great, friendly, like-minded people.
Now, full time work aside... I have also been incredibly lucky when it comes to my own personal social media accounts too. If you haven't realised by now, you obviously don't know me at all, but I LOVE photography. I have been into photography in a massive way since arriving in Canada (and still before I got here too, but my passion has definitely grown dramatically).
Since arriving in Canada my Instagram account: @benwaugh has grown far beyond what I could have ever imagined. In the last year, an incredible 12,000 people have decided to follow along my journey of photography, travel and exploring this beautiful planet. - Now, this isn't a story I am writing to toot my own horn and talk about how great I am, because that is not what I care about. It honestly just blows me away that so many people find my content valuable enough in their busy lives that they would like to keep up with what I am doing too.
This is the part I actually care about enormously - Through this social media platform and the job opportunities I have have through my day job, I have been able to network, and meet new people like never before. So many incredible, talented and amazing creative human beings and it's allowed me to restore faith in humanity that social media CAN actually be used as a tool to bring people together.
Some of my closest friends in Canada, I have met through Instagram and a passion for photography, which is a strange concept when you think about it.
This is something I have been really grateful for, through these connections and friends I have adventured and discovered places I would have never seen on my own and had people to share these amazing experiences with and that is pretty special.
While it does suck being away from family and my friends back home, I know that I will see them again one day and they will be there for me when I return, but for now I am going to keep on exploring Canada.
This last year has been the happiest year of my life! I am so grateful I left Australia to begin this journey, and I am beyond excited to see what the next 12 months holds.... Who knows what nonsense I'll be getting up to (sorry Mum and Dad - but you know I jump into things head first and think later)
Now that you've read all my rambling, here are just a few of my favourite memories from this year (there are SO many more that I can't include them all)
If you have any comment, questions, quiries and just want to say hello, feel free to DM me on Instagam, shoot me a message on Facebook, or just drop me an email: contact.benwaugh@gmail.com - I would love to hear from you and know what you think :) ***Side note*** - Stoked to be writing blog again, and I definitely want to be doing this more often - it's crazy how quickly things like this get away from you and it's so hard to get back into the flow.
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