It was my first time visiting Canada. Took this pic as the the plane was getting ready for landing. How GREEN, right? It’s like.. a garden of little broccoli tops.
^This was taken a bit earlier. I love it because it captures pretty much the full gradient of the sky from top to bottom.

I was so excited to be crossing the Atlantic again. I’d only been once before – in 2007 when I spent three weeks in wonderful San Francisco. Really I was just so RELIEVED that I was actually ON that flight at all, having received my visa only 12 hours prior… so much drama.

A big THANK YOU to WeHostels again for the opportunity. And also thank you my lucky stars that this all ended up happening..

You see, the reason I even knew about the comp was because of a bouncy, happy, pink-loving, jetsetting girl called LOLA. We’d been internet-friends (is that a term) since earlier in the year – drawn together by our similar personalities: positive, optimistic, and FUN-LOVING. She encouraged me to enter the comp so we might have a chance to meet in Toronto.

“I’m gonna enter it, win it, and see you there!”

And I did! I couldn’t wait to meet her!

  

One of the first things I did upon arriving in Toronto was get a cheap eat from a hot dog stand.. I love that shit. ‘Street meat’, they call it.. hmm. Totally unglam. But for $1.50, fine. Haha! (Thank you Karla)

As soon as Lola heard I was coming, she arranged a place for me to stay: a room in an awesome four-storey townhouse on Bleecker Street (somewhere north-east of downtown Toronto). With a bunch of other travel bloggers. We nicknamed it the ‘Real World TBEX’ house, complete with our own hashtag (#RWTBEX). Social media geeks….. …

  
^Left: Outside of the house / Right: Bleecker Street

^Bay window in the top floor room, where I slept. It was a massive room that took up the whole floor. It had two queen beds and its own toilet.

The house was organised and provided by Flipkey, a holiday rental service not unlike Airbnb (the one I use most). I’ve been discovering more and more of such websites lately.. I should make a list soon as it’s such a fantastic alternative to hotels! And then there are higher-end options as well, such as renting luxury villas, amongst others.. these I’ll save for when I make more money 🙂

^Crossroads and tram tracks at the south end of Bleecker Street.

I sent Lola a link to the Build A Dream ‘Snack Shack’ a couple of weeks before the trip. Of course, that crazy mofo (I mean that in the most lovable, endearing sense) only went and BOUGHT IT. I think it was the knowledge of this fact that fuelled my determination in getting that visa and making sure I got my ass over there..

I mean.. A CARDBOARD PLAYHOUSE WHAT MORE COULD I WANT REALLY?? 
This woman KNEW ME before she even MET ME!

It wasn’t long before it was set up.. do you see all the bottles on the countertop? That’s how sturdy that thing was. Build A Dream Playhouses – not just for kids for sure! We turned ours into a bar, pretty much. And named it The Confessional (it wasn’t me – I just provided the toys and props, obviously).

Above pic is of Chris of Captain and Clark, and me in clearly the best hat ever.

The following pics are an accumulation of about three occasions of mucking around the house/’snack shack’:

  
^Left: Chris and Gerard / Right: Craig, Tawny, & Erin

  
^Sharpies! Needless to say, I did the majority of the doodling..

^Love my little drawing of Chris? Hahaha

  
^Right: Ted on the guitar. I decided to give him a kind of mohawk..

Ted was so drunk when he brought his guitar out and attempted to serenade us. I don’t even know WHAT he played.. or if it was even anything that was really music at all. Poor him, he kept saying that he didn’t normally sound like that. The next morning when he was sober, he sported the guitar again to show us that he REALLY COULD play and sing. Awh, it’s not like we didn’t believe you the first time! Haha 😉

^With Lola! She came bursting through the front door fashionably late. As you can see, I’d already changed into my sleeping t-shirt..

^I brought face paint, too!

  
^Lola of course brought moustaches.. or should I say ‘mustaches’.. / Erin appreciating the floor.

^Lola, Erin, & Ted. Ted can play guitar, don’t forget!

Now THAT is a moustache.. I have a particular friend in London *ahem* who keeps pointing out the tiny little baby hairs on my upper lip and making me conscious about it. So conscious that I actually looked up and considered laser hair removal (see, I even found a clinic near me!) for a while.

These stick-on moustaches were rather reassuring.

  
^Craig.. (whose hat was that?!), and Erin pouting probably cos she was craving poutine. Pouting for Poutine! 

^Moustaches are not limited to silly humans!

Lola brought a bunch of merit badges for us to assign to each other. We had a ballot box and everything! I can’t remember which one I got.. but I know I swapped it for one that depicted a shoe with a piece of gum stuck to it. It just looked funny and I felt it represented me rather well.. haha.

  

As you can see, The Confessional never stopped evolving! More and more dumb doodles started to adorn its exterior… (by yours truly..), and it even boasted a bed sheet roof. It was a bar. It was a glowstick-shop. It also smelt of Chris after a while cos he just WOULD NOT GET OUT OF IT.

^Tawny, Me, & Kieu

^With the most beautiful (not just on the outside!) Alex, who bunked with me on the top floor.

 
^Left: CALAN and one of my new toys! / Ted: Supposedly, he’s playing guitar.. you just can’t see it, ok?

Here’s a video I put together – it’s basically just all the Vines I took at the house..

From the video, you’ll notice a couple of things:

1. Flat Deej
I was confused about what ‘Flat Deej’ was at first. Let me explain to you my non-American readers.. First of all, Deej is actually a blogger. He was meant to come to TBEX but for some reason couldn’t, and was really bummed about it. So Lola created Flat Deej to make him feel like he was there. It’s based on the award-winning Flat Stanley Project, in which school children are encouraged to write letters to their friends documenting the whereabouts/activities of a cut-out paper character called Stanley (from a storybook called Flat Stanley).

2. Banana
Actually I just wanted to explain Flat Deej and nothing else.

^Our one group photo! Thanks Alex for this 🙂

I admit I hardly attended any sessions at the conference due to late nights etc – because this bunch were so much FUN to hang out with. It was the first time meeting each other for most of us. In fact I hadn’t even heard of half these people before I got there. But it was the best thing ever..

There’s something so amazing about meeting people who also LOVE to travel! I’d never met so many people who were entirely immersed and so passionate about exploring the world before. It was like MAGIC! Kinda like a special, natural connection. Everyone was so POSITIVE, receptive, EXPRESSIVE, encouraging, and socially adventurous. It was super awesome that I didn’t need to explain (unlike when I meet erm, ‘normal’ people.. for lack of a better word, please, it’s 2am..) my desire to travel and and make it my life’s priority – cos everyone shared that same desire. AUTOMATIC FRIENDS.

SO, at the house, there was:

Craig of StayAdventurous
Craig loves being on the road and his favourite country appears to be Mexico! He’s full of shit and will encourage you to step out of your comfort zone. See the world! STAY ADVENTUROUS! And maybe you’ll end up in his imaginary (but one day hopefully real) Hall of Fame..

Erin of The World Wanderer
Erin is a sweetie who has an immense love for the Vine app, and poutine. She’s a teacher and travels as much as she can during the school holidays. Really she’s just so lovely that I can’t even call her a ***** for having so many days off in a year.

Chris & Tawny of Captain and Clark
Erm, only the most awesome couple ever! ‘Met on Kilimanjaro; Engaged at the Taj Mahal’. They’re both hilarious and witty and make fab videos. Why can’t I speak as naturally and smoothly as them on camera? Ugh anyway. Adventurous, energetic, and fun.. if we lived in the same country they’d be my best friends for sure!

Alex of CrazySexyFunTraveler
I truly admire Alex for her dedication and commitment to her cause. She’s been travelling full time for a few years now and she looks like she should be on a magazine cover! She’s so down-to-earth, helpful, and I love her honesty. She’s outgoing and adventurous.. and of course, a little crazy. My kinda friend!

Gerard & Kieu of GQTrippin 
Why are some couples just so cute? WHY? Recently (or not so recently) back from a year-long round-the-world trip, G & Q are now settling back to life in California.. or trying to I suppose. Haha. They are both SO NICE I wish I could shrink and squash them into a little ball, which I then toss to the ground, releasing them into full-sized human existence….. yes like Pokemon..

Ted of Traveling Ted
Ted’s passion is everything outdoors and adventure travel. He’s a camping expert (who packed some sort of miniature/foldable SHOVEL in his backpack.. haha) and of course, he plays the guitar. I would LOVE to go on a trip with him and do some crazy stuff! TED let’s go sea kayaking! Caving! Skiing! Snowboarding! Canyoning! Everything!

Carolyn of The Lazy Travelers
There’s only ONE pic of this girl in this post.. and it’s of the back of her head. Other times she was probably passed out somewhere whilst the rest of us smiled for the camera! She’s one-half of The Lazy Travelers.. ‘The Wino’
Then of course there’s Lola.. I love her. That is all.

THANKS FLIPKEY for housing us!

OK let’s start from the beginning. Three weeks ago, I left work early and boarded a flight to Rotterdam to attend TBU Europe, a relatively new travel blogging conference that takes place twice a year (the last one was in Porto. PORTO!!! I love that place. Can’t believe I missed THAT, but anyway..). I was really excited! It was to be my first conference. Of any kind. EVER. I booked myself a really nice place just across the conference venue, that I found on Airbnb.

^In my backpack: conference schedule, spare cardigan, iPhone charger (we all know just how shit the iPhone battery life is), Goliath the mouse, and Panda.

^I tried to get some ‘work’ done while waiting at Heathrow Airport. Was editing some more pics from Iceland <– this just NEVER ends.

^It was BEAUTIFUL in London as I left it. Clear blue skies.

^A Vine video that I made whilst on the plane.  Click to play.
(Follow me on Vine! the name is SMALLCRAZY).

  

And then.. I arrived in Rotterdam. GREY AND RAINY.

“Some holiday…”

But look at their luggage reclaim area! I found it so amusingly cute. It was so woody that it even smelt it.

A bus from Rotterdam Airport to Centraal cost me €3 (and the ticket is valid on public transport for one hour). By the time I arrived at the apartment late that night, I was looking rather like a wet and tired rat. My host, Jan, was super.. and so was my little top floor studio.

^Planted myself on the bed and began painting my nails in between blogging.. totally havin a party.

It was so much fun unpacking and placing all my stuff around the room the next day!

I missed the morning opening remarks and keynote talks at the conference. I was just SO TIRED.

TBU ROTTERDAM & THE MAINPORT HOTEL

TBU Rotterdam took place at The Mainport Hotel, a brand new (literally it opened ONE DAY before the conference began) five-star design hotel located in Leuvehaven, near the water. A lot of the attendees stayed there out of convenience.. but sadly it was out of my price range.

I WISHED I could’ve stayed there though, because it looked super cool and I heard that some rooms contained your own little jacuzzi and SAUNA.

^Awesome chandelier lights hanging off what seems to be a giant upside-down compass. Without arrows.

^The long white reception desk looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

^I hung out here a lot.. mostly to use the free wifi. And to pretend that I was really busy.

When in fact, I was doing this… >>

Just capturing the mood!

ANYWAY

All delegates/attendees were greeted with a  goodie bag including lots of information about Rotterdam and a three-day public transport card. I was (just a little) embarrassed to have turned up so late.. but I really didn’t wanna be shuffling around like a zombie all day. I had to turn up looking GOOD.

So eventually, I made it to the main room for the ‘Creating Content for Travellers’ presentation by Gary Bembridge and subsequent panel discussion. I was particularly excited about the panel discussion as one of the speakers on it was Gemma of Retrochick. True to form, she turned up with the most amazing vintage style hairdo and she was great when she spoke.

^This photo was taken by Anja of The Curly Traveller, who was attracted to me because of all the colours and toys and stickers I had with me. Anja turned out to be a kindred spirit and a gem – you’ll see why in a later post.

My jumper is from Topshop.

  

I took the above pics during the couple of short breaks in between. My toys are balanced on my pink business-card holder…. my rather LAME card holder I should say, cos it barely holds ten cards at once.

  

^I sat next to Clare of Need Another Holiday, and we had lunch together too – this was provided downstairs. The drink on the right is actually a cold soup starter.. can’t remember what it was called but it was something with tomato.

Clare was super sweet and lovely and funny.. She lives up north and hopefully I’ll see her again too. She writes about how to make the most out of travel while keeping a full time job.

^I have to admit that the food served at the hotel was not exactly mouth-watering. But y’know what it was there and available.. so I simply reminded myself that at least I didn’t have to walk out in the rain to find my own lunch!

HOTEL BAZAR, ROTOWN, & NRC ROTTERDAM

Clare and I went to a huge middle eastern restaurant (part of a hotel) on Witte de Withstraat (one of the main streets in Rotterdam where all the bars and restaurants are) called Bazar, following recommendations from other people who had been.

The place was huge and full of LIGHTS! I was completely enticed.

We shared a bottle of wine.

Ordered a couple of main dishes to share, too. The food was amazing! I loved it all. Everything was tasty and juicy and satisfying.

The TBU Networking Event for the first night was at a bar/live music venue called Rotown.

^Goliath came along too, but he found it a little boring since he couldn’t drink.

I managed to stop by a coffee-shop on the way. Got some goodies and proceeded to befriend the naughty people of the conference who would indulge with me. Sometimes I think this is the best way to make friends.. (as I’ve said before.. this is an honest blog!)

^Buzzing Witte de Withstraat on a Friday night.

Upon leaving Rotown, Clare and I stumbled upon an EVEN COOLER scene at a place called NRC.

  

The music was fab, the ceilings were HIGH and they had a giant disco ball! And cherry blossoms inside.

We spotted a group of Dutch girls wearing bodycon dresses and all made up.. but on their feet, all were wearing sneakers or Converse shoes. Super awesome! I love girls who dress to DANCE.

I had a fantastic first day both in terms of the conference and Rotterdam city. While it provided lots of useful content and an opportunity to learn lots of new things, I thought the best part was all the amazing travel-minded people I got to meet and play with. And Rotterdam was pretty cool.. I loved seeing all the tall buildings and modern architecture – being in Europe, this was rare.

More later! X