Toronto: On my Own

I was on my own from here onwards. Lauren had dropped me to the bus station. I collected my ticket for the Greyhound to Toronto, Ontario. It was a morning bus, around a 3 hour journey. This was the first time I had travelled on a Greyhound, I had heard a lot of people back home mention the company and that it was the way people always travelled on a cheap budget. It is a pretty reliable bus service and has so many routes all over the world.

Whilst travelling I always knew there would be moments that would scare the hell out of me, I would encounter some weird situations and knew I would have to be strong headed. I had to learn this very quickly on my journey. Being tested almost from the get go. While I waited in line for the bus. I could feel someone was staring at me. I instinctively looked up and glanced at an Eastern European man staring at me from the waiting seats in a very odd way which made me feel uncomfortable. I tried to ignore him. He was making me feel nervous. My first thought was ‘for goodness sake my first bus ride why?’. It’s almost like I thought about this type of situation and manifested that the enviable would happen.

The bus driver called passengers forward for boarding I made sure I held back and let the creepy guy board and get his seat first, so I could then sit as far away as possible to him on the bus. I then proceeded to board too. He was sat in the front of the bus. I quickly glanced at him again, he carried on staring at me as I walked on. I caught in the corner of my eye that he was carrying around kids toys in his hand luggage. Now I was really freaked out. I sat near the back thinking I was safe but not for long. The guy had grabbed his stuff and followed me to the back of the bus and sat in the seat on the opposite side one row in front of me. He kept looking back and staring, I felt so uncomfortable. I wish I could just click my fingers and just be in a Toronto. I put my headphones in and closed my eyes.

The bus stopped at its first stop and picked up more passengers. A German guy had sat next to me and we got quietly chatting about where we were from, what our plans were. Another hour goes by and the bus stopped at a second stop where the German guy jumped off. The creepy guy decides to try and make a move by sitting in the seat next to me. His English was terrible and was asking if he could sit with me and chat so we could get to know one another. I told him no I didn’t feel comfortable with him sitting there and told him to go away. He kept asking multiple times and I kept telling him no. He eventually got the messages and went back to his seat. The whole way to Toronto I felt uneasy. It was my first bus journey and I couldn’t believe that was my first experience. I was terrified.

I managed to start talking to two boys sitting one row back who had noticed the strange guy aggravating me. At first I thought they were friends but then found that they had only just met each other too. We chatted for the remaining time on the bus. I was so happy they were speaking to me. I felt a little safer. Once the bus was pulling into the centre of Toronto. The creepy guy started pacing up and down the isle shouting at the bus driver telling him to stop. He was so strange. I looked up at the boys behind me who started laughing and pulled a face as if to say what the hell.

One of the boys continued to chat to me once we were off the bus. Alex was a Japanese Canadian, he was travelling to Ottawa to meet his brother and had time to kill before his next bus. His farther was Japanese and mother Canadian they had both met while travelling. He had lived in Toronto before and showed me where the big Toronto sign was and we decided to go for some lunch. We ended up at a sushi bar. We spoke about our plans. He was excited for my trip. He had told me he was working at a golf course and it was his passion but he was also going to school to study in either North or South Carolina. I can’t remember which one. Once we finished eating Alex went on his way. He said he was staying in Ottawa and as soon as I was there to let him know so we could meet up again.

I was staying in a HI hostel, it was a modern hostel that felt fresh, with benches and sofas for people to sit, work or chat in the lobby area. Seemed social with a basement bar. I booked to stay in a 4 bed female dorm. The room was nice and clean. Once checked in, I dumped my bags in the room and headed out. Toronto was a relatively small city that you could walk around easily from one place to another. It was modern with lots of bars and restaurants. I could imagine it is a great place to live and socialise. I was told there was underground pathways that connected parts of the city but I never found and entrances or exits for them.

Whilst I continued to wander through the streets I felt very alone at this point and really missed Lauren. Constantly doubting my decision to travel. I felt so overwhelmed. The buildings towered so high they block out the sun. I passed the CN Tower and headed towards the base where there was the Ripley’s Aquarium. I decided to visit. It wasn’t a usual place I would like to visit. It was relatively empty and I was able to wander slowly through. It was a huge aquarium with so many different fish and sea creatures. I reached the main tank that had sting rays and sharks, the pathways went underneath the tanks in a tunnel like way. It was amazing to walk though although kind of sad to see them stuck there, especially the sting rays who had curled tails. This happens to them when they are put in captivity. Just like an orca and their fin. They need big open oceans to swim. Once I finished my mum called me and we had a quick chat. She asked me how I was getting on. I don’t think I ever told her how overwhelmed, I didn’t want to worry her.

I only spent 2 nights in Toronto before I headed on a train towards Ottawa. I really enjoyed Toronto and wished I had a spare day to spend there. The rest of my time I visited the CN Tower and the Toronto islands for the day. I caught a ferry which took me over to the islands. At this point a random storm had covered the city and it began to rain heavily. The ferry was sent back to wait for the storm to pass. Once the downpour stopped the ferry left again this time the sun was shining. The ride was so nice, you could see the whole skyline of Toronto, a futuristic looking city. On the islands I decided to walk from where the ferry dropped me to the middle section. This was a mistake and I didn’t realise how long the walk was. It took me just over an hour to get to the middle. I was a little hot and flustered. Once I made it there were beautiful parks with small rivers and bridges. Perfectly cut lawns. After a lot of walking I jumped on the ferry back and headed to the hostel to relax before heading out to the fresh food market and old town for food.

The next morning I checked out the hostel and had my free full breakfast. I chatted to a few others at the table, a younger group who were heading to London in Canada to go work at a boot camp. In my hostel room I didn’t really meet anyone, there was a couple of Chinese girls who couldn’t speak English and an older lady in her 40s. Around the afternoon I made my way to the train station. It wasn’t far from the hostel and it was really straight forward getting on the train, definitely luxury compared to the bus.