About Me

Aloha! I am Julie. Mahalo for visiting my blog.

As an expat lived in the USA and currently made way to Canada, this blog is to show you all the restaurants, accommodations, attractions, off-the-radar places, local activities and travel tips based on my experience living abroad. Places I have lived over the past seven years are Virginia, Hawaii, Toronto, Windsor (Ontario) and Stratford (Ontario). I also did several return trips to Alaska and long journeys to Montreal and Quebec City. I would like to share the culture and the knowledge of these places to make your trip to those destinations a breeze. After all, there is no better way to get to know a place than actually live there.

Meet Julie

It all happens in summer 2006. On my junior year at the university, I went to Virginia for one-year exchange. Before that, I have never traveled abroad before. I was eager to venture to the other side of the world. So I saw this exchange program as an opportunity to explore the world. And after that adventure, I could just finish my degree, settle down, get a job, get married, and live happily after. However, I have never imagined that that one year in Virginia has changed my perspective on what I am going to do for the rest of my life.

In summer 2008, after returned home and finished my bachelor’s degree, I decided to continue my adventure in the USA, but that time was to Hawaii. Hawaii has been my dream place since my childhood and I always wanted to pay a visit. It is a blessing that I got to live there for 3.5 years. I now have made my way to Canada and live in Toronto.

Lake Louise in Banff, Alberta Canada/Photo Credit: Julie Cao

About this blog: I started this blog to write memoir for my beautiful life as an expat in Hawaii, and visualize that someday I could return there. Four years passed, a return to Hawaii and the United States has become a dream of mine, and my blog has evolves to so much more. I love my expat life and I want bring my friends, family and the kindred souls I met along the journey with me. This blog is about to share the local knowledge and travel tips about the places I have lived in and the destinations I am familiar with through long and multiple return trips.

For me, living abroad is the best way to get to know a country. It is an extended travel. It allows me to get so much out of a place than just being a tourist. This is my kind of life, and my favorite kind – move from place to place, threw myself into the unknown, start everything from the scratch, develop a deep connection to the places, and get to know the culture and the people.

If you want to know what live abroad really looks like, this blog will show you. I will also show you some of the trips I had during my expat life in the USA and Canada. Living overseas and travel around the world has become a part of me, the part that I never want to change and let go.

Wonder what lives in Hawaii really looks like? Start with these two post here (more posts coming soon):

8 Things I have learned after living in Hawaii

17 Unique Facts About Hawaii

Living in Canada:

Seven Reasons Why I Love Prince Edward Island – And Why You Should Visit

French Language Immersion in Quebec City

Destination Features

Stratford, Ontario – A Fun Day Trip in the Hometown of Shakespeare

Explore the Last Frontier – Alaska

Around Central Alaska by Rail – Fairbanks to Alaska (Winter Edition)

The Ultimate Guide to Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska

Travel Writing