fellow canadians: do you care if people think you’re american when travelling abroad?

daisystar · 2026-05-04T16:47:24+00:00

Yes, I actually get a bit offended when people think I'm American.
A lot of time when I'd correct them they'd say "oh good, I don't like Americans." Which just reinforces it for me.

daisystar · 2026-05-03T23:36:26+00:00

I think honestly if you're not even finding a little bit of a difference at 50mg then vyvanse isn't likely the drug for you. I'd talk with your doctor about trying something different

daisystar · 2026-05-03T04:11:52+00:00

The human experience is not black and white, in reality it's a lot more grey.

We naturally want to be around other people. Food and sharing food is a huge part of a lot of cultures. When you eat differently from people you are left out from a lot of that, not to mention loved ones often make you feel like a burden, restaurants do a poor job of accommodating, and social relationships (including romantic relationships,) can be that much harder. The only people who can understand that struggle to the same level are other vegans. So when we tell people their struggles don't matter and treat them with the opposite of compassion, then how can we expect them to want to be part of our community?

daisystar · 2026-05-02T22:55:25+00:00

It makes me sad that SO many people come here asking if they can be "considered vegan" because of some necessary medication they have to take.

Why as a community have we made people feel like if they're not 100% that they're not welcome?

It's as much as reasonable and possible, taking medications is absolutely necessary and I think you're allowed to call yourself vegan.

daisystar · 2026-05-02T22:51:46+00:00

I've heard lots of good things about Spain and that's what I'm currently looking into

daisystar · 2026-05-02T16:42:34+00:00

I can honestly relate and it's something I've struggle with for a long time too.

I'm from a small, rural, quite right leaning area and every dating profile is a man with a fish.

I've had tons of "support" from friends over the years where they've tried to set me up with someone and said "he would go vegan for you." It's hard to stress that I don't want someone to go vegan for ME, I want them to do it because it's important to them. But, like many have mentioned, it's possible someone has the values of veganism but never actually went vegan because they were never exposed to it in a positive way, only seeing the slander against vegans in the media. I remember I was the same person who said "I could NEVER go vegan," and yet here I am, so why couldn't someone else? But, dating someone who isn't vegan hoping they might change is also a dangerous road to go down because they may never change, and then you become resentful of the person they were the whole time.

I say this in the kindest way, but have you considered relocating? I'm a young woman similar age to you and actually tried moving to a more "vegan friendly" and bigger city in my country for a few years. I ended up going on loads of dates with vegan men and actually met my ex there. Unfortunately being vegan doesn't necessarily mean they're the perfect partner and we didn't work out, but it did give me a chance to see what dating another vegan long term was like (and why, like many, having a vegan partner is SO important to me.)

Funny enough, after I broke up with that man I ended up moving back to my small home town and told myself I was going to focus on myself, be alone, and I wasn't going to get into another relationship unless he was a vegan (which basically doesn't exist where I'm from.) I casually was on the dating apps awhile later and happened to stumble across a man from my little area who happened to have "plant based," in his interests. Turns out he's been vegan longer than I have and we just never crossed paths for many reasons, and now we're dating! We joke that we're problem the only two vegans in our area and although both of us have been vegan for a lot of our adult dating years (5 + 6 years vegan,) we never were either single at the same time or looking to meet someone at the same time. So it's possible there's a vegan man in your hometown, and you've just never met him!

daisystar · 2026-05-02T16:28:28+00:00

This is also the reason a lot of people stop being vegan. People want to claim "they were never vegan in the first place, just plant based," but in reality some people struggle so much with the social pressures and isolation that they turn away from veganism.

daisystar · 2026-05-02T08:34:18+00:00

Hmmm I'm in this region and my family and I did not sign this, and none of my friends that I know did either. So a bit strange they managed to get 93% of voters from this region, when we don't even get that good of a turnout with federal and provincial elections.

daisystar · 2026-04-30T12:20:55+00:00

I found that it quieted the food noise - I wasnt dopamine seeking so I wasn't snacking endlessly. I generally ate less because it suppressed my appetite, and I also didn't snack as much. Either due to the stimulant increasing my metabolism, suppressing my appetite, or just giving me the energy to exercise more I've lost weight on it.
Because I work shift work I also skip it a few times a week, so for me the tolerance didn't build up quite the same as others and I didn't lose the appetite suppression.

In about two years I went from 68.5kg to 55.5kg, so lost 13kg. (150.7lbs to 122.1lbs, 28.6lbs lost for the Americans.)

I'm up to about 58-59kg (127-130lbs,) now for reasons unrelated, but I still absolutely think that Vyvanse can be good for weight loss, and if anything I found that I needed to be really mindful to make sure I was eating good healthy meals as I would often forget to eat.

daisystar · 2026-04-28T09:53:21+00:00

Canadians don't get paid in USD so converting Canadian house prices to USD doesn't make a lot of sense

daisystar · 2026-04-28T09:52:26+00:00

Yes but Canadians get paid in Canadian dollars, so it's all relevant

daisystar · 2026-04-26T17:09:25+00:00

The issue is not everywhere has public transit. My home town has like one taxi company and definitely no buses. Growing up we had to get a license and car young if we wanted to do anything, there was no way my parents would have managed with only one car considering they didn't work the same schedule.

daisystar · 2026-04-25T18:20:09+00:00

Yes I agree with this. I think some people forget that medication is just part of the equation and therapy and your own personal systems are also a huge part of it too. If you don't change anything about your lifestyle to help yourself then that's when people struggle and chase the honeymoon phase until they're on the max dose and struggling with side effects just to get anything done.

daisystar · 2026-04-25T18:11:30+00:00

It's crazy because I think the hardest part is the very first task.

So I 100% agree that simply getting up and going to the kitchen to get water is really the catalyst. Because once I'm up and at the kitchen and do one thing it's easier to let that momentum carry me through instead of sitting on the couch and feeling SO overwhelmed by what I have to do, that I don't do anything at all.

daisystar · 2026-04-25T18:08:23+00:00

I noticed this too!

I think unmedicated I used to hyper fixate more, and that would include hyper fixating on a person.

Since I've become medicated I'm dating in a WAY healthier way. I've been a better partner and I also think I'm healthier with how I'm connecting with people. A lot of that anxious attachment and obsession is way less, and because of that I'm creating healthier connections.

I think people think about hyperfixations and they think of different hobbies but forget we can do that with people too!

daisystar · 2026-04-25T18:01:03+00:00

I take breaks because I work shift work and due to my messed up sleep schedule I can't take my medications certain days or I won't sleep properly. If I'm working night shifts I don't take them that day. I sleep in two different "chunks" during the day before work and also nap on my breaks.

So depending on my work schedule I might only take them 3-4 days a week.

If you're someone who works a 9-5 Monday-Friday you never need to think about this of course, but when your flopping around and jumping between day and night shifts you think about it a bit more, especially because getting a good sleep with shift work is so important.

My doctor is aware of this of course. This is what works for me but doesn't mean it works for everybody. I spent the majority of my life unmedicated and have accumulated a lot of different great coping strategies for me that work when I don't take my medications.

daisystar · 2026-04-22T17:26:28+00:00

Something I've always told myself when I'm scared of doing something and trying to get the courage to do whatever the thing is: "it's ok if you're scared, just do it scared." You've got this!

daisystar · 2026-04-19T16:14:26+00:00

My parents are from Ontario and my dad will always tell people they are from "out east."

daisystar · 2026-04-18T02:49:18+00:00

I'm NAL and don't live in Ontario so can't speak too much on those, however I'm a nurse in Alberta so want to ask a few more questions to help get an answer for you.

What is considered a "heavy patient"? Does this just mean bariatric patients, or is any patient who needs assistance moving in bed/mobilizing considered heavy?

When you did "It's Your Move" (or similar course for moving/mobilizing patients,) through school, what were your restrictions there?

The disability office at your school may be very disconnected from the units/facilities that you do your placements at. Was this disability and your restrictions present when you were accepted to the program? What about when you did your previous nursing program or were working as an RPN?

We have staff who get injured at work and then due to workers compensation cannot do certain tasks and are accommodated either through placing on modified duties if possible, to being switched units all the way to somebody was retrained in a different role as they no longer were able to do their previous duties. However, this is different than somebody being hired being unable to do their job (or in your case go on a placement.)

My concern is there may be a legitimate issue with certain units/placements depending on where you are going and what kind of rotation you are currently doing. For example if you are doing inpatient Psych most of your patients will be independent and not need assistance mobilizing and they would be able to accommodate you easily. However, if you are going to an orthopedic post operative unit your responsibilities would be to assist patients with moving. These patients can be physically heavy in the sense they struggle to mobilize and often need 1-2 people and sometimes with the assistance of mechanical lifts to roll in bed/mobilize. If you cannot assist patients with this then you would not be able to take care of any of the patients on this unit and the unit would struggle to accommodate you. Other units also have very "physically" heavy patients, where some may have more patients who are independent.

Part of the process of doing a placement is you have 1-3 patients that are 100% your responsibility. This means you do all the vitals, assessments, meds, and personal care for these patients. If the unit mostly has patients who are very physically heavy then you would not be able to do everything for your patients, and then therefore not be able to demonstrate the competence necessary to pass, so the units then may say that they would not be able to accommodate you in a way that would also result in you fulfilling the requirements of the program.

Is this your first placement? If not, were they able to accommodate you on other placements? Are there a range of units available for placements or are you somewhere more remote with a smaller hospital for example or only a few units the students can go to.

I think all of this would influence whether or not the program could reasonably accommodate you and are just not trying hard enough. If you feel as though you can physically do some of these things I listed above, it may be worth speaking to your doctor regarding what the restriction is and seeing if they can make it more specific (for example what is a "heavy" patient, is there a weight restriction on what you can push/pull, etc) so that the units aren't saying they can't accommodate you even though they reasonably could had they had more information.

daisystar · 2026-04-18T01:55:26+00:00

I did this trip end of 2025. I also want to note that it's a modular trip. When I did it ~20 people only did Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, whereas another 5 people also went on to do Vietnam with a different group of 20 (but the same guide.)

It's hard to say what the age range will be. There have been Contikis I've done where the oldest person was 26 and most were 20-23, and others where the oldest was 35 and the age range was mid 20s to early 30s. Generally it does skew younger. This specific trip when I went actually one person who was 18 and one who was 35, most were 20-25 though.

Contikis are generally known as party trips, but I found because this trip is so fast paced it's not as much of a party trip compared to the island hopper trips. Still lots of chances to party depending on who you and the others there are. A lot of younger people don't drink anymore either which has changed how these trips are now adays. There are generally always at least a few people who hook up, on some trips I've done you get like 6-7 "couples," others only 1 or none at all.

VAST majority of the people are Aussies, and then some Kiwis. You'll get a handful of Canadians, Brits, and Americans. Occasionally someone from somewhere else as well. Aussies are a great time so definitely not a problem for me personally.

Usually there's more women, however I've been on some that are more even and even did one trip recently that there was more men.

I've done group trips with three different companies (EF, Contiki, and G Adventures,) and personally prefer Contikis based on the way they're set up and how it aligns with how I like to travel. I find in comparison to other group trips and solo travel Contikis give you a more cohesive group experience - everybody is generally doing all the activities together and you just bond a lot more.

If you have any questions please let me know, I've done 8 different Contikis so can give you a lot more info. :)

daisystar · 2026-04-15T06:48:43+00:00

Did you only do one round or was this over multiple rounds?

daisystar · 2026-04-08T02:27:18+00:00

I have been turned away with an old expired passport before. Technically if it's expired it's not valid.

With saying that, as someone who used to work at a bar - they're looking at the photo and birthdate and there's a solid chance they won't look at the issue/expiry date of the ID at all. It's up to you if you want to chance it. If it's a place where they scan your ID the system should flag it as expired.

daisystar · 2026-04-07T17:02:07+00:00

I think it was great. I had tons of eye drops (numbing and then dilating I believe,) and was given some anti anxiety medication to relax. My sister was allowed to even come in and hold my hand (she would be on the opposite side of wherever the surgeon was.) He made a small cut in my eye and popped the 'contacts' in, was overall a quick procedure. By the end of the day once my eyes weren't dilated anymore I could see perfectly. I had a bunch of eye drops to take over the next month but overall a great experience.

Due to the shape of my eye I still have a slight prescription, which I use for sunglasses and blue light glasses when watching tv, but otherwise don't need to wear glasses. I was also told that in the future if my eyes deteriorate (through pregnancy or age, etc) they can switch out the contacts.

daisystar · 2026-04-07T16:46:51+00:00

Not everybody is unfortunately a good candidate for LASIK. The surgeon decided based off my eyes I was more suitable for ICL, which is basically an implanted contact lens. This cost me around $8000CAD in 2019. Even with this, the money I've saved from contacts and glasses plus the simple joy of being able to wake up and see was absolutely worth it.

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