I grew up in Ottawa with dreams of travelling all over the world. I have visited a lot of places in Canada and I have lived in a few different cities. I imagined  travelling to Prague, London, Belfast, Budapest, St. Petersburg. I’m not big on beaches I prefer a bit of history and culture.

The fact is that every time I leave Ottawa, I end up coming back. This is home, I can’t seem to escape it.

I have moved away four times (five if you count a very, very short time in Toronto. Two days, to be exact). I keep coming back.

I am very glad to have ended up here with a wonderful family, a beautiful home and a future that looks pretty bright.

My husband, who lived in three different towns growing up (four if you count where he lived for his first year), finds it funny that I can walk around my old neighbourhood and tell him something about every little landmark. The church where I went to preschool, the park where I cut my foot open, the hill I used to sled on, which now looks ridiculously small.

The fact is that I was very lucky to grow up in the capital city, and I want my kid to experience the things that I got to. We have national museums, we have the biggest Canada Day celebration in the country, we have our nation’s politic centre right here.

If there was one thing I would change, it’s the distance there is to travel across this country. Canada is pretty huge and having grandparents on the opposite end of it is tough.