December 19, 2007

For the holidays, I’m headed out to Canada with my family: we’ll go from Honolulu to San Francisco to Toronto and back. According to a Filipino custom, siblings are encouraged to get married in different years and different months, so my first cousin is getting married the last week of December 2007, and his sister is getting married the first week of January 2008. Clever, isn’t it?

I travel at least four to six times a year, because I think it helps my perspective and it gives me something to look forward to every few months. My husband and I take our young son to different locations so he grows up truly thinking of himself as a world citizen. As part of being a successful woman, I think that being open to new people, cuisine, events, and cultures is so important: find out a way to go somewhere new this year, even if it’s a weekend trip to a city outside your region or state. I also encourage you to learn at least one other language so you may converse with people outside your home culture.

While we’re in Canada with my sisters and my parents, we’re all looking forward to participating in as many different culinary, entertainment, and recreational events as we’re able to (even though it’s almost freezing weather and there will be snow on the ground!). I’m a Canadian by birth, so we’ll also be visiting the old family places like the university where my Mom and Dad went to graduate school.

Looking around at resources for Canada, I found a great website for tickets for upcoming events in Montreal at: Montreal Tickets. You’ll find great events, organized by featured artist or by venue on this site, including links like all their available concerts, shows, and sporting events in the city, at all the venues.

Montreal Concerts: The Spice Girls, John Mellencamp, Linkin Park, Bruce Springsteen, Avril Lavigne, and The Cure are playing in the next few months like the Grand Chapiteau, the Bell Centre, and the St. Denis Theatre. There’s also Montreal Canadiens tickets, for all you hockey fans.

The site is well-organized with an easy-to-use search bar and a newsletter. All the events coming up in Montreal are displayed, and you may purchase tickets online. When you click on an artist or entertainer or sports group, you even have the opportunity to purchase specific seat rows, and the tickets are available “side-by-side” if you’re going with friends or family. If you’re interested in logging on or receiving an e-newsletter with upcoming ticket sales, you may sign up online for free. You also may buy a Gift Card if you’d like to give a special gift to a loved one this holiday season.

Check it out! And happy travels to you in 2008! If you get over to Montreal, make sure to use the 2Tickets.ca website to find events that are going on. And if you get to London, Antarctica, Singapore, Gibraltar, Wales, or New Zealand this year, let me know: those are on my dream destinations list!