We Moved to EUROPE from Canada 👀 Three Months Later… (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:13) There's a lot you can't possibly know (00:00:15) about moving from home when you first (00:00:19) go, (00:00:22) even if you had been dreaming of it for (00:00:25) years. (00:00:27) When it's finally time to get in the (00:00:30) car, get on the train, (00:00:33) maybe go to the airport, (00:00:36) there's a sense of (00:00:39) surrealism. (00:00:45) It's uh 10:39, (00:00:48) so it's (00:00:50) 2 (00:00:52) 4 hours before the flight. We're going (00:00:55) for breakfast. I'm very hungry. (00:00:57) >> Yeah. (00:00:58) >> How are you feeling? (00:00:59) >> I'm also quite hungry. Still pretty hot (00:01:02) because we're layering. (00:01:05) >> So, (00:01:07) >> one of our luggage uh cases is uh4 lb.4 (00:01:12) lb over. So, we hope we'll be able to (00:01:14) redistribute it somehow or they will (00:01:16) just (00:01:16) >> ignore it. (00:01:17) >> Ignore that. 4 lb. (00:01:19) >> Yeah. (00:01:27) just landed in Toronto (00:01:30) and um we have a three (00:01:33) >> and a half (00:01:34) >> three and a half hour layover. (00:01:40) >> Hello. (00:01:42) >> 4 months later. (00:01:46) 4 months after leaving Canada to move to (00:01:49) the EU. (00:01:51) Here we are. (00:01:55) >> It is December 26th, 2025. (00:01:59) >> So, I have a question for you, Laura. (00:02:01) >> Mhm. (00:02:02) >> Did this whole thing go according to (00:02:05) plan? (00:02:06) >> You know, it's it's really hard when you (00:02:08) don't when you don't have a plan (00:02:12) or when you have like half a plan. I (00:02:15) would say we had half a plan (00:02:19) and nothing. I I don't think anything (00:02:21) went really to our plan. I don't even (00:02:26) think being in Czecha went (00:02:30) to plan cuz we we thought we would be (00:02:32) there for for 2 months and then we ended (00:02:34) up visiting (00:02:36) like four different countries within (00:02:39) that time. So, we thought we would go (00:02:42) through kind of the the different stages (00:02:44) of us moving, starting with leaving (00:02:48) Canada, arriving in Prague, and then (00:02:52) going going from there, all the (00:02:53) different places. We (00:02:56) we did not plan, didn't know really that (00:03:00) we were going to visit. (00:03:02) >> Had this idealized idea of what this (00:03:06) immigration was supposed to be, right? (00:03:08) We planned for over a year, made lists (00:03:12) of countries and universities and we (00:03:16) sort of came to the agreement that yeah, (00:03:19) we have these countries that we would be (00:03:22) okay uh (00:03:23) >> like legally allowed (00:03:25) >> legally allowed to work live and (00:03:27) practice. So the first place we had (00:03:30) planned and this actually went according (00:03:32) to plan was going from Canada to Prague (00:03:36) in Czech Republic. (00:03:51) >> Um first day first day (00:03:54) >> first full day (00:03:54) >> ina and we are going hiking. We didn't (00:03:58) sleep for like 24 hours, (00:04:00) >> but then we did. (00:04:01) >> But then we did for (00:04:02) >> for like 13 or 14 hours. (00:04:04) >> So (00:04:04) >> very well rested. (00:04:05) >> We have gotten our energy back and we (00:04:08) are now hiking (00:04:11) >> and yeah, I think that's I don't (00:04:14) actually know how long this hike is. (00:04:16) >> Uh it's going to be pretty long. (00:04:17) >> Yeah, (00:04:18) >> it's going to be pretty warm. (00:04:21) And uh I am scaring Allora with uh (00:04:24) >> Yes. (00:04:25) uh stories about snakes. (00:04:27) >> There's snakes here and apparently (00:04:28) they're venomous. So that's that's (00:04:31) awesome. (00:04:34) >> And yeah, that that went as planned. We (00:04:37) left at the end of August (00:04:40) and we arrived August 30th in in Czech (00:04:44) Republic and it was it was a pretty easy (00:04:47) flight. Nothing Yeah, like I said, (00:04:49) nothing really went (00:04:51) off. (00:05:05) That was a lot of stairs. (00:05:08) >> We're walking maybe for half an hour and (00:05:10) is already out of breath. (00:05:12) >> Yeah, (00:05:15) >> but we are on a very very tall spot. (00:05:19) You (00:05:20) >> see so much. You can see all the stairs (00:05:22) going down. (00:05:24) You can see check here. You can see (00:05:28) uh you can see here. (00:05:31) Wait, wait, wait. (00:05:34) No. Oh, well. Did you do you like the (00:05:37) hike? (00:05:38) >> Yes. This is so pretty. This is such a (00:05:40) pretty hike. (00:05:43) >> Yep. (00:06:37) We are now in Bruno. We just went to the (00:06:41) Ukrainian consulate (00:06:43) >> where we had a much better experience so (00:06:46) >> and the one in Edmonton, Canada, that (00:06:48) was (00:06:48) >> it went so smoothly. Not a single I (00:06:52) asked for help multiple times. They were (00:06:53) super friendly, super helpful. They (00:06:55) allowed me to change my signature. They (00:06:58) uh like complimented me how well (00:07:00) prepared I was with the documents. It (00:07:02) was just so much better than what we've (00:07:04) experienced in (00:07:06) >> Yeah, that was bad. Um, yeah. So, now we (00:07:08) are on our way to find something to eat (00:07:10) because it was a very, very long, not I (00:07:15) guess very long, it was 3 hours. It was (00:07:17) 3 hours to get here. (00:07:18) >> It wasn't too long, but it was kind of (00:07:19) stressful because we were stuck uh in (00:07:22) traffic on a highway and we were like (00:07:24) cutting it very short. We arrived like (00:07:26) three minutes before my phone (00:07:27) >> and we went for our first little trip, (00:07:31) >> right? So, (00:07:33) >> we were supposed to go with my mom and (00:07:35) my stepdad, but uh for some work, it was (00:07:39) supposed to be a work thing for my mom. (00:07:42) They were going to Romania and they (00:07:45) thought that they would just drop us off (00:07:47) in Budapest. We just trained to Budapest (00:07:50) ourselves and (00:07:51) >> yeah, just the two of us ended up (00:07:53) >> Yep. (00:07:53) >> going to which I'd never been to Hungary (00:07:56) at all. And Budapest is (00:08:00) a very pretty city. It's it's a really (00:08:02) big tourist place. I I would say it's (00:08:05) it's a pretty big one in Europe. And it (00:08:07) was it was very nice. (00:08:14) >> We made it to the train. (00:08:17) We We ran. Yeah. We We ran through the (00:08:21) Prague train station like full sprint, (00:08:25) but we made it. We sat down and the (00:08:27) train started going. (00:08:30) >> And where are we going? (00:08:43) >> So, here we have some traditional (00:08:46) Hungarian dishes (00:08:48) at a vegan restaurant. (00:09:14) Where are we going, Laura? (00:09:16) >> Grocery shopping. (00:09:18) >> Are we (00:09:28) It's a moon. (00:09:30) >> The eclipse. (00:09:48) I know. (00:10:21) My G (00:10:34) Hey (00:10:36) hey (00:10:39) hey, (00:10:48) Hey, (00:11:05) you know. (00:11:26) to find dinner. And we were told to stop (00:11:29) and they blocked off like this whole (00:11:31) part of the road and you could hear (00:11:34) people saying like rolling and um you (00:11:38) could see cameras (00:11:40) and they are filming a movie just down (00:11:42) this road. And so we saw Anthony Mackey (00:11:46) who is the new Captain America. He's in (00:11:52) what the second and the third Captain (00:11:53) America and in the Avengers movie. And (00:11:56) then we also saw I don't know what his (00:11:58) name is. Jamie Dur Dand. He's Christian (00:12:01) from (00:12:02) >> 50 Shades of Gray. We saw them like (00:12:04) really close. (00:12:06) >> This is the St. Nishto and Basilica and (00:12:10) >> it's right there like we're the big (00:12:12) group of people you can see that we're (00:12:14) >> very close so that was (00:12:17) >> that was (00:12:18) >> anyway returned to check (00:12:20) >> yes and we back home (00:12:21) >> continue I think at that point we (00:12:23) thought that we were going to move to (00:12:25) Finland because Finland immigration I (00:12:28) called so many times (00:12:30) >> we called so many different immigration (00:12:31) >> so many immigration services so many (00:12:33) times and the the Finnish one really (00:12:37) seemed like they were like come just (00:12:39) just come and see because (00:12:43) you you know like we we want you to at (00:12:45) least try like some of them were like (00:12:46) absolutely not you can't do that like (00:12:49) don't come don't even try (00:12:51) >> you need to apply from Canada you need (00:12:53) to come back to (00:12:54) >> Canada yeah you need to apply from a (00:12:55) specific place or you have to have very (00:12:57) specific things and we will not change (00:12:59) the rules for you but Finland was very (00:13:01) much like (00:13:03) give it a try so for for most of (00:13:07) September, October, we thought we were (00:13:08) going to live in Finland, (00:13:11) but we do not. So, (00:13:14) >> I don't think that is on the table (00:13:16) currently. (00:13:17) >> No. (00:13:18) >> No. (00:13:18) >> Then we were uh invited by my mom and my (00:13:24) stepdad to take a trip. Take a trip a (00:13:27) car road trip down to Croatia on an (00:13:31) island called (00:13:34) >> You'd never been to Croatia, right? I've (00:13:36) never been to Croatia. (00:13:36) >> Yeah, I I had never been to Croatia. (00:13:39) >> And this was my first time swimming in (00:13:41) the Adriatic Sea. (00:13:43) >> Um (00:13:44) >> so beautiful. (00:13:45) >> It felt beautiful. (00:13:46) >> Such beautiful water. And it was (00:13:47) September and it was like 25. (00:13:50) >> Yeah, it was it was warm. The wind was (00:13:53) amazing. Um this swamp like like a mud (00:13:57) place. (00:13:57) >> Yeah, this mud place where people (00:13:59) >> where people would put mud all over (00:14:01) their body. (00:14:03) You drive by and there's just these (00:14:04) people and they're in bathing suits and (00:14:06) they're just putting they're taking mud (00:14:08) from the ground and they're just putting (00:14:10) it and then they stand in the sun and (00:14:12) they let it dry and kind of harden on (00:14:15) them and it's supposed to be good for (00:14:16) your muscles like it's supposed to be (00:14:19) rejuvenating and and then they walk into (00:14:22) the water and they and they wash it off. (00:14:27) >> Also went to the national parkitzer (00:14:30) in Croatia. Oh, that was very pretty. (00:14:32) >> It was amaz It It reminded me a lot of (00:14:34) Johnson Canyon in Alberta. (00:14:37) >> Oh, yes. (00:15:00) And then (00:15:01) >> Yeah. And then from from Croatia, we (00:15:04) drove to Slovenia, which I I'd never (00:15:07) been to Slovenia either, but I think (00:15:09) everyone else had, right? (00:15:11) >> Not me. (00:15:12) >> Oh, (00:15:13) >> never been. (00:15:14) >> Neither of us had ever been to Slovenia. (00:15:16) And we stayed uh were we we were in (00:15:18) Ljubljan, right? (00:15:19) >> We were in Ljubljan for one day. (00:15:32) Yeah. (00:15:47) >> We drove into the mountains, so into the (00:15:49) Alps, the Slovenian Alps. And we stayed (00:15:52) in a village. I'm going to call it a (00:15:54) village, right? It it was tiny. It was (00:15:56) was a village and there was like sheep (00:15:58) and chickens and and geese everywhere. (00:16:01) And we stayed in a beautiful chalet and (00:16:04) it had a sauna in it which was very (00:16:06) nice. Um, and from there we we walked (00:16:11) along like a forest. (00:16:25) Then (00:16:27) my family was very excited because we (00:16:30) were really close to Italy. (00:16:33) I I don't know why, but multiple members (00:16:36) of my family kept commenting when we (00:16:39) were in Slovenia, "Oh my god, you're so (00:16:40) close to Italy." (00:16:43) And so we drove we drove from Slovenia (00:16:48) to Italy. We went into the Italian Alps, (00:16:50) which was also the first time that I've (00:16:52) ever been in Italy. But I mean, and it (00:16:55) it was very very nice. It was it was (00:16:58) cool because (00:17:00) I had actually never heard (00:17:04) Italian being spoken like in in a big (00:17:07) group before, you know, like we were in (00:17:10) a cafe in this national park in in Italy (00:17:12) and people were just speaking Italian (00:17:15) and do you remember do you remember in (00:17:17) the cafe? Yes. So the cafe also lost (00:17:19) power which was very very funny. Maybe (00:17:23) not not so much for it. (00:17:25) >> Although I had three coffees I think (00:17:27) >> I got so sick (00:17:28) >> and I made myself so sick. I had lattes, (00:17:32) right? I had just (00:17:33) >> No, no, no, no, no. (00:17:34) >> Oh, no. I had two lattes and then I had (00:17:36) one uh (00:17:38) >> cafe comp. (00:17:38) >> Yeah, cafe compana. And I got so sick (00:17:41) afterwards. (00:17:42) >> And um yeah, that was our vacation. (00:17:45) >> That was our little vacation. Then we (00:17:47) had to come back and then we were very (00:17:50) very seriously (00:17:52) continuing the job and visa search (00:17:56) because originally our plan was that I (00:18:00) was probably going to have to get a visa (00:18:03) based on Ilia and quite a few countries (00:18:08) eventually said no I I couldn't because (00:18:12) his visa was going to be specifically (00:18:14) for Ukrainians (00:18:16) and it didn't apply to me even though (00:18:18) even though we are partners because (00:18:21) I could easily return to my country and (00:18:24) not be in danger essentially because the (00:18:26) visa that they offer is like a (00:18:28) protection visa because there's a war (00:18:32) but there is no war in Canada and I'm a (00:18:36) Canadian citizen so that wasn't going to (00:18:38) work and so we kind of got to the point (00:18:41) where it was like oh I need my own I (00:18:43) need my own visa I called many different (00:18:46) places and they all told me that I had (00:18:49) to go back to Canada and apply for a (00:18:52) visa in in Ottawa. And I said, "No, I'm (00:18:56) not going back to Canada. I'm I'm in the (00:18:59) country already." And I mean, for those (00:19:02) who maybe don't know, you can only stay (00:19:04) in the EU without a long-term visa and (00:19:09) not being an EU citizen for 90 days out (00:19:12) of 180 days. And once those 90 days are (00:19:15) up, you have to leave the EU. Not just (00:19:17) the country where you've been staying, (00:19:19) but anywhere that counts as the Shenen (00:19:22) zone, which is a collection of (00:19:24) countries. So, it's not like it's not (00:19:26) like we had a lot a lot of time and we (00:19:30) had been doing stuff leading up to this, (00:19:32) but it always takes time to get (00:19:34) responses and to get um like job (00:19:37) answers. And um I guess out of nowhere a (00:19:42) country that was completely off our list (00:19:45) for the majority of our time just (00:19:49) >> emerged. (00:19:50) >> The country of Amsterdam. (00:19:51) >> The count the country of Amsterdam. (00:19:53) >> So I made a list of countries where I (00:19:56) could work in integrative health without (00:19:59) a medical license. And I had done (00:20:02) research and I thought that the (00:20:03) Netherlands (00:20:05) was off. I everything that I'd read, all (00:20:08) the articles said that you needed a (00:20:10) medical license. I came across an alumni (00:20:13) who also studied at the Institute for (00:20:15) Menstrual Health, which is where I (00:20:17) studied one of my um health diplomas. (00:20:20) And she lives in the Netherlands with (00:20:24) the same credentials that I have. (00:20:28) And so I I emailed her and I got in (00:20:31) contact with her and I said, "How do you (00:20:33) work here? do you have like a medical (00:20:35) license or anything? Like what's the (00:20:37) terrain? And she gave me all this (00:20:38) information and she expressed that I (00:20:42) could actually work there as long as I (00:20:44) followed all of the rules and I (00:20:47) registered with everything. Pretty clear (00:20:50) that that was that was where I was going (00:20:53) to have to apply because it was a visa (00:20:56) that I could apply for that was based (00:20:58) solely on me and (00:20:59) >> actually not me. (00:21:00) >> Yeah. It had nothing to do (00:21:02) >> only only like a certain set of nations. (00:21:05) So like Canadians, Japanese people, I (00:21:07) think New Zealanders, (00:21:09) um (00:21:09) >> Australians, (00:21:10) >> Australians, (00:21:11) >> and the other the other thing was lots (00:21:14) of countries in the EU have this working (00:21:16) holiday visa. So I didn't have to apply (00:21:18) just for it in Netherlands on that, but (00:21:21) Netherlands was the only country at that (00:21:23) time that would let me apply for it (00:21:26) outside of Canada. (00:21:28) Like they had changed it very recently (00:21:31) that you had to apply within Canada. (00:21:33) Like within the time of us leaving (00:21:35) Canada, arriving in Europe, they changed (00:21:38) it. So you had to apply from within (00:21:40) Canada. A week after I applied for it, (00:21:43) they changed it so that now (00:21:45) >> slipped in the last second. (00:21:47) >> Yeah. Now you do have to be in Canada to (00:21:49) apply for it, but I got in before they (00:21:52) they changed that (00:21:53) >> and within two weeks. (00:21:55) >> Yeah. Only within it. It took two weeks (00:21:58) to find out and it was all online. I was (00:22:00) assigned like a case manager within (00:22:02) days. At this point, we knew that (00:22:06) Ilia was not going to be living in (00:22:10) Netherlands with me. He he couldn't get (00:22:14) a Dutch visa. (00:22:15) >> Well, without a job offer. (00:22:17) >> Without a job offer. Um, like we said, (00:22:19) the working holiday visa that I got is (00:22:22) limited to like five different (00:22:24) nationalities and Ukraine is not one of (00:22:27) them (00:22:27) >> legally to get a check uh temporary (00:22:31) protection which (00:22:32) >> check visa (00:22:34) >> uh which I do have. (00:22:36) >> Yeah. (00:22:36) >> Yeah. We now both have we are both in (00:22:39) the EU legally legally on different visa (00:22:44) in different countries. (00:22:46) her. So, I guess now we have at least a (00:22:48) destination (00:22:50) >> instead of (00:22:51) >> the uncertainty. (00:22:52) >> We hope so. (00:22:53) >> I mean, there are still a couple of (00:22:56) >> positions (00:22:57) >> in Sweden that you could that you could (00:22:59) hear back from. So, I mean, randomly, if (00:23:01) you get a Swedish position, we might (00:23:03) have to reevaluate. Who knows? (00:23:05) >> Pretty much. (00:23:07) >> What are our our future plans? (00:23:10) >> That's that that was our future plans. (00:23:24) So eventually (00:23:29) keep keep talking. (00:23:31) >> Hope you enjoy. (00:23:32) >> That's us.