Every time I’m in a new place, city or country, the question I often ask myself is whether I see a home there. Not so long ago, I did this with people. Whenever I’d meet someone new, I’d step on the worn out welcome mat, creek the door open, and wonder, what if this is…
Category: Dating Your City
Love Letters to Cities Every Brown Girl Dates
Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran I’ll admit it. I’m a bit promiscuous when it comes to dating cities. Spending the day with one and waking up with another has become a…
Dating Your City: A New Version of Urban Medicine
In the phases I’m not traveling, I feel as if each new day competes with the last to further grow an uneasy feeling of routine on my skin. For a Sagittarius, the idea of a routine is synonymous with Toronto’s version of the Scarborough RT: gross. Judging by the amount of content produced and relationships…
Getting High with Strangers
In attempts to be all artsy, some people say things like “the world is so big and we are too insignificant in comparison” when looking out at skylines and sea shores. We’ll get back to this reference later. Having never been on top of the CN Tower hiding under the claim that it was way…
Winter Reading Break 2016
Sometimes I think the TTC should just hire me as a spokesperson because I’m such an unapologetic advocate for the monthly metro pass. I do talk smack about the delays and crowding but I mean you only hurt the people you care about the most, right? Also, TTC, if you’re reading this, please don’t phase…
Relax, Toronto is Your Backup Valentine’s Day Bae
After years and years of thought and experimentation, I’ve circled back to my original conclusion that boys are gross and will always let you down. I’ve come to terms with no longer receiving the awkward ‘unknown but actually totally known’ roses on February 14ths from my high school years. Besides, I never really understood how…
Breaking Up with Brazil and FALLing in Love All Over Again
Out of all the stupid things fairytales have taught us, the one that stuck with me was the idea of having only one true love in your entire existence- a single soulmate, or in Zeus’s words: your other half. Well, I’d like to call a big o’ fucking bullshit. As much as I hate to…
When Home is Not Such a Sweet Home
I remember in March, after I had come back from Honduras, all I could think about was planning my trip to Brazil. My flight back on September 8th seemed so far, so unreal. My life centered around dreaming about finally being alone and independent. And now it’s September 11th and I’ve spent 4 days wasting…
Dating the World, One Small City at a Time
You live your life, 20, 30, 50, 90 years, sometimes only in one city, and you still don’t go on top of that famous mountain or eat at the corner restaurant all the tourists chatter about. It’s a 20-minute walk from your apartment, but you think, what’s the point? I can go there anytime, this…
Dating My City
I’ve never had much luck with dating, but I’m only 19 and an ambitiously loud idiot so I can’t really blame the male species. Dating for me has always meant meeting someone who makes me happy, someone that entices conversations, someone who pushes my analytic boundaries. If I’m not happy, I’m not dating, I’m settling,…
Zahra Travels 