I Love Canada. Seriously. 🇨🇦

I just got back from five weeks traveling through Malaysia and Vietnam. And it was wonderful with its beautiful beaches, amazing food, ancient streets, tropical scenery, time with family and enough noodles and rice to sustain a small civilization. But after five weeks away, I realized something: I really, really missed Canada. More specifically, I missed Oakville.

There’s something about being away for a long time that makes you notice the little things you normally take for granted. This morning I was walking my dog through one of West Oaks Trail’s trails. The air was cool, the trees were green, the neighborhood was quiet, the lawns looked like they had been individually groomed by tiny landscaping professionals with rulers, and I thought, “Man, it is good to be home.”

I’ve now traveled to around 40 countries and one of the greatest benefits of traveling is that it gives you perspective. You begin to appreciate things you might otherwise barely notice. Clean streets. Beautiful parks. Safe neighborhoods. Trails built simply because somebody decided people should have pleasant places to walk. Cool summer evenings. Orderly traffic (mostly). And, of course, Canadians politely apologizing to each other when neither person actually did anything wrong.

Canada certainly isn’t perfect. No country is. And yes, Canadians complain about politics, taxes, the weather, The Leafs. Probably especially the Leafs. But travel has taught me that sometimes the things we complain about are happening inside a place that is, by almost any global standard, an extraordinarily nice place to live. Coming home to Oakville reminded me of that.

As I walked through my neighborhood, looking at the manicured lawns and beautiful homes, breathing in the cool air and knowing my family was home with me, I felt gratitude. I’m grateful that my family has the opportunity to live here. I’m grateful my kids get to grow up here. And I’m grateful that Oakville has welcomed us and allowed us to build a life and a business here.

Which brings me, rather shamelessly, to Oakville Maids.

When we started Oakville Maids, I wanted to build a company worthy of the community it serves. Because if Oakville is going to insist on having beautiful neighborhoods, perfectly trimmed lawns and houses that look suspiciously like nobody actually lives in them… well, somebody has to keep the inside clean too 🙂 That’s our little contribution.

I may travel all over the world, and I hope I always do. There are still countries I want to see, foods I want to eat, beaches I want to sit on, and probably several airports where I will inevitably become confused. But one of the best parts of traveling is coming home. And after five weeks away, I can say it with a little more appreciation than before:

I love Canada. 🇨🇦

And there’s no place I’d rather call home than Oakville. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have five weeks of Canadian mail to go through.