A Winter Trip to Montreal

Dec 28, 2015

3 min read

Late 2015, I found myself scrambling trying to find a cheap destination for NYE 2016. Because NYE is an event most of the world celebrates, you're usually not finding a deal. Everyone is traveling for sure so the airlines are not cutting you some slack late in the game. It was November. However, I found a roundtrip flight to Montreal for $258. I brought in 2016 in the Quebec region of Canada!

This was a very interesting trip. I believe this was my first time booking a place on Airbnb. Since many students go home for break, I was able to find many cheap listings of hotel style dormitories. That made my accommodations very cheap. I paid $238 for 4 nights.

While I was there, I was also caught in a snowstorm. I'm from Michigan so snow does not scare me. And I came prepared. I brought winter gear but I also did my research. The building I stayed in was connected to the Underground City. I could walk around Montreal and never go outside. And it was connected to the mall. That CAD - USD conversion rate put some room in my budget.

Eventually, I did have to walk outside though. Here is a list of some things that I did:

- Aerosim Experience: After spending one summer after the US Air Force's Research Laboratory, I had flight dreams. Not ready for the real thing so I checked this place out. I splurged a little bit on this experience because it was a bucket list item. It was $217 CAD (can't remember what it converted to back then). I loved it but I gave up hopes of being a commercial pilot. As I was flying a cabinless Boeing 737, I felt immense pressure to get my nonexistent passengers to their destination safely. That's not something I want to deal with daily but I respect pilots a whole lot more. If you wanna view (and laugh) at my experience, here's the link.

- Ateliers & Saveurs: I enrolled in a cocktail class. Never once did I think "Hey I wonder if this class is taught in English?" It surely was not LOL. Shout out to the instructor who knew a little English and my Canadian cousins from Ontario who did some translations. It was really fun crafting drinks and learning some facts about the ingredients. It was $35 CAD.

- Montreal Passport : This is a city pass that gets you admission into many places with a discount. Many major cities have them. It was worth it. I was able to go to several museums, the aquarium, botanical garden, wax museum, and a planetarium. It kept me busy. I can't remember how much I paid for this because it was in-person. I do remember it being worth the money.

- NYE at a club called Hardwax: I'm not sure if it exists anymore. It was a fun hip hop club. I didn't stay too long because I forgot the Canadian drinking age is 19. I was 29 and I felt like it. I paid $30 CAD for admission which I think is cheap for NYE. The drinks were overpriced though.

Also, I used public transportation and uber to get around. You might want to brush up on your French or download Google Translate.