On that "take advantage of travel opportunities" bit...

Thinking about going to Shanghai en route to Thailand this spring. Someone I know from highschool is working at an advertising agency there, and it seems like a pretty cool setup, so I want to go check it.

I want to go back to Canada for the summer, but family members are pushing for a trip to Sweden, which is where my Mom's side of the family is from originally. I thought it would be too out of the way/expensive to do both, but its actually feasible...

All I need to do is buy a round the world ticket for about 1,600 or so, much cheaper than the tickets would be individually. Head west to Sweden, meet my mother and sister there, then head back to halifax with them after continuing westward. Then do Toronto, maybe montreal, and continue west back to Japan.

And if I'm doing all that, I might as well make some extra stops at some other places on the way to Sweden.

Its a bit of a pinch because I "only" get 2 months off in Summer, and I may be starting a Phd that July, at which point I really would be extremely busy. But hopefully then my job will be going smoothly enough that I can fit in at least 3 weeks for that. The Spring break would be better because its longer and less busy...but does anyone want to spend February in Sweden and Canada?