This essay is a part of Companion Fare, a series of personal stories about nonromantic love and travel.
04.02.2025 - 15:25 / cntraveler.com
This Q&A about moving to Canada from the US is part of Why I Moved, a recurring series about Americans building a life abroad.
From the romantically disheveled basement of an indie bookstore in Toronto, Claire Foster tells me, on a zoom call, that she's long felt a desire to live outside of the United States. This feeling first led the Ohio native to Paris, where she taught at a local high school, and then to Toronto in 2018 to pursue her Masters in English (with a fitting focus on Diaspora and Transnational Studies). “I had become really interested in living sort of aslant—slightly on the outside, at a distance far from home,” she tells Condé Nast Traveler. “I feel that a big part of my politics of living is to do the inconvenient thing of staying in a place that you're not from.”
Building a life abroad, with people who are from a different place than you, “provides a texture to every baseline experience,” says Foster, who is a French literary translator and the general manager of Type Books' flagship store. Of course, “immigration is always going to be hard,” she adds. It's designed to be—particularly when it comes to the bureaucratic matters of visas and taxes. But for Foster, sticking with the discomfort of building a life aslant of America has led to a fulfilling career, good friends, and lots of stories—whether to be read, translated, or experienced for herself.
NAME: Claire Foster
LOCATION: Toronto, Canada
JOB: Bookstore manager and translator
DATE OF MOVE: 2018
FROM WHERE? Cincinnati, Ohio
“I moved here in 2018 to begin a Master's in English at the University of Toronto. After graduating, I applied for a bookseller job here at the bookstore and started working here in 2019, and then in 2020 I also became their events manager. It was a funny time to begin events, obviously, because two months after that everything shut down. But I continued working here and then about two years ago, I also took on the role of General Manager. So now I'm the manager and events person at the flagship store; there are three Type Books locations in Toronto.”
"I was already living outside of the US—in Paris—when I decided to move to Toronto. That's where I moved after undergrad, which I did at Skidmore College in Upstate New York. I’m originally from Cincinnati, Ohio but moved to Paris to teach English, which basically involved talking to different high-school students about American culture and politics. I had also lived in France for a year during my undergrad, and loved it (I continue to love France). So I already had an ongoing interest in living abroad, which led me to Toronto because I wanted to write in English and pursue graduate school in English.
I also wanted to continue to live out of the US because I
This essay is a part of Companion Fare, a series of personal stories about nonromantic love and travel.
Food and travel go hand-in-hand. When you get out and explore the world, you should taste all the flavors your new destination has to offer. However, the U.S. is a pretty big place with lots of diverse food offerings. So, to help you narrow down the best places to tickle your tastebuds in America, Clarify Capital created a list of the top food destinations in the country.
Few benefits in the points and miles world are more lucrative than the Southwest Companion Pass. Once earned, you can bring a designated friend or family member on your Southwest Airlines flights — whether your ticket is a revenue booking or a Southwest Rapid Rewards redemption.
I'm a longtime fan of Mobile Passport Control. The app saved me from a lifetime of extensive customs lines when it seemed like I wouldn't be able to receive Global Entry. When friends and family are traveling internationally, I consistently advise them to download the free app.
On a warm September day in Nice, France, I grab a table at a restaurant terrace overlooking the Mediterranean and size up the vessel I'm about to board: Atlas Ocean Voyages' World Traveller. Although you wouldn't know to look at it, the navy blue hull is built to cut through ice. As the ship glimmers under the southern French sun, I find it hard to imagine that in less than two months it will be back in Antarctic waters, having swapped the calm, summer waters of the Mediterranean for a harsh polar climate.
Avianca's LifeMiles program has increased redemption costs on many popular routes just six months after increasing Europe rates. As first reported by Loyalty Lobby, the Bogota, Colombia-based loyalty program has increased mileage costs operated by Star Alliance partners, including United Airlines, EVA Airways and All Nippon Airways, without warning.
In 2015, I moved my family of four from Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico to pursue my dream job. Although I had lived on the island when I was young and vacationed there, I had never worked professionally or lived there as an adult.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Vitus Stenhøj Schiøtz, 23, a Danish traveler who got a working holiday visa to live in Japan. He moved to Japan in late 2024 and works as a chef in a restaurant in Nozawaonsen, a small town northwest of Tokyo . It's been edited for length and clarity.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is America's second busiest airport and one of its largest hubs. Travelers today can get from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Fiji with one quick stop at DFW; a route that 20 years ago would have taken three or more flights to complete.
Like a lot of us, I often find myself fried from days spent staring at my computer screen and nights circling back to emails I haven't answered. So when I heard that the Sanctuary Beach Resort in Monterey Bay, California, offered a package known as the Burnout Recovery Journey, I had to try it. When I arrived, I was happy to find the kinds of treatments on the spa menu I've been seeing more and more of lately: science-based offerings like infrared light therapy, IV drips, and electromagnetic pulse therapy. My outstanding massage took place on something called a Pulsed Electromagnetic Field mat. I was grateful that the hotel offered signal-blocking phone bags for the ultimate unplugging experience. Then I realized the irony: I was treating my burnout with…more tech. One has to wonder: How did we get here?
Canadian charter airline Nolinor Aviation has agreed to buy an all-new aircraft type known as a "blended-wing body" as it expands beyond its all-Boeing fleet.
Delta Air Lines is limiting access to its sought-after airport lounges, putting new restrictions in place this month for travelers who use a credit card membership to get in.