Huntsville and Orillia, Ontario Trip | Cottage Country Travel

Cottage Country Canada Trip Challenge

My trip to the cottage country in Ontario, Canada will begin in a day. This will be my first trip within Canada this year (2022).

I have created a YouTube Travel Playlist for this trip, which will feature travel videos from Canada's popular cottage country locations in Huntsville (Muskoka) and Orillia (Simcoe County).

I am trying different formats and styles of videos in this playlist. There will be short-length videos, some long videos, and lots of YouTube Shorts.

The Trip Challenge is to post as many updates as possible throughout the trip. For this reason, I am taking my laptop. My goal is to stop over here and there to post fresh videos. However, due to circumstances and network availability, I may not be able to update anything.

The reason for this Cottage Country Canada Trip Challenge is to take lessons and design my upcoming trip to Asia next month, which is an even bigger and longer trip.

I will have to drive about 3 hours to reach my first destination and I am hoping to stop over somewhere in the middle and publish a quick post.

As of now, it looks like I got some favourable weather and it is expected to be sunny and warm, hovering around 25° C (77° F). Although this is hot, but it’s nowhere near the weather in Dhaka, which has a hot and humid tropical climate.

January is the coolest month in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with temperatures averaging near 26 C (78 F), which is their winter but the same temperature as summer in Canada.

You can follow all these trips on my YouTube Channel right here: www.YouTube.com/ADawn

My COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot Experience

24 Hours After COVID-19 Vaccine Third Dose

I took my 2nd COVID-19 Vaccine in July, 2021. So, my booster shot was long overdue. I delayed it a bit to schedule it on the long Canada Family Day weekend, so I would have enough time to recover should I feel sick from the after effects.

Both my 1st and 2nd dose were administered at the Toronto City-run Metro Toronto Convention Centre immunization clinic. My 3rd experience was also seamless and I was done within 15 minutes, just like the previous ones. 

I felt nothing for the first 3-4 hours, but then started feeling the pain in my left arm. I took one 500 mg Tylenol as recommended by the nurse.

I woke up fine the next morning, except my left arm felt heavier and little bit sore, but it was not a big pain or sore muscle. The rest of the day felt fine and I kept myself busy doing my usual chores.

What I noticed around 23-24 hours after is that I started feeling weak and sick. I rested in bed for 20 minutes and then got up to go outside for a walk. Then my nephew showed up and we had coffee at Tim Hortons and headed to Ikea to browse some stuff.

I think keeping myself busy outside helped me to handle feeling sick better. After coming home, I took a cold shower and I felt a lot better. This was around 30 hours after the shot.

I planned to take another Tylenol before going to bed, but my arm soreness and pain was almost gone and I felt so much better that I decided not to take any more pain killers.

Some people had severe reactions after their 3rd dose and some people had none. Mine felt less severe than the 1st and 2nd dose and I think tomorrow I will feel even better than today. 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

A Dawn Journal YouTube Channel

First Published Date: December 25, 2016

If you are familiar with A Dawn Journal or just stumbled upon it for the first time, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy holiday season.

A Dawn Journal has tons of articles to make people’s lives better by covering various aspects of life. Recently, I have stepped up publishing more videos from various walks of life on my YouTube channel. You will find the same quality content which is unbiased, non-sponsored, and authored by myself, just like this website.

Without your support, it would not be possible for this site to survive and thrive as a high-traffic website. I appreciate that and look forward to your visits for years to come.

5 No-Nonsense Travel Hacks You Must Know

Smart Travel Tips You Can Use

First Published Date: October 22, 2016

No, I am not going to insult your intelligence by giving tips like put a binder clip over a razor or use the hotel iron to make a grilled cheese sandwich, and so on. Rather, I will talk about 5 smart travel tips that work and will come in handy when you travel.

Taxi Scam: Most taxi drivers are honest and hard working. But you need to be prepared for a very few who might scam you, especially in foreign land. The most common scam is shuffling larger bills to smaller ones, like you give the driver a $50 bill, but he claims you gave a $5 bill. Another variation of this scam can be shuffling your bill to a fake bill and demanding more money. You can easily prevent this scam by taking pictures of larger bills before handing them out or use smaller bills, which are hard to shuffle and scammers will be reluctant to scam for so many smaller bills because it involves more work for them and more chances of getting caught.

Author/Copyright: Ahmed Dawn www.adawnjournal.com

Travel Undergarment

It can be difficult or impossible to wash your undergarments everyday while you travel. To prevent this, when I am about to get rid of my old undergarments, such as underwear or an undershirt, I save them and use them when I travel and throw them out each day after use. This way I am still using fresh, washed undergarments everyday, but don’t need to worry about washing and drying them. You can achieve the same result by using disposable undergarments (yes, they exist) and toss them out daily.

Wi-Fi

Many hotels charge for Wi-Fi. However, if you are a member of their rewards or loyalty program, you can get it for free. Sign up for the hotel’s rewards program to get free Wi-Fi. You don’t need to have any points in your rewards account to enjoy free Wi-Fi.

Hotel/Resort Upgrade

Sometimes you may be able to score a room upgrade in hotels or resorts just by tipping the receptionist. You may need to be discrete when you tip the receptionist and ask for the upgrade. For example, keep the note in sight of the receptionist (but not too obvious for other people working in the lobby) and say something like you will take care of them if they possibly can arrange an upgrade. However, you need to make a judgement call in which hotel or what country you can possibly apply this trick. For example, this is not going to work if you are in hotels like Hilton or Marriott in Canada or Germany, but you may be able to work this out if you are in hotels or resorts in the Caribbean or in Asia.

Fake Wallet

To protect yourself from robbery or pickpockets when you travel, carry a fake wallet. Fake in this instance means the wallet is real, but put expired credit cards, bankcards, library card, etc. and some small notes in it to make it look like your real wallet. Hide your real credit card and money in a separate place on your body. You can use a hidden money belt or hidden neck or leg wallet to keep your real credit card and cash. In case of a robbery, hand over your fake wallet or distract pickpockets with your fake wallet.

MEET CANADA’S PERSONAL FINANCE AUTHOR AHMED DAWN AT THE GLADSTONE HOTEL

Meet Financial Author Ahmed Dawn At The December 2009 Toronto Small Press Book Fair

First Published: ADawnJournal.com December 5, 2009

The December 2009 Toronto Small Press Book Fair will take place at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto M6J 1J6 (Queen Street West & Gladstone near Dufferin; Public Transit: TTC Queen Streetcar (the stop is right in front of the Gladstone Hotel). From 10 am-5 pm on Sat, December 12, 2009.

I will be participating in this event. This year we will be celebrating our 22nd year with a fair at the fabulous Gladstone Hotel. This is a great opportunity to meet Canadian authors under one roof. Just stop by to say Hi. Hope to see you there.

The Toronto Small Press Group meets twice a year, and I always participate in these fairs. I will be posting video clips and pictures of The December 2009 Toronto Small Press Book Fair later on. Don’t forget to check out The Toronto Small Press Group website.