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Nina Near and Far

How to have adventures near and far.

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Category: Packing Guides

Posted on January 12, 2020January 13, 2020

How to Prevent Leg Cramps After Flying (and Other Travel Soreness)

Leg cramps? Sore neck?

  • Packing Guides
  • Travel
  • travel tips
 by ninanearandfar0 comment
How to Prevent Leg Cramps After Flying (and Other Travel Soreness)
Posted on April 18, 2019April 21, 2019

What to Pack for Costa Rica

Wondering what to pack for Costa Rica?

  • Costa Rica
  • Packing Guides
 by ninanearandfar1 comment
What to Pack for Costa Rica
Posted on February 4, 2019January 30, 2020

What to Wear in Canada in Winter: Recommendations from a Local

Recommendations from a local.

  • canada
  • Canada Tips
  • Ottawa-Gatineau Winter
  • Packing Guides
  • travel tips
  • winter
 by ninanearandfar1 comment
What to Wear in Canada in Winter: Recommendations from a Local
Posted on July 19, 2018January 24, 2019

What to Pack for Iceland Travel

What to pack for Iceland, with recommendations and a packing list!

  • Iceland
  • Packing Guides
 by ninanearandfar0 comment
What to Pack for Iceland Travel

Hi! I’m Nina, and welcome to Nina Near and Far – the Ottawa-based travel blog for people pursing career and academic goals. Nina Near and Far is about making the most of your time off, weekends, and vacation days by exploring you own city and taking short, adventure-packed trips.

Instagram post 2321536496140953783_56014037 Campfire Date Night 🔥 Nick and I spent yesterday evening at Saunders Farm for a campfire date night! Would you try this?? 🤩⠀ ⠀ It was such a nice way to get out. Going somewhere and actually being able to sit outside and enjoy our food felt amazing. Our night happened to a bit chilly but other than that it was perfect (and we just bundled up accordingly).⠀ ⠀ @saundersfarmfun has a set up where up to 12 groups can enjoy a campfire at a time (spaces 30ft apart). Each campfire site includes the fire, a plastic fold out table, a portable washroom, and a garbage. Campfires are available Wednesday - Sunday evening.⠀ ⠀ 🥂 Our date night package included meats, cheeses, bread, a bottle of wine, and s’mores for 2.⠀ ⠀ 🌭 There is also a family pack available that includes hot dogs, chips, water & soda, and s’mores for 5.⠀ ⠀ 🍉 We’re looking to book the countryside picnic lunch next! Baguettes, watermelon, hard boiled eggs, vegetables & dip, and cookies for up to 5 people. Countryside picnics are available Saturday & Sunday. #MyOttawa
Instagram post 2320193182305200688_56014037 THINGS TO DO IN OTTAWA RIGHT NOW ☀️ YES REALLY!⠀ ⠀ Things certainly look different these days but there are still some fun things to do around the city and from the comfort of your own home. Hit SAVE!⠀ ⠀ 🚲 Gatineau Parkway, Champlain Parkway and Fortune Lake Parkway are open to cyclists and pedestrians.⠀ ⠀ 🌳 Hiking trails outside of the closed roads in Gatineau Park can be accessed including Wolf Trail P13, Carbide Wilson Ruins P11, and Luskville Falls - ⚠️ no washrooms.⠀ ⠀ 🚴‍♀️ Queen Elizabeth Drive, Sir John A Parkway, Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway all have sections open to cyclists and pedestrians only (closed to cars).⠀ ⠀ 🍃 Walking trails like Jack Pine Trail and Mer Bleue (any @ncc_ccn operated trail) are now open - ⚠️ no washrooms.⠀ ⠀ 🔥 Plan a campfire night at @saundersfarmfun - I am doing this tomorrow - I’ll report back!⠀ ⠀ 🧩 Staying in? Try the online Escape Room ‘Taken’ by @escape_manor ⠀ ⠀ 🌸 Go out in search of cherry blossoms along the canal, at Lincoln Fields, or the Dominion Arboretum.⠀ ⠀ 🛶 Get out on the water! Non-motorized boat rentals are available at @dows_lake (kayaks, canoes, etc.) and Ottawa SUP for paddle boards.⠀ ⠀ 🍦 Your favourite ice cream spots are doing take out / orders including @pinkberryottawa @piccolograndeottawa @slgelato @lacigale.chelsea⠀ ⠀ 🚘 @ubereats_canada yourself something delicious from a local business on Saturday night.
Instagram post 2309225430639773557_56014037 LET’S PLAY A GAME. What is a super silly made up rule that you live by?⠀ ⠀ I’ll start:⠀ ⠀ 🌷 Overtime, I gradually developed this really strong preference for whatever photo I post on Instagram to match the season outside.⠀ ⠀ 🚗 I always set the dial on the car radio to an even number or a multiple of 5 (except 15). My car radio dial is 0-30.⠀ ⠀ 📝 There are certain letters / letter combinations that I don’t like beginning sentences with. I majored in creative writing in high school and during a poetry unit the teacher encouraged us to pay attention to the shapes of the letters and visual structures letters created in our poem. This is what stuck with me from high school 😂 and yes, I am thinking about it right now. It can be super, super inconvenient for academic writing. ⠀ ⠀ OK YOU GO!⠀
Instagram post 2307038296650704811_56014037 My own little tulip festival! 🌷 ⠀ ⠀ Right up until May not much had actually changed for me but now things are quite different; academia and pandemics both involve a lot of staying inside alone all day 😅 May is really different though. Originally I was teaching a one-week course on leadership to high school students the first week of May and was then off to Denmark > Croatia > Hungary for almost 3 weeks!⠀ ⠀ Now instead I’m taking a course on Social & Emotional Learning and Leadership at a Distance, finishing up my thesis proposal this week and then submitting the ethics approval, and doing some reading for another research project 🤞🏼 I’m hoping Mother Nature gets her act together soon so I can go for morning walks without being chilled to the bone!⠀ ⠀ #cdntulipfest #myottawa #ottawalife #apt613 #facesottawa #topottawaphoto #ottawa #yowcity #ottcity #apt613 #ottawaphoto
Instagram post 2304116047794804443_56014037 Hello lovely people 😌 It’s been a minute since I posted... anything. Over a month in my feed, probably almost a month in stories. I have started to receive messages from you all asking if I’m alright. It’s really kind of you ❤️⠀ ⠀ I am alright, but the last month has been hard. There is something that feels cosmically unfair about losing your Dad... and then going into lockdown for a pandemic a month later. It’s kind of like being told “hey, you need to run a marathon NOW” and you take off sprinting thinking “what just happened?!” Quickly, you realize that won’t work. You have to slow down. Adapt. Adjust your expectations for yourself. Admit that your timeline has to change. If you’re fortunate then will have a team (my family, my friends, my supervisor, my professors) to help you do this. And then... you realize that you are okay. This is a marathon that you can run. Thanks to your team and your own resilience you can do this - albeit at half capacity - and you will be okay...then BOOM. The marathon isn’t over yet and you find out that you have to run another one. Quickly. Now. Go. Speed up. Also this one has pot holes. Except... you gave everything you had to that first marathon... so you have to start pulling energy from other places.⠀ ⠀ I appreciate you all so much. I have simply not had the bandwidth lately for much social media. One day I spent 2 hours hours sobbing and holding my Dad’s urn while listening to a Harry Potter audiobook because my Dad and I listened to it together in hospital. On another day I pedalled happily on my bike trainer for 2 hours and read a fantasy novel in the sun with my cat all afternoon and then went to get ice cream and it was a great day. On most days I work because despite everything I am one of these incredibly fortunate people who loves my work SO MUCH. And social media has simply not fallen into the mix. I don’t want to share photos of places you can’t go right now. I don’t want to do at-home photoshoots with balloons or other wasteful props. I don’t know what I’ll post next 🤷🏼‍♀️ but regardless... know that I appreciate you all. I hope you are safe ❤️
Instagram post 2268651406885224504_56014037 It just so happened that a few days before we started to realize that things in were going to change a lot I was listening to one of my favourite audios. One segment in particular that starts off with a really funny story. I remembered the story but not the takeaway from the anecdote.⠀ ⠀ The author, Brené Brown, tells a story about claiming someone else’s cookies as her own after realizing she forgot to bring cookies for her daughter’s class party. She calls a friend to tell her about what happened and it leads to this conversation:⠀ ⠀ Friend on the phone ☎️ “You’re going into a nearly impossible weekend.”⠀ ⠀ Brené “What do you mean?”⠀ ⠀ ☎️ “You’re giving the commencement address. [Your daughter’s] got her ballet recital. The chances of you making it there are slim to none. And I know you think you will, but you’re probably not going to... it’s gonna be pretty half-ass all weekend.”⠀ ⠀ Brené “It can’t be.”⠀ ⠀ ☎️ “No, it’s gonna be. And so you’re gonna have to recalibrate. You’re just gonna have to put your best foot forward, be yourself, and let all this stuff go. You’re going to have a very, very imperfect and messy weekend.”⠀ ⠀ Session 3, 26:00 minutes in to The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown. HIGHLY RECOMMEND on @audible - insightful but also so funny.⠀ ⠀ When I heard this 2 weeks ago I thought... it was good reminder but not what I had remembered. ⠀ ⠀ And then everything started to change and suddenly that was exactly what I needed. You’re going to have a very, very imperfect messy... month? More months? I don’t know. What I do know is that on Monday my game plan was a walk every morning, a workout every evening, post interactive and engaging stories every day, and get bang off loads of productive work hours in between. My friend’s wedding (in Europe) in May is looking really uncertain. The reality has been that I’m caught up on my work but not ahead, I’ve gone for 2 walks this week, and I went to bed at 6:30PM on Tuesday with a fever, and I haven’t posted stories since Tuesday.⠀ ⠀ I am opting to be okay with that. Who else is having a very, very imperfect messy week? 🥰 #myottawa #canadagram #explorecanada #ottawalife #ottawaphoto #passionpassport
Instagram post 2266504901122376558_56014037 Do you recognize this tiny town? This is Lunenburg, Nova Scotia! It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the filming location for Locke & Key (an excellent Netflix original).⠀ ⠀ 🐚 Lunenburg was established in 1753 and has retained its original layout and overall appearance.⠀ ⠀ 🐚 The Bluenose and Bluenose II (famous boats & Canadian icons) were here.⠀ ⠀ 🐚 They have a Vinegar Bible! It’s one of 12 bibles in the world that says “vinegar” where it’s supposed to say “vineyard.”⠀ ⠀ What UNESCO World Heritage Sites have you visited? Also accepting Netflix recommendations!👌🏻 P.S. I have a blog post on day tripping here from Halifax! 📸 @passportunities ⠀ ⠀ #femmetravel #passionpassport #sheisnotlost explorecanada #canadagram #canadaphoto #imagesofcanada #canadian #tourcanada #enjoycanada #novascotia #citizenfemme
Instagram post 2264746382144612215_56014037 Working from home now? SAME. ⠀ ⠀ I’ve been working from home for a while now (3 out of 5 days per week usually) and I’ve learned that it’s very different than being in an office.⠀ ⠀ 12 Tips for Working at Home (and Staying Connected) is now on Nina Near and Far! LINK IN BIO. ⠀ ⠀ Here’s a mini-list for you to SAVE. I provide more details + psychology in the blog post.⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Go outside first thing. Get that sunlight!⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Plan around your brain. More on this in the blog post.⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Wear a work outfit.⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Move around lots!⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Use apps to limit distractions - programs that stop you from going on time-wasting websites.⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Work in time blocks.⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Join social media communities. My fellow academics check out @academeology and Nina Near and Far will also serve as a community with chats happening beginning this week!⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Keep meal prepping. Nothing throws off your day faster than cooking during “lunch break.”⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Have an office space. I’ve shared a couple tips on the blog.⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Check in with your team. Doesn’t have to be a work team! Friend teams work too.⠀ ⠀ 🖥 Maintain regular hours.⠀ ⠀ ❤️ Accept this virtual hug. This is probably not going to go exactly how you want it to and that is OK. This is not a vacation, it’s not a lovely new effort, it’s a pandemic. It’s going to be tough but we’re in this together. ⠀ ⠀ P.S. this is a stock photo. This is not my desk. I’ve never posted a photo that wasn’t my own before but hey... my desk is a mess right now and this is important 🤷🏼‍♀️ this is by Jacqueline Kelly on Unsplash #workfromhome #myottawa #ottawalife #apt613 #faceottawa #topottawaphoto #ottawa #yowcity #ottcity #apt613 #ottawaphoto #workfromhomelife
Instagram post 2263521918291737433_56014037 What’s good? The internet and social media are about COVID-19 right now 🦠 and that is important - but also important is for us to feel connected and take a deep breath and maybe even laugh a little. AND SO:⠀ ⠀ What’s up, my people? What’s good, interesting, going right in your life? Funniest thing you heard all week, weird fact your learned? Drop one 👇🏻 and check out some others. I’ll start! ⠀ ⠀ 🏡 I’m apartment hunting and I’ve found a couple places that I love 😍 can’t wait to live close to work next year.⠀ ⠀ 🐟 Once upon a prehistoric age sabertooth salmon were a thing 😯 I learned this by watching a TED talk, I have not take up a particular interest in prehistoric fish.⠀ ⠀ 📚 I’m writing my thesis proposal. I looooove my thesis proposal. Gives me the warm and fuzzies thinking about how we will further understand how leadership affects employee experiences of workplace stressors.⠀ ⠀ 📱I’m still laughing at this gem that I read last week: ⠀ ⠀ “Clicked on ‘make a reservation’ on a restaurant’s page and it opened FaceTime and started calling them. I cannot stress enough how much I did not want that to happen.” ⠀ ⠀ I’m giggling to myself just trying to type that last one out 😂😂😂😂😂⠀ ⠀ Your turn! Tell me ANYTHING that is bringing you smiles, gratitude, warm and fuzzies, or laughs right now. 📸 @splashofartistry
Instagram post 2261453235088237150_56014037 Look who I hung out with on Saturday night 🐺 😍 SWIPE for a look inside the Wolf Cabin at @parcomega (thanks for hosting us ☺️)⠀ ⠀ We were only visited by the wolves a couple of times but we could certainly hear them all the time. Turns out there are a lot of kerfuffles in a wolf pack. We were woken up bright and early by their howling!⠀ ⠀ This is an experience for the bucket list! How many people can say they’ve slept in a cabin with wolves right outside? Get a group of 4-6 people together to book your own stay.⠀ ⠀ More details on the stay + prices are on my blog! LINK IN BIO.⠀ ⠀ #quebecoroginal #explorecanada #femmetraveler #canadagram #sheisnotlost #girlslovetravel #imagesofcanada #tourcanada #enjoycanada
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