At the peak of happiness

As the recession hit Ireland, like many others Oristown man Karl Lee set off for New Zealand and Australia, where he spent three years before returning to Ireland late in 2013. After 18 months at home, he found himself bitten by the travel bug a gain and set off for Canada.

Now living in Calgary, 28-year-old Karl is loving life in Canada where he spends his free time snowboarding, kayaking and hiking in the Rocky mountains. While home for a family wedding last year, friends and family were “quizzing” him about his life in Canada and this is what prompted Karl to start writing a blog ‘justkarl.org’ where he writes about his adventures and has also posted stunning photos showcasing the beauty of the Rockies.
Karl is the second youngest in a family of four and grew up on a dry livestock and tillage farm. He went to school in Oristown NS and Kells Community School before taking up an apprenticeship as an electrician.
“Unfortunately like many people my age, I was let go during the recession and didn’t have my apprenticeship finished. In 2010, I went to New Zealand where I worked for a farming contractor. After six months in New Zealand I went to Australia and worked on a 32,000 acre tillage farm north of Melbourne,” he recalled.
“In late 2013, I went back to Ireland and got a job as an electrician again so I could finish my apprenticeship. I worked with a small local contractor and after 18 months or so I was finding myself wanting to leave Ireland again. It was still all doom and gloom after the recession and I didn’t think it was the happiest place to live.”
Karl saw a job advert looking for people to go to Canada. He applied, and after a successful interview, secured a visa and was on his way.
“It was the day of my birthday when I stepped foot on Canadian soil for the first time in the city of Edmonton around 2am and it was minus 25 degrees celsius. At least 20 degrees colder than anything I’d ever experienced before. What had I gotten myself into? The next few months were spent working 60 hour weeks going to work in the dark, coming home in the dark and trying to survive in this cold hell I’d jumped in to. For those first six months me and Canada didn’t really get along. I decided Edmonton wasn’t the place for me.”
Karl was offered a job with a company in Calgary who were doing the electrical and mechanical work on the new terminal at Calgary International Airport.
“I almost didn’t want to take it but a little bit of encouragement from the family and I did.”
During the recession, the company came to job expo’s in Dublin and Cork and hired over 300 Irish people to come to Canada and work at the airport so it didn’t take long for Karl to get settled in with the Irish community anywhere in the world being tight knit.

Karl at Lake Louise in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, which features in Karl's latest blog entry.   

The city of Calgary has a population of a little over one million and is just 40 minutes from the Canadian Rockies.
“On a clear day, you can see them towering in the backdrop of the city. Once I had a car, I started to go out to the mountains at the weekends
“I’d never done a hike in my life until I got to Canada. There’s a great buzz or thrill that you get from climbing to the top of mountain peaks. The list of things to do and see in the mountains is endless and every single time I drive out to them I’m amazed by them.
“By the time winter came around, I was keen to get out on a snowboard and mixed in with a group of mostly Irish lads who want to do the same. After a few day trips we were planning bigger things. We did a road trip across to the other side of the Canadian Rockies and got in as many ski resorts as we could. Another weekend, we went down to Whitefish which is in Montana in the US.”
“As summer came around and it was time for the snowboard to go in to storage I bought myself a kayak. Just like snowboarding I had never kayak’d before I came to Canada. It was easy to get in to as there are so many lakes and rivers within a short distance of the city. Some evenings we would go out after work and kayak 20km down a river and be back home by 9pm. So last summer was spent mostly kayaking and hiking.”

An ice cave on the ski hill at Whistler

Karl returned home for his brother’s wedding at the end of July. It was his first time home for almost a year so he got “quizzed” a lot about his adventures and life in Canada.
“This made me start thinking of writing a blog but at the beginning I didn’t really have the confidence to do it. I didn’t think there would be enough interest in it.
“But the more adventures I had, the more I wanted to write about it for myself at least. So recently I set up a blog and registered a domain name http://www.justkarl.org and started to write. So far the reaction has been good and from anyone I’ve spoken to about it, they tell me to write more often so that’s a good sign.”

Read Karl's Blog 'justkarl.org' here

There are many perks to living in Canada and Karl said Health insurance is free once you have a tax number, with most employers doing a benefit package with up to 80 per cent discount at the dentist, discounts on workwear and tools, a massage a month, contributions toward eye wear, hotel discounts and such.
“It’s completely different to home and makes you really notice how bad our system is. My car insurance is around $1,000 a year, car tax for a 3.0l petrol car is $80 a year and petrol is around $1 a litre, $0.92 at the minute. All of the above means more money in your own pocket to do the things you like doing. That along with the lifestyle Canada has given me makes me think that I may never go home.”
“At 28 I feel like this is the place that I will settle. My older sister lives in Amsterdam while my younger sister and older brother both live in Australia.
“I don’t ever think that I will move home but often times I’d love if it was just an hour away so I could see my grandparents who unfortunately aren’t always going to be there or see the parents, or have the craic with the lads but when I weigh up the pros and cons I’m better off where I am.
“Maybe that will change though and I know it must be hard for our parents with four children and all of them away. I do encourage them to come visit though and I tell all my friends the same. The door is always open and it’s a trip that doesn’t disappoint.”