After our article about the dark side of working in Canada, many of you asked why we were there and why we kept coming back. So here's our honest story about moving to Canada — and everything we learned along the way.

Upon arriving at the place from which we'd been posting breathtaking mountain photos, I had a mental breakdown in our 2×2 metre room with a shared kitchen for 40 people and one mouse. "I want to go home. What was I thinking!" I screamed during our first hours in the staff accommodation in the forest above Banff, where we were supposed to spend 2.5 months.

Most of the time I see mountains when I close my eyes: Tunnel Mountain, Rundle Mountain, Sulphur Mountain. Here are three tips for beautiful hikes around Banff, Canada.

There are thousands of beautiful places in the world, but it wasn't the postcards that kept pulling me back to Canada — it was the extraordinary Canadian friendliness that makes it a country where people still genuinely enjoy living.

Two ten-year-old girls ran up to me. "Got a cigarette?" The cute blue eyes of the blonde girl certainly didn't match any stereotype about socially excluded families. This isn't a world of stereotypes — this is reality. Defaulters don't come in a designated skin colour, hair colour, or eye colour. They're simply defaulters.

I can't stop smiling. We caught this disease the moment we landed. The corners of our mouths shot up and settled there as if it were their natural position. Welcome to St. John's, Newfoundland — a land where happy living isn't just a concept, it's a way of life.