ÍáÍáÂþ»­

Recently, I spent nearly 30 hours on the train from St. Paul to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to visit my friend Katie for the first time in two years.

Katie and I became friends while studying abroad in Sweden and vowed to meet up again once we got back to the U.S. However, two obstacles kept us apart: I lived in Minnesota, she lived in California and our schedules never seemed to line up.

A month ago, Katie moved to New York to start an internship and planned a weekend trip to Toronto to go snowboarding. When the friends she was originally going on vacation with couldn't make it, she jokingly asked me to come with her, thinking I would say no since I lived so far away.

Always up for an adventure, I said yes.

Since I impulsively decided to go two weeks before the trip, I saved money by taking the Amtrak to Katie's city, road-tripping with her to Toronto and then flying home. During the rail journey, I saw more of the Northeast than I ever had before and heard fellow travelers call their friends and loved ones. Their conversations reminded me that the long days on the train were worth it to spend a few days visiting a new city with a close friend.

When I arrived at Katie's house, I was warmed by how welcome she made me feel. Despite moving in only a few weeks before my arrival, she set up a makeshift guest room in her living room, cooked me dinner from scratch and bought a Roku device so I could watch Netflix while she worked.

After two years apart, I worried that our weekend together would be awkward, but we picked up right where we left off. We bonded over our love of Korean dramas and made a game of comparing New York laws and mannerisms to those in our home states.

As much as I enjoyed visiting Katie in New York, road-tripping with her to Toronto was even better because it allowed us to experience new things together. We stopped at Niagara Falls on both the U.S. and Canadian sides and Katie faced her fear of heights so we could ride the Ferris wheel together and get an aerial view of the falls.

Carley Swanson-Garro / Bemidji Pioneer

This was our first time visiting Toronto and we only had two nights and one full day there, but we managed to travel all over the city. Highlights of our stay included vintage shopping at the Sunday Market at Parkdale Hall, strolling through Allan Gardens, eating bibimbap in Koreatown, using the book vending machine at The Monkey's Paw bookstore and taking pictures with the iconic CN Tower.

Creating these new memories together reminded me why Katie and I became friends in the first place: our love of travel and learning more about new cultures. From video calling each other across time zones to plan this trip to navigating a new city together, this visit gave me a sense of accomplishment. We finally kept our promise of meeting up in the States and caught each other up on our lives.

Another bonding moment occurred when we drove two hours through a snowstorm so Katie could go snowboarding. She only recently learned how to snowboard and was excited to move to the East Coast, where she has more opportunities to get on the slopes than in California.

When we finally got to Blue Mountain Ski Resort, Katie suited up and I made my way to the lodge to watch adventurous participants race to the bottom of the mountain. After falling on a blue-designated slope, Katie quickly realized that while she was able to navigate intermediate runs in California, this mountain was a lot steeper. Instead of giving up, she switched to a beginner-level run and successfully made it down.

Watching Katie pick up this new hobby is encouraging me to do the same now that I am back in Minnesota. Writing about events for the Pioneer has made me realize how many fun opportunities there are in our community and I'm grateful to have explored a few of them through this job.

I tend to hibernate during the winter months but spending time traveling with Katie has given me the push I needed to get out and enjoy this unusually warm winter.

Whenever I need the courage to try something new, I look to my long-distance friends for support. Seeing Katie move to a new city to pursue her dreams inspires me to keep chasing my goal of becoming a stronger writer, wherever that ends up taking me.

It can be easy to get distracted by illusions of perfection on social media, but having honest conversations with long-distance friends gives you perspective and helps keep you grounded.

Although leaving the country may seem like a long way to go for only one long weekend together, I returned home with a renewed sense of confidence, a heart full of memories and a bag of Canadian souvenirs. I'm looking forward to my next adventure with Katie, even if I have to wait two more years to see her again.