When attending an agenda-packed international event like the recent IFAJ Congress, it’s all you can do to focus on the moment. Day after day we were kept scurrying from one event to another and from one farm visit to the next. We often left our hotels by 7 a.m. and didn’t return until late in the night.

Given this pace, there was only time to superficially process our newly-gained experiences on a very fragmented basis as we frantically wrote notes and snapped photos that would help to jog our memories at a later date.

It’s only after we return to the familiarity of our country and the comfort of our own beds that we begin to process our experiences on a deeper level. Today, I began wading through digital files of the hundreds of photos I took. I’ve also got an Alp-sized mountain of paper that needs sorted - brochures of places we visited, notes from presentations we heard, press releases, speakers’ bios, agendas and more.

Upon reflection, I’d say that without a doubt, the conference highlight came in the people I met. I’ve returned home with business cards of colleagues from South Africa, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, the UK, Japan, Belgium and the USA among others. In the case of a few, I doubt our paths will cross again. But for many others, I know that they’ll be a valuable resource for information on foreign animal welfare policies, environmental initiatives and more. I also look forward to seeing many of them at next year’s congress in Texas.

Participating in an organized adventure like this (and for at least parts of the journey, I’ll have to use the term “organized” loosely), also gives you the opportunity to meet people and visit places that you’d never find on your own. Without exception, each of the farmers we met in Slovakia, Austria and Slovenia were knowledgeable, gracious and welcoming. They were also incredibly honest in their analysis of the challenges and opportunities that come from farming within the structure of the European Union. For those of us who had little or no knowledge about EU agriculture, this was a fascinating glimpse into their every day reality and I’ve returned home with a keen interest to learn more.

I have to say that for tourists, the EU’s structure is a dream come true. There were no new currencies to obtain as we travelled from country to country to country (including an hour long stop in Germany on the way home). There were no security points to navigate or passports to show as we crossed borders and the increasing reliance on the English language makes communications a breeze to us North Americans.

For residents of those countries, though, the change hasn’t been as easy. The transition has come with huge financial implications. Our Good Samaritan bus driver that Lilian mentioned in an earlier posting filled some five hour trip with a description about life as an Austrian. A key point was that they’ve experienced a 40% inflation rate since the transition from Shillings to Euros in 2002. Unfortunately, their salaries haven’t come close to keeping up which has meant that countless Austrians have had their savings wiped out in the last ten years. That’s got to be frightening.

As we return to life at home, I’m sure our learnings of the last ten days will continue to percolate and take hold inside our jet-lagged brains.

The seven Canadian delegates who attended this event have also returned with pages of notes of things we will need to consider as we ramp up plans to host our own congress in three short years.

I’d again like to thank Monsanto and the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation for providing me with the bursary that enabled me to attend this congress. It truly was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Kelly Daynard is the Program Manager for the Ontario Farm Animal Council. Her trip to the IFAJ Congress in Austria and Slovenia was funded by Monsanto and the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation.