Salut et bienvenue - on te souhaite beaucoup d'amusement ici. Oh, je suis a Montreal juste pour te dire! (Translation) Hi, and welcome. We wish you lots of fun here. Oh, just to tell you I'm in Montreal.
Welcome from a fellow Canadian. Whether you go inexpensive, kit, or "whole hog", have a great time learning and enjoy the process!
Welcome to the Den! As a person who went from cartridge to straight razors, I'm going to go against the grain here (pun intended), and say it's definitely possible to make the jump. It's a learning curve, but if you start with a round point straight and go nice and slow, it's not so bad. I'd also say go for the whipped dog starter kit, bad get an extra strop, because you're bound to nick up your first one.
I always recommend having a look on Amazon.com, there are usually some really good deals and you can build your own starter kit to suit your tastes & price range exact. Also, Hello from Texas!