A Little Life Update
Since we left America in early March, time seems to have slipped past me like water through a net. Weeks tick by on an endless rotation, but before we can even start to reflect on what we’ve been doing, we’re in the middle of another one. Relaxing a bit after our fast-paced, chaotic American road trip feels a bit like we’ve come inside after a long day in the sun.
We’ve already been in Canada for six weeks, and although I feel we’ve crammed a lot into that time,
I still find it crazy that it’s already the middle of April. Now that I’ve finally caught up on myself when it comes to blogposts, and Phil and I have got our heads straight in terms of summer plans, I thought I’d give you a little update of what we’ve been getting up to in Vancouver. There's also a whole load of random photos from the past two months to gander at!
What we've been up to...
An Amtrak train brought us ambling over the border, bleary-eyed but excited, on March the 3rd. We’d been travelling non-stop since December, skipping from place to place every couple of days. I’d been waking up every morning wandering where the hell we were, wandering into unfamiliar bathrooms, making plans and writing in every scrap of free time I got.
Although it’s an impulsive, awesome way to live, I’d be lying if I said we weren’t looking forward to putting down some temporary roots. Having some duvet days. Unpacking. Shoving everything into a backpack and then watching it explode like a jack in the box whenever you open it gets a little old.
We spent our first month in the city in Kitsilano in an Air BnB on West 4th Avenue. Kits is a chilled out little beach area – full of cute coffee shops, hipster food joints and nice boutiques. Being on W 4th meant we were right in the middle of the action; we literally couldn’t have picked a better location to get a feel of the place. The beach was just 5 minutes away, and although the weather wasn’t really conducive to sunbathing (hello, rain, missed you!) we spent plenty of afternoons sitting on the felled tree trunks, watching brave swimmers and admiring the mountain views. I also joined Semperviva yoga, a really nice studio just across the road which also offers teacher training. It’s something I’m considering for the autumn, but at the moment that’s up in the air.
We made a conscious effort to slow down while in Kits. Having the entire apartment was also welcome – no more sneaking around hoping not to wake anyone else up. It gave us a bit more freedom, and by the end of the month it almost felt like it was our flat. We also checked the Vancouver basics off the list; the beach, downtown, Granville Market, Grouse mountain.
After a month, it was time to move out of the Air BnB – and Kits – and into the HI Hostel downtown. I won’t lie – the first week here wasn’t my favourite.
I came down with the flu, so was confined to bed mainlining Reese’s peanut butter cups, flu drugs and Grey’s Anatomy for a good few days. The fact that it was sunny outside made me feel a bit like a waste of space. We were struggling to figure out what we wanted to do next, so felt a bit aimless and lost. The hostel isn’t in the best part of town (the Entertainment District on Granville Street) and the spoiled brat in me missed the carefree, easy-going nature of Kits. Highs and lows like these are natural when you’re travelling (why would everything be amazing all the time?), but they still take you by surprise sometimes.
But then I gave myself a kick up the bum.
I got better, made a plan, and started being productive. We got out and about more, taking a seaplane tour for Phil’s birthday, and checking out Capilano, Lynn Canyon and the 360 tower. I started to enjoy Vancouver again.
Before long, it was time to head up to Whistler with Whistler Tourism to cover the World Ski and Snowboard festival.
And what an awesome week it’s been
. I absolutely love it here. A combination of learning to ski and really enjoying it, luxurious accommodation, amazing food and company and some incredibly inspiring events have meant that we can’t wait to come back up here as soon as we can.
...what’s next!
Right now, we’re getting ready to go back down to Vancouver. For the next two weeks, we’ll be back in Kits (yay!) in a different Air BnB. We want to experience the things in Vancouver that we haven’t really seen yet, like the Botanics, Stanley Park, cycling around the seawall, the museums and some restaurants.
I’m looking forward to it.
In terms of what comes after Vancouver, Phil and I have had a lot of long, frustrating, meandering conversations about what we want to do and why.
There are almost too many options
. We thought about staying in Vancouver and getting jobs right away. Then we thought about getting jobs in resorts in Banff and staying there over the summer. But when it came down to it, we didn’t want to work in offices or spend the summer being housekeepers with only a couple of days off to explore. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I’m sure it would be great fun, it just didn’t feel…right.
That’s when we started to consider WWOOFING(willing workers on organic farms). You basically help out at a farm for 5-7 hours a day in exchange for food and accommodation. Depending on where you stay, you could be doing anything from tending crops and taking care of animals to building treehouses and selling produce at the market. Between May and August, we’re going to be working on a good handful of farms doing all sorts of stuff we’ve never done before like looking after baby goats and learning how to make salves and skincare from herbs. We both liked the idea of working outside and getting our hands dirty, getting to grips with Canada and the locals in a way that you can’t really from behind a desk. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before, so I’m hoping to gain a new perspective, learn some new skills and meet some cool people.
In September, we’re thinking of coming back to Vancouver so that I can get my yoga teacher training certificate and Phil can play rugby. We’ll be going home for Christmas, before flying back out to Canada in January.
After that, who knows?
But after being in Whistler for a week, I wouldn’t mind coming back up here for winter and really getting my teeth into this skiing thing.
Watch this space!
What about you? Tell me your summer plans!
