When I got back from Australia, I already knew that I was going to move from Salt Lake to Washington, DC! It had taken quite a while between talking about it and getting all the various logistics together, and that process was exhausting, but I pretty much got back from Australia and started working through the things I wanted to do while I was still in the western half of the United States. One of those things was going to Vancouver.
I had always heard that Vancouver was a cool city. And it was long overdue that I should go back to Canada as an adult. I’ve been twice before – once, my parents and I went on a cruise to Alaska that featured a stop in Victoria, and the second was my family going to Banff for a longer trip. My memories were of gorgeous landscapes. One of the other travelers on the PNG trip was from Vancouver, which was the push I needed to actually plan it out and go!
I spent a lot of time just wandering the city, by myself and with Parsa. We took the ferry, we saw the views from his office building, and he knew all the great places to go out to dinner, so I ate very well while I was there! It was such a needed long weekend for me, since it had been very busy both at work and with all the logistics of moving and figuring out what to do with our house.
Over the weekend, Parsa rounded up a few friends and we went hiking! We drove up the Sea to Sky Highway, which is super gorgeous and scenic, and got some coffee in Squamish. Then we headed out to the trail. We hiked Tunnel Bluffs. Literally all the elevation gain is at the beginning, so at first it seemed a little tough, but after about 2 km it levels out and it was really pleasant. The views at the end were spectacular! It was such a nice day trip out from the city.
Vancouver was great, and now that I’m based out east I’ll have a better chance to visit the provinces of Ontario and Quebec! It’s easy to focus my travel in places that are more far-flung, but I’ve never been disappointed by my visits to Canada.