Fresh Starts, Wild Parks, Black Squirrels and WiFi Everywhere [Vancouver, Canada]

Is it Wednesday today? We’re on day 3 in Vancouver, Canada and as our adventure continues, I find it harder and harder to keep track of the days. Working remotely can do that to you, I suppose. Every day is a work day, just as every day can have the flexibility of being a touring day. I do love that, mind you. I trust my discipline and organization to get things done, so I allow myself the freedom to watch The Voice auditions in the morning with my Earl Gray tea (can’t take that London out of me). Go for a stroll in a nearby park in the middle of the afternoon. Finish a project after dinner, when my personal productivity is at its peak. Or write a poem about #metoo, because I’ve been reading about it compulsively and have a million thoughts and am really just dying to have a deep, face-to-face conversation with one of my close friends or family, the difficulty of which is definitely one of the biggest drawbacks from this whole trip.

Nat has been great though. It’s times like these when I appreciate having a husband who’s also my best friend and with whom I can talk to about pretty much anything. OK, mushy part over.

So what about Vancouver, eh? Every new city is a fresh start and there are a few necessary steps we’ve learned to master after our stints in Copenhagen and Berlin:

1. Find your essentials: supermarket, laundromat, CrossFit gym, coffee shops. Essentials may or may not include Maple-flavored Cheerios.
2. Meet people: at said CrossFit gym, coffee shops, through introductions. Laundromat and supermarket not recommended, though.
3. Plan your must-do’s and -see’s: some of them will be touristy, some more hidden gems. Save time for things you don’t know you’ll want to do yet.
4. Don’t be afraid to get lost: it’ll happen. Embrace it. It’s more fun when you don’t fuss about it.
5. Take advantage of every moment: rain or shine.

Rain or shine, no joke… Even after living in London for almost a year, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many straight days of heavy rain with no clear indication of letting up. But it was sunny the day we landed, so we biked all around Stanley Park. We had one afternoon with a few rain-free hours, so we explored Queen Elizabeth Park in our neighborhood. The rest of the time, we put to use our raincoats and the umbrella our Airbnb hosts kindly left in the apartment to check out Gastown, go to the gym and work from local coffee shops.

Rain aside, what stood out so far? Well first of all — and you can laugh if you want to — there is WiFi everywhere! After weeks in Berlin struggling to get a decent connection, we hop into a cab from the airport to find out 90% of Vancouver taxis have their own router. Since our Three “Feel at Home” international roaming plan doesn’t apply to Canada, this was very good news indeed. Walk in front of a Starbuck: free WiFi. Tim Hortons: free WiFi. BMO Bank: free WiFi. It’s brilliant!

Second, squirrels here are black! Not to be un-PC or anything, but I thought this was pretty rad. I actually first noticed Canadian squirrels were black when I was visiting Toronto several years ago and encountered one on the U of T campus. After taking a stream of photos and expressing many “ooohs” and “aaahs,” my brother graciously informed me that this was quite the common occurrence here. In fact, it’s seeing brown squirrels that is rare. Still, whenever I see a black squirrel, like yesterday at QE Park, it fills me with giddiness and surprise nonetheless and one should never dismiss anything that inspires such glee.

Speaking of QE Park — Queen Elizabeth Park, that is — it was one of the most interesting parks I’ve ever walked through. Quite hard to access if you don’t know where you’re going, it’s an elevated park that, once you’ve hiked the steep slope to get there from Main Street where we were coming from, provides a beautiful view of Vancouver and the mountains behind it. It feels a bit wild, with tall trees everywhere including one planted by Queen Elizabeth herself, and yet also features some rather groomed areas with gorgeous flower beds and wooden bridges. I‘m pretty sure we accessed it the non-conventional way because once we made it to the top where the Conservatory is, there were droves of tourists taking pictures and even a poodle with its tail and paws dyed orange. Orange! Poor poodle.

There’s still loads more to do: we have a hike planned on Sunday to see Capilano Suspension Bridge, wander around Grouse Mountain and visit a fish hatchery. We’ve heard Joffre Lakes is absolutely breathtaking for a day trip further out. Nat’s brother raved about Deep Cove, accessible by public transit. And we have way more restaurants, bars and cafés starred in Google Maps than we’ll have time to visit, but we’ll certainly do our best. Thankfully, we still have two and a half weeks to get there. Let’s just hope for some sunshine soon. 🌞