Being somewhere means you have an opportunity to experience something.
That means, if you are on a beach in Mexico, you have as many margaritas as you can and eat as much tortilla as humanly possible. If you’re hiking the Mournes in Northern Ireland, you make sure to stop when the sun comes out to admire a rare view. And if you’re at home, where you live, where you work, where you don’t necessarily think of yourself on vacation, you find the things that make the place where you are incredibly special and you make sure you soak in all of those places.
I’ve heard it called a ‘staycation’, which I like, though I would go further than that and say this is more a state of mind. Sure, it’s easier to explore when you have multiple days off in a row but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience at least some form of discovery each day.
I am lucky that I do have the hours in my day to make this possible. I don’t commute as I have a home office and I don’t have children that need me. Both of these things make it easier but in no way make it exclusive to childless-home-working individuals. It’s a mind shift.
Whenever I have free time, I try to make sure I’m doing something that allows me to soak in the culture in which I inhabit. In Canada, this is obviously easier as I AM actually Canadian so I kinda know the drill but at the same time, the lifestyle In BC in completely different to my 20s-lifestyle in Toronto and also completely different to my growing-up lifestyle in small town Ontario. So, you see, it’s easy for me to feel like I’m part of a new culture because really, I am.
The summer has provided the perfect opportunity for me to channel my outside persona. I have spent hours on my bike, in a place that appears to be really made for cyclists. The weather has been perfect, between 25-30 degrees Celsius for the last three months. I could probably count on my hands the number of days that it rained or was cloudy.
And so off I went, exploring Richmond, chucking my bike on the Canada Line and wandering around Vancouver, picking up fresh fish at markets, stopping by beaches along the hot and sweaty bike routes, sunning and ocean dipping away frustrations. I had the perfect July filled with exploration. (I was in Texas in August for work: another post to follow)
That means, if you are on a beach in Mexico, you have as many margaritas as you can and eat as much tortilla as humanly possible. If you’re hiking the Mournes in Northern Ireland, you make sure to stop when the sun comes out to admire a rare view. And if you’re at home, where you live, where you work, where you don’t necessarily think of yourself on vacation, you find the things that make the place where you are incredibly special and you make sure you soak in all of those places.
I’ve heard it called a ‘staycation’, which I like, though I would go further than that and say this is more a state of mind. Sure, it’s easier to explore when you have multiple days off in a row but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience at least some form of discovery each day.
I am lucky that I do have the hours in my day to make this possible. I don’t commute as I have a home office and I don’t have children that need me. Both of these things make it easier but in no way make it exclusive to childless-home-working individuals. It’s a mind shift.
Whenever I have free time, I try to make sure I’m doing something that allows me to soak in the culture in which I inhabit. In Canada, this is obviously easier as I AM actually Canadian so I kinda know the drill but at the same time, the lifestyle In BC in completely different to my 20s-lifestyle in Toronto and also completely different to my growing-up lifestyle in small town Ontario. So, you see, it’s easy for me to feel like I’m part of a new culture because really, I am.
Me, after a 2nd time conquering the Grouse Grind
The summer has provided the perfect opportunity for me to channel my outside persona. I have spent hours on my bike, in a place that appears to be really made for cyclists. The weather has been perfect, between 25-30 degrees Celsius for the last three months. I could probably count on my hands the number of days that it rained or was cloudy.
And so off I went, exploring Richmond, chucking my bike on the Canada Line and wandering around Vancouver, picking up fresh fish at markets, stopping by beaches along the hot and sweaty bike routes, sunning and ocean dipping away frustrations. I had the perfect July filled with exploration. (I was in Texas in August for work: another post to follow)
Bike break on English Bay
View of Stanley Park from the Burrard Street bridge
After a relaxing swim on Third Beach
Steveston Harbour
D taking a break from studying to relax on Spanish Bay
View of Granville Island from the city side
And it got to the point, that even when my holidays (staycation) came at the end of August, I felt like I had already done a great deal of exploring and discovering already, that I had incorporated my love of travel into my every day.
Take in the moments of discovery in your everyday, and, in that way, you’re experiencing the thrill of travelling, without having to leave your own home.
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