One of the things I like about domestic flights in America is how fast it usually goes to land and get your luggage. No waiting for security or anything, just walking to the luggage belt, picking up your checked bags and you’re good to go. It’s even better when one of your friends is there to pick you up.
Travel
Back to the USA
No matter how often I have traveled or how far I have gone, the day before a new adventure always stays unnerving. This time it’s more stressful, because being able to travel depends on having a negative covid test. I have the test on Tuesday afternoon and it’s much easier than I thought it would be. I walk in, identify myself and a friendly guy gently sticks some kind of straw in my mouse and nose and it’s done. A few minutes later I walk outside again, wondering what the fuzz was all about. Compared to the painful self test I had done the day before this was really nice and easy. But now I’m already spending more time writing about it than it actually took in the first place, so back to the topic of travel stress.
Going home
Vancouver island is very beautiful. There are snow-topped mountains, trees everywhere and many big lakes. My favourite part is the west coast where you’ll find wide outstretched beaches. Except from Alaska, this is about the most west point of North America. I love the Pacific Ocean, it’s so peaceful. At the beach I climb on some rocks and sit down for a while to enjoy the view.
With the bus to America
The day starts early as the alarm clock wakes me up just after four a.m. I pack my last things, have breakfast and get ready to go. My Airbnb host drives me to the train station. I thought it was just a friendly act of him, but when we arrive he tells me that it costs 50 dollars. I should have gone in discussion with him, but at the moment I’m so tired of all the travel trouble that I just hand him the money. Later during the day I still find it a bummer that I let myself get ripped off this way, but at least I made it to the station in time.
Getting ready to travel again
When I wake up this morning I realize that it’s already my last day in Vancouver for now. Tomorrow morning I’ll take an early train to Seattle to meet friends and a few days later I’ll fly to my grandparents in Montana. So tonight I’ll have the challenge again to pack my backpack, but for now I decide to first go to downtown again. As I walk outside around seven AM, I feel it’s colder than yesterday. When I look up I see many stars in the sky. I don’t think I’ve seen them here before and it tells me that it’s probably going to be a clear sky day today. I’m excited about that. At the bus stop I make some small talk with a man who is also waiting. He recognises my accent and tells me that has lived in the Netherlands for a year. The early bus is not so crowded and I have some time to think. The few minutes talking with that man about the Netherlands made me realise that I don’t miss the country so much, but more my family and friends. I’m starting to really like Vancouver, despite its many rainy days.
House hunting
This morning starts with house hunting, because I only got a few days left in Vancouver before I go to my friends in America. I search on Facebook and Airbnb for a while until I find a few affordable places at good locations. I write messages to the house owners and quickly receive a reply from one of them. I call her up and arrange to visit the house this morning. I quickly eat breakfast and get ready to go. It’s about a 50 minutes walk from my current Airbnb, so not too far. It gives me the opportunity to discover the neighborhood a bit more.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
It’s raining again today. Someone said to me yesterday: “Welcome in Raincouver!”. I go outside early anyway, because I saw that there is a coffee meeting for startups in the city this morning. I think it might be a good opportunity to meet some more people. The bus is packed with commuters on their way to work. I think by myself how interesting it is that living in a new city can become normal so quickly. I’ve seen a big part of Vancouver now, I know where to go and already met a few people here. It’s a freeing thought to realise that you can live anywhere in the world if you want to. That reminds me of a quote that says “I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth, then I ask myself the same question.”
Travelers tragedy
Getting into an early day rhythm goes naturally here, because I wake up by myself at three AM. I try to fall asleep again, but can’t, so I get up and do some work until eight. After breakfast I go outside and walk to a local coffee place to read a book. Their coffee isn’t really good though and after reading a few pages I decide to go somewhere else. Because it’s Sunday the busses don’t go that often and I try my chances with hitchhiking. A friendly guy stops and as we start talking he tells me that his brother is married to a Dutch girl. What a small world. He also tells me that there are quite a lot of Dutch people in this city. I wonder if I’ll meet some of them. Unfortunately he can’t drive me very far, but he drops me off at a bus stop where more busses depart from. Now it’s only a few minutes waiting before I can travel further.
A long walk in the city
It’s seven o’clock when the alarm wakes me up. It’s weekend, but I set the alarm, because I want to get into an early rhythm next week. This morning I wake up with a feeling of ‘What am I doing here?’. It’s been only a couple of days so far, but for a moment I miss the comfort of my own home and normal life. It’s interesting that when I’m home I often have the desire to travel, but when I’m on an adventure I can also long for normal life again. Fortunately a friend from Utrecht decides to call me right at this moment and we catch up on what’s new. Even though English is my second language, I do enjoy speaking Dutch from time to time.
Second day in Vancouver
When I wake up it’s about 2AM and I’ve slept only five hours. I’d like to sleep longer, but since I’m wide awake I decide I better start working, because it’s still daytime in the Netherlands. I make myself an espresso with the Nanopresso I got from my parents and enjoy some delicious coffee while I sit down at the small desk in my room. I’m glad I picked this Airbnb where I can also work comfortably.
