Scrapbook: Very Vancouver
/It’s nice to have my last trip of the year be to one of the most beautiful cities in North America. Residents complain about the high cost of housing but no one will argue that there’s a harmonic convergence of urban and natural going on here. More, please.
When jet lag makes you a morning person.
“The trees are us and we are the trees,” says Candace Campo, a member of the Shíshálh (Sechelt) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) First Nations and owner of Talaysay Tours. The world would be a better place if only more people and nations understood this interconnectedness. It’s clear, however, that some people are more arboreal than others. Birds seemingly kept mistaking Candace for a tree and landing on her during our two-hour tour of Vancouver’s Stanley Park.
Breakfast with a friend. Lunch with a friend. Appetizer in place of dinner with a friend. I first met Jessie Johnston when she was a newly minted college graduate. She interned and then worked as a researcher at Nat Geo Traveler. She had long dreamed of launching a magazine on sustainable living. And now she’s gone and done it in her hometown of Vancouver. I first met Jonny Bierman when he was working for Banff Tourism and he facilitated a reporting trip I took. He’s now a digital content creator specializing in sustainable travel. We’ve been on three road trips together, although this one was the shortest and smallest. I can’t remember when I first met Trish Sare, it seems like I’ve known her forever. I can’t remember where either; it could have been Scotland or Chiapas, Mexico, or maybe Namibia. Every time we meet, it’s not enough time, though we somehow manage to tell each other everything that matters.
After fueling up, friends turned into guides in rambles through Kitsilano, UBC, Granville Island, Gastown, Downtown Eastside, Olympic Village, and along the sea wall. They pointed out chapters of this city’s story, of first peoples and colonizers and waves of immigrants; of trade and commerce; of technology and nature; of innovation and art; of glittering wealth and grinding poverty.
Interesting and varied exhibits at the Museum of Vancouver, including one on Haida artistry; the emotional connections between humans and wildlife; and neon signs from the ’50s and ’60s—rescued from junkyards.
When people say I have the best job, I really can’t disagree. Most assume it’s about the places, but actually it’s about the people in those places. Special thanks to Mika, who made this week—capstone to a most excellent year—possible. Vancouver, British Columbia.
When is a flight cancellation midway through your trip a gift from the universe? When it happens in a city where you’ve got cousins you’ve been wanting to reconnect with for a while! Toronto, Ontario.
Photos © Norie Quintos