Solo Vacation

It would seem I’m on a quarterly, not monthly, posting schedule this year. If it’s any consolation, I am also behind on work deadlines. But it’s okay, because I took a solo vacation this year and it was amazing! I did some semi-live tweeting of the trip for documentation purposes, intending to compile them here but then work got hold of me, and well, here I am, fully one month after getting back. Better late than never, right?

This is a recreation of the Twitter thread documenting my trip to Vancouver, with some additional notes and links.

[1/n] Hello very special people, welcome to the very special travel documentation thread! My first solo not-for-work trip since Covid began. Let’s get caught up.

[2/n] KUL-TPE-YVR on China Airlines, where I splurged on premium economy and quite enjoyed this meal of chicken and lap cheong rice wrapped in a lotus leaf. Also the pineapple pastry in the wrapper was surprisingly good. [China Airlines’ premium economy cabin was generally not full, so the flights both to and from were quite pleasant. I started out each flight wearing a mask, but wound up taking it off on the long leg on the way home because it was just a touch too stifling.]

[3/n] TPE gets airport wifi right. Just identify the network and connect. No 3h time limit, no email registration, no sending sms codes to phone numbers.

[4/n] Apparently Vancouver was wet and gloomy all last week but today the skies have cleared. I’m not sure how long this good weather will last so I decided to pop down to the beach. [The good weather lasted for all but one and a half days of my eleven day trip, which I thought was great at the time, but I later learned was likely due to the same issues that kept Alberta on fire.]

[5/n] In my effort to maximize on the good weather I have walked 22k+ steps today. My socks do not approve. The other side is not quite as bad but it’s pretty worn out too. I mean this is day one, people. [My right sock was much more worn out than my left, indicating that I am not walking in a balanced fashion, which is probably why my lower right back muscles are overused, causing my back pain.]

[6/n] When in Canada, eat Canada, eh? It’s poutine time! McDonald’s also sells poutine. I’m on the fence on trying that because although I assume the curds and gravy will be mediocre at best, there will be double fried fries. [I did wind up trying the poutine at McDonald’s and, to my surprise, it was the curds and gravy that were acceptable while the fries wound up being soggy and tasteless.]

[7/n] But Vancouver is also home to many migrants and in Greektown I found the best spanakopita I’ve ever had. The pastry is flaky, the filling is dense, the cheese is just the right saltiness. I’m gonna be having that again. [Narrator: she had it twice more, thrice if you include the one she got for a friend that she wound up eating the bulk of.]

[8/n] Had an unimpressive burrito for lunch at one of the many parks [Jonathan Rogers Park, to be specific], watching many impressive dogs play catch. Then, unrelated, spent the afternoon digging splinters out of my palm. One or two small pieces to go. [I was on the roof deck of the Airbnb and went to sit down on a wooden deck chair. Sadly it was unfinished and I slipped, sliding down and catching myself on the arms and getting a good ten little pieces of wood embedded in my palms.]

[9/n] Very thankful to be spending the weekend catching up with a good friend from college and his family, who drove up to BC from WA. The last time I saw him he and his wife were expecting their first, who is now 7. No photos for privacy but, believe me, the kids are adorable. [They have been taught to be polite and say, excuse me, if they want to interrupt a conversation. At one point, having duly said excuse me and been told to wait, and having heard the adults’ conversation taper off and had his “excuse me” forgotten, one piped up, slightly exasperatedly, can I talk now?]

[10/n] We went hiking at Lynn Canyon and a juvenile black bear came shuffling along behind us on the trail. Everybody minded their own business and carried on.

[11/n] Overheard on the bus:

GF: Oh I have to update my address.
BF: Me too! Update it to yours?
GF: [slight pause] Yes!

[12/n] Made a quick stop at UBC, home to 60k students and alma mater of Justin Trudeau, William Gibson, and Manny Jacinto. It is a gorgeous campus with many museums and gardens, most of which are closed on Mondays [which was of course the day on which I decided to make a campus visit].

[13/n] Here’s how my last few days have begun: Sunrise at 6, so I’m up 6.30-7 with natural light. Post morning routine, take in bay view from roof deck [of Airbnb]. Make coffee, then quiet solo reflection in living room with mountain view, next to soothing water feature. Now, THIS is a vacation.

[14/n] Today I leave [Kitsilano] and head downtown to join another good friend from college who’s flying in from NJ for the week. She has every [breakfast, lunch, and dinner] planned from today till we leave. Let the feasting begin!

[15/n] My friend and I were in a store, yakking pretty much nonstop. Random lady approached us, ask[ed] “are you two friends?” Yes, said my friend. Random lady, “you are friend goals.” YES, LADY, INDEED WE ARE. [Here we are at the Digital Orca where I did not see this plaque at all.]

[16/n] Nightingale. Go. Everything was amazing; the spaghetti was divine. [The food was so good that we went back for another meal. The roasted shishito peppers we had on the second visit were delicious!]

[17/n] Ahh the rain is here. I’ve been very fortunate to have about 85% of my time here be blue skies and sunshine but things are back to normal now and it is wet and windy and cold. I like it. [The photo below is of the view from our Airbnb on a clear morning, on a clear night, and on a rainy morning.]

[18/n] Forgot to test the wifi at my first Airbnb but the 2nd one peaked at a download speed of 420Mbps. 4G speeds (couldn’t use 5G although there was supposedly coverage, maybe a limitation of the roaming package) in downtown peaked at 50Mbps.

[19/19] Well, all good things must come to an end, as has this trip. Some much needed me-time and much appreciated time with friends and family, despite the sad steamed fish (ask me about it and I’ll know you stuck with me and this thread to the end). Till next time! [The photo below is the last one I took in Vancouver, on my way to the SkyTrain station to head to the airport. It is the latest iteration of the public art display “Underbrellas” at Bill Curtis Square.]