I love traveling. I really enjoy experiencing a taste of other cultures. Seeing the sights, eating the food, meeting the people… I can’t get enough of it. So please don’t get me wrong when you read this post.
People should start doing more local adventures. It is strange that I have a hard time spending $30 to go to a concert, $10-$20 to go to a museum or gallery or aquarium or something of that nature, $100 to go skiing, and so on, when I will spend thousands of dollars going on a trip. I happen to live in one of the most diverse cities in the world: Vancouver. It has mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, parks, the ocean, and all kinds of more tourism. And I rarely take advantage of it.
Yesterday I went on a local adventure. A friend from out of town and one of her friends, who I didn’t know very well, came to visit. We didn’t plan too much, but we decided to meet at Stanley Park around 11:30am (but we all missed a bus transfer, so we were a little bit late). When I got to Stanley Park, I instantly realized that I had been missing out on something. I had taken my city for granted. This park is absolutely beautiful and I had only been there twice before.
We wandered around for a while, enjoying the trees and the flowers and the Spring weather. We played Frisbee on a field. Then we went to the aquarium. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I actually had a fantastic time. We looked at all the tanks and saw a number of shows with dolphins, beluga whales, and birds of prey. After seeing all that the aquarium had to offer, we were getting pretty hungry, so we took a short walk to English Bay for a late lunch/early dinner at The Boat House. It was a lovely meal of fresh fish and local beer, while overlooking the ocean and feeling the warm sun on our faces. We then enjoyed a few minutes on the beach before heading home.
In total, I spent just under $50, which isn’t much compared to traveling. And I had just as much fun as I would in a foreign country (it helped that I had some great company). All of this is to say that I don’t discourage travel by any means, but I especially encourage getting out there and experiencing your own city. It probably has more to offer than you realize.
Tags: Beautiful, boardwalk, British Columbia, English Bay, Jeff Hawker, Jessica Martens, Nicole Wittenberg, sea wall, Stanley Park, The Boat House, Vancouver, Vancouver Aquarium