I spent the last 48 hours in Vancouver! Yay! Let that sink in for a moment. Pre-COVID, that might not have seemed like a big deal. If you were a time traveller from 2018, you might think “well, duh, of course you did!”. But here in 2021 we know that isn’t quite so simple.

First things first - for anyone who is scared of travelling this way, like I was, don’t be. Yes, the rules are real and you must follow them. But they aren’t trying to trap you; everyone was accomodating and pleasant and really the process went about as smoothly as it could be. I, personally, was worried about a positive test result trapping me in Canada - just like I was for Scotland - but there is a fun little loophole; if you visit for less than 3 days, you can use the test you took to get into the country to get back out. This means 2 things: one, you don’t have to pay for another test, but more importantly, you can’t get a positive result. Once you know you’re negative enough to get in, you’re negative enough to get out.

Anyway, on to the trip: it was awesome! My friend Kaska from Walnut Creek, who moved back to Vancouver, was an impeccable host. We did exactly what we said we were going to do: biked a lot and drank a bunch of beer. I got to meet several of her Vancouver friends and everyone was awesome and pleasant. Vancouver is very pretty, though the weather didn’t cooperate and it basically rained on and off the whole weekend. We still had an epic ride though, doing about 42 miles - sorry, 70 kilometers - all around Vancouver. She lives near Stanley Park, so we started out with a loop of that, then rode around the UBC Endowment Lands, then up over the Lion’s Gate bridge into North Vancouver, down along the north edge of False Creek, then back across the Second Narrows and home. Then the next morning I got up and - while she went jogging - I did it again (about 24 miles this time) with her friend Graeme. In between there were 4 or 5 brewery stops, a trip to her friend Maria’s for dinner, and pleasant conversation. Everything about the weekend was just really nice. I was exhausted from all my travelling, but the bike rides didn’t push me and I ended up sleeping really well in her apartment. All in all, it was a great trip and I am already planning a return, to go see Squamish and Vancouver Island. And maybe another to go skiing at Whistler.

Oh, and I finally got a Tim Horton’s doughnut. And some amazing Korean food. And a really great ham and egg bagel. Actually all the food was amazing.