The Official No Need To Start a New Thread, Thread

[red kryptonite]

im actually from victoria. travelling anywhere is expensive, especially when you dont like staying with friends/family.

[BIC_BAWS]

4.5 hours and a ferry gets you to Strathcona Provincial Park / Campbell River. Highly highly recommend. I'm not a huge hiker since I'm a fat fuck, but man... nature is fucking beautiful and it's so damn accessible when on the island.

Winding roads for the car dads


Cool caves to explore, plenty of families here too


5 min "hike" from the FSR, that I drove my FK8 through - so if I can do it, so can you guys in your actual dailys.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by Traum

Unfortunately, this is arguably the weakest aspect of living a Canadian west coast life -- we don't have anywhere close or cheap that is easily within driving distance, so cheap travel is kind of out of the picture. Especially with the increased tensions with the US, road trips to the south have also become unfashionable and potentially troublesome.

With bcdukes and kryptonite being in Toronto, I'm sure they can relate -- there are literally tons of travel destinations that is within a 6-hours driving limit. Here, we have Victoria, Whistler, Kelowna / Okanaga, and Seattle.

Since moving here, my wife and I have gone on a number of road trips to explore the US Midwest and the friendlier parts of "the US South." The destinations we've explored are not typically on your average Vancouver person's "to go" list. You can get to a number of US cities in a reasonable amount of time with proper planning/timing and Apple Carplay.

The accessibility of major Canadian highways and US freeways makes it a lot easier to get around and you can go on a nice road trip with a reasonable budget. Yes, you can fly to your destination, but it may cost a lot more and limit yourself to one or two destinations (unless you are Hehe baller.) We have Nexus, so cross border travel has not been an issue for us (yet.)

Originally Posted by red kryptonite

im actually from victoria. travelling anywhere is expensive, especially when you dont like staying with friends/family.

Have you been in Toronto this entire time?

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by mikemhg

Your own mortality really starts coming into perspective by the time you hit 40 and 50. You begin to count the summers left, the trips and vacations that you can still enjoy from a physical aspect, it's quite eye opening, and a little jarring, isn't it?

Yep, I've heard it said that time is the ultimate luxury good - you can never get more of it and now that I'm closer to the end than the beginning I think a lot more about what I still want to get done. We all gradually become more picky with how we spend out time - in our 20's you'll try anything and have big friend circles but later on you shrink that friend circle and your list of hobbies shrinks rather than grows.

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

You listed like 17 once in a lifetime trips for most people. I don't know if that perspective helps with your feelings of mortality or not, but it stood out to me

Originally Posted by EvoFire

Are they once in a lifetime though?

I think "once in a lifetime" depends on how you choose to do it - you can go frugal and "backpack it" or go spendy with nice hotels and experiences as part of it. But that said, I think Skinny is closer to right about this - outside of my pretty well off friend circle and into the working/middle class folks a trip to Japan or Europe is something that people might do a couple times in their lives.

My very working class in-laws have never been to Europe, AU/NZ, Africa, SE Asia etc. They've been back to HK a few times, been to Japan for a week, and been to China twice (I think). That's more likely the common experience for most people. My brother's middle class in-laws spent a few years living in Singapore but otherwise never left the country.

The younger generation of middle class folks do place more value on travel so I've seen my 30 y.o cousins do their honeymoons in Japan but they aren't exactly doing those trips every year, much less every 5 years.

Meanwhile my well off friends casually pop into Lisbon during the Olympic break, into Barcelona for spring break, go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, and fly business class to Dublin.

BTW: I'm totally aware of the privilege I have to even consider doing that many of these kinds of trips.

Originally Posted by Traum

Unfortunately, this is arguably the weakest aspect of living a Canadian west coast life -- we don't have anywhere close or cheap that is easily within driving distance, so cheap travel is kind of out of the picture. Especially with the increased tensions with the US, road trips to the south have also become unfashionable and potentially troublesome.

Yeah, I'm in a full boycott of travelling to the states (safety and politics) so that really shortens our options - like Hawaii or NYC or Chicago would be great to visit and would cost way less than Asia or Europe. From Vancouver it's basically the island or Calgary

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by supafamous

Yep, I've heard it said that time is the ultimate luxury good - you can never get more of it and now that I'm closer to the end than the beginning I think a lot more about what I still want to get done. We all gradually become more picky with how we spend out time - in our 20's you'll try anything and have big friend circles but later on you shrink that friend circle and your list of hobbies shrinks rather than grows.





I think "once in a lifetime" depends on how you choose to do it - you can go frugal and "backpack it" or go spendy with nice hotels and experiences as part of it. But that said, I think Skinny is closer to right about this - outside of my pretty well off friend circle and into the working/middle class folks a trip to Japan or Europe is something that people might do a couple times in their lives.

My very working class in-laws have never been to Europe, AU/NZ, Africa, SE Asia etc. They've been back to HK a few times, been to Japan for a week, and been to China twice (I think). That's more likely the common experience for most people. My brother's middle class in-laws spent a few years living in Singapore but otherwise never left the country.

The younger generation of middle class folks do place more value on travel so I've seen my 30 y.o cousins do their honeymoons in Japan but they aren't exactly doing those trips every year, much less every 5 years.

Meanwhile my well off friends casually pop into Lisbon during the Olympic break, into Barcelona for spring break, go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, and fly business class to Dublin.

BTW: I'm totally aware of the privilege I have to even consider doing that many of these kinds of trips.



Yeah, I'm in a full boycott of travelling to the states (safety and politics) so that really shortens our options - like Hawaii or NYC or Chicago would be great to visit and would cost way less than Asia or Europe. From Vancouver it's basically the island or Calgary

Shit I sound like a privileged twat

I understand that 10k for a trip a year is a chunk of money, but for us it's $10k for 4. And we try to do it cheap.

We are likely not going back to Japan any time soon after this trip as my oldest no longer qualifies for the 6 and under fare with Zipair. Japan is actually relatively cheap to travel to if you know what you are doing.

HK and Shanghai we've got places to stay at and we have a stash of HKD and RMB that we have yet to spend so our HK trip in 24, and the upcoming Shanghai trip is mostly "free".

Still looking to go to Europe though but it's again likely to be another Asia trip as there's a place to stay in Singapore, and not having to pay accomodation is such a money saver.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

Shit I sound like a privileged twat

I understand that 10k for a trip a year is a chunk of money, but for us it's $10k for 4. And we try to do it cheap.

If I go back through my working class childhood our vacations looked like:

- Age 1 (1977): Visit HK
- Age 3: Visit HK, go to Disneyland
- Age 7: Drive to Disneyland
- Age 13: Go to Disneyworld
- Age 15: Drive to Edmonton/Calgary (just dad and my brother)

I don't think my wife went ANYWHERE from the age of 1-18 beyond moving here to Vancouver.

OTOH, since I got married in 2014 we've vacationed in: London, Paris, Edinburgh, Portland, Chicago, SF/Monterey, Hawaii, Japan, Tofino, Seattle, Sydney, Disneyland (twice), San Diego, and Calgary. That's not counting my business trips where my wife tagged along and we stayed extra (she never tagged along on my trips to Saskatoon though - never figured out why).

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by BIC_BAWS

5 min "hike" from the FSR, that I drove my FK8 through - so if I can do it, so can you guys in your actual dailys.

what a great pic!

[BIC_BAWS]

It's a beautiful place to be! And if you already have inflatables, canoes, kayaks, etc, you can definitely spend a day on the lake. It wasn't too chilly and ambient temps were scorching.

It honestly gave me the opportunity to reflect on how dumb it is that people fly out to other places to find blue water and waterfalls, when we have it right here "in our backyard"... er I mean the legitimacy and literal slogan of "beautiful british columbia". It's absolutely astonishing.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by supafamous

Yeah, I'm in a full boycott of travelling to the states (safety and politics) so that really shortens our options - like Hawaii or NYC or Chicago would be great to visit and would cost way less than Asia or Europe. From Vancouver it's basically the island or Calgary

I feel exactly the same way as you do about traveling to the US right now. I'm really glad we somehow made the Disney trip happened just before Trump came into office while my kid is still young. I honestly think he wouldn't have enjoyed the trip as much if we only go when he is already a teenager.

I'd love to go to Hawaii again -- but that'd honestly have to wait, preferably until the border rules get relaxed and the ICE BS dies down.

People are using this travel break away from the US to go to other places. But the thing with non-US travel that I find it -- it requires so much more planning because the cultural norms and standard practices are just so similar between Canada and the US.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by Traum

I feel exactly the same way as you do about traveling to the US right now. I'm really glad we somehow made the Disney trip happened just before Trump came into office while my kid is still young. I honestly think he wouldn't have enjoyed the trip as much if we only go when he is already a teenager.

I'd love to go to Hawaii again -- but that'd honestly have to wait, preferably until the border rules get relaxed and the ICE BS dies down.

People are using this travel break away from the US to go to other places. But the thing with non-US travel that I find it -- it requires so much more planning because the cultural norms and standard practices are just so similar between Canada and the US.

Go to Australia. Melbourne and Sydney felt very much like Vancouver except you aren't getting service at most restaraunts. The reason being their minimum wage was $21 when ours was 14. I don't know what it is now over there.

We are also very much in a no US traveling policy right now. I'm glad we hit up San Diego a few years ago, but there's no desire to cross the border at all. Wife has brought up going on a cruise a few times but I'm like.... I rather not go to the states, even if it means going Alaska. And since cruises are booked a year out, maybe we'll book one in 2 years who knows. We have Europe and Singapore in the plans for our next two big trips, so Yellowstone Park can wait.

[roastpuff]

Australia is awesome, would do again. I like Sydney more than Melbourne. And unlike Evo, I got great service at the cafes/restaurants...?

And no tipping required!

[bcrdukes]

Not getting service at cafes/restaurants in Australia? That's not normal.

[supafamous]

Australia rocks. What a beautiful country with nice people and great food. If you go through Fiji you can find flights for as low as $1500 or if you have a lot of points the redemption via Air Canada is pretty solid (better than going to Japan). Our dollar trades pretty decently with AUD so it's not much more than going to Hawaii (probably less for equal quality and accommodations).

[Traum]

Hmm... that 16 - 18 hrs flight really isn't all that enticing to my back and legs at all. And I applaud all the parents that bring their kids to any long haul flights.

That said, I think Australia should be on the travel bucket list. I'm sure it'd be a treat to see a koala in real life.

[CivicBlues]

NZ is also great as well, it's like BC and Hawaii mixed together with the colour saturation turned up

[Badhobz]

Australia ?!? Yeeehhhhh naaahhhhhh. Fuck those convicts and their stupid ass country

[unit]

oh man i just cant stand the aussie accent especially the upwards inflection thing they do... that would be reason enough for me not to visit, and one of my best friends lives in sydney..

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by roastpuff

Australia is awesome, would do again. I like Sydney more than Melbourne. And unlike Evo, I got great service at the cafes/restaurants...?

And no tipping required!

To clarify, it would be the quicker cheaper places. You go up to a counter and order, and you get a number for your food. Much more common there than here back then. Though it's becoming more normalized in Vancouver as well as our minimum wage has ratcheted up the last few years.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Traum

Hmm... that 16 - 18 hrs flight really isn't all that enticing to my back and legs at all. And I applaud all the parents that bring their kids to any long haul flights.

That said, I think Australia should be on the travel bucket list. I'm sure it'd be a treat to see a koala in real life.

Go via Fiji Airways and you'll break the flight up into a ~11.5 hour and ~4.5 hour segment and you could spend a few days in Fiji as well. The flight is also cheaper this way and their Airbus A350s are really great. The Burger King at the Fiji airport is also reasonably priced if you're into Whoppers.

[unit]

fiji itself is hella expensive tho