Last year around this time, I met up with one of my friends who is well known for traveling. He was telling me all about his upcoming trip to Canada and how he's planning to visit all the famous beautiful places. A couple of days later, another one of my friends mentioned how beautiful Banff is and that it's a must visit place. A couple of weeks later, there was amazing offer on Air Canada's card so I took advantage of it. All these signs, yet I hadn't visited Canada!
My tale of visiting Canada
I made my goal to visit Canada last year. Finally around August, I decided to book a non-refundable round trip ticket to Calgary with a friend.
Beaches vs Mountains
One thing about me is that I'm a beach girl and not so much of a mountain girl. Mainly because there is no cell phone service and what if a serial killer is chasing me but I can't call 911 because I have no service?
Okay, I understand that you can make a 911 call even with no service, but before the emergency services will arrive, I will probably be eaten by a bear or stabbed by that serial killer.
Two weeks before the trip
Remember that friend I booked the non-refundable tickets with? So she couldn't make it and now I had to decide whether I wanted to be stuck in the mountains for four days by myself or cancel the trip. One thing about me is that I never let my money go to waste so it was time to revise the itinerary.
Revising the itinerary
The initial itinerary only included visiting and staying in Banff because that was the whole purpose of my trip. Suddenly, the world was my oyster.
Calgary I flew from Atlanta to Calgary on a Thursday and got there by 9pm local time.I stayed in downtown Calgary and explored various restaurants and bars that night, trying out different mocktails. On Friday night, I continued to discover downtown Calgary and its restaurants.
Banff
I drove to Banff early Friday morning and walked around the town. From there I further drove to the following places:
Emerald Lake
Kicking Horse River
Yoho National Park
Lake Louise
Water Valley
Vancouver (Special Destination)
Here's where my twisted journey began.
My flight back to Atlanta from Calgary had a layover in Vancouver. I used this opportunity to book a one way flight to Vancouver and catch my flight to Atlanta. Just so you know, airlines actually don't allow this and will cancel your entire itinerary for that reason. Oops.
I had booked my tickets to visit Vancouver on the cheapest flight available for Saturday night (like 10 pm). Very quickly I realized that there isn't much to do in Calgary and that I had to get out of there ASAP.
Air Canada staff refused to change my flights without a $100 charge. My actual flight was less than that so it didn't make sense to pay them. I still didn't give up and instead booked another flight with my points (bought my first flight with the points as well) earlier in the day. Air Canada also charges for flight cancelations when booked with the points so long story short, I just showed up for my flight earlier in the day.
It was 3 pm and I had finally landed in Vancouver! WOOHOO. The party begins!
Saturday Night in Vancouver
I stayed in a semi-private hostel in downtown Vancouver. What that means is that I had a private bedroom and a wash sink in my room and a shared bathroom. It was actually not bad at all.
First thing I did was walked around the city and grabbed food. Urgh, Vancouver was so nice!
Since it was Saturday night, it made sense to go to a club.. I was hesitant about going to a club really late at night all by myself, but you know what I pulled it off and it was totally worth it.
Sunday in Vancouver
Rule no.1, when in another country, wake up early so you can explore as much as possible. Here's what I did on Sunday:
Capilano Suspension Bridge
Vancouver Convention Center
Granville Island
Biked and watched sunset in Stanley park
Walked around Vancouver Downtown
Return to Home
I checked out of my hostel on early Sunday morning but stored by luggage with them until I was ready to leave for the airport. This is a money-saving tip.
I took a metro to airport and boarded for my flight at 10:30 pm. The airline had to reissue my boarding pass because I had skipped my previous flight, but luckily, the process was smooth.
I returned back to Atlanta at 6 am Monday morning. Took a cat nap and woke up for work at 9 am.
Now this is called efficiently using your time lol.
Safety in Canada
As I mentioned earlier, I went to a club all by myself and returned around 3 am but didn't feel unsafe at all. Of course, as a general safety precaution it's always advised to be aware of your surroundings but believe me when I say that I felt safer my entire trip in Canada than even visiting downtown Atlanta during daytime. 10/10 on safety scale.
Transportation
The train from airport that can take you to different parts of Vancouver was amazing! In general it was so easy to get around the city, so walkable, I totally recommend it. 10/10 on transportation.
Food
You can find every type of food in Vancouver and it tastes great. PERIOD!
In Conclusion
I would love to move to Vancouver. It is such a beautiful city, with mountains, city, ocean, bridges, all there in one place. I will say that it is pretty expensive so be aware of that. Consider booking your flights now to experience the beauty of the West Coast of Canada. Share your thoughts with me!.
Happy Traveling!
Until next time, Peace 🇨🇦
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