Let’s go East.
I’ve never been to Victoria BC, but I have a friend who has some family out there and they totally recommend a trip. I’ve recently even had to do a search on Google Maps to find out where it was, and I had no idea that it’s one of the southern-most points on Vancouver Island. It’s like a stone’s throw away from Washington State. I had no idea that Vancouver Island extended so far south but then again I’ve never really spent any time there.
Apparently you can take the Victoria Clipper from Seattle and even go without a car. There’s an interesting reddit thread about it. The comments go on to say that it is a really walk-able city. There’s the Fishermaan’s whart, the Empress hotel and the Royal BC Museum. Also in Beacon Hill there is apparently free roaming peacocks???
Now this thread is super helpful, but you know what I was thinking as I was reading through it? That type of trip sounds exhausting. And then with some more thinking, that’s not all the type of trip I would like to take. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit older and maybe it’s because I have a young kiddo, but traveling to a random city and just walk around? Especially with a four year old? That’s a hard pass.
Don’t get me wrong, I”ve done these type of trips before.. go to a place walk around far more than I typically do, sleep in a hotel, eat some cool food and then come home. And if I’m being frank, that’s how most of my family trips were growing up. And you know what? I hated it. There I said it, family trips sucked as a kid.
Maybe it’s because my parents didn’t like each other, and we had to be crammed into a hotel room after a long-ass drive. And then we were just stuck there all together while my mother did her best to pick out stuff, but it was only stuff she really wanted to do. So it was just a sucky time all around. I can remember when I was a bit older and my family wanted to take a trip out west. Thankfully I had a job at the time and my parents allowed me to stay home and got to school and work while they took my younger brother. It was awesome.
So like if I’m going to plan a trip to Victoria I would do things different. First off, we would have separate rooms, joined by a door. That way the parents could have a break from each other and from our kiddo. Then we would hire someone to take my kiddo to do some fun kid things. There’s a bug zoo that he would totally love.
Then I would go to the gym. No, wait and here me out, I need to exercise for so may reasons, mental health, body health, and sheer pleasure. I love the gym and my friend told me about this place that does personal training in Victoria. Apparently Sarah-Jane (the owner) is also really interested in nutrition? So I could go get in a good training session (alone!) and then talk to another gear head. Then I would rejoin with everyone else and we could all go to the Fairmont Empress for tea and avocado toast. Now that’s a good day on vacation!
