The Joy of Travel

I love to travel, as you may have gathered :-)

My life at home is as comfortable and familiar as an old shoe. I go from familiar home to familiar work by familiar paths. I have my routines, and honestly, I like it that way. My stress level is low (usually!) and I can focus on my work and indulge my reading habit.

To travel is to leave all that behind, to embrace uncertainty. No familiar places, no familiar paths. Constant choices since there are no preset routines. There's a certain amount of stress and tension in that, and it can make people scared to step outside their comfort zone. But it's also interesting, exciting, rejuvenating. Life wasn't meant to be tame and predictable all the time.

And you can always mix in some familiarity when need be. A visit to Starbucks is a return to a comfort zone. Going back to the same city or hotel also takes away some of the uncertainty. The trick is to keep it new without being too stressful. Everyone has different limits.

This trip isn't to anywhere exotic, it's not to Asia or South America. But it's still got the essence of travel, new places, new faces, different things to do. Different sights and sounds and smells. I think we need this kind of adventure in our lives sometimes.

The train arrived an hour early in Vancouver. I'd planned to take the Aquabus but it wasn't running yet. That was ok, it's a pleasant 3km shoreline walk along False Creek, past the new Olympic village.

Vancouver always makes me feel a bit like the small town boy I am. I can't help gawk at all the big buildings and soaring bridges. And I can't help being a little jealous of the ocean and that it's not only green here but the flowering bushes and trees are in full force. Especially having left Saskatoon right after a blizzard! But that's another benefit of travel - to remind yourself that the small corner of the world where you live is just that.

It's a beautiful morning, some light clouds but the sun is shining through and feels warm. The turtles in the pond by Granville Island must agree. They've crawled out of the cold water to absorb the sunshine.

The ducks and grebes were busy and a great blue heron stood on a rock surveying the scene.

I was lucky the hotel had a room ready despite my early arrival at 9:30am. Then it was a toss up whether coffee or shower came first. Coffee won :-)