“Interesting people are everywhere.”
Gone for 3.5 weeks, but it feels like it was 3.5 years. This trip to North America had so many different elements, I am still processing. The craziest, weirdest, most amazing encounters throughout the trip. It would make a fine Hollywood script. I need to write some stuff down, so that I won't forget (like the 8GB of photos wouldn't be of any help here...). Since I am now in a nine-hour flight, I might as well elaborate on a few travel stories now. Where and how to begin? Chronological seems the only way to go over it all, so here it goes.
Packing
I love to travel, there is nothing like it, but there are two things I don't like about it. Packing the bag is one. My packing skills have improved over the years - bringing 2kg worth of accessories to a beach vacation in Greece was not exactly an exception back in the day - but I still consider it to be no fun AT ALL trying to squeeze my whole closet content in just one backpack. I have a checklist to help me, keeping the activity as simple as possible (read reducing the amount of actual brain work) but there are so many scenarios to go over that I want to make sure I don't forget important, or not so important, items. And, I have to try all outfits on before I pack it to see if I'm 'feeling it'. That too. The perfectionist in me is often in the lead, what can I say. A time-consuming activity all together.
Packing for this trip was particularly challenging. I was going to a winter destination (so I thought at the time), a few rainy destinations, a hike adventure and would end the trip being a guest of my friends’ beach wedding. How can ANYONE pack for this?!? And there was little time to pack too. A busy 'packed' business week, sport obligations and an early morning flight resulted in some serious last-minute packing. I don't know how, but I managed to pack the bag and still catch the morning flight without rushing.
Vancouver, Canada
My trip didn't exactly start off as a fairy-tale. To be frank: the first few hours were an emotional ball buster. The airport shuttle dropped me of in the downtown area of Vancouver. I decided to walk the remaining miles to the hotel with my backpack. I was jetlagged, but all pumped with adrenaline ready to begin the journey. Admiring the new scenery, the buildings, the trees and flowers all being in bloom in contrast with the snow blizzard ordeals in Scotland. So far, so good. However, the longer I walked, the more depressing the atmosphere became. I see people in tents, walking with crutches, carts and trash bags filled with clothes. Homeless people in spades, standing in groups together. Sadness in their eyes, mental issues in most cases clearly visible. Addictive stuff close to hand and heart. One of the things that stood out was that lots of them, were people my age, but also younger, way too young to be living on the streets. Unexpected things happen when you travel. Sometimes good, sometimes less good. This I certainly did not see coming.
I usually don't read up much about the places I visit - not the book smart kinda traveller - but next time I'll be sure to do a better hotel research. The hotel was right in the middle of the sadness, not the best part to be. And despite it being expensive - welcome to Vancouver - the hotel was clearly no longer in the best shape. The hotel was rundown, and my room was bad. This is the last time I pre-book my hotel for the first three nights (which was a gift to myself, go figure), without checking the area first. And that’s how you learn. On arrival, the hotel staff gave me a free room upgrade and the area made me feel less uncomfortable by the day, but my first days in Canada were quite intense.
Couchsurfers are everywhere, in Vancouver no different. As of day two, I met up with a bunch a people in Vancouver for different occasions: grabbing a cup of coffee, walking through the park, going to the food market, joining a psychology game night with 15 locals, or hitting the town during a social night out. It's all possible with Couchsurfing. I know I talked about surfing on the couch before, but if you are thinking of travelling alone and looking for a way to do cool stuff with other like-minded people and get the local feel, get yourself a profile and start travelling. And don't be coloured by my introduction of Vancouver. I have seen enough and talked with enough locals to know that it can be a great place to live. It's just that not all of that made it to the blog.
Border control
It was time to leave Canada to visit the next West Coast city on the list. In theory it would simply take a shuttle bus to cross the border, but it didn't go down as easy. It was quite unpleasant. I was picked out for a separate interrogation. Many questions were popped randomly and at a high pace. It was like a test, one I was not passing. The result was that my story and travel itinerary had to get verified by my local, American friend. They were calling her, right on the spot. Made me feel like a criminal. It wasn't the questions per se, I stayed calm knowing that I had nothing to hide (truth works best), but it was the present superiority that made it a negative experience. Later I found out that other people had similar experiences. It apparently is a tough border. My second travel hick up, just five days in. What more could I expect in the weeks to come?
Washington state
That's where I left any negative thoughts, because the state Washington blew my mind. It's gorgeous. Maybe it is that drizzly, cloudy weather and the abundance of green grass, hills, mist and forestry reminding me of home (which is now Scotland), but I liked it. My visit to Washington was way too short. I need to see more of this, something for another trip. One of the places to revisit is the Orcas Islands. Via Couchsurfing, I ended up on the Orcas Islands, the largest of the San Juan Islands, located in the north-western corner of Washington state. You can only reach it by ferry. Months ago, a Couchsurfer invited me to come and visit when I was in town. This was in response to the public trip I posted, being in the area that week. Not the most practical travel destination in my itinerary, but why not.
The ferry ride alone was worth the trip. The sun was going down and the surroundings were complimentary to an already beautiful sunset. My host was picking me up at the end of his road, making sure I didn't get lost. The house is a self-build property in the middle of the woods. Not only the house is self-build, also the garage, big tree house and luxury items sauna and hot tub. A very special place, unique in its kind. I stayed there a couple of days and as I wasn't the only guest at the house, it was another social experience with travellers and locals. Interesting people are everywhere. The highlight of the trip was the motorcycle ride, the morning I was leaving. My host woke me up and offered to take me up to the top of the island, Mount Constitution (good name for a mountain), to see the panorama view. That was so cool! The all-American breakfast afterwards, filled my stomach for the rest of the day. Boy oh boy: the Americans and their restaurant portions. But damn tasty I tell ya.
Seattle
I always wanted to go to Seattle, this part of the country. Not sure why, Hollywood maybe? The coffee history perhaps? I arrived in rain and there were strays here too, but this time I was prepared for it. I liked the city architecture and was not expecting the city to be so hilly. Hills everywhere. Because of this, there are many view hot spots. I think I've seen them all, thanks to the CS-hosts. I would stay with two different Couchsurfer hosts the following days and saw a great chunk of the city with their recommendations and showing me around.
One of the most memorable things was a personal tour in one of the 40(!) Amazon buildings in the city. My host happens to work at Amazon, giving me the background information of the company and company culture. Pretty fascinating to hear and see it all. It's unfortunate, however, that locals don't always welcome big companies to invest in their cities. In various meet-ups, long or short, it was put as "they take over the city and we have nowhere to go". Companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft base their headquarters on the West Coast of North America. Other type of jobs required, outside city people get recruited for higher salaries, property prices get unaffordable and locals are forced to leave the city. Seattle is not alone in this. I can name many more cities like this. Commercialism and employability can be good things, but how to positively change the livelihood of the local people in the process? I don’t have the answer, but food for thought.
Back to sightseeing. Somebody mentioned to me to go and see the library on the University of Washington Campus. It supposed to be a great reference to the Harry Potter movies. The Harry Potter library scenes were supposedly shot there. I wanted to see it. Might as well. It filled my day for sure, as it took me over an hour to find the library on campus. I truly am the worst map navigator when walking. I wouldn't find the back of the house if I was using the smartphone nav I swear. Anyway, I finally arrived in the library and asked the kind gentlemen behind the reception where to go. It was quickly evident that I had my facts all wrong. It was a beautiful space, but there was disappointment finding out the library was just that; a beautiful library. No Harry Potter magic here. That’s the risk of not looking up the ins and outs online before you go, which is fine by me by the way. The campus itself was very nice. The nicest one in the States I’ve seen so far.
Another disappointing, but all the more funny, incident was the live gig I went to see. It was, by far, the worst live gig I’ve seen in my life. The performance was so bad, that the best part of the show was when the singer stopped singing, the guitarist stopped playing and the keyboard player pushed play on the laptop for background music leaving his keyboard untouched. The singer sang off key and what he said, did make no sense; the guitarist had no rhythm; and nobody knew how to work the amplifier causing terrible sounds to come out of the Marshall. It was hysterical. Not something you expect in one of the oldest rock pubs in Seattle, a city that gave the world Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana. The hiking trip on my last day outside Seattle was a city trip bonus. Washington is named Evergreen state for a reason. Anyhow, I’ll be back.
I can't believe I'm doing this, but I will cut this blog in two. There is just too much 'fabric', as we say in Holland. A job half done, generally not my style, but I must cut it short from here. I hope you stay tuned for recap part II. Which won't take as long as the new season of Game of Thrones, I promise 😃