Five Days in Vancouver

Perched on a peninsula at the mouth of the great Fraser River in a part of British Columbia known as the Lower Mainland, Vancouver has always held a special place for me. I can’t say I have had the privilege of spending a ton of time there throughout my traveling life, but in my visits over the years, I have found that the city has a blended vibe of outdoorsy cool in a spectacular natural setting that most other places can only dream of.

The third largest city in Canada, metropolitan Vancouver has a population similar to that of Portland, Oregon, a mildly interesting fact considering that despite being essentially the same size the Portland metropolitan area is only the 23rd largest metro area in the United States. But the comparison to Portland is relevant to me; I live in Portland and I have always seen Vancouver as a mishmash of Portland together with San Francisco. The city has a similar feel to San Francisco: It is densely populated, surrounded by water, with a heavy influence from Asia and the Pacific region yet it has the population of Portland.

The scenery and natural beauty of the area surrounding Vancouver cannot be understated.

British Columbia’s magnificent Coast Range stretches the length of the BC coast north into Alaska and essentially starts at the northern edge of Vancouver. As an enthusiast of nature in general but especially mountain regions, this part of the world is spectacular. The Capilano Suspension bridge gives a brief view into this forest mountain world, but even a quick drive north to Squamish and Whistler will reveal scenery that can rival many places on the planet.

So it came to be that my oldest child had his first-ever hockey tournament in Canada, and even better it was scheduled to be held in the Vancouver area. Playing in a Canadian tournament is like a rite of passage for any hockey player, and as a family, we couldn’t pass up the chance to make a trip out of the opportunity.

The mid-November slog north on Interstate 5 from Portland turned out to be just that: A slog. Driving through three major cities in one day (Portland, Seattle, Vancouver) is always an exercise in traffic tolerance and timing, and while the traffic tolerance was there the timing was not. Loading up four children by a designated time to try and get through Seattle unscathed is a borderline exercise in futility, compounded by the fact that once you are on the road you are completely subject to the bladder capacity of said children. The first “Are we there yet” happened in Chehalis, Washington, and if you know the Pacific Northwest you know that Chehalis is a long way from the Canadian border. In all, it took close to 7 hours to get from our home in Portland to the Peace Arch border crossing. A very friendly Canadian immigration officer was kind enough to stamp our kids’ passports as a souvenir; normally passports aren’t stamped when going between the USA and Canada as an American citizen.

Deemed a non-threat to Canadian national security, we wound our way through the tail end of rush hour traffic in a driving rainstorm and got the kids settled into our hotel in downtown for the night. As a resident of the Portland area, I could immediately see the difference in vibrancy between the two cities. The downtown core was hopping with people and general liveliness, a far cry from the general ghost town that downtown Portland has unfortunately become since the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

While I’d like to be able to tell you that we spend the next few days immersed in local culture and experiences, the reality is our days generally went like this:

Wake up, drive to a hockey rink in suburban Richmond, watch games, eat lunch, watch more games, eat dinner, sleep.

Aside from my children falling in love with the ubiquitous Canadian institution of Tim Horton’s and their beloved TimBits (the Canadian donut hole, if you aren’t familiar), our days were filled with youth hockey and time spent with our family and our son’s teammates and their families. And you know what? It was great.

Our kids had an opportunity to exist in what was, for them, a new city and a new country and just be. For me, one of the best parts of traveling is to simply exist and enjoy life in a different place, and the opportunity to be able to do so in one of my favorite cities anywhere was wonderful. As working parents with very full-time jobs, my wife and I relish any chance we can to have uninterrupted time with our children and this was like a five-day mini vacation. It was wonderful.

The drive south to home was much faster than going north, despite the seven stops for bathroom breaks, fuel, food, and of course Tim Horton’s on our way out of the country.

If you haven’t been to Vancouver I highly encourage you to check it out if you ever have the opportunity. Go be a tourist and do all the things; you won’t regret it. But remember to also exist and enjoy the place!