My Solo Trip to Vancouver, Canada

When I started thinking about a solo trip I thought of a few things: where can I go that is safe, and where can I go that is fun but not too much fun. I have always wanted to do a solo trip and I have always wanted to go to Vancouver. Now that I am employed, I thought this was a perfect time to take some vacation and get some R&R. 

On my first day of adventuring, I went to Calipano Stanley Park which was an absolutely beautiful place to go. It was super serene and super easy to navigate. What was nice about traveling solo in Vancouver was it is Canada. So that made everything easy to understand which already removed a barrier. The city is also super easy to navigate. My hotel was within walking distance to pretty much any tourist attraction in Vancouver. This made it easy to explore and go to everywhere I saw on Pinterest. After this, I went to Canada place and walked along the Canada Walk. Then I did some shopping (classic) at the CP Pacific Centre which was one of the nicest laid out malls, and the Nordstrom was just beautiful to gander around in. I also had chipotle for dinner which was amazing. 

My second day was Grouse mountain. Now, I don’t ski so I didn’t go skiing which might have been something I could have looked into, but I did rent some skates and skate on their little dinky rink. In the lift I chatted with two fabulous ladies (one that offered me a ride but wasn’t going to where I was heading) and it was just nice chatting and see why people were there and where they were from. I ended up busing to Stanley Park where I walked along the seawall and checked out the Totum poles. It was a very peaceful walk and of course, my legs were sore at this point, but it was lovely. The weather was also so nice, it was plus 5 and the vibe was so chill in the city and on the Seawell. After this, I went to try and find this Italian resteraunt but somehow ended up in the Downtown Eastside. I eventually made it to Gastown where I ate the best Carbonara of my life. Also only in Canada can you go in the same city to snow and then go back down a mountain and it is practically Spring!

My third day was full of adventures let me tell you. First, I went to Granville Island where I got lost and couldn’t really find where I was going. I walked around the little market and then got myself some fish and chips. I then went downtown again near my hotel to check out Robson Street, the most popular street for shopping. What a fun place. The whole vibe of downtown was actually quite chill, but as I found out during my time in Whistler apparently this is not always the case. After this I might have gotten Chipotle again…

My next and last day was a day in Whistler. This was a fabulous day. I met two women who where traveling together, we had lunch and gabbed. They told me about Vancouver and Whistler and we exchanged emails. To me, this is what solo travelling is all about, meeting new and interesting people. It was great! I then went to the Squamish cultural centre which was very interesting. 

What did I learn solo traveling? It was an experience that I want to do again. I am really glad that I went within Canada and that I had the confidence to take public transit. I also liked that I could wake up when I wanted, eat when I wanted, and essentially had the freedom to just roam around and adventure. Where should I go next!?