Things I will miss about Vancouver….

Moving makes you think, think, think all the time about what you are giving up and what you are hoping to find in your new place that you don’t have here. Some things that I am already missing about Vancouver include:

• the trees, the mountains, and the mist,
• the fab restaurants – especially Go Fish, Papaya Hut, and my Indian takeway place at Granville Island,
• Spanish Banks,
• free nights at the Museaum of Anthropology and Vancouver Art Gallery,
• yearly camping at Galiano Island,
• sushi,
• more sushi,
• belcarra park,
• buntzen lake,
• the Georgia Straight and Vancouver Courier,
• the endless seawall,
• the west end,
• the rain,
• the forums and cultural events,
• the vancouver library,
• commercial drive,
• the craft markets at christmas,
• the outdoor swimming pool at Stanley Park,
• Whytecliff Park,
• the camping and hiking,
• the endless amount of activities for kids (that I haven’t even had a chance to explore yet),
• Dining Out event in Feb,
• the kayaking potential,
• Mountain Equipment Co-op, and
• Tofino (okay, not really vancouver but great all the same).

And I’m sure more will come to me. The things that I will not miss about Vancouver, include:

• the traffic and commuting to the tri-cities to see grandparents,
• our two main newspapers,
• the insane housing market,
• the fact that everything is busy all the time (the camping spots, the parks, the restaurants),
• paying for parking virtually everywhere, and
• the crazy pace of life (self-imposed I’m sure).

The things I look forward to in my new home include:

• the ability to see more of Europe,
• the lack of commuting,
• exploring the western isles and scotland on my weekends,
• spending more time with my hubby and son,
• hopefully bagging some munroes,
• hopefully planting a garden and becoming a better cook,
• ensuring more down time if I don’t get around to hiking munroes, planting veggies and becoming a better cook right away,
• exploring my roots,
• learning about “planning” in the UK, and
• coming back to Vancouver as a tourist.