Well I've been gone for quite some time now, about 3 weeks, and i'm only just getting round to saying my Goodbyes to Vancouver and Canada.
I arrived in Vancouver on January 28th, and left on August 28th - exactly 7 months of life living in and loving that city.
It's sad that I'm leaving with another 5 months left on my Working Holiday Visa, and its sadder still that my leaving is not exactly of my own choosing. The truth is that I'm damn near broke, and need to get back to Melbourne to start earning some real money and pay off those pesky credit cards. I've done it before, and I'll do it again, but this time I need to do it sooner rather than later. And realistically, Vancouver was not the place to be able to do that. It is an expensive city, with wages much less than I've been used to and getting previously.
Having said that and got it off my chest, I loved Vancouver. Not just for the sheer beauty of it, for being a literal hop,skip and jump from gorgeous mountains with amazing hiking and climbing terrain, that it was surrounded on 3 sides by water, with incredibly beautiful marina and bayside views, and especially not to mention the skifields. Not for the cool bars and nightlife. And not just for the friendly people either. Although, all of those things definitely make Vancouver what it is.
I think the two main reasons I loved Vancouver was for its vitality, its energy, its attitude, particularly and especially in the edgy, counter-cultural scenes - the amazing music scene and bands and clubs that thrive there, and the passion, enthusiasm, and activism that was there. Getting involved with the cycling activist groups there was the best thing I could ever have done. And I would never have quite an ideal opportunity to see sooooo many amazing local and top-level bands in many other cities.
I should pay a special mention also to the friends that I made there, who helped make Vancouver a special place for me. You know who you are, so I won't mention names. I made quite a disparate group of friends - there was the Aussie crew, a good dozen or so who I gelled with, there was the cycling fraternity who made me feel so welcome, and then there those folk who I never saw often enough, who I might get together with for a movie or a drink or a band gig just every so often. I just wish I had more time. I remember when I booked my ticket home, I was saying "Well, I've still got 3 months left, plenty of time to hang out", then it was 2 months, then 6 weeks, then 3, then 1, and now I'm gone.
What else can I say? The whole Pacific Northwest scene in North America suited me to the ground, it's band scene, it's attitude, it's edgy underground culture and society, and Vancouver even more so.
Goodbye Vancouver. I'll miss you. But hopefully it won't be Goodbye forever. If I know myself well at all, it's a fair bet that I'll be back.
Cheers,
Tony
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