House Hunting

So the last few days I have devoted a lot of my time to house hunting. House rentals all tend to start on the first of the month, so I really want to move out of my hostel by June 1st, otherwise I may be stuck there for another month, which is not only a nightmare (I've already had enough of sharing a small room with 3 other guys, and a public bathroom) but also very expensive. It is nearly $1000 a month for the hostel, as opposed to $500-$600 for a private room in a house. 

Also, living in a hostel means you have to eat out for pretty much every meal you have, which is also way more expensive than making your own food! 

So, how is the house hunt going? Not great, but not terribly I guess.

There is one website (Craigslist) where everyone posts tons of house shares that are available. There must be 50 or so houses put up every single day, maybe more. One of my hostel room mates described it so well to me today.

It is like going to a T.K. Maxx shop (Winners here in Canada, T.J. Maxx in America). You have to sift through aisles and aisles of crap clothes before you find something you want, and then when you do, it doesn't fit. That's exactly what it is like on Craigslist looking for accommodation. 95% of the listings are complete crap. I'll give a particular mention to a guy named Solomon, who expected you to look after his 2 year old daughter every night whilst he worked. There is also a house who refused you to cook any meats inside, you can only cook it outside on the barbecue! 4% are okay, but tend to have a problem of some sort, like a bad location, smokers, marijuana (it is fairly regular here for people to smoke pot), ancient house or boring people. 

1% might be great, but then they may not want to live with a British guy who is only here for 1 year. There has been two places I have really wanted to live at, one of them didn't reply to an email and the other I am hopefully viewing this weekend, if they get back to me. It has 3 pretty cool people living there from what I can see, is well located (on the skytrain line to Downtown and my friends place) and it even has a 3 legged dog! I love dogs :) So, my fingers are crossed for this place!

House hunting is not fun, but it is going to be a lot better than job hunting, which will begin once I have a house! Dreading that.

Initial Impressions

So, after arriving in Vancouver my first few days were spent exploring. I haven't really seen a great deal, but I shall write about what I have.

Downtown

So, Downtown Vancouver is basically the big city. Large glass structures fill the skyline, surrounding you everywhere you go. It's a typical large, fairly modern city. One thing I did notice, is that it doesn't seem as busy as other large cities I have been in. There is surprisingly little traffic in downtown, a testament to the public travel network here (it is better than any other public travel network I have seen). 

Downtown is quite small, you can walk from one end to the other in maybe 45 minutes. It is surrounded by water on nearly all sides, with the large Stanley Park to the north. 

There seems to be hundreds of bars/restaurants/food outlets but very little in terms of typical city center shops. Oh, and there is hundreds of cell phone shops too. Maybe I just don't know the shops, but there is little of interest for me to go in, so I tend to just walk around without bothering. 

There is a lot of homeless people in Downtown, holding signs and asking for change. They have a sense of humour though, one of them held a sign saying "Smile if you masturbate", it was hard to keep a straight face I won't lie! It's popular because it is a west coast city, more milder than other cities within Canada/USA. Just ignore them though and they won't bother you. 

There is also a lot of buskers. They need a permit though, so they tend to be a lot better than the buskers back in the UK :D Some good musicians out there on the streets, and dancers too! 


Stanley Park


Stanley Park is a huge woodland/seawall to the north of Downtown Vancouver. It is very popular with runners/cyclists/walkers and generally anyone who enjoys the outdoors. There is lots to see and do in Stanley Park, including an aquarium, apparently the best in Canada. I got completely lost there but thoroughly enjoyed walking around aimlessly, taking in the magnificent sights. 

Stanley Park is sort of a getaway from the hectic city life, yet it is only a 30 minute walk from the center of Downtown. It is one of the main attractions of Vancouver and I can see why, the place is stunning. 


Granville Island


Granville Island is a small island just west of Downtown. You can get there easily enough by bus or even walking won't take long. There is tons of shops, markets and bars/restaurants there. I only went for maybe 2 hours and I barely seen any of it really. It is meant to be best at night time, where you can view Downtown all lit up. I will have to go back there at least a couple more times to see everything there.  It is a great place to just wander around.

Gastown


Gastown is a very old district of Vancouver. It has a pretty trendy vibe, with lots of stylish, niche shops and bars. I only briefly walked through it, but it is a world away from the highrise buildings of Downtown. The steam clock exemplifies what Gastown is all about. 

Overall, Vancouver is a great place from what I have seen so far, which is very little! I can't wait to keep exploring the treasures that lie here :)

I will keep writing more as i visit more places! 

My Journey

Sorry for the delay since my last post! I haven't really had access to a computer since my arrival and writing thsee blogs off a phone is almost impossible.

So, my journey started off so well! I got a Virgin train from Liverpool to London. It was so empty, I had a table with 4 seats to myself with Wifi on my phone. It only took 2 hours to reach London.

However, it soon took a turn for the worse. Once I arrived in London at 6pm (rush hour)my journey went from heaven to hell. I was told to catch the underground to Paddington station, however none of the routes I could see even went through Paddington. I was stood looking at maps with hundreds of people rushing around me, totally clueless where to go next. Eventually a steward approached me and asked where I was heading. He told me to go to Kings Cross and then catch another train to Heathrow.

After leaving King Cross I soon realised my first mistake of the entire journey, using a rusksack rather than a suitcase. I had to standfor around an hour on a packed underground train, sweating with a huge coat on, with a 23kg rusksack on my back the entire time. By the time I reached Heathrow my shoulders and back were killing me!

In Heathrow I somehow found a bus that took me to my hotel, which thankfully was free! The hotel was pretty basic. No internet, not even a TV without paying 10 pound per night. So, just ate and went to sleep.

The next day I met up with another guy on the same trip and headed back to Heathrow for our flight. Finally I got rid of the weight on my back at check in and boarded the plane. The flight was great though, despite not being able to sleep I watched 4 movies and by the time they were done we were in Vancouver.

We then caught the SkyTrain to Downtown and walked to our hostel. Finally after getting to my room, jet lag had taken its toll. By 8pm I was completely out of it. By 4am I was wide awake and ready to start my trip into Canada. Shame I had to wait another 4 hours until breakfast!



Au Revoir Grand Bretagne!

Today I leave my small town and take a train to London where I am staying overnight in a hotel. We fly early tomorrow morning!

Nerves have well and truly settled in and "What the hell are you doing?" thoughts are firmly enlodged in my brain. I think once I meet up with the two other guys I am flying with, my nerves will settle and I will be fine, but for the rest of today at least, I'll be a bit of a wreck!

I won't be able to write again for at least a few days. Our hostel does have internet, but it charges to use their computers and I don't have a laptop as of yet. Also, I will be a bit busy exploring my new city to be writing long blogs! 

Checking out, for now!

My Life in a Rucksack

So, with just 5 days to go, it is time to start worrying about packing. If there is one thing I really suck at, this is it!

I've always been bad at packing, even for a short holiday. I tend to just go for the "throw it all in and sit on top of it until I've squashed it enough for the zip to close" method. But that option is out of the question here. I need to fit enough "stuff" into one rucksack and a small backpack as hand luggage to last me an entire year. That's a years worth of items in a 23kg bag, how on earth do people do that?

Here is my current list of items for my checklist, which I'm sure is missing plenty of things already:

1.    T-Shirts

2.    Polo Shirts

3.    Jumpers

4.    Jeans

5.    Jackets

6.    Shorts

7.    Socks

8.    Underwear

9.    Interview Clothes (Shirt, Trousers, Belt, Tie)

10.  Trainers

11.  Shoes

12.  Hiking Boots

13.  Pumps

14.  Razor, Blades and Shaving Cream

15.  Wash Bag and Toiletries (including deodorants and  aftershaves)

16.  Toothbrush and Toothpaste

17.  Towel

18.  Mobile Phone and Accessories (Charger, Data Cable, Travel Charger)

19.  iPod

20.  USB Stick (with all documents on that are required)

21.  Head Clipper and Accessories

22.  Torch

23.  Alarm Clock

24.  Padlock (for locker)

25.  Adapters

26.  Camera and Accessories

27.  Online Bank Information

28.  Webcam

29.  Canadian Money

30.  Train Tickets

31.  Sunglasses

That's over 30 different things already! Bearing in mind certain points, like T-Shirts and Polos, could be 20+ items! 

Somebody told me to buy vacuum bags to allow more space, which I now regret not buying, but I do think if I did that I would be taking way over 23kg of luggage.

Now, I'm a guy, we have it easy! Imagine being a girl undergoing this trip (which a lot do). How can they possibly cope? Their shoes alone must be nearly 23kg! Then they have make up, hair straighteners and anti aging cream to fit in somewhere. Maybe a few thousand bags, bracelets, jewellery, spray tan, nail varnish and magazines. I'm surprised they don't need to ship items over. Or maybe they get their parents to do that once they have arrived.

Yeah, I will count my lucky stars I'm a guy, but still, this is not going to be easy and may result in me calling in reinforcements from a certain mother.

Packing starts Sunday, I may not write again until I am in Vancouver, so wish me luck!