It has been quite a while since I left Vancouver but it left an impact on me, in many ways too. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I miss the sunshine above the mountains, the smell of fresh ocean air, the crisp blue sky. On the gloomy days I miss the smell and sound of Vancouver rain and the sense of warmth that it brings, and at night I miss the seagulls chatting on the edge of the north-shore pier. When I walk to the University, I sometimes reminisce the twelve minutes on the seabuss…

Those are little things, but those are the things I miss. There could be many ways to spend one’s lifetime and perhaps I shouldn’t be getting anchored by memories so much, but time flies and if not enjoy all this now, then when? Some folks would say that it doesn’t hurt to explore and find more new and exciting things while we can, and maybe so is true for those who haven’t been to many places. I have been fortunate to move around a few times, and also traveled to quite a few destinations before then. It is not possible to be everywhere enough to soak it all in, to get the most of those places in a few weeks or even in a year. On top of that, at the end of the day it would be great to have a place one can call home, I think it would be.

For many Vancouverites the city is just their home town, it is what they see every day. The mountains no longer make them go “aww”, and sunshine destinations outside of Canada become their go-to places. It probably happens to all of us – we don’t appreciate what we have until we can longer have it. I remember the summer when I just came to Vancouver. It was late evening and a friend and I were going to the Ramen place in West-End. It started to rain quite profusely, we first ran, then got under the pillars of an apartment building on Alberni st, but after a while just gave in and walked over slowly absorbing the rain. That is what I remember and miss so much about Vancouver.

I know when I was there and hadn’t been to Toronto in a year I was getting sad about it too, and then I  visited Toronto and all of a sudden coming back to Vancouver was refreshing and hard all at once. I wanted the mountains, but I also wanted my friends and familiar and the notion of this large city.

It is hard to guess where I will end up, and I always hope all things work out, but I would love to spend more time in Vancouver when possible, but also not leave Toronto behind. Time will tell…

As often, to finish with a song: