Okay, so I didn’t update as punctually as planned – in my defense, I drove 10+ hours this weekend and was struggling to find wifi to navigate, much less blog. I was also challenging myself to be “in the moment” more than is my norm, which isn’t easy in a generation driven by social media and status updates.

I spent the last 3 days of my (glorious and much-needed) week off from work in Whistler, British Columbia. I’ve always wanted to visit in the context of snowboarding and winter sports but hadn’t considered until recently how worthwhile it could be to visit in the summer.

Although I do love the views in and around Vancouver, they’ve got nothing on the drive from there to Whistler; you spend most of the 2-3 hours on a winding mountain highway with views of lakes, snow-capped mountains, and lush green forests. I was enamoured before we even got to Whistler, and the views from there were even more amazing.


I went in without much of a plan or a to-do list – pretty out of character for me. After walking around the Olympic Village for a few hours, window shopping and people-watching, I decided I wanted to see more of the natural aspect of the park. The heat, my time constraint, and the sheer size of the mountains made my original plan of hiking much less of an option; I decided that the best way to see what I wanted of the dual mountains (Whistler and Blackcomb) was to ride the “Peak 2 Peak” gondola. It’s a little pricey, and I initially ruled it out completely for that reason. However, I took a step back, stopped worrying about money, and reminded myself of times in my travels where I forewent an experience because of the cost and regretted it (or conversely, splurged for something that was totally worth the cost).

It turns out this was the latter – the gondolas go all the way up Whistler and then across to the peak of Blackcomb. It’s a long enough ride (about 45 minutes total one-way) that the cost felt more justified, and of course the views themselves were priceless.


Now for the introspective part of the weekend: I got more frustrated with navigating, being in crowds, and dealing with the heat than I expected. I had to repeatedly and consciously stop my negative thoughts processes and remind myself to relax, to trust that things would work out (they did), and to enjoy the experience as a whole. Although I appreciate that I can manage these stressors better and am more cognizant of those negative thoughts, I was frustrated by my frustration, funnily enough. However, in an attempt to be gentle with myself and refocus on the positive, I managed better than I would have 6 months to a year ago, and I can see that overall I’m progressing with my treatment.

Now that it’s summer season at Whistler, they offer mountain biking – maybe that can be another adventure of mine one day  😉 speaking of adventure! I found this totally relevant quote at a waterfall I hiked to just outside of Whistler:

“Adventure within itself is worthwhile.”