This week, I am in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Loving it: Hopping on a sleek bullet train in Japan or a dusty open-air sleeping car in India is nothing short of an adventure, and a glimpse into the culture. Trains are my favorite form of travel. I read, edit photos and daydream. Plus, there is more leg room than a plane or car. On a trip this summer, though, I got a glimpse of my own country, on my way from San Francisco to Seattle to visit my friend Trevor, who I met in Burma.
Trevor is part of what I call the “Anna Network,” a group of amazing friends I’ve collected from the far corners of the world. I can pretty much go anywhere and have a friend to meet for dinner or a place to sleep. Trevor moved back to Washington recently after years of living in Singapore, Japan and England. (And he’s not even 30!) We drove out to eastern Washington to a friend’s lake house on the Columbia River to ride jet skis, eat ribs for dinner and watch movies late into the night. It was a perfect weekend.
Living it: After that Washington weekend, I moved on to Vancouver, where I took on a 20-mile brewery biking tour. My legs were burning, but I refused to stop pedaling. Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bridge finally appeared between the trees. Despite my lack of city biking skills, I was determined to conquer the bridge and the rest of the tour unscathed.
The more I travel, the more my adventures revolve around outdoor spaces, local food and good beer. Vancouver has a huge outdoor culture. Plus, it’s a runner’s dream! I ran 8 miles my first night in town along the False Creek seawall and quickly fell in love with the city. Every day was spent running, biking or hiking. And once again I had help from the Anna Network.
Last summer in Spain, I was stuffing my suitcase in a hostel luggage room when I met my friend Brittany, who lives in Vancouver. Fast-forward a year, and I am borrowing her bike to ride around one of the world’s best parks, Stanley Park. The 1,000-acre park is filled with trails and a 5.2-mile seawall lined with a bike path. I took a picnic lunch and updated my travel journal on a bench over looking the water. Vancouver clearly knows the secret to my heart — great weather and seaside running trails.
Dreaming it: The e-mail arrived when I was deep in the Amazon jungle, unplugged from the world: A big university wanted to know if I was interested in teaching photojournalism courses in the fall. When I saw the e-mail four days later, I informed them that I was, indeed, interested and set up a guest lecture for the week following my Vancouver trip. Do I keep traveling the world, or move back to Texas for a semester or two?
Anna Mazurek has been traveling the world and working (as an English teacher, photographer, bartender — whatever keeps her moving) as she goes since 2008. She has visited 43 countries and lived in five. In this monthly feature, she files dispatches on the challenges and rewards of being a full-time traveler. Follow Anna at travellikeanna.com.
