Ive lived on and off from Vancouver since graduating highschool, with few trips abroad for years. Ive lived in many homes, met many people, worked many jobs, and had many experiences in this city.
Ive left places many times. Every trip must end and there usually is some closure piece of writing ive wrote when leaving.
For those who dont know, I am moving to a town in BC called Sunshine Valley, by Hope and Manning Park.
Im not entirely sure what to write to feel a sense of closure.
Ive thought many times while living in Vancouver thats its a beautiful city, but I get this sense its a perfect tourist city. Im looking forward to coming here as a guest. I feel coming here every 3 weeks and traveling the city and nature for a day or two to be fairly similar to my life already. Ive put alot of effort these past few weeks to see and do alot of things here, but just find that during my day to day existence here, it was pretty routine. Work, drive home, exercise, have some nice dinner, etc. The coffee shop mornings, and the vegetarian restaurant deliveries were really sweet, and something im really going to miss when leaving. My mom living blocks away, and my dad, sister, and grandma all under an hour away.
I think about Vancouver, how I feel it is pushing alot of middle-class people away. Here I am, going to a place a few hours away, where a whole new world exists.
Im looking forward to the small town. I grew up in one, but even this one im going to is much smaller. Im looking really forward to knowing my neighbors, waving at people who drive by. My grandma tells me stories of that when she was a kid in Vancouver, and I just dont find that in this city, and im really craving it.
Being so close to nature where im moving is going to be a blessing. To not have traffic, loudness of the roads and streets, busyness of the world. Its going to be so much quieter, peaceful.
Im looking forward to having a dog, perhaps a tiny home, and just feeling much more rooted in where I live. Vancouver had this feeling of never feeling in one place. Be it homes being torn, the everchanging dynamics of living with roommates, or even just the significant costs of living alone.
I really wonder if there will be a mass migration of young middle aged people from Vancouver to smaller towns. Now that im leaving, I dont know why I didnt consider it earlier. It just seems so challenging in subtle ways to thrive here. I feel most people I know comfortably survive. Perhaps thats all we need, but I find this chance for something new to be really exciting…
I may come back to the city eventually, I still yearn for parts of it that I wont have where im moving. Ive wanted to learn Krav Maga, Salsa dance. The biking in the city is so fun. The beachlife, the trendy restaurants, the incredible people that are here. The tech industry. Not all of this will be where im going. But I feel so much more ready and wanting of what I dont have here.
Even purely from a writing perspective. The solitude is so necessary. Something about reading in these small towns sounds very romantic. And with wifi, electricity, all the plumbing, etc. It feels so easy to transport to these places further from the city. I wonder how many people have actually given it a shot. I dont find many people who have, that regret it. I hope I can inspire my friends, and just share my experience, and open their eyes to whats out there. I found I stayed in the city cause I was there, not cause it fit my needs better than other places.
Its been on and off for 14 years here. And now that im leaving it feels really aligned and ready. Really natural. And its hard for me to imagine staying longer.
Im excited to have my friends come visit me. To see what else is out there. To question, what does keep us here.
I dont know what else to say. I plan to post updates and pictures, to host visitors, and come back to the city to visit too. Im excited to have hiking trails within 5-10 minutes of where I live. To have mountains as my backdrop. To go fishing in the lake. To go to the ski mountain that is the next town over. To visit the city when I want, and then return to my sanctuary of nature. My dream is to have a sauna, hot tub, cold plunge area, and really enjoy those perks of having space and time.
There is a volunteer fire fighting team in Sunshine Valley. Im excited to join it and get these intimate experiences with community that are different from the city. People there have snowmobiles and ATVs and itll be a really adventurous time for myself. I also feel lucky, to be going to this town so early. Not everyone I know has heard of it. The population there is probably smaller than some companies people work for. But I feel really ready for this leap.
Until my next update, which should be when im there.
Living in Free Fall 