Celebrate Life's Adventures!

Diverse Cultural Experiences and Canadian Travel.

Why Celebrating Friendships Leads to Happiness

by Leave a Comment

Because I believe that what we focus on grows, I know putting time and effort in to celebrating friendships (one of the most important things in my life) will bring me further happiness.

“It’s about taking those moments when things are fine and making them amazing, because those moments are what make us who we are, and they’re the same moments we take into battle with us when our brains declare war on our existence. It’s the difference between surviving life and living life.”

– Jenny Lawson in Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things

Living life to the full for me, is all about having adventures—big and small. While I could find joy having adventures by myself, I prefer to share the journey with those I love. My good friend Alex and I have talked about the importance of living an adventurous life. No, we’re not going to sell everything and backpack around Europe, or train for a year to hike in the Himalayas.

Adventure is a state of mind. Adventure is about wondering “what if?”—to get curious and take steps towards exploring possibilities. 

During this first year of our friendship, Alex and I had many adventures (near and far). Living in two different (and far apart) cities in the Lower Mainland (greater Vancouver area) has meant discovering new places and returning to familiar favourites each time we get together. And every time we get together we talk about other places we’d like to spend time together and travel to.

This anticipation in itself brings happiness. Anticipating adventures with my friend extends the joy of the actual adventure.

Why Celebrating Friendships Lead to Happiness [Read more…]

I Wish I Knew How to Pack Light for a Conference

by Leave a Comment

I’m attending the Women in Travel Summit (WITS) in Québec City! It’s taken me more time than I care to admit to pack my suitcase and carry-on back for the conference. I really wanted to pack light for a conference and travel carry-on only, but my personal item (a camera backpack) is too long, unfortunately.

I Wish I Knew How to Pack Light for a Conference

Please note that this blog post contains affiliate links. If you click on any of the links and make a purchase I may receive some money back. There is no additional cost to you.

Reasons why I Feel Like I Have no Idea how to Pack Light for a Conference

  1. There will be a variety of activities over the 11 day trip. For instance, there will be outdoor excursions planned during a 3-day press trip I’m going on to the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area. I will also be indoors for two full days in a hotel during the conference. I know indoor air conditioning is often set pretty high (which means that I’ve planned to wear cardigans layered over a light dress or blouse for those days). For the rest of the days I’ll be either flying to or from Québec City for most of the two days, or walking around the city with tour guides.
  2. I’m admittedly indecisive. I keep going back and forth with the items that I’ve picked out to bring. Will I look too casual? Should I bring more blouses?

I’ve only been to one conference (Alt Summit during June in Salt Lake City, Utah) prior to going to WITS (Women in Travel Summit), so learning how to pack light for a conference will be a work in progress for a while.

For Alt Summit I didn’t have money to purchase items of clothing specifically for the conference and I also really don’t like wearing hot weather clothing (shorts, short skirts, tank tops). I feel like I have plenty of clothing options for WITS, but still feel unprepared.

What to Pack for a Conference

There are a few pieces of luggage/accessories that I wish I owned. I keep hearing about packing cubes. Packing cubes are soft mesh cubes that hold and organize clothing. I have some mesh laundry-style cubes I’ll be using until I can get my hands on these:

packing cubes

I have a camera/laptop backpack but wish I had something else for my carry-on luggage, since the backpack doesn’t fit clothing or much else. There are SO MANY laptop backpacks out there and I have found so many on the eBags website. This Browning Jackson Carry-On Backpack below looks promising, though:

pack for a conferenceWhat do you pack when you’re going to a conference? Once I’ve been to a few more and feel more confident, I’ll share what I bring with me.

How to Leave Room for Spontaneous Travel in your Plans

by Leave a Comment

You can call it FOMO (fear of missing out), with a dash of “don’t tell me what to do” rebellion,  but I like to have some say in how my time in spent when I travel. Spontaneous travel can work on its own or mixed in with activities you’ve planned.

I generally want to have some ideas for what to do and where to spend my time, but I don’t want to follow a rigid schedule. What if I’m checking out a cool museum, or heading to a restaurant and see an interesting looking street with lots of great-looking shops down it? I’d want to have the flexibility in my day to be able to wander around for a bit.

for Spontaneous Travel in your Plans

Even booked tours leave a little room for taking in other sites, or doing whatever you want. Yet, when I come across people who plan out every single thing they’re doing, they seem overwhelmed, exhausted, and generally seem like they’re not having any fun on their vacations.

Plans for Spontaneity

I think there definitely has to be a balance when it comes to making travel plans. [Read more…]

Britannia Mine Museum: Vancouver Excursion

by Leave a Comment

Sometimes, I really want to get out of the city, but still stay relatively close to home. The Britannia Mine Museum is beautifully situated on the Sea-to-Sky Highway just before Squamish. It’s about a 45 minute drive from Vancouver on a very pleasant stretch of road.

I’d driven past it many times before, not sure exactly what the giant structure jutting out from the side of the mountain was. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a a mine – no longer operational – turned in to a museum. Most people who drive the Sea-to-Sky Highway north from Vancouver are heading to Whistler.

Britannia Mine Museum: Vancouver Excursion [Read more…]

Celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday with a Parks Canada Discovery Pass #Canada150

by Leave a Comment

Where will your Parks Canada Discovery Pass take you this year? 

This year, to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, Discovery Passes, which grant free access to Canada’s national parks, historic sites, and marine conservation areas for you and your family, are free! With almost 200 locations throughout Canada, there’s sure to be a few nearby that you can visit this year.

This Parks Canada Discovery Pass is only the second one I’ve owned. When I moved back to my hometown of Calgary, Alberta with my best friend for (what turned out to be) 10 months, we wanted to make the most of our time near the Canadian Rockies with a Discovery Pass. There are at least a dozen Parks Canada sites/parks within a few hours drive of Calgary. I’ll be checking out at least a few of them this summer when I go through the area on a road trip.

For the past few years, I’ve been on a quest to visit all locations of national parks, national historic sites, and marine conservation areas in Canada. I hope to visit at least 10 locations on my list this year.

Celebrate Canada's 150th Birthday with a Parks Canada Discovery Pass #Canada150 [Read more…]

Privacy Policy

Work with Tazim Damji