- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Kayaking and Canoeing, Overseas, Random Thoughts, Travel, Trips with Kids
2021: Looking at the Glass Half Full
I woke up with a rare blast of optimism on the 31st. I was so focused in the last few days on saying good riddance to 2021 and I had no idea how to summarize this year. Then I thought why not focus on the glass half full. I came up with a mission to think of at least five good things that happened this year. It wasn’t actually too difficult and I asked Gili to do the same. We both wrote our list of five things before comparing notes. Neil showed some interest but only wrote two things. Our lists had some overlaps and similarities, but also differences. So here is our list of good…
2020: Our Local Year
It’s strange to look back at 2020 and to realize that it actually started quite normal, or at least what normal used to be. For us the beginning of 2020 was all about getting back into our normal life in Vancouver after a long pause. Not only did we spend the last three months of 2019 bike touring in Japan and Taiwan, but Gili was on parental leave since the end of December of 2018… So January was all about settling into a new routine, Gili was back at work at an office downtown, Neil was back at his daycare, which he missed very much during our trip, and Kai…
COVID-19 Days, Not So Bad, After All?!
Biking through old growth forest in absolute silence, not a car in sight. Stopping to pick salmonberries, arranged like gems in my hand, bright orange, yellow, red. Young kids and seniors (and the rest of us) biking right on the road, no worries of being run over by a car. Grinding up to Prospect Point to an awesome view of Lion’s Gate Bridge from above, and then zooming down the hill to Third Beach and downtown. This is Stanley Park in the time of COVID-19 – it has been closed to cars almost completely for three months or so, and it ain’t so bad! I feel only slightly guilty writing…
Keeping Sane by Biking During COVID-19
We were sitting down for lunch the other day and Neil suddenly said “we still haven’t ridden our bikes today!” That needed to be fixed so we got ready and went on a bike ride. Yes, that’s what we’ve been doing lately, a lot of bike riding. People ask us how we manage during this time with two young children at home, and in a way I feel like we’re doing just fine, and a lot of it is thanks to our bikes. The beginning wasn’t easy. It started with canceling our two week trip to Israel to see our family, a trip that everyone was looking forward to. So…
- Carfree, Hiking & Scrambling, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Random Thoughts, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
BCMC Trail: How to Get Kids to Go Farther
Do we hold our children back by making assumptions about their abilities? I think we do, at least some of the time. Our four year old son Neil recently cycled 30 kms, despite us urging him repeatedly to ride the cargo bike part of the way. This really surprised me and got me thinking. Perhaps by steering clear of experiences that challenge our kids’ comfort zone, we don’t allow them to discover where their limits are, nor to expand them. If we accept that, the natural question is: how to get kids to go farther? Leading up to this trip, I was curious to know where Neil’s hiking limits are.…
Teaching a Two Year Old How to Ski: Three Seasons Later
When Neil was about to turn two, I started teaching him to ski. The beginning was slow, but seeing the smile on his face made it totally worth it. Three seasons later, he still has the ski bug. He now links turns down blue runs and enjoys small jumps despite breaking his leg while skiing. While I can’t tell you how to teach a two year old how to ski, I can tell you how we did it. This might not be for everyone – choose your method and timing appropriately for you and your family. We didn’t consciously choose to start teaching Neil how to ski when he was…
2018: Recap of a “Peak Year”
I have a theory that every few years you have what I call a “peak year”. Most recently I would say that 2013 was a peak year for us in which we crossed Central America on our bikes and then started our lives back in Vancouver. Next up, 2015 was definitely one with Neil being born, the start of Kids on Wheels, moving into the co-op and then our three month cycling trip in South Korea and Japan with baby Neil. Most recently I realized that 2018 is getting up there among the “peak years”. Although we didn’t do any “big trips” this year, the shorter ones we did were…
- Crosscountry Skiing, Downhill Skiing, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Random Thoughts, Sea to Sky, Trips with Kids, Urban
Activities with an Active Toddler with a Toddler’s Fracture
December brought some extra challenges into our lives. It happened on December 2nd, when Gili took Neil skiing on their second day of the season. Neil was excited about skiing and was keen to go. I wasn’t able to go with them and was home when they returned. It seemed odd to me that Gili was carrying Neil to give me a hug and then he told me that Neil had injured himself and can’t put weight on his leg. I would never have guessed, since Neil seemed to be in a good mood… Since it was a few hours since the fall and he still couldn’t put weight on…
Travel Tips: How to Travel on the Cheap Side
The most common question we are asked about our travels is: “How do you afford to travel so much?”. Our usual response is that we don’t travel nearly as much as we’d like to… More seriously, here are some tips on how you too can travel cheaply for long periods of time. Most people think Hawaii is expensive, but our two week trip to the Big Island was one of our cheapest yet. We spent a total of $20 on our accommodations. How so? Well, we spent most of the nights camping for free at county campgrounds or on deserted beaches, and a few nights with hosts from Couchsurfing and…
Goodbye South Korea & Japan: End of Trip Reflection
As 2015 is coming to a close and our trip is nearing its end, I thought it’s time for some reflection. Yesterday, as we were riding around Zamami Island, we stopped for a break at a beautiful view point. Neil had just woken up from his morning nap in the trailer and was happy and chatty as usual. We took him out, changed his diaper, had a snack and hung out, just the three of us. I suddenly realized that those will be the moments I’ll miss the most. We spent the last three months traveling by bicycle in South Korea and Japan. We left when Neil was seven months…
