The Journey to Vancouver

Whew. 

Where do I even begin. Firstly, packing the day before was a nightmare…so pack early!

When mum left at 10:16am, I could feel tears welling up, but I was like “girl, this is not the right time and place to do this” as I was walking towards security. It was the feeling of growing up, not knowing what is in store, walking away from the comfort of home into something unknown. That was the only time I felt like that to be honest. The rest of the day was too hectic to even pause. As I write this at 8:57pm Vancouver time, my eyelids are fluttering, and I can feel the weight of my head moving from side to side. Sounds hazardous, but I want to write this down before I forget or rush out of the hotel tomorrow morning to move into uni accommodation. 

The Airplane Journey
As I was boarding, I took out the flower pillow my friend Gabi had so wholesomely made and squished it between the airplane and my head. While we were up in the air, everyone’s screens seemed to be showing a plethora of movies; mine refused to do anything but freeze and displayed WESTJET (despite that, WestJet is a good airline and if you book early enough, tickets are just under £300 from London to Vancouver). I tried to entertain myself for 10 hours straight. I read a book, I read another book, I even read another book (little chunks of each), drew on my iPad, stared out of the window, took too many pictures, and even considered making my own garage band song but there was no internet for me to sign in. Anyway, 10 hours isn’t so bad! The family next to me were pretty cool too. 

The views were drop dead spectacular, spell-bounding. I’m still in awe at how awesome it was. The mountains when we reached Canada were something you see in travel pictures or paintings. We also passed Greenland! Or as it should be re-named, Icey-land. Amazing views once again.    

Taking Public Transport
I got a Compass card, which is an equivalent to an Oyster card, but so much better for students. At the airport (YVR), I asked someone working there where to get one. He said: “Walk towards the opposite building, to the 4th floor where there is a SkyTrain station, and you should be able to get a Compass card, at the machine”. The reason why the Compass card is so amazing for students, is that UBC has a partnership with something called the U-PASS BC. It allows students to get a monthly travel pass of $44.20, much less than the standard $176.80, a very handsome deal. Getting a Compass card is a $6 deposit, and I added $10 stored value for the first journey to the hotel (as it takes time for the U-PASS and Compass card to link to activate the discount). Seeing a bit of Vancouver from the perspective of trees was super refreshing after the long flight. I travelled from Yvr-Airport to Richmond-Brighouse, where the Panda Pod Hotel is located.   

Accommodation for the first night
Eventually, yours truly got herself to the hotel, the Panda Pod Hotel in Richmond. It was the cheapest place available when I was looking, minus the hostel. I would recommend this place to anyone stopping by/ if they need to rest up before heading into accommodation. It’s a very simple, cute, efficient idea whereby everyone has their own little “pod” to sleep in and you share the facilities: “washroom”, lounge area, and even a massage chair (for an extra fee). Everyone there were super nice and friendly too.

Paying in Canada
After a shower and a little bit of journaling, I was starving. So, I went to this Pho Lan Beef Noodle Soup place, which is situated right next to the Panda Pod. I had lemon grass chicken with rice (lots of rice :)) At the end of the meal, I went to pay, and the lady told me to email her the payment? I wasn’t sure what she meant so I just sent her a number to her email. She just looked at me. Turns out, there is a way of paying people internationally using their email address, via the banking app. This is common in Canada, but back then it was all so new to me, so I just used cash. But I can tell you how to pay internationally now. I’m sure you can find this in any banking app, but if you use Monzo (no foreign currency conversion fee for day-to-day payments), you can find this feature in the international payments section, and this will take you to the payment method. Just 1) chose whether the payment is to a business or personal account, 2) the name of the account holder 3) the email address of the account holder, and then how much you are sending.

What I learnt:
1.    Carry cash: The compass card machine would not take my card for the first 10 tries. To transfer someone money, pay by email, but just in case, carry cash. It’s a good idea to carry cash everywhere you go - especially for the first month.
2.    The Panda Pod is a very nice and affordable hotel. Great location too. I recommend if you are staying for a few nights or before moving into university accommodation.

Edit: 30/10/22
By the way! My sister made a list of places to go to from the thrifty recommendations of Instagram and TikTok, so it must be good, and I plan to tick them all off. Here’s a picture of it! Today is the 30th of October.