Using Pinterest to Plan Trips

Let's face it, Pinterest is just plain addictive!  Everyone warns you before you get on it, but really they can never properly prepare you for how much it'll suck you in.  I think what makes it so appealing is that it can be used in so many different ways.  There are those who pin every silly DIY and/or crazy shortcut post that ever existed.  Then there are those who create endless fashion and outfit boards (my cousin).  Then there are those like me, who love to find new recipes or pin old favorites.  Besides for recipes and crochet patterns, I love to use Pinterest as my own personal trip planner.

When it comes to planning travel there are generally two types of people, those that leave it to the experts (aka travel agents) and those that enjoy the planning almost as much as the trip itself.  I, of course, fall into the latter category.  I contribute 50% of this to my love of making lists and 50% to my sister, who is a phenomenal travel agent.  My sis took me on several trips in my teens, most notably a stellar 10 day trip to the UK.  It was so beautifully planned and organized.  We flew into Edinburgh, rented a car and drove down to the mid-lands where we visited friends, went to Liverpool and Stratford-Upon-Avon, and then we took a train to London where we spent the last couple nights.  It was an outstanding trip, and it showed me what good travel is all about.  To this day, I almost always run my trip ideas past my sister, you know, since she does it for a living and she's been almost everywhere.  But once I get the thumbs-up from my sis, then I begin researching.

My research is generally just Google-based.  Usually I'll check tripadvisor to see if there's anything I've missed, but generally the top "things to do" on their list aren't usually activities or sights that interest me.  Plus, the ratings and reviews are so subjective.  Though, sometimes tripadvisor will surprise me!  I constantly turn to Google maps to map out and route the trip, especially near the end of planning when I'm deciding on a specific day-by-day agenda.  For our last couple trips and our next one coming up (Vancouver, Montreal, and Seattle, respectively) I used Pinterest to compile ideas, from places to stay, things to see, restaurants to check out and little helpful tidbits that I've discovered and don't want to risk losing.   

This is my board for our next trip Olympic National Park and Seattle, which is coming up in May. [Click to see the full board]

I'll make notes in the pin description, mainly how much it costs, what it is close to and when it might fit best into the trip.  Then I can constantly share the board with Antoine (and my sister) to get feedback and bounce around ideas.  Plus, just looking at the board makes excited for the trip, which can be kind of torturous...especially if it's months and months away, like Seattle!  Another advantage to using Pinterest inn this way is since I have it on my phone, if I need an address, directions or hours while we're on our trip I can just go to my board instead of spending time searching for it online. It's all-around awesome and now I can't imagine planning a trip without it.  I encourage you to try using Pinterest the next time you plan a trip!

Now if Pinterest could only make it so that you could rearrange your pins within a board I would be in seventh heaven! 

Vancouver: Other Highlights

So, you've made it, my last official recap of our trip to Vancouver!  In a nutshell, it's an awesome city surrounded by nature with such exciting cultural diversity (read: awesome food!) that I'd visit again in a heart beat!

Oddly enough, for my last post on Vancouver I'm going to take you back to the first two days of our trip. For the last three nights of our trip we stayed in the heart of downtown, but for our first two nights we stayed in the northern bit of downtown near the harbor.  While staying in the heart of downtown offers tons of food options, staying a little north near the harbor off you easy access to Stanley Park and the Seawall. Stanley Park is pretty much this gigantic island park full of hiking trails, little lakes, and a variety of sights to see.

The view of Stanley Park from our hotel room.

On our first full day in Vancouver, we put on our raincoats and set out to explore Stanley Park.  First on our list was a trip to the Aquarium.  I have this theory that there are zoo people and there are aquarium people, and you're either one or the other.  Antoine and I are definitely aquarium person.  I personally prefer going to aquariums over zoos.  I find them more interesting and they tend to make me feel less guilty (caged animals and whatnot).  Anyway, the Vancouver Aquarium certainly did not disappoint!  It had a great selection and setup, including an excellent array of local/Pacific Northwest fish.  And some great jellyfish, which are my favorite!

After our visit to the aquarium, we walked along the Seawall and through a bit of the park, stopping at Brockton Point to see the totem poles.

On Thanksgiving day, when we were driving up to Lynn Canyon, we decided to stop in Stanley Park (again) on the way and check out Beaver Lake.  It's a little lake surrounded by trees and filled with lily pads with a great stone trail wrapping around it.  It was beautiful and quiet, great for a morning walk.  And the wildlife seemed to be very friendly...maybe a little too curious for my liking (a squirrel attempted to follow us...I don't like squirrels. They are evil!).

Now, I've saved the best for last!  Get in close and listen to my absolute favorite thing we did in Vancouver...Edible Canada's Granville Market tour.  I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing myself, but it was awesome!  My sister, who is a kick-ass travel agent, said that we had to do this.  She had gone a couple years before and loved it.  I was skeptical, but I thought, "Sure, why not".  Holy bananas, it was pretty freaking rad.  The tour started at 9am, so I made Antoine get up super early because I wanted to make sure we weren't late, and I wasn't 100% sure how to get there.  Lucky for us, because we ended up getting a bit lost, but then we found it (the market is, no joke, under a bridge...plus, buses confuse me!) and we waited in the rain for the Edible Canada storefront to open up.

Since it was November and the Friday after Thanksgiving (apparently a good number of locals drive south to Washington state to go shopping), the place was pretty dead.  And we shortly found out that we were the only two people on the tour.  For two hours, our tour-guide Chef Bob (an outstanding guide), took us around the market, talking about food, introducing us to vendors, and, best of all, guiding us through a sampling tour of this killer farmer's market.  I don't have any pictures of the tour because I was too busy stuffing my face with food and laughing and having a good time.  We tasted so many delicious things (smoked salmon maple nuggets, locally roasted coffee, locally produced cheese, warm-out-of-the-oven focaccia, beautiful artisan chocolates, etc.) from so many outstanding vendors that I'd do it again without a second thought.

Antoine and I aren't typically "tour people", we'd prefer to be on our own and go at our own pace.  But we both agreed that this one was phenomenal and we would recommend it to anyone.  ANYONE!  Actually, I think we'd skip the whole "suggesting" and just tell them had to do it!  Also, this is something that is probably one of the best activities to do during the off season.  We were able to get out of the rain, and since it was just the two of us, the tour was super intimate and so much fun.  Plus, the market wasn't as packed.  Though, one word of warning, if you take the tour, make sure to give yourself at least 3 to 4 hours of time, 2 hours for the tour and 1-2 hours to explore, buy some goodies, and maybe have lunch...that's what we did!

I hope you've enjoyed my Vancouver recap.  It's a great place to visit that I'd recommend to pretty much anyone.  I know I'll definitely be going back in the future!

Vancouver: Part Three (Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden)

On the last full day of our trip we decided to get up early and head to Chinatown, which was within walking distance of our hotel.  We got their around 9:30am, on a Saturday, and the neighborhood still seemed to be asleep.  Chinatown itself was a little sad looking with its array of local vagrants and panhandlers, but our primary reason for visiting was Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Classical Chinese Garden.  I had had several people recommend the place as a must-see, so we put it on our list.  Since we got there before they opened at 10am, we walked around to the other side of the garden where there is a public Chinese garden. This Chinese garden is free and open to the public yet is connected to the the classical garden.  It's a little more run-down than Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's garden, which charges admission, but it is still worth a visit. 

The entrance to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Classical Garden is just next to the public garden.  Red Chinese lanterns flank the entrance, making it easy to spot.  Again, since we went during the off-season, the garden was crowd-free, with only a couple other groups there visiting.

Though we were lucky to have a break in the rain and the sun came out, I have to admit that Winter isn't the best time to go to the gardens.  While it was still beautiful and worth the experience, I can only imagine how breathtaking the gardens are in the Spring and Summer months!  I'd venture to say that it's probably well worth braving the crowds to see everything in bloom and flourishing.

See you next time (or at least I hope), for a recap of some random highlights from our trip!  Seriously, I hope you come back because I'm going to let you in on one of the best things to do in Vancouver...something I didn't believe was going to be as awesome as it was...

Vancouver: Part Two (Lynn Canyon)

Half way through our trip, actually on Thanksgiving day, we rented a car and headed north of downtown Vancouver to Lynn Canyon, which took about a half hour or so by car.  In doing research for this trip, which I really enjoy by the way, I found a lot of people referencing this Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, but as soon as I saw the $30+ per person admission price I said, "Hell no!".  Instead, I found several people on a board mentioning this place called Lynn Canyon Park, just 13 minutes east of Capilano that also had a suspension bridge and beautiful hiking...and was totally free!  Now, come on, that was an easy decision to make!

Now, I have to admit the idea of a suspension bridge over a rushing stream kind of scares the crap out of me.  I mean, look at it:

But, I was brave and I did it!  And truthfully, beyond it being dangerously slippery...it wasn't too bad!

A and me on the bridge!

Besides the suspension bridge, which is the first thing you come to when you go to the park, Lynn Canyon offers some excellent hiking.  There's trails to the riverbed, to falls, and throughout the gorgeous woods.  It was easily my favorite part of the trip.  I'm a nut for nature, there's just something tall trees and rushing streams that is just so simply beautiful. 

Antoine and I hiked for hours and covered most of the park.  Again, since it was the off season, the park was pretty quiet, which I enjoyed.  Though, I would assume that in the Spring and Summer it is probably packed with people hiking and swimming.

Hope you're not getting too bored of Vancouver, because next up is a trip through China Town to the Chinese gardens.

Vancouver: Part One (Bloedel Conservatory)

This past Thanksgiving Antoine and I decided to take advantage of some hotel rewards and skymiles from his consulting days and skip town.  The idea was that since we celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents early in November and his parents don't really celebrate holidays, why not get out of the US and get away from the Thanksgiving/Black Friday mania.  So, we opted to spend 5 nights in Vancouver.  Sure, November is Vancouver's rainy season, but it's also their off-season...which means less tourists floating around and more opportunity to experience the city in peace.  Of course, all the locals thought we were crazy for visiting in November, but I gotta say, even with a couple chilly, dreary days Vancouver still left quite the impression.  What a great city! The downtown area is surrounded by water and mountains, it's beyond beautiful.  Naturally I took my camera, which means I took thousands of photos!  I know, I go a little overboard, but I like to take anywhere from two to six photos of one subject...I tend to fill up my SD card pretty quickly!

Since I have so many pictures to share I've decided to divide this recap into four parts.  I just want to share some of my favorite parts of the trip, since that's the best part..looking back and thinking about what you really enjoyed.  The first is Bloedel Conservatory.  It was one of the last places we visited, but it was also one of my favorites.  I've got a thing for floral conservatories, mainly because I have a serious affinity for taking pictures of flowers.  Cincinnati's Krohn Conservatory is one of my favorite places in the city, and I've visited conservatories in places like Columbus, D.C. and Chicago and been in seventh heaven!  But Bloedel is something very different, in fact, it's a pretty small place with a modest flower selection.  The most interesting part of Bloedel are the array of birds that freely wander around the conservatory; everything from finches to exotic parrots to birds I had never seen before.  None of the birds are caged, so at any moment a finch could go zipping past your head.  Although a little startling, it makes for some great picture-taking.

This guy was my favorite, he seemed very friendly.  Plus, he seemed to like hanging around the orchids just as much as I did!

Since we were staying in the heart of downtown, Bloedel was a little bit of a bus ride away, but it was totally worth it!  And, on the way back to our hotel we stopped at this fantastic place called Peaceful Restaurant...so delicious!  If/when we go back, we will definitely be making a trip or two to Peaceful, it was possibly some of the best Chinese food I've ever had!  Also, the overlook at Bloedel offers a spectacular view of downtown Vancouver. 

Stayed tuned for round two, a hike through Lynn Canyon.