January 2014 - February 2014

Upon returning to Vancouver, I decided that I should start getting organised and settled. I spent sometime running around getting organised and yet every day I decided to spent one more day putting off what I wanted to do. I still had this nagging feeling that I wanted to go back to the Maritimes to settle. I met some great people during this time and I ended up not doing a whole lot for another month. I caught Chinese New Year and visited English Bay and Lynn Canyon Park.

Still feeling restless, a friend of mine, Jakob was staying in Tofino and had been for a good few months. Deciding one last adventure was in order, I packed my bags and headed over to see him for three days. I left in the midst of a snow event and found myself waiting in Nanaimo after a rough crossing due to the delays wondering if the bus would still be waiting. It did, and picked a group of us up late and took us to Tofino. Parts of Roger's Pass was snowed over but we made our way slowly through, arriving to Tofino after midnight. Catching up with Jakob the next morning, we hired bikes and went to see the beaches followed by Tacofino, the best fish taco one will ever eat. The next days we wandered around town and the beaches. After a few days I bumped into another Australian, Paul. A great friend to this day still, we connected quickly and ended up hanging out, and checking out some of the beaches like Long Beach. Jakob soon had to leave to head back to Vancouver, so I decided to stay on for a few more days in Tofino. And then a few more days, and another few more days. There is something about Tofino - the scenery is stunning and I started to feel myself never wanting to leave - my mind cleared and I felt truly happy. I'm told it'll do that to you and it did.

Over the next few weeks, I found myself visiting the Hot Springs, the beaches, reading books, cooking and making food again, doing hikes along the coastline and just living a simple life.

However, Vancouver drew me back. As it always seems to do. Another great friend I made, Mike, from Chicago, was leaving on his way to Vancouver and The Rockies, and a roadtrip to Banff was suddenly on the cards - an opportunity I couldn't resist. I planned to head to Banff and stop for a while.

All I knew is that my time in Tofino, albeit only two weeks, was something that was life changing for me.