Dan and I Went to Banff and All I Got Was This Fake-Looking Photo

It's not a big secret that Dan and I travel a lot, and that we're lucky enough to visit some far-flung places. But for this summer's trip, we stuck closer to home (well... as close as 3000 miles can be) and visited our neighbor to the North for a Canadian Rockies road trip.

"You are so random," Dan's sister said of this plan.

No arguments there (our original idea was Japan), but Vancouver/Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper was the freaking bomb. There was absolutely no pressure to do anything except look at pretty scenery, and that turned out to be quite easy: just open your eyes. We saw glaciers, and glacier-fed lakes of an inhuman, unnatural blue. We saw bears eating raspberries by the side of the road, and a double rainbow over our lodge as we drank Albertan beers. We even ate relatively sensibly and did a lot of hiking, biking, rafting, and walking, so much so that my boss today commented that I look a tiny bit slimmer. It was an awesome trip. Even more awesome because I planned none of it - thanks, Danno!

This photo, in particular, looks like we're sitting in front of a mural at the visitors' center.

On Mortality and Privilege While Skiing in the Rockies

I learned to ski when I was 10. A family friend took me for the day to Vernon Valley/Great Gorge in New Jersey, and I learned the pizza wedge in an all-day lesson. A few years later, I started going on school trips, and eventually - this is where I really lucked out - to places like Utah, Vancouver, and Tahoe with my aunt. I've never been much of an athlete, but I picked up skiing quickly. By the end of my two years in LA, where the combination of no time commitments whatsoever and similarly self-scheduled friends in San Francisco and Vail meant multiple trips to Tahoe and the Rockies each season, I was pretty damn good. Since then, my skiing has been sporadic. What sport has more obstacles? It can be practiced only in certain, highly specific areas, requiring a serious cache of gear. It demands planning and cash.

Before I started my new job, I spent a few days Beaver Creek skiing with college buddies. It was awesome. I caught up with close friends I don't see often. Yaf, our host, has been skiing BC for years and pointed us toward all the best runs. We zoomed down the mountain and then chatted on the chairlift. It started with general catching up, but quickly turned to the fact that WE ARE GETTING OLD.

You guys. My knees. I used to be able to bomb down a mogul run, trusting that even if I was in terrible shape and possibly not skilled enough to navigate all the bumps, I could depend on fearlessness and a force of will to get down. Now I get winded halfway through, and plot out ways to unlock my screaming calves. I said the following phrase: "My knees!" - more than once. The post-ski hot tub morphed from fun drinking location to a physical necessity.

I was not alone in this.

The phrase "I'm so lucky" went through my head frequently as well. First, just to be there. To be someplace so beautiful and fun, with great friends. Also: to have access to a sport like this; that I'm able to buy a plane ticket and a three-day mountain pass without thinking too much about, is an incredible privilege. I actually have a lot more to say about that, but every time I try to phrase it I come out sounding like an asshole. Because writing a whole post about skiing a mountain whose actual, unironic slogan is "Beaver Creek: Not exactly roughing it" didn't do that already.

So to complete the picture, here's a photo of us chowing down on the warm chocolate chip cookies that staffers in chef hats and coats reading "Cookie Time!" pass out at the end of the day. Because if they weren't warm... that would probably be roughing it.

Odes to Sayulita and the Canon S100

Dan and I recently spent a week in Sayulita, Mexico. We hit on it a few months ago in a Facebook post - Dan asked the Internet where we could go that's warm, beachy, and tourist-friendly but not overrun with resorts. Husein and Carly, who live and teach in Sayulita and who had invited us to visit in the past, were like, "...guys?" And the decision was made.

It was a perfect vacation spot. The town is a little bit crunchy, filled with Mexicans who run family businesses and work in or out of the tourist industry. It's their town, they want you to love it, and they want it to stay a community. There's one large hotel, and no resorts. We rented a condo on the beach and were upgraded to a villa upon arrival.

Its size was wasted on us, but not the view. We woke up to this every morning:

Ladies would come by with pastries and tamales, and Dan and I would sit on the balcony, staring at the ocean as we munched away.

I brought my new camera, which takes fantastic, idiot-proof photos. Why have I been spending $150 on basic point-and-shoots when I could have had this one for a hundred more? After borrowing Scott's fancy SLR for our trip to Paris and having it on the wrong setting the whole time (the pictures are fine, but a point-and-shoot would have done just as well), I wanted something little and automatic. Carrying an SLR around creates a sense of obligation - you feel like you need to be taking photos constantly, and that they should be photographs rather than pictures. I found in Paris that it took me out of the experience a little. So in Sayulita, I didn't take as many, and there were days I just left the camera at home. How many pictures of the beach do you really need? Anyway, if you're in the market for a fancy point-and-shoot, I recommend the Canon S100.

I also recommend Sayulita. We met people who'd been going there for 10-15 years, loving the vibe and the beach. It's not for everyone - there are no resorts, and it's a little bit crunchy and rustic - but we loved it. We swam, drank, biked, boated, and saw about a thousand whales.

Poqueta! (Hus & Carly's cat-dog)

And ATE. It was a 70% fish taco diet, and I had to wear stretch pants on the plane ride home. Worth it.

Chilequiles, aka nachos for breakfast.

Quesadilla purchased from a lady making the tortillas in front of you.

Great vacation.

Chillin'

Just eatin' Laduree macarons on top of the Eiffel Tower and ridin' through the Louvre at sunset; you know how it is.

Paree

Off to Paris, land of one million photo ops.  Perhaps I will run into Hemingway?

Some of the Less Mature Pictures From South Africa

(note fifth leg) 

 

Pictures I Never Posted: Montreal

Dan took me to Montreal for my birthday, because he is the bestest.

Breakfast:

Bikes:

 Smoked Meat Sandwiches:

 Batch of bagel dough:

Bars:

 Brunch:

Beer:

 Breakfast!

 ***above: the best croissant of my LIFE.  (Yes this is the same place we went the first day.  Worth it).

 Birthday!

 Fun trip.  Unfortunately it rained a lot, but Montreal is charm central and a stone's throw away.  Try it!