yoga | Some Think Different

Since my last post we have visited San Diego, Santa Monica, Las Vegas and Brooklyn. We are in Manhattan at the moment and leave for Boston tomorrow.

We have hit the half way mark of our trip, which is totally crazy. The time we have been away has flown and gone slowly at the same time. We have found that we are doing so many exciting things and making so many decisions each day that we are feeling like we need a weekend of doing nothing. Today we headed to the New York Library for some much needed quiet time. We spent three hours there and both left feeling recharged.

We are both learning so much as we travel – about ourselves, our relationship and the world. It has been awesome. It has also made us appreciate so many things about home.

There have been so many highlights from the last few weeks – visiting San Clemente and having a vegan feast as we drove from San Diego to Santa Monica, spending quality time with our friends from Australia in Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil “O” at Bellagio, the incredible Wanderlust Festival in Brooklyn, Sleep No More at The McKittrick Hotel, seeing Matilda on Broadway and of course – Daybreaker in Manhattan.

Daybreaker is an event like no other. On a Wednesday morning from 6am until 9am, New York locals turn up to a nightclub in their best gym get up to have a dance party before work. We stumbled upon the event after I read about the founder in the Wanderlust journal. We booked our tickets to Daybreaker the day before.

In concept it sounds completely crazy, but it is one of the best events we have been to. We arrived, bleary eyed at 6:45am and entered the darkened club at 7:00am. We were greeted by music, lights, friendly faces, coffee, protein shakes and breakfast snacks (as well as a fully stocked schwag station sponsored by Six:02 and Puma).

The DJs played for two hours (dem feelz!), accompanied by an MC and a live brass quintet. The dance floor was packed for the whole time we were there. Towards the end of the event, we were encouraged to welcome the day in and the club’s blinds were raised. There was an incredible feeling in the room – people dancing, smiling, laughing and hugging. It was an awesome way go out to a nightclub without having a late night, meet some new people and get 10,000 steps in before breakfast. Perfection. We will definitely go again in another city.

In minimalism news, I bought a new suitcase in Vegas which has helped me out a lot. It is the same size (possibly smaller) and a lot more sturdy. If I had a dollar for the number of times we have said to each other “imagine if we had large suitcases” as we have travelled on planes, buses and the New York subway, I would have enough money to buy another suitcase. Ha. The small suitcases have seriously helped us get around easily and avoid any back injuries.

Here are some pics from our last few destinations…

We arrived in Vancouver on Sunday 19 July (two hours after we left Sydney!), at 7:30 in the morning. We took the train to the suburb we are staying in. At the train station we were helped out by a friendly attendant. We now realize this is the Canadian way: people are ridiculously friendly and helpful.

Arriving on a Sunday morning, things were nice and quiet. We found a café around the corner from our accommodation that served delicious coffee – a great way to start our honeymoon!

We are staying in an AirBNB private suite which is in the basement of a beautiful old home. It is gorgeous and has a very comfortable bed, Netflix, bikes and is close to the train station and the city. Not bad for $120 a night! However, being in the basement does mean it has low ceilings and there is a beam that Courtney needs to dodge (he learned the hard way). Our hosts are very friendly and have helped us out with suggestions on things to do around town.

We are only three days in but so we have already been to the Food Truck Festival, visited Capilano and the Suspension Bridge, rode around and through Stanley Park and participated in a drumming circle on the beach, celebrating the sunset over the mountains. All of these have been incredible.

We love Vancouver and can totally see why it is one of the most liveable cities around the world. It is close to nature (Stanley Park and Capilano are out of this world), the people are friendly, the drivers are courteous and the city is built for bike riders.

There is a lot to do if you’re interested in the outdoors and exercising. There is a focus on healthy food and lifestyle, which is great for both of us, and there are also SO many yoga studios! I can’t wait to attend a class in the next few days.

The city is environmentally conscious – we were stoked to see recycling bin attendants at the Food Truck Festival, a ‘no idling’ rule in the city and a focus on farmers markets and organic produce.

Something I look forward to exploring more is Vancouver’s social innovation and enterprise scene. Already after a quick search I have found a site called Social Enterprise Canada and a whole bunch of co-working places for social entrepreneurs.

Today we are going on a Food Truck walking tour in the city which will be fun, and we are then going to be meeting up with our friend Jen and a couple of his friends. He is going to take us on a walk through his neighbourhood on the North Shore which we are looking forward to.