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I'm in Vancouver and so far the trip has been very good. I met up with several friends for a late lunch, checked into my B&B, did some grocery shopping, and wound up at Storm Crow with a bunch of random SCAdians I hadn't met yet.
One of the things I'm trying to accomplish is to travel with less stuff. I ended up buying a shoulder bag that was almost the maximum dimensions of Westjet's carry-on allowance, then ended up switching it all to my first backpack at the last minute. I'm glad I did (though I'm not happy I wasted the money on a shoulder bag I'm probably never going to use) - it fit without problem, carried what I needed it to carry, and has a wee bit of room to spare.
The problem with packing lightly though is that I have some high volume things. First, being a big guy, my clothes are simply bigger. Some people can stick a change of clothes in a Pringle's can. I am not one of them. The big thing is my running shoes. One solution is to make those my only shoes, except I like to go to the theatre and nice restaurants, and my neon green runners don't go well with black pants and a button up shirt. So those shoes need to be packed. There's been times when I've packed the shoes and then failed to run. That always irritates me, so I resolved that, on this trip, if I was going to pack them, then I was going to run, rain or shine.
Did I mention that I'm in Vancouver in November?
So I hear it pouring rain all morning, and I'm thinking of putting the run off until tomorrow. Then while puttering around my suite this morning, I hear that the rain has stopped! Looking outside the window, I can see a few patches of sunlight trying to break through the cloud cover. Cool! This could be my one opportunity.
I put on my running strip and go outside. It is dry for about ten feet and then it starts to rain again. OK, I think, It's probably just the last gasp of the rain, I can ignore it.
Over the first kilometer, the rain grows more steady until it's a full on shower. If it gets worse, I resolve, I'll turn around and go back. It gets worse and worse, but it does so as I get farther and farther away from my suite. At three Km I have my epiphany: My clothing is already soaked through to the skin, and it doesn't feel that bad. Oh, it's not pleasant, but running in the snow is worse. As long as I keep running, I won't get cold. So I resolve to do my full planned run. After about five Km, I stop avoiding puddles. When I finally finish at seven Km, I'm actually steaming.
I go back into my suite and immediately strip down. Even my skivvies are damp.
And now the rain has stopped.
One of the things I'm trying to accomplish is to travel with less stuff. I ended up buying a shoulder bag that was almost the maximum dimensions of Westjet's carry-on allowance, then ended up switching it all to my first backpack at the last minute. I'm glad I did (though I'm not happy I wasted the money on a shoulder bag I'm probably never going to use) - it fit without problem, carried what I needed it to carry, and has a wee bit of room to spare.
The problem with packing lightly though is that I have some high volume things. First, being a big guy, my clothes are simply bigger. Some people can stick a change of clothes in a Pringle's can. I am not one of them. The big thing is my running shoes. One solution is to make those my only shoes, except I like to go to the theatre and nice restaurants, and my neon green runners don't go well with black pants and a button up shirt. So those shoes need to be packed. There's been times when I've packed the shoes and then failed to run. That always irritates me, so I resolved that, on this trip, if I was going to pack them, then I was going to run, rain or shine.
Did I mention that I'm in Vancouver in November?
So I hear it pouring rain all morning, and I'm thinking of putting the run off until tomorrow. Then while puttering around my suite this morning, I hear that the rain has stopped! Looking outside the window, I can see a few patches of sunlight trying to break through the cloud cover. Cool! This could be my one opportunity.
I put on my running strip and go outside. It is dry for about ten feet and then it starts to rain again. OK, I think, It's probably just the last gasp of the rain, I can ignore it.
Over the first kilometer, the rain grows more steady until it's a full on shower. If it gets worse, I resolve, I'll turn around and go back. It gets worse and worse, but it does so as I get farther and farther away from my suite. At three Km I have my epiphany: My clothing is already soaked through to the skin, and it doesn't feel that bad. Oh, it's not pleasant, but running in the snow is worse. As long as I keep running, I won't get cold. So I resolve to do my full planned run. After about five Km, I stop avoiding puddles. When I finally finish at seven Km, I'm actually steaming.
I go back into my suite and immediately strip down. Even my skivvies are damp.
And now the rain has stopped.
