One of the places I’ve been to twice now is Pemberton, BC. Other than Pemberton Music Festival, which sadly is no longer operating, Pemberton has some other highlights that make it WELL worth checking out this summer. So—in efforts to shine an even brighter light on the beauty of British Columbia—here are 5 reasons why you should make Pemberton your next road trip destination. 

1. Camping Sites GALORE

This is definitely the biggest reason why people visit Pemberton during the summer. Surrounded by camp sites like Strawberry Point by Lillooet Lake (okay I know technically this is in Lytton, BC but I can’t possibly be the only one who considers it as a part of Pemby), it’s most Vancouver adventurers’ first thought when it comes to summer weekend fun. 

2. Visit The Infamous Au Naturale Hot Springs

Both times that I’ve been to Pemberton, it’s been to visit the Sloquet hot springs. Even funnier thing is—both times I’ve went was in the Fall/Winter months! Although it seems wild to go off-roading for 2 hours in Autumn just to get naked in the freezing to go into a hot springs, it’s actually the most amazing experience. But make sure you go prepared and don’t make the same mistake I did—take a truck or SUV! And if you care a lot about the cleanliness of your car…well I’m sorry to say…this adventure probably isn’t for you. 

I vlogged last time I went to Sloquet/Pemberton, so definitely check this video out if you want a gist of what it’s all like!

3. One Of The Most Highly-Reviewed Horseback Riding Experiences

I’m not going to lie, I haven’t personally gone Horseback Riding at Adventure Ranch but I still thought I would include it because I really want to. Not to mentioned it is rated 5 stars on Trip Advisor! Their rates are super reasonable as well—for a 2 hour tour, their packages range from $75 for children under 12 to $100 for adults. They take you through open meadows, old growth temperate rain forests, as well as offering you the opportunity to experience several creek crossings. 

Next trip to Pemberton, I’m 11/10 adding this onto the itinerary. 

4. Hiking Joffres Lake or Nairn Falls

You can’t visit a place surrounded by so many natural treasures without doing one of the beautiful hikes. The two post popular ones nearby are definitely Joffres Lake and Nairn Falls. 

Nairn Falls

Just 20 minutes north of Whistler, and located within the boundaries of the Village of Pemberton, just 5 minutes from Pemberton town center, is Nairn Falls Park. This park provides a good base camp for exploring Whistler, the Pemberton Valley or nearby Garibaldi Provincial Park.

It is an excellent overnight stop before continuing onto the Duffey Lake Road or points north or south. The falls are 60 m high and a 1.5 km hiking trail will take you to the viewpoint.

Joffres Lake

Turquoise blue waters of Lower, Middle and Upper Joffre lakes are why most visit—all three of which are located along the trail, and each more stunning than the last. Their striking, saturated blue colour is caused by “rockflour” – or glacial silt – that is suspended in the water and reflects green and blue wavelengths of sunlight. Joffre Lakes Provincial Park has opportunities for hiking, camping, mountaineering, wildlife viewing, and fishing.

5. Eating At Mile One 

Attached to the homey Pemberton Gateway Hotel, the Mile One Eating House is known for their amazing comfort food and friendly attitude. And when I say “amazing comfort food”, I truly mean AMAZING comfort food. During my last visit to Pemby, I stayed at the Pemberton Gateway and oh how I regret only eating at Mile One on our last night. They have an amazing selection of top notch burgers, delicious sandwiches, gourmet hotdogs, hearty poutines, and not to mention 7 DIFFERENT MAC AND CHEESES. They really know how to make a girl happy that’s for sure. If you’re just passing through Pemby for whatever reason, save your appetite and make a stop at Mile One. I promise you won’t be disappointed. 

Are you excited yet about your next adventure?

More soon, 

Planning a trip doesn’t have to take weeks, but it also isn’t something that just happens overnight. Even if you’re someone who travels frequently there is still a list of things that you need to go through. So what do you need to consider when planning a trip?

Destination

So where do you want to go? There are so many amazing things to see in the world, from the seven wonders of the world to heated natural pools on remote islands. Do you want a city break with historical roots, plenty to see, and a great shopping district? Head to New York. For a unique stay in an igloo with a once in a lifetime view of the Aurora Borealis then head to the Netherlands or Iceland. Go on a safari trip, climb Everest, or visit the catacombs of Paris. Once you have figured out what you want to do on your trip, you can then easily weed out the places you don’t want to go, and then enjoy deciding on which destination is for you.

Hotel And Flights

Now that you know where you’re going, it’s time to get the details sorted. You can easily get flights, and your hotel booked through one website, but it can be worth shopping around to get the best price. There are so many options for accommodation so don’t think that you just have to settle for the same thing every time you go travelling. If you’re opting for a bit of luxury, then look into instant book boutique hotels. If you’re going to be travelling around, then perhaps look into hostels rather than hotels. 

Another great option for accommodations is Airbnb. If you still haven’t tried staying in an Airbnb when travelling, you are living under a rock! I love staying in Airbnbs as an affordable alternative to hotels while still maintaining a bit of luxury. There are places for rent ranging from cheaper studios and one-bedrooms to entire mansions! You choose how much you want to pay.  

Lists

So with the big details sorted—now you can start thinking about the fun little things. You have plenty of time to make your plans so your first list should comprise of all the things that you want to do while you’re there. You can research each thing and make a plan of what you really want to do. The second list should be of all the things that you need to take with you. You might have a decent amount of holiday clothing already, but everyone loves taking at least a couple of new things on holiday. Plus, if you’re heading somewhere where will you need special clothing—like skiing, or hiking, or climbing, you will need to buy the right things.

Those are my quick little tips of things you should consider while planning your next trip. I know I’m already starting to think about all the places that I can go in 2018. Have you started planning? And where to? 

Until next time, 

Being someone who has never operated or used an RV/trailer before, this weekend was definitely a huge learning opportunity. So I thought I would share some tips I picked up this weekend from trying to figure out how this “glamping” stuff works!

 1. Find a water fill-up spot/dump site near your destination

We realized very quickly that towing the Airstream with a full tank of fresh water was a struggle and a half. Thankfully we were smart enough at least to go most of our trip with an empty water tank. But the short hour-long drive we endured with the water tank at 60% full felt like a nightmare. With every bump in the road came the fear of something horrible happening as the trailer swayed much more than usual and almost moved the back of our truck with it. 

2. Make sure you know how to operate EVERY part of the RV before you hit the road

I’m not proud to say we actually didn’t know how to operate ANY part of our Airstream before we started our road trip. Thankfully most of it was easy to figure out. The only we couldn’t figure out how to use the entire trip was our plumbing. We had a tank full of water, a working water pump, all the open valves, yet for some reason, we could not for the life of us get our water running to our faucets and toilet. 

I swear we spent probably hours reading material on the internet trying to figure out what was wrong. In the end, we just decided we’ve already wasted enough time trying to figure it out, and went without the plumbing for our weekend trip. 

3. Bring a WARM blanket

Even though it was quite warm during the day, it still really instantly chilly after dark. We didn’t want to leave the generator running overnight in fear that it would bother others’ sleep. I only brought one fleece blanket for the trip so thankfully there was one in the trailer already. 

Ultra important to bring a large blanket as well, especially if you’re planning to share it with someone else. That way there’s much less of a chance of you waking up in the middle of the night freezing, with half the blankets off your body!

4. Make sure you bring ALL the kitchen utensils

We ended up purchasing most of our kitchen utensils and tools at Walmart just because neither of us had extra kitchenware at home to bring. But I highly recommend just bringing whatever kitchenware that you can so that you can save the money! 

We ended up buying a pan, utensils, spatulas, plates, and cups. Although it’s not much, we only had two small meals planned in the Airstream so it wasn’t the biggest deal. 

5.  Open all the windows and then some when you cook!

Especially if you’re going to be making bacon and eggs in the morning ? The smoke from bacon set off our alarm even with all of the windows and doors open. Thankfully the alarm is easily silenced at the touch of a button. But after the second or third time, it does get a little bit annoying. 

I absolutely loved staying in the Airstream, and hope that there will be at least a couple more adventure opportunities in this pretty baby this summer. If you ever get the chance to travel in one of these, take it up! I promise you won’t regret it.

More soon, 

Whytecliff park is this beautiful little beach that has a walkway that leads to a separate little island rock figure. When you climb to the other side of the island (and yes, it’s a CLIMB) you get an unrestricted view of the water and it’s absolutely breath-taking. Fun fact: the land bridge that leads to the island gets swallowed up when the tides are high so make sure you head back to the beach before that happens! Or be prepared to spend the night on a little rocky island. Up to you. 

 Although it was the biggest struggle shooting here (I fell and cut my knee through my distressed denim, I got wet from the waves, I was freezing through my clothes) it was definitely worth it after seeing the photos. It was a really nice little escape from the stress of school and work. It probably wasn’t the smartest life decision as I had two finals the next day (oops!) but I’m still super glad I went.

This school semester is finally coming to an end and I’m looking forward to many more adventures this winter. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit the Christmas market soon! 

Until next time, 

The drive was slightly unnerving I’m not going to lie. Taking the highway from Vancouver to Pemberton was easy and took us just under 2 hours. However, from Pemberton to Sloquet is a different story. To get to Sloquet you have to travel on a rocky service road for over 40 kms. You really don’t think about how this is going to be a problem unless you’ve actually done it. In a little Yaris. Thankfully my roadtrip date was awesome and maneuvered around the potholes expertly. I definitely don’t think I could’ve got us through it as gracefully (thanks dude ;)). I’ll link the directions as well as a little more information about Sloquet here. If you live in BC consider it for your next adventure. Sloquet was more than worth the drive. I’m also embedding the charming Airbnb that we stayed down below. It was a beautiful little loft-style cabin in Pemberton. 11/10 would stay there again (Y). 

The hot spring itself was absolutely stunning. It’s starts with a small waterfall of natural steaming water that leads to several man-made holes that you can tell was probably one big pool at one point. The pools are separated in such a way so that the pools closest to the streaming river nearby are the least hot and the ones closest to the waterfall are the hottest. The pools are pretty shallow so you have to lie down to get your entire body underwater. But it was absolutely amazing. Surrounded by nature and so remote… Really gives you the opportunity to just take a step back from everything that’s happening in life and just … relax. 

It was actually raining when we went and although it would’ve been beautiful in a sunny setting as well, it definitely made the whole experience a lot more special. The feeling of the cold crisp air and raindrops on your skin while you’re sitting in a hot spring pool is absolutely perfect. 

Oh and did I mention there’s no cell service pretty much as soon as you get onto the service road? This trip was a great way to just unplug from the world a little. 

Doesn’t hurt if your travel buddy doesn’t mind helping you snap a few pics when you’re there. The location was a dream and definitely somewhere I want a few pictures of to remember forever. Not to mention I’ve got to share it with you guys DUH. 

I’m really glad I decided to go on this spontaneous little adventure. It was much-needed with school pounding down on us hard this fall/winter. It’s also left me feeling really motivated to go on more micro-adventures! It didn’t cost a lot but was worth so much. Definitely a trip that didn’t exceed my student budget too much. Not to mention the awesome content for the blog is a huge bonus ;). 

I’m going to leave you guys with a great little article written by the Travelettes about micro-adventures and finding time in your busy schedule to relax. I’ve been following their posts recently and it has definitely given me some serious travel cravings so check them out for adventure-inspo. 

Until next time, 

Funny thing is I actually never really want to make jack-o-laterns anymore. That shit is way too tedious. This year I think I’m going to try to make something edible with my pumpkin instead  

I’ve got to say, everytime I go to a pumpkin patch I feel like I’ve been transported back to my childhood. One year in elementary school, our entire grade went on a field trip to the local pumpkin patch. Although I can’t say I remember everything about that day, I definitely will never forget the feeling that day gave me. Now everytime I go back, even if I go to a different pumpkin patch, I can the strongest sense of nostalgia. Back to when things were carefree, classes were easy, grades and bills didn’t exist, and my biggest worry was what the school was serving for lunch that day… 

I mean what I eat for lunch is still a serious consideration of mine but since when did everything else become so important, time-sensitive, and stressful as well?!

My look of pure joy when I found my perfect pumpkin. Does anyone else just try to find the most aesthetically pleasing pumpkin? 

The 12-acre corn maze was pretty intense. Due to the rain in the past couple of weeks, the entire maze was pretty much one big mud puddle. The mud was pretty much up to your ankles the entire way through. I will say that I did love that I could use my rain boots finally though. Bought these bad girls two years ago and barely have had the chance to wear them since. I forgot to warn my corn maze partner to wear boots so his shoes got ruined real bad, real fast hehe. Even with all the mud it was really fun trying to navigate our way out of the maze. We didn’t know that you were supposed to get a map and we pretty much just dived in head first. Thankfully we caught up with some people and they let us take a picture of their map. And that’s when we found out we weren’t even at the big maze and we’ve been pretty much walking in circles so we gave up. Who knew that mazes would be so hard? 

I probably had more fun and got more excited than any kid at the place (as per usual). Definitely an activities girl and the Chilliwack pumpkin patch and corn maze was the perfect little half-day getaway that I needed desperately after exams. 

I actually have another little adventure planned soon so keep your eyes peeled for that! 

Outfit Details: 

Black cropped turtleneck sweater: Aritzia

Blue skinny jeans: Citizens of Humanity (Aritzia)

Rain boots: Hunter 

Jacket: Lululemon

Until next time, 

Starting off with The Broad. Sadly I didn’t even get to walk through the entire exhibition because halfway through the alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate the building. But the parts I did get to see were amazing enough. Of course I couldn’t miss out from taking photos with the infamous giant dinner table and chairs piece. (BASIC I KNOW, BUT WHATEVER)

I loved this piece that I saw that said “your body is a battle ground”. It’s one of those super cool, simplistic pieces that I would love to have when I own the loft of my dreams. 

And of course I couldn’t go to Los Angeles without eating some of the infamous blogger-approved foods such as Eggslut. The line was DAMN long when we went. A solid 20-30 minute wait. But oh man was it worth it. I had the Fairfax sandwich which is a soft scrambled egg and chives sandwich with cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, and sriracha mayo… Oh and of course I had to add avocado and bacon. DUH. And oh dear lord was it everything I’ve ever dreamt about and more. My mouth is currently watering just thinking about it. 

We discovered this cool bar/lofty hangout place called the Arts District Brewing while we were walking around looking for stuff to do. So we stopped by and had a beer of course! I’m actually not usually a big drinker but the vibe was so cool and chill here I had to try something! Ended up sharing a beer with Janice. If you’re ever in LA looking for a cool place to hang out and drink beer, I would definitely recommend this place. They’ve got a bunch of different game setups there as well (skeeball, darts, you name it). Plus they have this giant neon sign that of course you haaaavve to take a picture of. As I did. 

Last but not least was a food place recommended by a friend. I wanted a really good brunch option and she recommended Joan’s on Third. It’s located on W 3rd st. right by the Beverly Center. It’s got a super clean and cool vibe but was definitely packed with people at brunch time. Thankfully they have two tills going and the line moved quite quickly. Oh and I saw Jason Biggs from American Pie there. Pretty cool experience seeing him and his family just living their lives. For those of your who live in LA… does bumping into famous people happen often?!

Hope all of you have been enjoying my LA posts so far! I only have one or two more before I’ve shared all my content with you :'( I wish it never has to end! 

Also make sure you check out my vlogs that I’ve been posting on my Youtube channel! Come experience my LA adventures with me!

Until next time! 

Here’s part two of my LA vlog series! This one is all about my day at Universal Studios. Some of my childhood Harry Potter dreams came true that day. So thankful that Universal Studios decided to create the Wizarding World of Harry Potter #BLESSUP.

Sorry if this one was a little shaky by the way! I was running around being acting more excited than 80% of the kids there

More soon,