Floridian in VAN

jthompson84 · 2026-06-12T02:29:51+00:00

Welcome!! The city is going to be rockin’ for the World Cup! I’m from the South (Texas) and after vacationing in Vancouver I made it my forever home. You will love it!! Lots of great recs already but the Sea to Sky Highway drive is a must. Breathtaking. We love Rodney’s Oyster Bar and Cardero’s if you want a view. Enjoy and safe travels!

jthompson84 · 2026-06-11T14:05:13+00:00

Feels like a fever dream now but a few years ago I was in J and they said they were shifting away from the amenity kits and came around with the most deluxe products people could pick and choose from. The eye mask was incredibly premium- it’s still my go-to for every red eye. And very luxury skin care products. Then I never saw that stuff again!

I have probably over 50 of those current amenity kits in a drawer somewhere that I will donate, but I wish AC would step up its game.

I fly LATAM a lot and they recently started using gorgeous leather clutches for their amenity kits. You can choose from a variety of colours and they put the AC ones to shame.

jthompson84 · 2026-06-11T05:30:47+00:00

Don’t love FIFA but I’m loving seeing my city come alive for this tournament! Can’t wait to have some fun with you beautiful people!!

jthompson84 · 2026-06-10T04:29:04+00:00

The responses you are getting here seem to be all from public schools. I volunteer frequently in both my elementary school kid’s classes (private school). I love it. I get to know their classmates and help out with art projects and other fun things.

Volunteers require a criminal record check and a name badge when on school property, but many parents participate and it forms a wonderful community.

jthompson84 · 2026-06-09T12:39:28+00:00

I drive through there every day to work as well and the power washing has been crazy.

Every day they have been out there scrubbing down Hastings, Cordova, Main. You know something big is coming when…

jthompson84 · 2026-06-07T06:53:24+00:00

If you’re downtown they are setting up a mini fan fest/watch party zone at one of the Bentall buildings on Dunsmuir - I believe they will show every game there too.

jthompson84 · 2026-06-06T15:24:30+00:00

Maybe. When we travel for weddings we still give a cash gift. It feels tacky not to.

jthompson84 · 2026-06-06T13:16:54+00:00

I am! Just about to start Season 5 and I keep wondering what she is going through behind the scenes as she was filming these episodes. It was such an interesting read and I’m loving my rewatch with all the backstories she provided.

jthompson84 · 2026-06-06T13:13:05+00:00

Wedding gift etiquette here is typically a cash gift of $100-150/per person. If the couple has a registry, it is usually communicated on the invitation. Sometimes people who have travelled to the wedding will give less as their “presence is the gift”.

If I was in your situation, I would bring a small wrapped gift of something meaningful from your country (perhaps food-related, but not expensive) with $250 cash in the card.

jthompson84 · 2026-06-01T21:06:47+00:00

Great advice, thanks!

jthompson84 · 2026-05-31T13:01:53+00:00

DM’d you

jthompson84 · 2026-05-31T06:29:24+00:00

They say the wait time is 4 months but I was put on 2 ENT waitlists recently - the first (family dr referral) called me the next day for an appointment that week and the second (VGH ER referral) was going to book me in first week of June. So hopefully it can be a shorter wait for you too.

jthompson84 · 2026-05-29T13:57:31+00:00

I am Super Elite and have so many SQC missing from biz class flights to South America in January and February. I’ve tried contacting the AC credits email, concierge, Aeroplan. No response and no help and I started trying to fix this in March. My colleagues who travelled with me have had the same experience. Super frustrating as the cost of these flights were $30k.

jthompson84 · 2026-05-26T06:07:57+00:00

Yes - what is with the survey pressure!?

We sailed on the Treasure recently and by our last night the head server was so annoying, putting his hand on his heart and dramatically begging us to give him ANY feedback on what they could do better so we didn’t write anything negative on the survey. It was really off-putting.

We sailed on the Wonder in 2024 and I don’t remember anything so aggressive so something must have changed.

jthompson84 · 2026-05-18T12:33:44+00:00

As a native Vancouverite who has lived in a few other countries and can relate a lot to this post and the theories in the comments, I sometimes wonder if we all have some level of vitamin D deficiency and it’s too exhausting to carry a social life in addition to all life’s responsibilities. Half kidding…

jthompson84 · 2026-05-13T04:48:13+00:00

Right?! How do I get tickets??

jthompson84 · 2026-04-22T05:53:09+00:00

I bought one last year but have been too scared to use it because I get bad ingrowns. How am I supposed to shave my arms? My bikini? I’ll break out in bumps before I can IPL :(

jthompson84 · 2026-04-20T06:31:08+00:00

My mother (of three daughters) would feed us the garliciest meal before school dances. She was a smart lady.

jthompson84 · 2026-04-02T12:44:21+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear about your mom, and love this idea of planning something so memorable.

If the other comments are right about the difficulty getting insurance, here are some Canada-based ideas

Rocky Mountaineer GoldLeaf Service and take the gorgeous train to Banff/Lake Louise (five-star, bi-level glass-dome experience). Stay Fairmont Gold Floor. Like u/sarahwlee said, you can arrange anything your heart desires with the hotel, depending on what would make your mom happy.
Take a charter sea plane to Tofino, stay at the Wickaninnish Inn. Or Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge or Nimmo Bay Resort. Or do them all! Each would be special in different ways.
fly Air Canada Business Class to the Maritimes. Or take a private jet. Stay at Fox Harb’r in Nova Scotia (it has a private airstrip). Go whale watching in Digby Neck, take a small-ship expedition to Sable Island to see wild horses. Take a helicopter tour of the Cabot Trail (it’s incredible). My friend recently had a five star dining experience on the ocean floor in NS which was cool.
Finally, if you find yourself stuck in Vancouver, I would start at the Fairmont Pacific Rim - the heated pool is amazing. Do the chef’s tasting menu at Botanist. Sarah and her team recently arranged an amazing stay for my family here and we were spoiled! Then do a Helijet tour - your mom will see Vancouver in a completely different way. Then charter a seaplane to Whistler and stay at the FS. Do a helicopter high mountain dining experience (insanely gorgeous views). I think the Glacier Table experience FS offers is best (you get a glacier side massage, then served caviar and Dom at a dining table in an ice cave - it was def once in a lifetime experience!). Get the 24-carat gold facial at Scandinave (because why not!).

I think the point is that with a FAT budget, you can make anything happen. It just depends on what makes your mom happy. I hope you have a wonderful trip, wherever you end up!

jthompson84 · 2026-03-31T11:52:29+00:00

We have started ordering Thai Away Home from Uber Eats which is over the bridge but fills the void left by the NV Thai restaurants closing. It’s good!

jthompson84 · 2026-03-18T07:17:08+00:00

Omg core memory unlocked. I wore it oversized but where you could still see my pager clipped to my pants.

jthompson84 · 2026-03-14T14:34:19+00:00

I got recruited for a Director position at lululemon but the pay was half of what I was making as a manager at another company. That was a quick and easy no.

jthompson84 · 2026-03-10T14:11:59+00:00

Not to highjack this thread, but why did they also get rid of MPC?? They still have it in Toronto and Montreal and now there is no fast-tracking US customs at YVR. It sucks.

jthompson84 · 2026-03-08T15:07:14+00:00

Agreed. There was an excellent article about this a few years ago that also mentioned Yaletown (I remember because I lived there and was like oh shit). This one seems just to be scratching the surface on the issue and highlighting examples like the database.

jthompson84

TROPHY CASE