West Coast of Canada opens up New Perspective!
With all of the current world challenges we are experiencing around Ukraine and Russia, along with the last couple years of COVID-19 travel restrictions, I was reminded of the importance of getting away with my wife without our kids. Lucky for me, my wife and are on on the same page around spending time and money on travel and experiences vs. physical items. Don’t get me wrong, I like the finer things for sure…I’m a sucker for nice cars, watches, etc., but the real memories that last come from shared experiences with the ones I love the most and experiencing travel together is something that we try to be intentional about yearly. This year as a part of my annual planning to invest in my core relationship with my wife of 20+ years and to invest in US, was to take a trip to the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia. I’ve been out west a couple few times over the years (boys trip) but my wife has not had the opportunity and so we nailed down a week that would work and the planning begun! Just like anything that we want to accomplish in our lives, it’s key to get it on the calendar and take the necessary actions to make it a reality. I was more excited to see Steph’s reaction to this magical area of the world, well perhaps AS excited as seeing and enjoying again myself. It also reminds me of the quotation that goes something like “If you can read but choose not to expand yourself by reading books, than you are no further ahead than someone who is illiterate” or something like that. So if you have the financial stability, and the time, than travel is another opportunity for growth and perspective that otherwise could not be attained, so choosing to stay in your local region limits your ability to gain NEW perspective so what are you waiting for!
Looking back on our marriage, in the “early” days with young kids, financial challenges, trying to climb the corporate ladder, and Steph raising little human’s without any family around to help, left very little intention to spend quality alone time without the kids. As I reflect on this time, and how difficult this time was for both of us, there is no coincidence that this lack of intention to have date nights weekly and travel, certainly had an impact on our ability to stay connected and I recall the distance both physically and emotionally during this time of our lives. It’s only been the last 5 years or so that we have been extremely intentional about having a date night weekly, 1 night away each month and typcally some form of trip together annually. This time, and intentional investment in our relationship has paid dividends in so many ways. Things don’t fester and resentment doesn’t get as much of a chance to accumulate, resulting in larger disagreements. Our ability to find time to stay physically connected has improved significantly as well :), and for someone who’s love language is physical touch, this is a big part of feeling comfortable in our relationship. And most importantly, we have the opportunity to plan our future together and to discuss important topics around raising children that otherwise would have to be wedged in after a long day hoping that one of the kids isn’t around listening in on our “adult” conversations. So for all you newlyweds out there, learn from someone who has been there and give yourself a huge advantage over other marriages by making it a priority to date weekly with your spouse!!! It doesn’t need to be some crazy trip either, just plan to sit at the local restaurant and have a beverage or go for a walk together and pack a picnic….you will avoid the natural distancing that can occur without these investments that oftentimes leads to divorce if that distance becomes too wide for each of you to envision what close even feels like anymore. We were close to feeling this way on a number of occasions……
When I think of what the world needs from married couples and parents, it’s to raise strong, independent, hard working, and especially kind children that will contribute to this world in a positive way. The best way that I know how to do this??? Be that individual! Use this as motivation to become the best version of you that you can, and I know that sounds cliche, but it has provided me the energy to make the necessary investments in myself and in my growth as a father, husband, and business owner. One of the best gifts that we can provide our children (in my opinion), is to show them through example how to love your spouse, how to show them that weaknesses can be worked on and improved, working hard and not giving up can result in amazing accomplishments in business and inside relationships. That they must take full responsibility for everything in their lives. When children have this foundation, they can focus more of their energy on creation and growth, than repairing and re-writing poor scripts and beliefs that we have provided them.
Now a quick summary of some amazing places to check out, purely from a travel suggestion. First off, if you fly into Calgary you get to drive west through the mountains and Rogers Pass to get to British Columbia and the views and drive is incredible. You drive through the town of Golden, BC which is the home of Kicking Horse resort (will ski this on the next trip) and my good high school friend owns and operates a cool place called the Riverhouse Tavern. Very relaxed atmosphere with some good home cooking available. We then headed another hour west to the town of Revelstoke, BC and as far as I’m concerned it is one of the absolute best ski resorts in North America with plenty of great terrain and the highest snow fall in the region! We had an incredible powder day on the Sunday prior to leaving and there is nothing like it…. not only is it a skiers delight, but it also my favorite because it has never been busy and you typically get directly on the lifts with only a few minutes wait. We stayed at the Boulder Mountain Resort, only about a 2 mile drive outside Revelstoke and we had our own little mini House, the view you can see from above. We then headed back East to land at the infamous Chateau Lake Louise and stayed a couple evenings with a day of skiing at Lake Louise Resort. This was much more enjoyable for my wife, but for me doesn’t compare to the uniqueness of Revelstoke Mountain. Then a ride back to Calgary with a stop off lunch in Banff at the Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel, to stay at the Marriott directly inside the Calgary airport so we could fly out the next morning.
Now back to the traveling to British Columbia and some of the key takeaways from the trip;
- The Rocky Mountains are so incredibly magical and have been in existence for so long that it reminded me of how precious life is and how short our time is here on earth that it inspired me to travel more than I do currently. My mother retired sometime after 60 as a hospice nurse and passed only a few years after from breast cancer. She loved to travel and although my parents travelled a good amount, they certainly would have done more if they knew how little time they had left together.
- Get outside your comfort zone, my wife and I left the gondola at the top of Revelstoke mountain at 5620 Feet and highest vertical in North America. I could see that my wife was petrified and her body was reacting to this fear and so it took a decent amount of coaching and pretending to be fearless to manage this situation but the next time was easier, and the 3rd time was easier than the 2nd and so on…. The magic of leaving our comfort zones is that we become MORE capable and the things that caused fear before, become manageable and less challenging. I’m proud of her for getting out of her comfort zone and she reminded me to get out of mine more often.
- Have FUN! There is always stuff to worry about and to work on and accomplish, but this trip reminded me of how important it is to be PRESENT and in the moment! The human brain is very active and we need to recognize this and it’s design, it is looking into the past with regret or things we could/should have done better along with it’s imagination looking into the future with anxiety of what could/may happen, but as they say, the gift is in the present. Once we recognize that the brain is doing these things on autopilot, we can consciously interrupt these thoughts and bring ourselves back to the present moment.
Well hopefully you got a feel for the wonderful Canadian Rocky mountains and the importance of hitting the road with the ones you love! We currently live in Maine and I know that we still have a great deal of exploring to do close to home as well, and we all know that after all of this COVID-19 lockdown shit, the businesses need the revenue! If you enjoyed please share and comment!
