When Canadian people think about the UK, their minds may automatically jump to its most well-known cities such as London, Glasgow, or perhaps Cardiff. Each of those places is wonderful, and I've visited them all. However, I had a slightly different experience during my time living in England.
I was situated in the northeastern part of the country, which some might say is the "real" part of the nation, due to London being a very cosmopolitan and wealthy world city.
I thought that leaving my hometown of Vancouver would be the answer to some of the challenges that face people in this very expensive West Coast city, and that my life would be vastly improved by a relocation to the UK. However, while extremely charming in many ways (don't even get me started on how kind and down-to-earth the people are!), after one year, I learned that I missed Vancouver very much, and the things I took for granted were now things to be embraced and celebrated, no matter how big or small.
Now that I'm home in Canada I appreciate these things that make Vancouver what it is, and the U.K. was lacking.
Vancouver's wide, clean, walkable streets.
A Vancouver side street.
This wasn't anything I paid much attention to before I relocated. Many of the streets in Northern England, particularly the side streets, are narrow, with cars scrambling for parking and crowding them even more. Some people actually end up parking on the sidewalks, making it difficult to make your way easily as a pedestrian.
Speaking of sidewalks — it became a bit of an obstacle to get accustomed to uneven bricks and cobblestones, as opposed to Vancouver's smooth pavement. I am not going to reveal how many times I tripped and stumbled while just going from point A to B, and I found myself eventually walking while staring down the whole time to prevent this public embarrassment.
In Vancouver, the side streets are generally spacious, with ample room for parking and beautiful trees, and the sidewalks aren't a potential hazard!
Summers are dry here, as opposed to humid.
Palm trees at English Bay.
Perhaps it differs in other parts of the U.K., but up in Northern England, I could not adjust to my first summer there.
In Vancouver — while the summers are indisputably getting hotter by the year — the heat may be relentless at times, but it's dry. I can walk around the city or take transit without my clothes getting drenched within minutes. While living in the UK, I found it oppressively humid, to the point where I chose to simply dash from air-conditioned place to air-conditioned place, buying cold drinks along the way to bring some respite.
I suppose if you're accustomed to summers being so thick with moisture they don't bother you but I absolutely missed the dry Vancouver summers where I could enjoy the warmth without turning into a muttering, complaining puddle of overheated goo.
The nearby Pacific Ocean and the myriad of water sports.
Nadya Bondoreff, canoe master.
While the UK is indeed surrounded by water, and I was living very close to the beautiful east coast of England, there just wasn't the same culture of ocean-loving activities that is the norm in Vancouver.
I missed canoeing. I missed kayaking. I missed going down to the coast and watching people Jet-Ski and paddleboard. I even missed walking across Burrard Street Bridge or under Cambie Street Bridge and admiring the people with sailboats I will likely never own, or taking the False Creek Ferries from one short distance to another.
Our coffee-shop culture.
The U.K. most certainly doesn't have its share of coffee-shop culture the way Vancouver (and the entire West Coast) does.
While it exists in moderation, I found myself really having to hunt for a simple cafe where I could grab-n-go a coffee and a pastry, if need be. While visiting the south of England, Costa Coffee solved my problems, but that's about where it ended. Northern England is utterly bereft of any chains like this.
I longed for Vancouver's very own Breka, a 24-hour shop with eight locations throughout the city, serving high-quality coffee and food for very decent prices.
The vast selection of exquisite sushi.
It's been said here before, but I'll say it again for those in the back — Vancouver has the best sushi outside of Japan, and I missed it every single day when I was in the UK.
It's simply ubiquitous here and is as common as burger chains throughout the USA. In fact, I would say the UK equivalent would be the numerous curry places, which I enjoyed, but since there isn't as deep of an East Asian influence in England, I was salivating almost daily for sushi. You can find it there, but it's generally packaged up in the supermarket, or five times the price you'll pay for it here, for a quarter of the quality.
Our stunning, world-famous mountains.
I can't say enough of this trademark of Vancouver living. This is a backdrop such that, if you see them every day, you become so used to their majesty that you don't even really notice them anymore. Once they're gone, however, it's a glaring absence.
The UK has some of the most beautiful land in Europe, but nothing rivals our North Shore Mountains. They are absolutely a symbol of feeling at home, of comfort, and I couldn't get used to their lack of presence. I mean, sure, I have already admitted that I don't really make use of them, but I just need them to be there!
The top-notch local produce.
Beautiful local vegetables.
I could definitely locate some lovely, fresh, locally-grown produce while in the UK, but it was usually only at farmer's markets, and these were seasonal. If they were closed for the year, I had to buy my produce at the supermarket, and a great deal of it was imported and, oddly (wastefully, even), wrapped in plastic.
Here, in Vancouver, I have access to some of the country's best fruits and vegetables year-round at places like Kin's Farm Market, or various Asian and Persian groceries that cost a fraction of what you'd pay at Safeway.
Bagels. Yes, bagels.
By now I suppose it's evident that food played a massive role in why I appreciate Vancouver all the more after my time spent in the UK. I just could not find a single decent, handmade, boiled bagel or local bagel shop no matter where I looked in Northern England.
You could technically find bagels at the supermarket, but they were the pre-made, mass-processed, bready kind that came six to a bag. I thought a lot about my favourite bagels in Vancouver, with their crispy exterior and soft interior, chewy and warm and freshly made on the premises. I promise you, once you've gone without a decent bagel for a length of time, eating a proper one will actually become a regular part of your dreams.
While the UK. most definitely has a place in my heart, I know now that Vancouver is my heart.
