The Trip is Part of the Journey

We will leave for an extended stay in Playa del Carmen, Mexico tonight. We were originally looking forward to getting on board a direct flight to Cancún. However, three weeks ago, WestJet cancelled all trips flying directly from Vancouver. So, we'll be leaving at 10:35 pm for Toronto first. Then, after a 3.5-hour layover, we board a different flight for Cancún. Our total trip time is now supposed to be twelve hours, nearly double the original tickets. 

 

Still, this is easier than winters past. We often have to cross the largest ocean and the International Date Line. For example, Sri Lanka is nearly on the opposite side of the earth from this location making it nearly an equal distance whether flying east or west. We do most always go through Asia though, as there are many more flight deals. On these winters away, it's not uncommon to be more than 20 hours in the air plus the layover. So, I guess, by comparison, this trip is child's play. 

If things go as expected, we'll touch down in Cancun at 1:35 pm on Saturday afternoon and be in our studio condo in a little more than an hour. That means the next entry in 'my eJournal and images' should be from Playa del Carmen!

A Good Day for Packing

 

I don't want to repeat yesterday's blog post, but I took this picture before 5:00 PM.  Look how early it gets dark now that we're back on Standard Time!  The inside lights were on a good part of the day. It rained for most of it, so we didn't venture out at all.  

We did get our suitcases out of the closets and started choosing things to go in them. We found that we will be going surprisingly light. First, I suppose I'm comparing this to last winter when we brought many items and gifts to Sri Lanka.  As well, we are not taking along many clothes as we can pick up new things at Walmart in Mexico. There's one within walking distance of the place we're staying. Lastly, we aren't positively sure about the total length of our winter away because of the COVID situation. We might bask in hot weather and sunshine anywhere from one to five months.  That indecision means the bags might be big but there's not a lot going into them.

Duelling Webcams

If a picture can be worth 1000 words, then several must add up to more.  I copied two, current webcam images from locations about 4500 km (2800 miles) apart. 

The first one shows fresh snow on the Okanagan Highway in the southern interior of British Columbia. Although where I live, it is raining this morning, a freezing level at 300-meters means our local hills are getting snow too. The second picture shows the beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico right now.   We will be headed there in just two weeks.  I think these duelling photos may sort of illustrate why.

  Highway 3, British Columbia, Canada
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Tough Times to Travel

We knew from the start that planning for this winter away would be fraught with uncertainties. When checking online, we noticed that next month's WestJet flights have been changed because now no direct flights are leaving from Vancouver.   Apparently, we will have to transit through Toronto making our simple, six-hour night flight into a thirteen-hour marathon.  We've not yet been notified by the airline.

We had the option of buying cheaper tickets but bought on WestJet last month because it would expose us to a single plane of passengers with no waiting time in additional airports. I know things are difficult for airlines, but I cannot help but feel that WestJet handed us a bait-and-switch deal.  

    Frankly, we'd rather have transited through Mexico City than Toronto.

Canadian Snowbirds

Finally, October is showing. I mean that, at last, wet weather has returned to the Lower Mainland. 

I remember how interesting it was to arrive here after more than a decade of living in the arid Middle East. The first rainy winter seemed like a blessing. I guess they still are as they provide sufficient H₂O for prolific, nearby rainforests. Over the years, we learned to cope with the dark winter deluge, if not get completely acclimatized. 

Yet, as soon as it became obvious we could retire early, we knew that we'd try living the wet half of each year in different locations and climates.  Jay and I will celebrate our retirement dates this month. It seems somewhat unbelievable that six years have already passed. They've been some of our best years ever. 

As rain is now pelting our windows, I'm thinking back to our first retirement winter in Mexico. Although the upcoming one will be vastly different, there may be a number of similarities. 

 

Keeping Up-to-Date on Gamma

Today, I've been following news about Tropical Storm Gamma. It's interesting how one becomes more aware and interested in a distant place when he holds a valid air ticket to that location.

 

Webcam Watching

We had continuing rain in the morning here in New Westminster, BC. However, for a brief spell, some sunshine occurred around noon. It gave us time to walk the length of downtown. We went in the thrift store, but didn't discover anything too exciting. We also walked across to the Columbia SkyTrain shops. For some reason, we've seen that a lot of places are sold out of hydrogen peroxide. The Shopper's Drug Mart had a good supply of half-liter bottles. Now, it is clouding over again locally for the next big push of moisture coming off the Pacific. 

So, I have included a webcam below. This is the location where we're hoping to spend a good portion of the winter.  It's a different ocean.  Maybe if you bookmark this blog post, you might be able to check out our weather starting the second week of November.

  Visit the source website.

A Few Weather Spark Charts

Today, we retreated to the Metrotown Mall again!  Us? 

We went to get out of the apartment and walk around in a smoke-free environment. Today, Vancouver can hardly brag about officially having the worst air quality in the entire world. The winds from the south bringing the west coast wildfire smoke into the province are due to shift this weekend.  Hallelujah! One thing we used to be able to count on in British Columbia is clean air. 

Speaking of air, I have included a graph. It shows average January air temperatures, not cleanliness. They may look warm for Canada.  However, I have also included a second chart to show the same information for our planned location during January 2021.  All this data can be found on Weatherspark.com.

   

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New Westminster, BC, CANADA

   

Our Probable Location

In the top chart, 1°C and 7°C are equal to 34°F and 45°F respectively.

On the bottom, 18°C and 28°C correspond to 64°F and 82°F on the US scale.

 

We're Not Letting It Slow Us Down

In 2020, I would venture that a fair number of hobby, 3D-printers have produced this object.

 

Of course, it's a coronavirus model.  I printed it this afternoon. 

COVID-19 has surely affected the world. We didn't know if we would be able to head off to a warm spot for the winter of 2020/21. Prior to the travel restrictions, we had been thinking of a lot of new and different options. Since our early retirement, we've generally avoided this area's dreary winter months. 

It appears that none of our original ideas for this winter will come to pass. However, we have stumbled upon a new plan for a less-distant destination. In fact, we picked up some one-way tickets on the WestJet website last night. A 25% discount ended at midnight.  We will ride out the situation by adapting as new circumstances develop. We've chosen a beach city we've never seen except through Internet photos. We can travel nearly all the way there on a non-stop from Vancouver in less than six hours.

Blue Sky, Foreign Smoke, and a Virtual Walk

 

Most of the smoke from the Washington wildfires cleared out today. Although the Canadian/US border is closed to non-essential travel, nature needn't follow the same rules as people. This is what it looked like from our balcony yesterday. The temperatures remained nearly 30C but they'll probably get back to closer to normal this weekend.

This means it's fair game to continue researching places where it stays warm and sunny from November through April. This is still true, even, though at this point, we don't know if we will be able to travel at all this winter. 

Oh, Google Street View, I Love You! 

I absolutely enjoy dropping into a place. and walking the streets before ever visiting in person. Go ahead, click it.

 

Playing Plans by Ear

September is now within sight.  It seems unusual for us to not have any plans for the upcoming winter.  In recent years, we've generally had air tickets and accommodation completely arranged by this time of the year. For example, this entry shows we had trans-Pacific air tickets before mid-May last year. 

I'm not worried in the least as we are profoundly flexible. We will not be in competition with the usual travel hordes as the whole world is all in the same boat, so to speak.  We will take what may. 

I did look back to our first year of early retirement.  In 2014, I finished working at BCIT during the last week of October. We had no definite plans for the winter at that point. In fact, it a while before we'd picked Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as our first winter destination.  Moreover, we were well into November before we found a rather last-minute place to rent.  Still, we successfully flew away for that winter on US Thanksgiving day.

Our time living in Mexico turned out as the perfect way to get used to spending five months in a warm place during Vancouver's dreary weather.  Winters in Egypt, Malaysia, Cambodia, Bali, and Sri Lanka have followed.

So planning for this winter can wait.  We will see what happens in the world because of COVID-19 and play it all by ear. As I said, we have the ultimate flexibility.