tl;dr: I'm riding the train across Canada, arriving in Vancouver. I recently busted my leg, I have a crutch and can't walk/stand much at once. Doesn't matter, because Vancouver is walkable with decent transit. I also want to go to Seattle and Portland, and maybe fly back via Chicago. I'd be using Airbnb. Crazy? Good idea? Make it better?
Hello.
About me: I'm 27, male, software developer, introvert. I've lived in Toronto most of my life. I've spent time in SF and NY, but that's it, not very worldly. Typical city boy. I don't drive. I like coffee, public transit, craft beer, reading, the radio, walkable cities, spicy food, standup comedy, good transit (oh, I said that already?). I travel solo.
I'd normally add "cyclist" to the front of that list, but I badly injured my leg this winter, and I have to walk with a crutch now. I can't cover the same kind of ground I used to. I have to stop to sit frequently, and I rely on public transit a lot more. The "less walking" option on Google Maps is a lifesaver. I can cover about 400-500m at a time between rests, and stay out all day by stringing a bunch of those runs together, with frequent coffee (+beer) breaks. It's certainly not the 20+km per day I used to walk/bike, but it's good enough for now.
A few days ago I stumbled upon Via Rail's express deals site. $850 (CAD) for a cabin-for-1, Toronto to Vancouver. Normally $2400. I thought little of it. Yesterday, I checked again, and the date I'd been eyeing had disappeared. Realizing what I might be missing out on, I immediately reacted and booked the next possible date. So in three weeks, I'll be taking "The Canadian" across the country, for over 4 consecutive days.
It's perfect. I get to go somewhere completely isolated, no cell phone or internet, with food and drink at my service for days. I'll see the Rockies, the prairies, the Boreal forest... and arrive on the other end in a modern city I've never been to. And with practically no walking. Beautiful.
But now my sense of adventure is tingling. I've never had an opportunity to take an open-ended vacation, but I am obligation free through to September. I'm thinking it would be a shame to just ride the train, spend a few nights in a Vancouver hotel, and fly back.
Unfortunately, it's not exactly a hop-on-hop-off type of deal. The fare conditions don't allow any kind of stopovers, though there is a (schedule slippage permitting) 5 hour stopover in Winnipeg for a guided tour, and 90 mins in Edmonton and in Jasper. Besides, even if my ticket allowed stopovers, this train only runs once a week.
I know nothing about B.C. or Vancouver. Nothing at all. I'm looking forward to exploring. But I do know it's close to Seattle, and that an Amtrak ticket is peanuts ($45). And from there, the train to Portland is even cheaper ($20). And from what I can tell, all 3 cities are fairly walkable, transit-able, and accessible cities.
So I'm thinking something like this:
- Toronto to Vancouver by train: 4+ days
- 7+ days in Vancouver (perhaps with day trips to other parts of BC? Whistler? Victoria?)
- Vancouver to Seattle by train, stay 4+ days
- Seattle to Portland by train, stay 4+ days
- Fly Portland to Chicago, possibly stay for 3-4 days. (Chicago seems the best connecting airport between Toronto/PDX. LA is the other option and I don't really want to go there. I only added Chicago in once I realized there's no direct flights out, and it's not much more expensive to make it a 2-leg trip.).
- Fly to Chicago to Toronto
This is just a rough outline. I have no idea what kind of length of visit each of these cities merit. Maybe I'm way off. Maybe I'm being unrealistic, over-ambitious, considering my injured leg. Perhaps there's more interesting places to go after Vancouver than what I've listed above. This is why I'm reaching out to the internet for advice.
I'd be relying mostly (entirely?) on Airbnb for this trip, otherwise it wouldn't be feasible. I've never done the shared accomodations thing, but I figure I need to try new things and it couldn't hurt to have someone to talk to on occassion.
So, anyone with any thoughts on The Canadian train, Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, Portland, anything else around the Pacific Northwest, Chicago, travelling with crutches, or any other part of my plans, let me know. Thanks!