14 Apr, 2019
When DH first met my parents, 30 years ago, my mom thought she was dying. Her cold-triggered asthma was out of control, she was puffed up on Prednisone, and could barely walk. Luckily, spending winters in a warmer place got her asthma under control. Once she could breathe again, my formerly inactive mother hired a trainer who also trained the Navy Seals, and became more fit than I’d ever seen her. That commitment to fitness – physical and mental — continued, and has wowed everyone around her ever since.
George with Rheva in her Navy Seal training days
So it was easy to believe that she would never get “old”, even though she’s 87. (Hope she doesn’t get mad at me for revealing her age. But I figure many of my readers were at her 85th birthday party, so it isn’t exactly a secret.) After having been away for almost a year, it hit me that of course she can’t possibly stay strong and healthy forever. And so rather than continuing to travel this summer, we’ve decided to settle back in Edmonton once our current gig in Vancouver is done.
To be honest, Edmonton is a fantastic place to be in the summer: not too hot, but hot enough; sunshine for up to 18 hours a day, lots of fun festivals; a beautiful river valley to cycle or walk in; and, of course, our wonderful friends. As to the winter, we can still travel for a few months during the worst of it. (We are thinking about Malaga, on the southern coast of Spain, for next winter.)
This blog has been about what it is like to live as a middle-aged nomad, so it is time to reflect on the current stage. We’ve got a great apartment in Vancouver, a block away from Coal Harbour, with beautiful views of skyline and mountains.
Typical view during an afternoon stroll near our Vancouver apartment
Our landlord here warned us that it can be a bit noisy, because there’s a helicopter pad nearby, but after three months in Lima, thinking of this as noisy is a joke. It is so calm and peaceful, punctuated by a few minutes, now and then, of helicopters. Rarely do we hear any traffic noise, even out on our balcony.
Vancouver is a beautiful city, and has much to offer by way of culture and diversity. Unfortunately, there is a growing gap between rich and poor here. A couple of blocks away from multi-million dollar apartments is a huge tent city of homeless people. And blocks and blocks of people sleeping on the street, without even tents in this rainy city. There are well over 2,000 homeless people in Vancouver. I was shocked to see the extent of it. I know we have homelessness in other Canadian cities too, but I’d never seen anything this extensive and this desperate-looking in my country. Canada prides itself on our social welfare system, on caring for all people. And yet clearly we are failing. (Not as badly as the U.S., but that’s a separate rant.)
Would I want to live in Vancouver permanently? We could afford it, though the high rents would put a dent in our travel budget. On a sunny day, the answer is yes. On one of the many grey, rainy days, not so much. If we get to the point where we can’t leave Canada, I could see coming here or somewhere nearby to get to only moderate cold in the winter instead of Edmonton’s extremes.
For now, though, I recently popped back to Edmonton to start looking for housing for our next stage. Our plan is to finally rent our own, long-term place and take our remaining possessions out of storage. Apart from our dive in London, I’ve liked most of the places we’ve stayed, but I find that I am getting excited at the prospect of having our own things around us again. Of being in one place long enough to get involved in the community and make (or renew) good friendships.
To Rent or To Buy
Our plan was to rent, as we have no interest in the hassles that go with ownership. We can do as well or better investing the money in the stock market instead of in home ownership. We’ve been spoiled by having so many apartments with great views, and we want to be downtown and close to the LRT (Edmonton’s mini version of a subway system). Yet I also want to have some greenery around me as I walk home, and easy access to the river valley, so we basically limited our search to a small handful of streets and buildings.
Tema enjoying a bike ride in Edmonton’s River Valley
I was having trouble finding any rental that fit the bill, but there were some nice condos in older, concrete buildings right on the edge of the river valley and next to downtown. We actually put in an offer on one of them, but withdrew it after reading the condo documents and realizing that they have not got enough in their reserve fund to cover the major repairs that will be needed in the next few years.
We were also turned off because the condo rules won’t allow bicycles in the elevators. Bike theft from condos and apartment buildings is a big problem in Edmonton, and we have good bikes. We are not about to leave them in a public area. A surprising number of buildings won’t allow bikes in the elevators, despite the theft problem. I understand their fears about dirt and elevator damage, but they don’t ban mobility scooters, and, having been confined to one for a couple of months, I can assure you that they track in as much or more dirt, and are probably more likely to damage elevator walls.
In the end, we’ve rented a place in a great location, with stunning views of the river valley and balconies on two sides. They are fine with bikes in the elevators. It is a large apartment, but because it is older, it has one huge bedroom instead of two reasonably sized ones, only one bathroom, an older kitchen and limited closet space.
We’ll see how it goes. If we like it, our plan would be to make that our base for years. And if we don’t, we can easily pick up and move. So much less hassle than being an owner!
