This morning, I boarded a bus from Tacoma to Downtown Seattle. When I arrived in Downtown Seattle, I visited a Starbucks where I would spend the next 4-5 hours working and updating the blog. At 3:30pm, I walked over to the Amtrak Station and bought a ticket to the 4:45pm bus to Vancouver, BC.
The 3 hour, 45 minute bus ride was exactly what I was expecting until we reached the Canadian border. All the passengers vacated the bus and entered the customs/security building. Out of the approximately twenty passengers on the bus, the officer asked me to walk over to a second line for a background check. At the desk, they asked questions such as: “Why haven’t you booked a return bus ticket? How much money do you have to support yourself on this trip? What do you do for work? Do you have a business card? Etc.” After a few minutes, they asked me to login to my Chase online account to verify funds. We tried for about 15 minutes but the Internet connection was too slow, so they just allowed me to pass through the border.
For my stay in Vancouver, I reserved a private room in a high-rise, modern building for $34/night. Navigating my way to the AirBnB, I we pleasantly surprised by the public transportation system in Vancouver. Vancouver is one of the few cities I’ve been to where public transportation is more reliable and faster than private transportation.
As I exited the train in New Westminster Station, James let me know that I should take an elevator from inside the train station to his apartment. The lobby of his apartment building was accessible through a door on the 2nd floor of the train station. This public-transportation-centered residential development emphasize walkability, convenience, amenities, and as close to a 24-hour lifestyle as one can expect in the New Westminster neighborhood of Vancouver.
After dropping off all my things at the AirBNB, I walked downstairs to find a place to use Wifi for a few hours. I ended up spending four hours working at a 24-hour Tim Horton’s cafe in the New Westminster station, which was a great way to continue catching up on work and blogging.
Here’s a link to interesting real estate projects in Vancouver, BC: http://vancouver.curbed.com/2014/9/19/10045034/curbed-vancouvers-greatest-hits-your-guide-to-the-city
