I Have Limits
Last summer, I was honored to receive an invitation to attend a wedding in Canmore, Alberta Canada. I was super excited as this was a part of the world I had always wanted to visit and although I am not a winter sports enthusiast (outside the excuse to enjoy boozy hot chocolate by the ski lodge by a fireplace) - I was really looking forward to going.
Because the wedding was scheduled for January, which happens to be my husband’s busy time at work, he opted to stay at home with our son - so I started looking forward to a solo trip with friends.
At a holiday party, I was delighted to learn from a friend that he often visits this same area, and he emailed me a fantastic list of things to do in the Banff/Canmore area (which I’ve included at the conclusion of this post). In addition, the groom is also from the area and is a #SuperFan, so his excitement was contagious.
I started to experience a bit of an out of character bout of travel anxiety, but I was really looking forward to this trip, and especially celebrating two special people getting married with friends from around the world in such a beautiful location.
And then . . .
I started to see the weather forecast! For the 4 days I would be in Canmore the forecast was indicating it would not reach above 0ºF (what the what?). Granted, I have spent time north of the Arctic Circle, New Year’s Eve in both Quebec City, Canada and St. Petersburg, Russia (both very cold), and attended college in the middle of nowhere Indiana with very low windchill temps, but this was starting to look a bit intimidating, and I had planned on dog sledding!
When so much of travel is about discovering new limits - physically, intellectually, socially, emotionally, spiritually, etc., this trip quickly became a lesson for me that I do, indeed, have limits, and sometimes - I just don’t want to push those . . . especially when it comes to really cold weather!
So even though a trend in travel blogging is to write about “how to push your limits while traveling” - I’m going to share:
How to Know Your Limits While Traveling:
Cold is Cold
The hotel we stayed at was walking distance to the charming main street of Canmore. So despite the cold, we decided to take a walk to check out the shops, grab a bagel, some coffee and see what else we could discover.
Welp, what I discovered is that icicles can form on eyelashes in -20ºF-ish weather. The Sound of Music sings about how snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes are supposed to be a favorite thing. Icicles that stay on my eyelashes - are not one of my favorite things!
I had reached my limit and thankfully what to my wandering eye did appear - a lovely bookshop!
I went inside and had such a charming time! In addition to the beautiful bookshelves, I discovered children’s book author Jocey Asnong previously worked at this bookstore. I also learned that Canada proudly claims Nita Prose, author of The Maid. To learn about Nita and more local Alberta authors: Click here!
Follow the Rules
Rules and I have always had a contentious relationship. From a young age, I always wanted to know the purpose for the rule. If the rule no longer accomplished the purpose, I had a hard time following the rule.
Yet, even with this skepticism, for the most part I’m a rather avid rule follower. I try to be quiet in libraries, don’t eat on public transportation, keep my carry on luggage reasonable… you know, basic rule follower. Yet if there is fun to be had - sometimes I find rules difficult to follow.
When planning for the trip, we were very excited about the cold weather hot tub. Imagining soaking in a hot tub, drink in hand, while gazing at beautiful mountains in the distance was a goal of this trip - in addition to celebrating our friend’s wedding, of course! However, when the Alberta Health Regulators closed the hot tub - I didn’t need to know the purpose behind this - it seemed rather obvious, -24ºC is the limit for outside pool weather.
In addition, another planned highlight of the trip was to go on a dog sled ride! I was so excited about doing this as the idea just seems dreamy. Winter wonderland, cute dogs, pretty trees, snow, cozy blanket and warm beverage at the end - what fun! Yet when the dog sled people contacted us and said it was too cold to go - I wasn’t bummed - Actually a bit relieved!
Maybe it’s part of adulting, or maybe it was the misery of the -30ºF weather - but I seemed to be more willing to follow regulatory rules during this trip than normal. It limited much of what we could do - but I was fine with it!
One Bullet - One Blank
An important life lesson that I probably should have learned sooner is “One Bullet (alcoholic drink) and One Blank (water).” I probably would have had a more enjoyable time visiting Munich’s Oktoberfest several years ago if I had followed this bit of advice.
I am glad that at this wedding, my friends and I for the most part kept it classy. We drank, laughed, danced, ate and really had a fun time. Knowing limits when it comes to things like alcohol can be a hard and long lesson to learn, but it really does make weddings more fun.
Many times while traveling I have found that limits regarding alcohol is a bit altered; for this reason the “one bullet, one blank” has greatly helped. I have found it beneficial to take a break, drink water, pace myself - especially as a female, and especially as a female traveling solo. Sadly this shouldn’t be the case and it isn’t fair, but unfortunately there are limitations that female travelers have been tragically experiencing for centuries.
On this subject, I highly recommend the books: Missoula by John Krakauer and Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Learning Limits, Learning Love
As I mentioned, in preparation for this trip, I experienced more anxiety than was typical. I eventually figured out it stemmed from the reality that this would be the longest I would be away from my husband and son - both in distance and in time.
Prior to this trip, I had gone on several girls trips to NYC, the Berkshires and other places that were either a quick direct flight or a 4 hour maximum car ride.
As I was booking the flights for this trip, the connections were going to be tricky and with it being during a holiday weekend in January - I knew the likelihood of making all the flights work perfectly was not in my favor.
This became reality when a friend from the wedding and I missed our return connecting flight in Salt Lake City by 20 min and we needed to stay overnight. We still had fun by catching an Utah Jazz game and staying downtown. Despite being able to pay homage to John Stockton and Karl Malone, I had hit my limit.
I missed Sean and I missed Jack.
The next morning I woke up early to discover the flight I was rebooked on was delayed, and would most likely not make the connecting flight -meaning I would be stranded, again.
So I quickly threw on clothes, grabbed an Uber at 5:00 am and found a great Delta agent at the airport.
My limit had been reached. I wanted to see Sean and I wanted to be with Jack when he woke up the next morning.
Fortunately, this agent was able to get me on a direct flight to JFK, I booked a rental car and drove the 4 hours home so I could take Jack to school the following morning.
Traveling often teaches us to test our limits - and this is a great thing. However, I will forever be grateful that on this trip I discovered: I have limits. My love for Sean and Jack will test limits - and this is a great lesson to learn - during a wedding weekend!
Mark’s Suggestions for a Winter Weekend in the Banff Area
- Dog sledding: Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours in Canmore
- Banff Gondola: You can buy a gondola ticket or hike up (about 1.5-2 hr hike). If you hike up, you can ride the gondola down for free after sunset. I hiked, it was great. The dining (Sky Bistro) at the top has incredible views. I lucked out and arrived at the top at about 4pm, so was able to squeeze into the restaurant without a reservation because I beat the dinner crowd. There's a pathway at the top that you can walk that also has stunning views and a couple of igloo-style shelters. And after sunset, there's a really cool light show.
- Banff dining: Hello Sunshine. Block Kitchen & Bar. Saffron Indian Bistro. Chuck's Steakhouse. Brazen. Coyotes for brunch. Beavertails for dessert.
- Ice skating: skate on Lake Louise; skate rentals available at Fairmont Chateau. Don't miss the outdoor bar on the lake, and be sure to check out the inside of the Fairmont, where you can also have a drink overlooking the lake.
- Thermal springs: Banff Upper Hot Springs
- Spas / pools: Banff Springs Hotel
- Cross country skiing - there's a Nordic center in Canmore. You could also get on the trail at the Banff Springs Hotel - it is very picturesque
- Skiing - Sunshine Village and Lake Louise resorts are both great, and the views on the way there are gorgeous.
