Walking downtown recently I happened to find myself engrossed in someone else’s conversation/life. It was one of those situations where you don’t mean to ease drop but before you know it you’re three blocks into a story you can’t pull away from. A seemingly average girl had flung herself into tirade with her friend about how absolutely bored she was living here in Kelowna. As we walked she proceeded to vent at length about how tired she was of the ‘superficial people’, the ‘tired social scene’ and the ‘general lack of fun things to do’ in the area. She finished her outburst by stating her desperate and urgent need to get out of town as quickly as possible if she was ever going to enjoy her life again. Now obviously awkwardly ease dropping on this girls conversation didn’t leave me with a lot of context into her life but I couldn’t help feeling upset and frustrated at what she had said.
It wasn’t that I was somehow offended that she had insulted my community. I mean sure that wasn’t my favourite but what I was more disappointed in was her general attitude towards life and her pessimistic perception of the place I called home. More than that what really upset and frightened me was that her attitude had somehow become the general conciseness of a large majority of people.
This was not the first time I had heard a rant like this and I was beginning to believe that the feeling of negativity and boredom with ones own home was becoming a growing epidemic for people all over the world. It was becoming common place to feel discontent and pessimistic about your city, your environment and your lifestyle and whether you lived in New York or Vancouver there was always someone complaining that their city had nothing fun to do and no one fun to do anything with. Perhaps it was a generational issue or perhaps it was just a by-product of the modern world we lived in but it seems we as a society have forgotten how to fully appreciate the incredible things we have right in front of us.
Admittedly even I have felt this way from time to time but looking back on it now it seems that this feeling was less a problem with my environment and more likely a deeper issue with myself. It was my inability to step outside of my bubble that left me feeling bored and alone and the reality was that once I started forcing myself to go out and explore I was quickly starting to discover that there much more to my home than I could have ever imagined.
Discovering the new behind the old
As ‘locals’ we are often the worst at fully taking advantage of the fun things that make our cities so amazing. Even though people travel from all over the world to come visit the city sights and take in our unique local culture it’s sad how little we bother to take in our own fun activities ourselves. How often do you think New Yorkers visit the Statue of Liberty or the people of Paris take a stroll through the Louvre? I would guess very seldom. This to me seems like such a waist; why do we choose to live in these amazing places if we’re not even going to bother to take advantage of the things that make them so incredible?
After living this way for many years myself I decided that I had had enough. My goal this month was not only to step outside my bubble and experience new things but to also explore the incredible place that I called home. The Okanagan Valley is one of the most visually stunning and unique places on earth and sadly other than the highways and major city centers I’ve barely explored it at all. I decided it was about time I took a full trip around the Okanagan lake to see more of the landscape I appreciated only from a far.
Early in the month my girlfriend an I ventured north on Westside Rd to hike ‘Sugerloaf Mountain.’ It was like discovering my home for the first time all over again. I had never seen Kelowna or the lake from this prospective before and it was almost a surreal feeling to look at something I’ve seen a thousand times and have it still seem like new. Twenty minutes up a logging road and an hour or so of reasonably challenging hiking we finally reached the summit of Sugerloaf and the view of the north Okanagan was absolutely breath taking. If you haven’t experienced this I would highly recommend taking the trip.
We continued the northern half of our Okanagan exploration by completing the loop around Westside Rd and driving back down through Vernon. Later this month I’ll be taking on the southern half of the lake by biking the old Kettle Valley Railroad trail from Myra Canyon down through Naramata and into Penticton, and if the views are half as nice as what I experienced from the north then I know I’m in for an amazing experience.
Being that Kelowna is best known as a beach community the next thing I wanted to do was get on the lake!
Although I grew up largely in Kelowna and the Okanagan my experience with boating and many of the area summer rec activities have been fairly limited. My mom was a single parent and raising two boys didn’t leave a lot of extra funds for boats and other costly adventures. That being said we did spend a lot of time outdoors hiking and riding our bikes but water activities were limited mostly to the shoreline.
Unfortunately just like my youth I still deal with my own set financial limitations so I was a little concerned that my lake aspirations were going to still be out of my reach. Surprisingly though I found that like many things in life all I needed to do was ask and opportunities seemed to present them self.
The generosity of strangers
One of the most amazing and positive things I’ve taken away from my journey to ‘scale my life’ thus far is the surprising and welcome generosity I’ve received along the way. Whether it’s been cooking lessons from Ben Pallet at Kitchen Sync Catering during my ‘cooking challenge‘ or impromptu Dragon Boat lessons from the Valley Vixons while ‘experiencing something new‘ this month, I’ve been amazed how easily people have offered their time and expertise. I think it says a lot about humanity and the value of community when someone like me who isn’t rich or famous in any way and who’s only motivation is to grow, explore and learn can be given so many opportunities solely on the good graces of complete strangers.
Just this month alone I’ve tired Cross fit at Crossfit Okanagan and learned to sail with the Kelowna Yacht Club regatta. I went U-Picking and got a great lesson on organic farming at Duggan Farms in Lake Country, I braved Parasailing with Ogopogo Parasail and even got to hold a baby Kangaroo at Kangaroo Creek Farms.
Beyond the incredible time I’ve had attempting to experience new things everyday I’ve also met a ton a genuinely great people that have taught me so much that I never thought was possible. I feel more connected to my community than ever before and I’m growing as a person because of it.
Have an open mind and a positive attitude and life will take you to amazing places
Looking back on the conversation I overhead with that girl not too long ago I realized how similar I had felt at different stages in my life. Frustrated, lost, closed off from a positive community, bored and generally negative about where I was in life. The only thing I can say now after all of these incredible experiences is that life is what you make of it. If you are feeling trapped and frustrated by where you live and what you do then it’s up to you to change that. Amazing opportunities and wonderful people are everywhere, go exploring and I can guarantee you’ll discover something worth while just by experiencing something new.
