Recipe for Zipline/British Columbia Experience on a Budget

Recipe for Zipline/British Columbia experience on a budget

June 2016

Recipe for Kathleen and Nicu's experience. You can do this on a budget. Here's how:

Look on Expedia for flight deals to Seattle. Visit Seattle’s Public Market at Pike Place. Grab a dark roast at the first Starbucks, and some fruits and smoked salmon jerky for the trip. Don’t buy too much though, as you can’t bring certain foods through the border. You will be able to stop at Whole Foods in Vancouver to get more provisions.
Go “off season”. Many people don’t think of visiting ski resorts in summer. But you can get great deals during this time, and many offer amazing summertime recreation activities.
Don’t pay twice for car rental insurance. If you already have car insurance for a car you own, check in with your provider. You may already be covered for car rental insurance.
Make sure you have a passport, and that it hasn’t expired. You now need this to cross the border into Canada. Need a passport quickly? Some cities, such as Boston, have expedited passport service.
Call the hotel. Sometimes they have a better deal than what is showing on Expedia, or other internet travel sites.
In addition, try talking with a few different people from the hotel. Some are better at giving deals.
Try to use AAA discounts, and other promotions. We bargained for a couple hours and eventually got a good price.
Here is the zipline website: http://whistler.ziptrek.com/tours/sasquatch/

English Bay, Vancouver, British Columbia

Make sure to stop in Vancouver for a few days. Here you can:

Rent a boat and cruise in the harbor.
Have a snack at the Granville Island Public Market. Maybe a salmon salami, witches finger grapes, olives, apples or a freshly baked French baguette.
Go to the Spanish Banks to get a view of the downtown, ocean, and mountains in one place. Nearby is a shishi area called Kitsilano, where the headquarters of Lululemon is located. Do a dancer pose in front of their corporate building.
Go to the Anthropology Museum at UBC (University of British Columbia).
Drive over the majestic Lion’s Gate Bridge.
Go to Stanley Park and see the totem poles made by indigenous members of Canada’s First Nations and sailboats along the harbor.
Go downtown. Check out the Olympic rings, and some turtles in the Chinese grocery store.

Don’t plan too much. Be spontaneous about travel, and discover the best adventures along the journey.

We often decide on places to go at the last moment, sometimes even the night before or the day of travel. We have also become very adept at traveling inexpensively, taking advantage of flight deals and visiting our favorite restaurant, Whole Foods, in each city we travel to.

Mountains of Rainier cherries at the Granville Island Public Market

Inuksuk Atop Whistler

Approximate Budget:

Flight from Boston to Seattle: $400 per person
Car rental: App. $20 a day x 5 days = $100 ($50 per person)
3.5-4.5 Star Hotel on Mountain: $150 a day x 4 days = $600 ($300 per person): Check different dates; some days are far less expensive than others. Get a suite with kitchenette so you can cook your own food.
Food: $30 a day (Buy groceries at Whole Foods in Vancouver, as there are only smaller more expensive convenience type stores at Whistler. However, they do sell produce, and you can still buy a few items and eat less expensively than going out. Cook in your kitchenette and eat on your balcony overlooking the mountains! Treat yourself to lunch and a glass of wine on the deck of Whistler’s mountaintop lodge (take the gondola up). They also have special farm to table dinner events here.
Zipline: $100 (plus $25 to rent the GoPro camera, if you want proof you did it)

Kathleen

Editor in Chief

Kathleen is passionate about food, travel, wellbeing and helping people create meaningful livelihoods.