My 2025 in Review

My life is good.

I'm privileged beyond most people I know (and don't) and am positioned to tweak my life direction when I think that is needed so in some ways I'm a bit immune to the challenges other people face when it comes to living where I do. For example, many Vancouverites seem to have a hate-on for the city we live in. I have complaints, but mostly continue to think it is extremely liveable and even wrote about what I think went right in Vancouver 2025 despite known political hurdles.

This 2025 Review post is as much (if not more) for me to read in later years as is it is to share with people in my community. I just want to remember what I got up to as I plan out my future.

My adventures with Laura continue and we got up to quite a bit this year! Here is a set of cell phone pics that we used to reconstruct all we did! (not pro shots, just records)

Highlights

Travel: We recently realized that we tend to mark a given year by where we travelled. We've determined it must be our favourite hobby and annual highlight if we do that so here goes!:

• Vietnam (photos) - For sure the marquis 2025 trip. 2 weeks, all delicious and fun. This trip only made us want to travel more and longer.
  
• 
  Comox - I biked up island on a 2 day adventure to meet Laura and my sister Wendie to house-sit for a week and it was awesome. Sub-highlight was the bike route our friend Brenda took me on to Cumberland.
• Saltspring - We rented a friend's cabin for 4 days and soaked in island life w. Wendie and Pete. We also did a bike trip Galiano.
• Yellowpoint Lodge - I went here twice but only once with Laura. This seems to be coming an annual short stop and I'm not complaining.
  
• Windsor - The family felt it was time to celebrate the life of Laura's father who was an early COVID victim (so funerals were
  impacted). It could not have gone of better and we were glad to have done it.
  

It was a bit light for me on travel but there were reasons for that. We're starting off 2026 strong with a chilly trip to Whitehorse in response!

Being a tour guide and volunteer: I'm now in year 2 of being a part-time guide at Cycle City. It is a job that keeps on giving. I feel it gives me some spending money, keeps me active, and adds to my list of mini-communities. I also find it a real joy to see Vancouver (and Canada) through the eyes of tourists. To boot, I get a special industry pass that others might balk at but it gives me access to a ton of things in the lower mainland I can take my friends and family to. Priceless! (for me). I'm hoping to at least do another year there.

This year I also volunteered at the Vancouver Fringefest and joined a sub-committee for bike security at HUB Cycling. These were new to me and reminded me every year needs something fresh like that.

We also bought a new car!: 23 years in the ol' reliable Matrix but we wanted something for the next 1/3 of our lives and our requirements list was big! We landed on the Corolla Cross Hybrid. A big deal for us this year, may it serve us as well as the last one.

Mini-highlights:

Our community garden(s) continued to give us joy and some healthy food. Like a pet, they force you to break routine and submit to their routine and I need that sometimes.

For some reason this year, we stumbled into going to multiple filmfests in the fall. VIFF, VIMFF, the Bike Filmfest (HUB), and the new to us: Architectural Design & Film Festival. More of this in 2026 I'm thinking.

Reunion! Yup, just a single night but a rite of passage in my mind. As usual, a great event and reminder of just one great community that I grew up in.

My bikes: As always and endless source of joy and adventure. I started doing slightly longer regular rides (30km+) to explore further and help tinker with the idea of a real multi-day tour in the not so distant future.

When reducing working I had made a personal goal to see my immediate family more regularly, which I think I did. Some extended family we saw more of but others, we need to work on (like my aunt- our schedules just didn't work!).

In addition to seeing my dad more for bike rides and brunches, my sister Wendie retired from teaching! Bonus as she is in the same neighbourhood but she quickly filled her schedule like a pro and made me feel the need to up my game! (How she put up with those little shits and their parents still eludes me!).

Room to improve

Despite being spared too many family losses in 2025, we started the year reeling from a frightening accident in Windsor. Things are ok now thankfully but it was enough to rattle everyone into action for improved years to come.

I hate complaining about my ailments always but I started the year thinking I had 3 health issues to juggle but now, feel it is more like 1,..  but it is a biggie to me - some nerve issue in my right foot. As a self-proclaimed addicted hiker,.. this was a very, very challenging thing for me. I barely hiked and my massive bucketlist collected cobwebs,.. exception: our sectional peak bagging of every trail in Pacific Spirit Park. Foot health is a core focus of mine for the next year (again),.. as not hiking or walking like I used to just is not good for other health concerns due to inactivity, let alone my mental state. Thank goodness for bikes.

We are also starting to see the byproduct of our age. Multiple friends are facing monumental health and mobility challenges (as are some family members). This just strengthens our resolve to spend more time with people we care about and to press harder on our own life objectives.

Remembering those that have passed

2025 sadly marks the passing of several great souls. 
Our former neighbour Shannon Tipple was a powerhouse in our special Equity Co-op and life in general. My find Craig's father Dave Wong was a community builder and even my cub leader at one point. His death was a sudden shock but his funeral showed how much of an impact he made in the outdoor community and more.

Our family's favourite topic of conversation Spekky the cat, also passed. He lived with my sister and her husband Pete. Everyone thinks their pet was special or unique,.. but ours really was.

Lastly, even though it was 5 years ago, Laura's father Dick passed away without a proper celebration so we converged on Windsor to do so. It was a great event held in a place he loved, the Capitol Theatre where he was an active and beloved volunteer for years.

2026 and Beyond

To those we didn't see enough in 2025,.. let's fix that. I hope to spend quality time with more people, more often this year. 

We've set the stage for a few early trips and I hope to plan my longest cycle tour yet. Our marquis trip remains to be planned, but we are working on it!
Laura seeks to survive a challenging work environment for at least a few more years but to squeeze as much into the gaps as she can. I'm looking for a 2nd small "side-hustle".

All the best to you and yours, let me know what you've got planned!