Hello everyone! As you may know, I recently concluded my #chiaraexploresbc travels. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to explore so much of this beautiful province. I have seen so many amazing places! And I feel there is still so much more to see! I’m even more excited that I got to spend the last couple of weeks on the road exploring Vancouver Island. As I settle in to my new role and the travel season winds down, I’ve had lots of time to reflect on the past few weeks and how truly amazing and inspiring they’ve been. And the first place I explored on Vancouver Island was: Victoriaaaaaaa!
It has been many many years since I’ve been to Victoria. It was so nice to be back! Victoria was much different than I remembered, and it is always a bit interesting to be exploring somewhere when you are driving in a car on your own. I got to spend so much time exploring the city, and it was really nice! One of my favorite things about traveling is when you get so used to a city that it begins to feel a bit like you’re at home in it – and by the end of my couple of weeks on the island, I definitely felt that way about Victoria.
I explored so much of Victoria and it was so damn beautiful. I lucked out and had an incredibly stunning, sunny week. I checked out some of the castles nearby, including Craigdarroch Castle, and all of the incredible grounds its on. I even had some very close interactions with deer (I literally could have reached out and pet one!), which are super domesticated on the island and all over the place. I explored quite a bit of downtown as well, since I was staying close by near the waterfront. There are so many different areas of downtown to check out, especially right on the water and in Chinatown (which is Canada’s oldest Chinatown!). It was great to check out these different areas, and a good friend of mine actually lives in Victoria, so I had my own personal tour guide too!
Apart from checking out these aspects of the city, I spent most of my time scoping out incredible viewpoints of the city where you could see the ocean from so many different angles. I also spent lots of time going to the water directly, which was so incredible. One of my favorite things about Victoria is that it is surrounded by the ocean on all sides, and no matter where you go in the city, you are steps away from it. So damn beautiful. And I am fully convinced that sunsets on the ocean are the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen – I got to take in so many lovely ones, and the colours were absolutely jaw-dropping.
I am so glad I got to spend so much time in Victoria. Reconnecting with friends was really awesome and I really vibed with the city as a whole. I really didn’t want to leave, and I was pretty stoked to have another full week on the island exploring other parts of it! Stay tuned for part two about my time adventuring around Vancouver Island, and in the mean time, make sure to visit my Facebook and Instagram for the most recent updates! xoxo.
