Month in Review: October 2022

I can’t decide if October passed by quickly or slowly. It’s weird to think that this month started out with 25+ degree days and flip flops then ended in rain and heavy coats. It seemed to change in a blink but some of these days did drag on.

It almost feels like October was suspended in time. After a very busy September that saw us packing up our apartment and travelling to Europe, October definitely felt a bit quieter and slower. But since we’re not moved into our new place yet, everything feels very temporary and unsettled. There are lots of things I feel like I’m waiting on, but it was still a pretty good month nonetheless!

Highlights

One of the best parts of October was Thanksgiving (we celebrate in October in Canada). Colin and I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time ever, which was daunting, but also a lot of fun! Colin handled the bird, I took care of desserts, and we tag-teamed all of the sides. It was only dinner for six but I think we pulled it off! Everyone enjoyed the meal and we ate leftovers for weeks.

Another huge highlight of October was finding our new home! After some stressful times apartment hunting (more on that below), I was stunned when I got an email from the landlord of a place I was sure we weren’t getting. The viewing had been packed with people and after not hearing back the next day, I didn’t think we’d been picked. But apparently we were and the place is ours!

We move in late November and I’m so excited to get settled, organize everything and decorate. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks looking up home items on Facebook Marketplace and watching way too many home design videos on YouTube. Hopefully I don’t have too many ideas by the time we actually move!

I’m sure I’ll share more about our new place once we move in but for now, you can see the location in the picture below – just across the water from where we were in Yaletown!

Lastly, I scored an amazing flight deal in October that was too good to pass up. It’s a multi-city flight with connections, but definitely worth the hassle. This January 2023 I’ll be flying from Seattle to London and then Amsterdam back to Vancouver for only $159 CAD total!

Lowlights

I’m not one to complain about sun in Vancouver – and certainly not when it extends into our regular rainy season – but most of this October was hot! Usually that wouldn’t be a problem, but the place where we’re staying got really warm inside. Most days it was 25-27 degrees indoors! So yes, I was one of the few who were happy when our regular Vancouver rain finally showed up.

While our apartment hunt was successful, it was also a pretty stressful process. I’m someone who likes to obsess over a project until it’s done. So pretty much as soon as we got home from Europe, I was right on it searching through Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace listings. I scanned the sites multiple times a day, sent countless  messages, and arranged a good number of viewings.

We ended up only going to four viewings and applying to two places before signing our lease – which is really quite good given the competitive rental market in Vancouver. We were convinced we’d have to overpay or extend our search outside of Vancouver to find a place. Luckily that wasn’t the case, but it was still a stressful time!

Best watch

This fall we’re back to some of our old favourites: Survivor, The Amazing Race and season two of Abbott Elementary. We also picked up a new Netflix show, The Mole, which is a reboot of the old Anderson Cooper version. And with my current home design obsession, I’ve been watching tons of Alexandra Gater videos on YouTube. If you’re into rental renos, definitely give her a watch!

Reads

This month, I finished reading:

I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
I started listening to Ramit’s podcast this month so thought I’d check out his book too. I have to say, I like his podcast better. The book was hit and miss for me. I agree with Ramit’s overall financial philosophy; I really like his idea of a conscious spending plan instead of a budget and planning for your rich life.

As the book is US focused, a lot of the talk around 401Ks and IRAs wasn’t applicable. I also found Ramit used a lot of examples steeped in diet culture and fatphobia for no real reason. So overall, I think IWTYTBR is like most other financial/self-help books: Take the lessons you want from it and leave the rest.

What’s cooking?

Our main cooking feat in October was definitely the big Thanksgiving dinner. It was fun to plan out the menu and I think we’ll be bringing back some of the side dishes – like maple balsamic brussel sprouts and mashed sweet potatoes – later this fall.

Other than Thanksgiving, October also saw us enjoying delicious breakfasts with eggs and smoked salmon, chocolate lava cakes we made in the toaster oven, and a fun night out for drinks at a hotel bar with Colin’s mom and aunt.

Posts from this month

This month on Teaspoon of Adventure I published:

• 12 Things to Know Before Visiting Amsterdam
• Where to Stay in Amsterdam: SWEETS Hotel Review
• A Manneken Pis Brussels Day Trip Itinerary

Check out any of the posts you’ve missed!

Instead of my regular throwback post of the month, I thought I’d shout out something else: my Twitter account! I’m on Twitter at @tspadventure and just this month hit a huge milestone of 10,000 followers! Twitter is my favourite social media platform to connect with writers, bloggers and travellers, get travel advice, and get inspired. Come join me over there!

Travels

Where we have travelled in October:

• October 2021: Last October we were enjoying our Atlantic Canada honeymoon in Nova Scotia and PEI. It was all about beautiful views, local charm and delicious seafood!
• October 2020: Two years ago we headed to Penticton, BC for a long weekend. We enjoyed craft beer, walking on the beach and getting engaged!
• October 2019: October 2019 was a busy one for travel! We started the month by travelling to Nuremberg and heading to Oktoberfest. And then we ended the month visiting Bratislava and Budapest.
• October 2018: Another busy month in Europe! In October 2018, Colin and I visited London and Iceland. And then a few weeks later, I flew back out to visit Amsterdam, Paris and Antwerp with my dad.
• October 2013: Almost a decade ago, I spent most of October travelling around Australia. I dog-sat on the Gold Coast, stayed with family friends in Sydney, explored Melbourne and went on a Great Ocean Road day trip with a friend from university.

Clearly October is one of my favourite travel months!

Gratitude

I am extremely thankful for our temporary housing situation. We are so lucky that our family could help us out and take the stress off of our apartment hunt. As much as I am looking forward to moving into our new place next month and getting settled, we are so lucky that we had somewhere to go in between our rentals.

And shout out to Colin: Thanks for getting me these beautiful flowers to celebrate our engagement anniversary! I’m always bugging Colin to buy me flowers (to no avail) so was pleasantly surprised when he came home with these. Even more surprising? They’re still looking beautiful almost two weeks later!

Coming up next

Next month we’re moving! We don’t actually move into our new place until late November but I’m sure I’ll spend most of the month dreaming of gallery walls, kitchen organization and new bedding we could buy. Until moving day, I’m going to try to keep myself occupied with work and trip planning!