In the early morning on August 31, 2022, my friend and I awoke to begin our journey to

Edmonton, Alberta by heading to the Vancouver International Airport. Going on a trip without
our parents was essentially a need we had decided must be fulfilled by the end of the year and
were constantly looking for opportunities to go during the summer. We both love travelling and
thought it would be really fun to have to organize our own trip and be free to do as we choose
without the intervention of our parents. However, we both had packed schedules for most of the
summer – going on family trips, attending events, and working – and wanted to spend minimal
money, so we were very happy to find a cheap flight to Edmonton on days that worked for us
both. Later that day, the Flair Airlines confirmation email was in my inbox, and we were
officially heading on our own trip. This was my second largest financial investment I have made
with my own money but felt that the experience was worth every dollar spent. I recognize the
value of experiences and am okay with spending reasonable amounts of money that I earn to gain
these experiences. Once we were in Edmonton, our main goal was to explore the downtown area
and then swiftly head off to the West Edmonton Mall. We spent a lot of time on public
transportation to get around due to the great distances between the airport, downtown, and mall.
While overall it was decent, Edmonton’s transit system provided us with some challenges, from
the infrequency of their services causing inconveniences, and the inability to pay for the fares
with a card, forcing us to exchange money for a lot of coins. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed
sitting back and looking out at the tall buildings of the city’s somewhat tired and quiet downtown
area as well as all the surrounding neighbourhoods we passed, providing a general sense of what
Edmonton is like. It was interesting having to navigate around a new environment, which is a
necessary skill for everyone and especially for those like me that love and hope to travel a lot in
the future. Both of us being responsible for each other’s safety, we had to use our own judgement
and make smart choices to ensure we stayed safe. We did encounter one potentially unsafe
situation, where a young/middle-aged man started talking to us upon boarding the bus from the
airport, inquiring where we’re staying and for how long, to which I made up a reply to not reveal
this information to a stranger. We both felt uncomfortable with his constant attempts to spark
conversation and tried to subtly show our disinterest. He also offered to lead us to the right train
after asking where we were heading, claiming he was heading to the same area as we were. We
said thank you and that we will but once we got to our stop, we let ourselves get caught behind
other people leaving the bus and distanced ourselves from him. We saw him looking back at us
but made sure to stay back and eventually got onto our train, feeling slightly unsettled and
temporary relieved until he entered our train car, after which we pretended to be confused about
whether we’re on the correct train and exited, quickly moving to another train car, luckily never
interacting with him again. This experience reminded me about the potential danger of being on
my own and has put my safety skills to the test. After all the transiting and uncomfortable
experience that we had, we were very eager to start exploring the largest mall in North America.
It was massive but we spent such a long time there that by the end we felt familiar with all the
endless halls and so accustomed to being there. It was very hot outside, and we were especially
happy to be in the air conditioned and safe confines of the mall. As much fun that we had there,
including going on some adrenaline boosting rides at the mall’s indoor amusement park, we
couldn’t wait to get to our hotel by the evening as we were both so exhausted. I was particularly
tired considering I could not sleep for the few hours of rest we had time for before needing to
wake up at 2 a.m., and barely sleeping the night before either. Once we got to our hotel, it was
not quite what we expected to say the least, but I guess we got what we paid for. We were super
hungry after the whole day and decided to head to a nearby grocery store to buy some food,
something I have not done on my own often. It may seem simple, yet it is a critical skill to shop
for food and choose grocery products that will balance health, price, and cravings. We got up the
next morning and taxied to the airport with lots of time to spare as a precaution in case of any
long queues, like the unbelievably long security line we experienced in YVR on the way there.
We really enjoyed the flights and were thankful for the smoothness of all the airport and aircraft
operations, not falling victims to the chaos of delays and cancellations in airports that we kept
seeing and hearing about on the news. Upon our return to Vancouver, we agreed that we had a
great time and began thinking about more places we can explore in the future, hopefully
somewhere outside the borders of Canada for a more unique experience. I am glad I got to see
Alberta’s capital as I love travelling and want to explore more of Canada. Nevertheless, it felt
good to return to Vancouver and am glad to call it my home.