After I graduated from university in April, I got a full-time job that allowed me to work from home. Being at home for covid was the longest I had ever been in one place for a while and I was getting a bit antsy, so one day (during my lunch break), I had this brilliant idea to buy a car, drive across the country, and move to Banff for the season. To make sure it wouldn’t impact my work, I floated the idea to my very supportive supervisor. I had done some research before about seasonal housing in Banff and emailed a few people asking if there were still places for the summer, and there still were. Seeing as that my idea could actually come to life, I started telling people about it, and one of the people I told was my good friend Hohyun, who I’ve known since high school. As a joke, I invited him to do the drive with me (the same day I came up with this idea), and he was seriously interested in doing it. Him being on board to do this motivated me more to make this work, but there were a few items that needed to be confirmed before I could just pack up and go.
1. The Car
I knew nothing (and still don’t really know anything) about cars, so I asked my mom for help with car recommendations. My main requirements were that it be cheap on gas and be good for road tripping in general. I wanted to buy used, but given that I knew nothing about cars and that I was about to drive one across the country, my mom very strongly recommended a new car. At the time of buying, the market wasn’t very good for used cars anyway, and the price of a used car was comparable to a new car. I ended up buying the 2021 Volkswagen Golf at the Town and Country Volkswagen (the same place where my mom got her car). She helped me negotiate a good deal on the car and the staff there were really helpful in teaching me about the car buying process and all the other responsibilities that came with owning a car. They helped me get the car I wanted ASAP and a week after I visited the dealership for the first time, I signed all the papers and drove the car off the lot.
2. The Lease
During the school year, I did research on seasonal housing in Banff, knowing that these things existed given the large number of foreigners (Aussies) that do seasonal work. I found a housing company and emailed them asking if they still had seasonal housing for their summer season, and they did. In one week, they were able to get the contract out, and I signed it and paid the deposit. I was made aware that there were other people already living in the house and that another girl, Amanda, would be my roommate. I was really excited to meet someone new IRL after spending my whole school year in front of my computer.
3. My job
I decided that I was going to do this for real less than a week after I floated the idea by my supervisor, who probably thought I was joking when I initially told her. When I told her I was going to do it for real, this was her reaction (she’s literally the sweetest):
which was then followed by this after I explained to her my plans (or lack thereof):
Before I left, I promised her that I would still do my work and just wake up earlier to accommodate the time difference so I wouldn’t affect the team’s operations. I also promised I’d send them each a surprise postcard from somewhere in Canada.
Since my lease began on June 1st, we wanted to get there as close to the date as possible, so we decided to leave ASAP (which was a week after I came up with this idea). We spent the rest of the week packing, booking places to stay, looking at things to see, setting up the car, and we even made a Spotify playlist.
I honestly had no idea what to expect going into this but knew that I was going to have the time of my life.
