Can't forget to pack any of my Canada apparel. Red mittens are a must!

I flipped my calendar to February last week and realized the Vancouver Olympics are no longer 6 months away, they are less two weeks! That means I need to start packing and getting ready to go to Vancouver.  Leading up to this month I’ve been doing some minor preparations, which blog post to do next was what I thought about the most. I also spent time reading other Olympic related blogs, and searching online for others making the trip to Vancouver.

A few weeks ago I started to look into free events that will be available during Vancouver 2010. There are many and to try to make sense of all the locations was making me dizzy. I’ve bookmarked all the sites and blogs I could find on everything and anything going on in Vancouver during the Olympics. At the top of my list of things to do outside of our Olympic events are hanging out at LiveCity Yaletown and Downtown and visiting as many of the pavilions and houses that I can.  Of special interest is Sochi House-the next host city for the winter Olympics and as many Canadian houses that I can get to including Ontario House, Quebec House, Canada’s Northern House, and obviously Vancouver House.  I will try to get to as many as I can.

Outside of those things, I want to go shopping! Not mall shopping, I want funky, boutique, you can only get this in Vancouver kind of shopping! I was asking around on Twitter for some recommendations and people sent me quite a few suggestions. I’ve made a list and will be working my way through it when I am in town.  It will also be inspiration for my Not A Shopaholic blog which I’ve been ignoring while I focus on my Journey to Vancouver 2010 blog.

Now my attention turns to getting ready to make the trip to Vancouver.  This past weekend I brought up my suitcase and tried to start packing based on lists I’ve been working on for months. Packing is one of my least favourite activities, “pack light” everyone always tells me.  That phrase doesn’t seem to be in my vocabulary.  I’m going to try my hardest to make it work this time.  I want to leave room for all the souvenirs I’m going to bring home from Vancouver!

On the weekend I was sent a video welcome greeting from some BC residents. Some of them I know through our online correspondence, others I have not met at all. I’ve yet to meet any of these people in person which I will do when I get to Vancouver.  It is so touching that people I hardly know would think of this and take the time and effort that went into it.  I love seeing how excited people in Vancouver and BC are to have the world come to their city. This personal greeting has made me feel so special and that much more anxious to get there. I always knew that the people I would meet during this experience would be extraordinary and the people in this video are proving me right.

Vancouver, I will see you Thursday, February 11, 2010!

Video created by Robert Werner

Canada Loot Bags

The Canada Loot Bag

I have acquired quite a bit of Canada, Ontario, and Toronto trinkets to give away to our international guests during Vancouver 2010. It started to be so much stuff I wondered about the logistics of handing it all out. I didn’t want to have to fish through different bags for 3 different types of pins, stickers, and business cards. I needed to compile everything so it would be easy, fast and neat when it came time to disperse my goodies. That is when I came up with the idea to create “Canada Loot Bags”.
These would be loot bags for Vancouver’s 2010 visitors given out by me, spreading Olympic and Canadian cheer everywhere I go.  Each Canada loot bag will consist of 1 Canada flag pin, 1 set of Canada stickers and 1 pin of either Toronto or Ontario.  I have also added in my blog business card so people are able to stay in touch.  On the weekend I went to every Dollar Store I could find but Canada stickers were in short supply. I will keep checking though. The loot bag isn’t complete without them.
Do you have suggestions for anything else that can be included in the Canada Loot Bag? If you do, please leave a comment with your idea as well as where it can be purchased.
I’ll be sure to keep you posted on people’s reactions to the Canada loot bags.

And in case any of you were wondering the Canadian Olympic Spirit photo album is up and available for viewing. I’m hoping to add a lot of photos over the next few weeks. If you see a display of Canadian Olympic Spirit where you are, send me the photo and I will include it in the album.