A month has passed since I made my way to Victoria, BC for what has become something of an annual tradition for me. (Pictures can be found to the right.)  When I travel, I try and keep three things in mind: housing, transportation, and and travel time.  I do my best to keep one or two of those things at a minimum.  Victoria is nice because it is relatively close (when you live in Hawaii), not too expensive to get to (if you find a good deal), and is easy to walk.  In fact, I think this year I averaged about as many steps a day as I did in England and Scotland back in October,

Which is also to say that it’s been more of a travel semester for me than usual.  I took a quick, mostly inexpensive trip to visit friends in Fresno, CA back in September.  October was the big return to England and Scotland as a school trip (45 students this time).  Victoria worked out nicely in November: I got the cheapest ticket yet for the southern tip of Vancouver Island.  And now I’m sitting in the Denver airport at a cafe waiting for my flight to Nashville for Christmas with the family.

Victoria was good for me.  In many ways it was like a mini-England trip with a quieter itinerary.  Had the best steak pie I’ve ever had at the Bard & Banker.  Murchie’s never disappoints, especially if you get there at the right time.  The weather was cold but sunny.  This year’s movie was Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, which was great for the season.  And I found a few good buys at Russell Books.

I’m glad the semester is over and that I’m getting to spend a good portion of the break with family and friends on the mainland.  It’s looking to be a warm trip, at least until near the end.  I’ve got a short stack of books to read and some sleep to catch up on.  Maybe I’ll even get some reading done on this next, non-red-eye flight.