While doing research for Thailand, it suddenly dawned on me that one of the big lantern release happens for New Years, when thousands of lanterns are lit with flames and are launched into the sky. I’ve been wanting to see that (despite how environmentally unfriendly and potentially hazardous it is) since I first saw photos of it years ago. And we will be in Chiang Mai for it this year.

I don’t normally get excited about New Year’s festivities, but this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, kind of like what 2012 New Year’s Eve was for me in Sydney. Now, I can’t wait. 😀

Tonight at dinner, I spent almost the entire evening talking to one of my colleagues who is obsessed with national parks. She asked me a lot about our time in Banff, especially since it’s been high on her list of places to see. Last year, she visited both Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, and I was completely in awe that she had visited Glacier National Park; it’s so far north in Montana that it’s actually not that far away from Calgary where we just were, and flight-wise, it’s not easy to get to at all. She told me that while she enjoyed both parks, she and her boyfriend spent far more time in Glacier and loved it more because of its scenery and that it had far fewer people than Yellowstone. At times, it seemed practically dead, she said. I love hearing things like this. What it ends up meaning is that if we go, it will also have fewer people, and we don’t have a problem with less hoards of people.

I also just love hearing about people going to places that are slightly off the beaten track. So many people I’ve spoken with had no idea what Banff was, and while almost every American knows what Yosemite or Yellowstone is, so few people are aware of what Glacier National Park is (I wasn’t even aware of it or where it was in the U.S. until earlier this year when I was doing national park research for Utah). After reading about some national park designations, some are as new as getting their official designations in the 1980s — that’s so recent!

My national park and hiking obsession will continue. I can’t wait for the next one.

Coming back to the city after days spent hiking with views of endless mountains and the fresh smell of trees and clean air is always a bit of an adjustment. The smell of hiking in Banff kind of stayed with me, and even on the flight back to New York City, I was thinking about how incredible the scents were there. It seemed like every few minutes during a walk or a hike up a switchback that I was inhaling some beautiful, clean and new scent.

This morning on my way to work, it was brutally hot and humid, and it was only 9 am. On the walk to the train, I could smell the lovely New York garbage smell wafting towards me. Clearly on 78th street where I usually turn off, it was rubbish collection day, and so the entire street was lined with endless large black bags filled with trash. What a contrast to the smells I was trying to remember and savor.

Tonight after catching on The Daily Show, I spent the evening researching hikes we could potentially do with my parents when we are back in the Bay Area for Labor Day weekend. Mount Tamalpais State Park and Point Reyes National Seashore are just over the Golden Gate Bridge, which means they are just an hour away for us to hike and smell fresh, crisp air again. Now, my only challenges are a) finding hikes that are not too strenuous (these have the potential of having my mother squat on a rock and refuse to continue onward), and b) grappling with the fact that in order to get to these places, I need to get over my anxiety of crossing the Golden Gate Bridge once again.

But I guess we need to face our fears to continue living, so I just have to be strong and think positively about the memories of Ed and the fact that I know he wouldn’t want me to cry.

We haven’t had any real “glamour” meals on this trip, as most of the food we’ve been eating has been either at the national park or random restaurants in the town of Banff. But one thing that has been certain is that the bread and dairy in this province, if not this entire country, have been phenomenal. We got a liter of regular whole milk from a supermarket in Banff the other night, and the milk had a distinct aftertaste that I’ve never really encountered back home, anywhere in the U.S. The bread we’ve had, in the form of “complimentary” bread with the elk stew we had at a park cafe, smelled aged and yeasty, while the cassoulet linseed bread yesterday night in Calgary was light and fluffy, yet hearty and almost “meaty,” if that makes any sense. It had heft and a great mouthbfeel, as well as a nuanced, complex flavor that screamed, “I’m not shitty supermarket American bread; I have character!” And this morning’s breakfast at Blue Star Diner just topped my Canadian bread expectations: my thick slices of sourdough toast that put together my breakfast “sammy” were so good that I didn’t want my breakfast to end. Ever. The flavor, the taste, the texture — it was all so good that even if the cost were double, I probably wouldn’t have cared much.

I read that Canada is known for having very heavy, hearty breakfasts, which I suppose makes sense since it is a very cold region given how north it is. Many items on the menu are not for those watching their waist lines — popular items across breakfast and brunch places include pulled pork eggs benedict, duck confit with poached eggs and hash, and pretty much every fancy meat you can think of combined with eggs any way with endless potatoes in countless methods of being cooked. When people think of countries known for their gastronomy, they oftentimes think of places like France, Italy, Spain, or Japan. Canada is pretty much never on that list based on travel features I’ve read. But I would argue that food is pretty notable here, especially given how culturally diverse Canada is, and their creativity with breakfasts and the care they take with raising grass-fed and finished cows for dairy and beef should be admired, if not replicated.

After having only two meals in Calgary and being blown away by the quality of the ingredients at both, all I want to do now is come back to Canada and eat. And see the rest of the Canadian Rockies. And maybe live for a little bit — if just during the summer.