As we can’t go anywhere at the moment, I thought I’d go back in time and revisit travel experiences from my past.

Last time I took you back to Japan in 1994, but this time I am taking you to Vancouver in 2005/2006.

I arrived in Vancouver in October 2005 at the start of (another) gap year. I was 31 years old.

I found a room in a shared apartment in Kitsilano, by the shore.

I worked as an office temp during the week and spent my weekends exploring the city.

One weekend I took the ferry to Vancouver Island.

I stayed overnight in a youth hostel, in the centre of Victoria.

It felt odd being surrounded by all this Victorian architecture in this place so far away from England.

Vancouver holds a special place in my heart; it is where I proposed to my wife back in summer 2006.

I returned home from my time in Canada with an American fiancee – life is full of surprises!