Wonder With Pat

FIFA brought you to Vancouver. Good.

This city deserves more than the stadium and the hotel.

Stanley Park on a bike 🚴, Capilano Bridge in the morning, Granville Island for lunch. Three spots that’ll make you understand why people who live here can’t stop talking about it.

Full guide with restaurants and neighborhoods is on the blog. Link in bio.

FIFA brought you to Vancouver. Good.

This city deserves more than the stadium and the hotel.

Stanley Park on a bike 🚴, Capilano Bridge in the morning, Granville Island for lunch. Three spots that'll make you understand why people who live here can't stop talking about it.

Full guide with restaurants and neighborhoods is on the blog. Link in bio.

Alaska moves differently when you know what you're sailing through.

One of my favourite things to tell families before an Alaska cruise is to bring something to read that's actually set there. Not a guidebook. A book that makes the scenery feel like a story you're already inside.

A few I keep recommending:

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. You'll be looking at the same wilderness and understanding exactly why it pulls people in the way it does.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Short, easy to read on deck, and the landscape makes so much more sense when you're in it.

John Muir's Travels in Alaska. He wrote it after spending seasons exploring the exact coastline you'll be sailing. Reading it on deck near Glacier Bay is something else.

These aren't required reading. But Alaska rewards the families who arrive with some context for where they are. The glacier is more impressive when you understand how long it took to form. The wildlife is more meaningful when you know the stories behind the place.

Save this for your Alaska cruise packing list. 📚

June is one of the better months to book a family cruise, and right now there are some genuinely good offers available across four lines I recommend 🚢

DCL has kids sailing at 50% off on select sailings this June, up to 3 kids per stateroom. Norwegian is offering up to $200 onboard credit on balcony cabins and above. Princess has $50 OBC across Alaska, Caribbean, Hawaii, and Mediterranean sailings. Royal Caribbean has two complimentary soda packages on 3-7 night Caribbean and West Coast sailings.

These aren't running forever. A few expire before the end of the month.

If you've been thinking about a family cruise and want to know which of these is actually the right fit for your family, DM me or email me at [email protected]. I'll point you in the right direction.

You've been "planning" this trip for six months.

You haven't booked anything yet.

There are tabs open. There have been conversations. Your partner has opinions. Your kids have requests. You've looked at the same resort three times and you're still not sure if it's the right one.

Here's the thing: this is the part that's supposed to be fun and somehow it's the part that feels like homework.

That's not a you problem. That's a "there are too many options and no obvious way to narrow them down" problem. And it's the most common thing I hear from families before they work with me.

The trip doesn't have to take six months to plan. It doesn't have to feel like a research project. That's what I'm here for.