I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I’ve started and owned about 4 different companies, and sold 3 of them… sometimes by myself and sometimes with partners. I’ve always loved the idea of working for myself, and it’s part of the reason why I ended up going to business school in the first place. However, straight out of university I ended up working at a video game company.

I’ve been working in the video game industry in Vancouver for the past 4 years. In all honesty, I can’t imagine myself working in a different industry… at least not for a long, long time. Still, I often find myself thinking of new business ideas, thinking of new opportunities… and how to implement them. The strange thing is, out of all of the ideas… the one I want to do the most is the simplest one.

When I was growing up, I always wanted to open a bed and breakfast. In recent years, this dream and desire has intensified, and I am sure now that I would open it in Tofino. I’m so passionate about this idea that I find myself thinking about it almost every night.

I’d like to purchase a home in Tofino, and move out there when I am 40 or 50 to open it as a bed and breakfast. I’ve always known that I wanted to get out of the city and move to the Island when I am older, and it just seems like the perfect plan for Allan and I. Sure, we’d be old farts out there surfing… but we’d have our piece of land, a home, a business to get us by (cost of living is a lot lower out of Vancouver), and we’d get to surf whenever we wanted. And still be close by enough to do trips every once in a while to Mount Washington to get our snowboarding fix.

And of course, the next level to this idea is to also own a bed and breakfast on Mount Washington, or a small mountain town somewhere in BC. We’d work at the Tofino B&B in the summer, and the mountain B&B in the winter, and have a manager to run the operations in the low seasons.

It would definitely be a dream come true.

I feel like it is well-suited to our skills and interests as well. Both Allan and I love entertaining, we can cook and clean, and we love meeting new people. We’d have a social media strategy for the business, and we’d use our other interests like photography and filming to round out our offering. Allan is great at teaching surfing and snowboarding, so it could be a nice little package add-on with photography included. I could go on and on with more ideas we’ve thought up.

I’d love to think of new breakfast ideas to serve to our guests each morning. There would be numerous personal touches to surprise our guests at every turn, like freshly baked warm chocolate chip cookies with milk before bed on stormy nights.

The property would be west-coast style with vaulted ceilings and exposed wood beams, with a focus on earthy elements like wood, stone, and plants.

However, it would be warm and cozy in décor…  lots of lamps, comfy couches, flowers, and warm colours.

Ideally, we’d be living on the beach… or at least with a view of the ocean. The property would be heavily treed, so that guests feel like they are living on the ocean and in the forest at the same time. There would be wooden walkways around the garden where we grow our own produce, surrounded by flowering vines and foliage. The walkway would be lit with lanterns at night, leading to a secluded hot tub where you could gaze at the stars or at your loved one.

At one point, I even spent a few days creating the business plan and some spreadsheets. I crunched the numbers… I did the cashflows and investments required and even detailed licensing and legislature considerations. It looked good on paper. But paper is very different than reality.

I guess we’ll just have to see if the dream ever comes true…

What’s your dream?

This past weekend Allan and I headed out to Tofino again for some surf and relaxation. This time however, we were invited to stay at the famous Wickaninnish Inn. “The Wick,” as it is affectionately called by locals and fans, is well-known for its fabulous location on Chesterman Beach, luxury accommodations, world-renowned spa, and five-star dining. No wonder — it’s a Relais & Châteaux property. I also found out a little interesting tidbit from some folks in town which confirms my theories… the Twilight Cast stayed there while they were shooting New Moon. The Inn cannot comment on this of course due to privacy issues, but you can be sure I did as much digging as possible on the subject from the locals.

The Wickaninnish Inn has long had ties to the area and the Pacific Rim National Park. It is family-owned and operated by the McDiarmid family who were born and raised in Tofino. You can read more history on the Inn here.

When you arrive, what strikes me most about the property (and what staff seem to be most proud of) is how the Inn sits on the fine line between the ocean and old growth forest. Compared to most other properties in Tofino and BC, the Inn does an incredible job of preserving the natural surroundings. Every single room has an ocean and beach view, but not at the expense of chopping down the old growth trees in front of the window. When you lie in bed and look out the window, you feel a little bit like you are floating somewhere between ocean and forest.

You can tell that Managing Director Charles McDiarmid spares no expense with his attention to detail. Every room has pieces of nature integrated into the decor, from the driftwood chairs to the solid rock bookends. Every piece of wood in the rooms and around the hotel is hand-crafted and custom made, including the moldings in the rooms, the closets, the doors, bedframes, desks… it’s really something to see.

And all with a focus on sustainability without it being a trend. Claire Macdonald, Marketing Planner for the Inn, spearheads many of the projects herself. The Pointe Restaurant at the Inn actually composts 100% of all its food waste. Claire also organizes frequent beach cleanups with the Surfrider Foundation in Tofino.

The Canopy Room is one of the fanciest rooms in the Inn, with a gorgeous canopy teak bed, living room, plasma TV, multi-jet shower and double soaker tub. Not to mention a great view. I hear it is the celebrity choice when staying at the Inn.

Our room was awesome too. A deluxe top floor room at the Inn, we enjoyed the King bed, local artwork, double soaker tub, and glass panel shower looking out onto the ocean.

The service was great too — all our bags and personal items were organized in the room and the closet. The huge closet also held complimentary rain gear and gumboots. Definitely a plus for storm watching in Tofino.

We also of course had to order breakfast in bed.

Yeah, after surfing Allan and I spent quite a lot of time in our double soaker tub looking out onto the ocean. I’ve probably never felt so relaxed in my life. Honestly.

Of course, I had to try the spa while I was there. The Ancient Cedars Spa is probably one of the most talked about parts of the Inn. It has won so many awards it’s crazy, including being reader-voted as the World’s Best in Travel + Leisure magazine.

The real shame here is that I had to take photos of the Spa after hours, so unfortunately I couldn’t capture how beautiful it is with the natural light streaming in and the ocean views. So bear with me!

Every aspect of the Spa is beautiful… from the wood carved handles on the lockers in the shower rooms, to the huge wood burl mirrors and tables. They also carry a really unique line of spa and beauty products, many from Vancouver Island and BC. Many influenced by the ocean and nature.

They also have an incredible (you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it-kind-of-thing) Cedar Sanctuary where you can get treatments done… in a beautiful cedar house literally looking onto the ocean. Imagine having a massage while the ocean is spraying up in front of the windows… wow! All guests also have access to the Rainforest Sauna… which smells exactly like… the rainforest. So nice.

I decided to go for a massage treatment at the Spa. When I showed up, I was offered refreshing citrus water and tea, and shown to my hand-carved locker in the ladies room. I popped into my robe and slippers and enjoyed a steam in the Rainforest sauna for a while.

Then I was shown to a beach chair outside overlooking the ocean, given a warm blanket and a hot foot soak with pebbles in the bottom to roll my feet over. After an aromatic consultant and some time to relax while taking in the ocean breeze and the view with some hot tea, I was shown to my treatment room. Each of their certified professionals must have over 1000 hours of experience before they can work at the Inn, and my masseuse was no different. A wonderful woman with an amazing background (she previously worked in the advertising industry at notables such as Ogilvy and Mather), she worked her magic on me for an hour. I was completely relaxed. So, “Ahhhh at the Spaaaaa” gets a very relaxed thumbs up from me. You must read about the treatments there.

Of course, our experience wouldn’t have been complete without having dinner at the Pointe Restaurant. We had eaten here before so we knew it was going to be good, and we were looking forward to trying some new dishes.

The restaurant overlooks Chesterman Beach and is situated at a rocky point, which causes dramatic sprays of water and the sounds of waves to accentuate your dining experience. You must visit the Inn during storm-watching season (late Fall and Winter), as that is when the waves are the most dramatic. Believe it or not, that’s the coolest time to come to the Inn and see the power and wildness of nature. We always make sure to visit Tofino at least once a year during this time. Anyway — back to the restaurant — they also occasionally mic the waves underneath the restaurant during a storm for the full effect.

Chef Nutting was in the kitchen that night, and put together some amazing dishes for us. Unfortunately I’ve recently found out about some allergies (egg, dairy, wheat… which feels like everything), but the chefs did an amazing job of working around the allergies. Allan got an amazing selection of bread (including olive and chorizo bread), and I was surprised to see I was also going to get bread… some delicious grilled rice bread and pappardum.

I had a mojito, and Allan tried a sidecar and a Manhattan.

For appetizers, I had the scallops with dungeness crab, pine mushrooms, and a chicken jus. Allan had the grilled octopus with baby shrimp, cherry tomatoes, foccacia croutons, pancetta vinaigrette, and watercress.

For mains, I had a crispy sablefish with citrus, asian pear, bok choy in a szechwan pepper sauce with braised pork belly.

Allan had the Lingcod with fingerling potato chips and chorizo sausage.

I finished off the meal with homemade blueberry sorbet, and Allan had a quartet of creme brulee — vanilla bean, saffron, strawberry, and dark chocolate. I think I’m going to steal that idea for my party coming up. Some homemade truffles came at the end as well, with honey and thyme. Mmmm.

We explored the property a bit the next day before leaving. The Inn has built so many amazing boardwalks, trails, and paths around the area. We found out they shot some of the scenes for New Moon on Long Beach, and also right on the beach in front of the Wick!

And of course, we made sure to get our surfing in.

And that wrapped up a fantastic long weekend at the Wickaninnish Inn. If you haven’t already, check out the website… you must check out the restaurant menu, the accommodations, and definitely the spa treatments. The Wick is a fantastic place for a romantic getaway, a surfing weekend, a mother-daughter or girlfriends pampering experience… or just because. They’ve got some awesome deals coming up for the stormwatching season and the O’Neill Coldwater Surf Classic, so check those out.

Hope you enjoyed the review!

Well, at least it seems so in my life!

I mentioned I had a big announcement to make today, and since then I’ve been getting Facebook messages and MSN messages asking me if I am pregnant or engaged. NO PEOPLE, no. Goodness!

Yes, today is my last day at work at a wonderful company. Since graduating university, I’ve been working in the video game industry here in Vancouver. While I absolutely loved games, since March I’ve been trying my hand at working at a software company as a Product Marketing Manager. I was blown away. I can’t say enough good things about this company, my boss, and about my coworkers. In all honesty, I could have seen myself working here for another 5+ years. I’ve been extremely happy here.

And so… if it was any other company that called me three weeks ago, I would have said no. I would have said that I couldn’t make a change now. But, it was that company.

Growing up, one of my closest relatives was my uncle who was working in software at the time. He was a programmer, and when he set up a 486 computer for my family… I fell in love with computers and technology. As I mentioned in my blog post here, I’ve always been a huge nerd. Although I grew up into the arts and playing sports, I wanted to be a programmer when I grew up. Yes, I had a copy of Bill Gates’ “The Road Ahead”. My childhood dream was always to work for Bill. Yes, I know I’m the devil. I took AP Computer Science for a couple years in high school, and I got accepted to Waterloo for Computer Sciences. At the last minute, I made a drastic decision and decide to go to Western and Ivey instead for Business. I’ve always loved video games and in university I joined an Xbox 360 clan and pretty much played dozens of hours a week. And so it was natural that I ended up working in the video game industry after graduation.

Yep, I actually like Windows Vista. I’m excited for Windows 7. I drove down to the States to buy a Zune. I’m probably the only person I know who has a Zune. I use MSN Messenger exclusively as my messaging platform. I own an Xbox 360. I think you can tell where my loyalties lie.

So, as my boss likes to call it, I’ve “crossed over to the dark side”. Next Tuesday, I will be starting my new job full-time at… yup, you guessed it.

I’ll be working at their game studio here in Vancouver, part of their Games Division. I’m nervous, excited, and very happy. I feel like I’m taking a big risk. I can’t believe my childhood dream is actually coming true.

Back into video games!

————-

In other news, this weekend Allan and I have been invited to stay for two nights at the Wickaninnish Inn in our favourite place, Tofino. We’ve eaten there before and it was fantastic, but never stayed there. We feel very grateful and fortunate for the opportunity (hurray, no camping in the cold this time!). It’s a Relais & Châteaux property, and in my opinion, the most beautiful luxury hotel in Tofino. It couldn’t come at a better time… a little mini long weekend getaway for surf and relaxation before the new job starts to clear our slate is exactly what we need. We leave tomorrow morning and come back Sunday night. I’ll definitely have some photos and videos for you!

Yes, I FINALLY had a chance last night to edit together the ridiculous amount of footage we had from multiple surf trips to Tofino this summer. Sadly, I didn’t have much footage from the spring and we haven’t started our fall and winter surf trips yet, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to combine all the summer footage into one nice tiny package with a bow on top.

So here we go, HD video footage featuring…

• Several surf trips to Tofino this summer with friends, and by ourselves
• Underwater housing footage (in-ocean shots)
• Long lens surf shots
• GoPro camera footage (camera attached to the board)
• Us reeling in crabs off the dock and cooking them
• A few different timelapses
• Us doing stupid stuff
• Allan, J, Venus, Trev, and myself
• Fantastic music from the Planet Smashers (thanks guys, how could I NOT use your song) …

Click the video above to view. Short vid, about 3 minutes. Safe for work.

It’s about 30 hours of footage rolled into one tiny video. You’ll also notice the underwater housing fogs up… yeah, we accidentally tore the new housing and tried to patch it up with tent glue. Then we used it in the ocean anyway. Well, it leaked. Haha. And uh, I kind of broke my Nikon. Soooooo, now I have to get it fixed.

So stupidity aside, let me know what you think!

Thanks for watching!

It’s Friday. In just a couple hours I’ll be on a ferry heading to my favourite place… Tofino.

The forecast for the weekend: Rain, rain and more rain. But when you’re in a wetsuit, surfing in the ocean in the rain is a glorious experience. Who cares about rain when you are already wet?

Our tarps and tent have always been 3-season and very waterproof, so rain isn’t much of a downer when we are out there. Another side benefit is that there are always less people out camping and surfing when it is raining. I love waking up, hitting the surf on the rising tide (whenever that may be), and then spending the day in the tent with Allan… reading books, watching movies on my Zune, or just being together. I sleep best when there is rain pattering on the tent.

If you’re going to live on the “Wet Coast”, then you have to suck it up sometimes, let everything go… and just enjoy the rain for what it is.

In other news, this past weekend I picked up an underwater housing on clearance from Leo’s Camera. I purchased the Ewa-Marine U-AX housing for my Nikon D90 DSLR, but really any DSLR should work in this case. Everywhere I looked online the prices were $250-500 US. And amazingly… it was only $175 CAD at Leo’s on Clearance. No returns, but hey… at that price you just can’t say no. (They still have some if anyone is looking for one!)

I actually have a Fantasea (har har) brand camera housing, but it’s quite heavy and bulky… and as I realized, best used for scuba diving. The real problem is I couldn’t adapt the housing from my D50 to the D80 and eventually my D90… and so the video controls don’t work on it.

So this new housing will hopefully give me the flexibility of changing the video settings and other controls, while still leaving open the possibility of later changing cameras.

So let’s hope the surf videos and photos turn out with this. I’ll let you know the full review when I get back!

And yes, that HD surf video I promised… it’s still coming I’ll combine the footage with the stuff I get this weekend to put together something cool.

Hope everyone has a fabulous long weekend!