We just got back from a weekend in Whistler! Oliver’s doctor gave us the okay in June to take him to Whistler and we have gone three times this summer! We actually went to Whistler on an already-planned trip the day Oliver was officially diagnosed with leukemia last year. It was the first place our doctor let us take Oliver for vacation (they have a helicopter ambulance on standby for the sports injuries that occur…which would also work for transporting a post bone marrow transplant fever patient if need be). Whistler has been a place where we can get away from daily life and especially hospital life and be out in nature.  Here are 3 reasons why Whistler is our #1 favorite vacation spot!

• Price! You can do Whistler basically as cheap or as expensive as you want. Seth has tent camped at Whistler several times for $13 a night. Bring all your own food, the gas to get there, and that’s it! Or on the complete opposite end of the spectrum you could stay at the Four Seasons Resort in a suite for $1000+ a night. Our favorite way to stay is at a VRBO or Air BNB where you rent a house/condo for a couple nights. This is especially great if you have a group to split it with. This past weekend we stayed in a 2 bedroom/3 bathroom condo close to the village with all my siblings. We were able to cook our own food and have our own space while still being able to hang out in the common area whenever we wanted!

• So many things to do! It seems like you could never run out of things to do in Whistler! Just like lodging, you could spend no money or piles of money depending on your style. There are TONS of free paved biking/walking trails, cross-country mountain biking trails, and plenty of hiking trails! Again, on the total opposite end of the spectrum you can take a 12-minute helicopter ride for $179 per person. There are a lot of adventure options like zip lining, bungee jumping, downhill mountain biking, gondola rides, etc. if you want to spend some money. Whistler Village is really fun to walk around in and there are a lot of good options for food and shopping!

• Location and People! Whistler is only about a 3-hour drive from Bellingham. We have Nexus passes – which I totally recommend if you go to Canada very often! They cost $50 for 5 years and kids are FREE! They also get you TSA pre-check if you fly. The Nexus passes definitely speed up your border crossing! The 3 hour drive up the Sea to Sky Highway is gorgeous! The diversity of people in Whistler is exciting too! There are people from literally all over the world, especially from Australia and various countries in Europe. We were talking to four guys from Dublin, Ireland in the hot tub on Saturday night!

Hopefully I’ll do more posts in the future about specific things we love doing in Whistler but overall we just enjoy making family memories there! We have mostly spent time in Whistler during the spring/summer/fall but it is best known for its winter skiing/snowboarding. We haven’t spent a ton of time up there in the winter yet but we hope to in the future!