Author: cynic medic

UK hospital doctor currently on sabbatical in Vancouver as a fiction writer; keen cyclist and runner, passionate cook, keen to understand and discuss philosophy of healthy living and eating.

Sterile landscaping

Lifestyle

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My first week as a Vancouverite (on a bicycle, no less) has been a wonderful learning experience. It is beginning to dawn on me why Vancouver consistently ranks amongst the most liveable cities in the world.

A large part of this is down to urban planning – so called cityscaping. Vancouver is unique in this respect. It has escaped the ‘sprawl’ that characterises so many cities in North America. Instead, the city planners wanted the population to be housed in the city itself.

The result….high rise residential buildings whilst preserving glorious mountain views and large green belts interspersed in between.

IMG_20170824_114204739.jpgSee what I mean? This is the concept of Vancouverism (really, the term exists!).

This is the quintessential modern city…..able to adapt to growth whilst maintaining sustainability.

Space has been cleverly used….

IMG_20170827_114502172_HDR.jpgBelow bridges, underneath buildings, …

DSC00532Oh, and did I say children are well catered for?

DSC00531Contrast this with say, London, which is much bigger and older of course. The green belts are protected completely resulting in an ever increasing suburban sprawl.

Not to take anything away from other older bigger cities, but going forward, this should be the future of modern cities. SFO take note!

 

Jobless, homeless, oblivious….

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Today marks my first official day of unemployment…..following 5 years of labour in a pressure cooker hospital environment and working fruitlessly alongside the all too familiar NHS mantra of ‘keep calm and save pennies’. My efforts have left me to conclude that the pounds have not taken care of themselves.

I have met some brilliant inspirational people along the way without whom the NHS would not have survived as long as it has….having said that, their brilliance has often been blunted by mediocrity and mindless bureaucracy.

However, this is not meant to be a melancholic blog….it is a celebration of freedom, of the great (somehow mostly American) desire to explore new lands, of pursuit of one’s happiness and, above all, of life itself.

Over the course of the next 12 months, I hope to be able to demonstrate how every hardworking soul in any cut-throat environment could benefit from a brief respite, a glorious blissful period of no pressures, no deadlines, no limits – loosely described as a sabbatical.

My plans?? That’s the beauty – I don’t have any…at least nothing concrete. I hope to produce a work of fiction at some point. I want to muse on some aspects of daily life – health, healthcare, fitness and food. I want to be able to provide pragmatic, realistic solutions to the daily stresses of life. I am desperate to prove that our time on this earth is limited and not worth fretting over.

What are my credentials? Well, I have uncoupled from my professional career as a hospital doctor at arguably the peak of my skills; I am fanatical about cardiovascular fitness; I cook a mean tangerine cake….and I am currently jobless, homeless and blissfully oblivious.

Need I say more? Watch this space….

Photo from Sriram