Contemplating A Sabbatical Post-Pandemic? Think Whistler.

What’s your dream place for going remote or totally off work?

Prajakta
8 min readNov 30, 2021
Enjoying iced coffee by the fire on a snowy day that’s quintessentially Whistler. Photo by Shashank Nigam.

When we arrived in Whistler last summer, most of our friends believed our move was temporary. A year-long sabbatical, perhaps. I can’t blame them given our track record of moving to new cities or countries all too often. Is it any wonder that we are @nomadparents on Instagram? By putting down roots here and making this our home, we may have surprised them. However, looking back at how much we did in our year here, we have also come to appreciate what a fantastic sabbatical location Whistler is.

In this picturesque little ski resort, we got to know many families who are here on sabbaticals. They made that move long before the word became mainstream. Unsurprisingly, this trend is now on the rise. Post-pandemic, many professionals are reconsidering their career choices, and families are rethinking lifestyle choices in light of new possibilities brought about by the work-from-home era.

If you are contemplating a sabbatical or a gap year, the question on your mind may be, is it really possible to take off to a faraway resort town such as Whistler? And what would you do there other than skiing and golfing? And can you work there and immerse in the community?

To do, there is plenty!

Our friend and technology professional, Noel Pullen, who moved to Whistler with his wife and three kids last year, sums it up beautifully,

“Whistler is such a great place for a sabbatical because of the possibilities: you can choose excitement or you can choose solitude.” ~ Noel Pullen, senior tech executive

A little known secret about this place is that Whistler offers micro-environments. Some of these, such as the mountain bike park, skiing or the luge track, offer an adrenaline rush. However, there are also many others, which are naturally conducive to a “flow” state of mind. Nature being at our doorstep is an understated advantage. We knew that we wanted our kids to have a schooling experience immersed in nature, and the world-class programs and schools in Whistler such as the Whistler Waldorf, bike camps and forest school programs facilitate that very well. But even otherwise, outside of structured programs, all this nature is the best babysitter we could have counted on.

All we need to do is find a stream for the kids to throw rocks in for hours while the mountains majestically adorn the background. Or a patch of old forest with logs and bugs and sap and moss to pluck, poke and collect. Such natural environments are so rich with curiosities that plenty of learning happens on its own, without having to worry about ‘activities’ to do. Time literally flows.

On the contrary, if we were to take a sabbatical in the city of Toronto, we would have to seek out and plan activities and really scout for environments where unrestricted free play can occur safely. Even in our own backyard, we would have to create variety by curating playmates, toys and games consciously. From the perspective of working parents, Whistler was so much of an easier environment to optimise kids’ learning, careers, and overall fun. Even (and especially) days spent doing nothing but marvelling at snowflakes or wildflowers felt like days well spent.

It doesn’t end there. When kids are thriving, the adults can enrich themselves guilt-free too. Being here has allowed me to pursue a long-held dream — to move into the mountains and write. I have delved deeply into the writing ecosystem here through the various literary activities of the Whistler Writers’ Festival, the workshops that the Whistler Public Library organises and even have some of my poetry displayed with fabulous artwork in the centre of Whistler Village. Neither have I ever pursued writing so dedicatedly before this, nor have I received such support and encouragement.

My poem in Whistler Village as part of Resort Municipality’s ‘Moving Meadows’. Photo by Author.

The experience of another family working remotely in Whistler, who we happened to bump into at the local playground in Meadow Park, demonstrates this. Ali and Karina used to visit Whistler every year for six weeks, pre-kids. During the pandemic, they moved here with their two-year-old daughter and 16-year-old nephew for a full year.

“My wife and I were also able to have fun and logged in nearly 100 days on the mountain. We also picked up biking which was foreign to us at first, but by the end, we were enjoying the downhill park and trails thoroughly. We plan to return to Whistler every year for six months!” ~ Ali & Karina

They loved their stay here so much that they plan to make it a lifestyle to spend several months here each year.

Working from Whistler

Working remotely from a small town like Whistler may seem like an unusual idea at first. However, there are key advantages to Whistler’s location and infrastructure.

In locations popular among the digital workforce, the far apart time zones are helpful to do individualised, contract work. However, working from such locations makes it nearly impossible to communicate frequently on video calls. On the contrary, Whistler’s world-class facilities, internet infrastructure, proximity to the city of Vancouver, and being in the PST time zone, the same as the Bay Area and only three hours behind the East Coast, make it a strategic location to work remotely, in multiple industries, for both consulting works as well as senior corporate roles, which involve interacting with your teams. As a result, plenty of technology, financial and creative sector professionals have made Whistler their permanent home base.

During the last year, my husband, Shashank, has worked remotely from Whistler, leading his company SimpliFlying Inc. in pioneering Medtech solutions for the global aviation industry as it recovers from the pandemic. When we moved to Whistler, his team was in the midst of running an accelerator of start-ups. Every two weeks, they had a panel of senior executives from airlines worldwide putting half a dozen carefully selected start-ups through a version of Dragon’s Den.

I was surprised how simple it was to lead teams across time-zones, to organise multiple demo days for the accelerator, remotely from this resort town tucked away in the mountains. ~Shashank Nigam, CEO SimpliFlying Inc.

If Whistler is a terrific base for corporate professionals, the advantages of our scenic and slow-paced town are even more pronounced for creative professions and pursuits. As a writer, I can participate in writing festivals, writing courses and critique groups from all over while working from home in Whistler. This allows me to collaborate with participants from across cities and countries. In addition to plugging into multicultural and international writing ecosystems, Whistler fills me up with so much inspiration to write and is such a supportive community that I have been more prolific in my year of living here than any other time before.

Our friend Jaimal Yogis, who is a well-known author himself, echoes this.

For almost two years I had not been able to dive into my work the way I could once we moved to Whistler, last Fall. ~ Jaimal Yogis, author of the best-seller ‘Saltwater Buddha’

Jaimal and his wife, Amy, CEO of Vineti, Inc., moved their family to Whistler last autumn. As avid surfers, they surmised that skiing is just riding a frozen wave! And indeed, not only have their three boys become spectacular skiers over the season, but they have also enjoyed the nature and sense of community all around. Both Jaimal and Amy have worked remotely through the year; Jaimal, with his publishers and illustrators, has completed a whole new book. It came out in September 2021. Amy has been able to power through her very demanding and fulfilling job taking her company to new heights.

In fact, over a conversation about writing best practices, Jaimal shared that he found the 40-minute gondola ride a peaceful place to edit a chapter or two of his draft between ski runs. I took his advice and tried it myself, publishing a blog post straight from the Gondola. Cool, eh?

Part-time Work and Volunteer Opportunities

Moreover, because of many off-the-beaten-path businesses here, there are plenty of opportunities to take up part-time work or volunteer. If you had always wanted to be an art curator, a Thai chef or an axe-throwing coach, you could easily take up a part-time job doing just that.

This is a fantastic way to integrate into the community and meet new people. Through my voluntary work for advancing thought-leadership of the Whistler Institute, an educational NGO with a global vision, I have met some of the most interesting thinkers in this community. It amazes me how many diverse interests including intellectual pursuits, this small outdoorsy community harbours.

Paul, a Whistler resident of 7 years who works remotely in the finance sector echoes this experience. He decided to become an axe-throwing coach at Forged Axe, after joining Whistler’s axe-throwing league and finding a passion for this fun and truly Canadian activity. He shared that Whistler is an ideal location for remote workers, but after living here for a while he found himself wanting to get more integrated in the Whistler community, to interact with people in real life and make some more connections.

“Teaching people to throw axes at the weekend turned out to be great fun and the perfect balance to the day job — I made some good friends, got to interact with guests from all over the world, and was invited to great team-building social events. At social events in Whistler no one wants to talk about finance — but axe throwing is a great conversation starter!” ~ Paul Cox

Final thoughts

Our year in Whistler has been rejuvenating, fun and enriching. Taking a sabbatical or working remotely from here turbocharges your mind, refreshes your intellect and nourishes your mental well-being in unexpected ways.

And yet, your remote year here may just be the beginning. If you find yourself wondering if there’s more beyond your planned stay, there are plenty of opportunities to engage with the local community and put down roots. Who knows, you might even choose to stay and call Whistler home, as we have!

Are you on a personal growth journey?

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Prajakta
Prajakta

Written by Prajakta

Harvard-based economist, meditator, and author of “Buddha Balance Journal”. Thank you for reading my thoughts-in-progress. Substack: https://bit.ly/3XX5Sid

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