A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

Scout List Vol. 562

From our calendar to yours comes this carefully considered agenda of things we are doing while self-isolating. Please note that you can now get the Scout List – with a few extra pieces of intel included – sent to your inbox every Thursday. Sign up for your subscription in the sidebar.

This is the weirdest Scout List I’ve ever had to write. For over 10-years running, the whole point of this column has been to get Vancouverites off their asses and out the door to try new things and support cool people doing cool things. Alas, that’s not going to work so well under these current circumstances, so I’ve temporarily adapted it to focus on cool things you can do at home…

LISTEN | Our Podcast suggestions for this week:
Fall of Civilizations | Writer and author Paul Cooper tells the story of what happens when societies collapse. SO good! DETAILS
Massy Lectures | Keep your brain sharp. DETAILS.
Short Wave | Quick and informative programming on a multitude of topics from NPR | DETAILS
S-Town | An oldie, but a goodie. Worth a second listen! DETAILS
Track and Field | Restauranteur James Iranzad talks about how the local restaurant community is coping with Covid-19. DETAILS 

VOYEUR | Whether you’re looking for a rabbit hole to get lost in or need somewhere to unload a secret, hanging out at Post Secret can easily fill some time. DETAILS

PLANT | This is the perfect time to plant garlic. It doesn’t take a lot, just a little dirt and some garlic cloves. It’s satisfying to watch something grow, and nice to have something to look forward to! Visit Victory Gardens for a straightforward how-to video: DETAILS

CLEAN | Chances are you’ve already checked this one off the list, but when you’re ready to do it again, we suggest you check out the David Suzuki Foundation’s “Queen Of Green” tips for home cleaning. DETAILS.

WATCH | Burned through Netflix already? Before you sign up for another paid service, we have a few free suggestions:
Top Documentary | 100’s of free, full length documentaries organized by subject. DETAILS
Time Team | A team of archaeologists dig uncover as much as they can in three days on sites around Britain. 20 Seasons should keep you busy for a while. (Note: this is one of my personal favourite shows of all time.) DETAILS
Monterey Bay Aquarium | Missing nature? The Monterey Bay Aquarium has you covered with 10 live web cams: penguin cam, kelp forest cam, aviary cam, jellyfish cam? All of those and more (there’s even a shark cam!) DETAILS

ORDER-IN | If you are a) tired of cooking from a limited pantry and b) can afford to support local restaurants by ordering in, Scout has an A-Z guide for Vancouverites looking for quality take-out, delivery and nourishing provisions in this time of crisis HERE.  Need a beer to go with you meal? Check out our list of local breweries that are rolling with take-out HERE.

MOOD | Having trouble finding the focus required to work from home? Saint Marie Design gets you sorted with their Working From Home soundtrack here. Happy hour not feeling so happy these days? The Keefer Bar is publishing Living Room Sessions to their Facebook page so that you can fill your ‘isolation station’ with Keefer vibes (that should help, right?). DETAILS.

IN THE KITCHEN | Mount Pleasant’s Kranky Cafe has put out a cookbook ($8) with some fine looking recipes in it. Not only could making some of these recipes fill some of your time, but there are also some super sweet instructional videos on their IG account (look here) that will engage kids interested in helping out too. Bonus: for every cookbook sold, Kranky is donating $1 to A Better Life to help out those in need. DETAILS

MOVE | Don’t get squishy in confinement! Sure, you could YouTube your way through this, but why not stay in shape, support a small business AND be part of a community from home? Tight Club is offering live stream classes to suit a range of open spaces on your non-existent schedule. Get into it. DETAILS

CREATE | Need a push to get creative? The Jealous Curator challenges you to make one piece of art every day for 30 days. The challenge started last week but there is nothing saying you can’t jump on board now. All you need to do is make art and post it on IG using the hashtag #30dayartquarantine (DETAILS). Got kids? You need to check out Collage Collage. Erin and her team at this Main Street hub of artistic energy have good ideas that can help keep little hands busy. DETAILS

Transition Into 2024 with Some Quality Downtime

From our calendar to yours comes this carefully considered agenda of cool things we are doing, wishing we could do, or conspiring to do in Vancouver, from now until January 8th, 2024.

Scout List, Vol. 601

From our calendar to yours comes this carefully considered agenda of cool things we are doing, wishing we could do, or conspiring to do in Vancouver, right now.

Scout List, Vol. 600

From our calendar to yours comes this carefully considered agenda of cool things we are doing, wishing we could do, or conspiring to do in Vancouver, from March 30th to April 5th, 2023.

Scout List, Vol. 599

From our calendar to yours comes this carefully considered agenda of cool things we are doing, wishing we could do, or conspiring to do in Vancouver over the days and weeks ahead.