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I arrived in Canada with a smile. I had packed exactly the right amount of underwear, my clothes were coordinated, and I had definitely remembered toothpaste. As a chaotic Type B traveler, this was growth, and the right start to what was supposed to be a relaxing trip in the mountains.
I’d been invited by Moxy Banff and Marriott Bonvoy Moments for three days of exploring the Canadian Rockies, from Lake Louise and Moraine Lake to the Bow River.
But I had also arrived carrying something I hadn’t packed: the lingering feeling that I should always be doing more.
My life revolves around work, deadlines, and an endless stream of notifications, and I had gotten very good at being productive and increasingly bad at being present. Even on vacation, part of me was usually thinking about what needed to happen next.
Somewhere along the hour-long drive to Moxy Banff, surrounded by mountains and increasingly spotty cell service, I decided whatever was waiting for me back home could wait.
It was time to fully go out of office.
My Wishes for This Trip
As I settled into my flight and gazed out the window in the kind of dreamlike state only a Pisces could understand, I took a deep breath and set two intentions for the trip.
Number one: Become more present. I wanted to enjoy the little moments. The bees landing on flowers, the textures, and the moments I would one day wish I could get back. To push me to do so, I brought my camera. Photography used to be one of the main ways I made sense of the world before it became something I was always too busy to do. On this trip, my camera would become my North Star.
Number two: Do some scary sh*t. Before the trip even started, I knew kayaking was on the itinerary. Through Marriott Bonvoy Moments, the entire experience had already been planned for us, from where we’d go to the people we’d get to experience it with. It was the kind of access that made trying something completely outside of my comfort zone feel a little more possible.
And as a proud mammal who can’t even swim, voluntarily paddling down the Bow River felt slightly unhinged. Better yet, unnatural.
To raise the stakes, Marriott invited two-time Olympian Evy Leibfarth to join us. Yes, the Evy Leibfarth, the first American woman to medal in Olympic canoe slalom after taking bronze in the women’s C1 event at the 2024 Paris Games.
So, yes, the stakes felt pretty high. Still, I wanted to do it. The goal wasn’t to suddenly become fearless; it was to stop allowing fear to keep me from truly living. I would leave Banff with at least one new skill and that was enough.
What I Packed
For once in my life, I actually packed according to the itinerary. With only three days in Banff, I kept things simple and leaned heavily on Oner Active’s Lori Harvey Day-to-Night Capsule: the SoftMotion Racerback Dress for hiking, plus the Soft Motion Straight Leg Pants and matching High Waisted Leggings for everything in between.
I also packed for the important business of smelling good. During the day, I wore Blank Body Sculpt Body Oil in Sweet Plantain, a warm, plantain scent that felt surprisingly fitting for the mountains. I also paired it with Vaseline’s Sunlit Glow Body Shimmer Gel Oil for extra hydration. At night, I switched to my Phlur Island Swim body mist.
However, if I could go back and repack, I’d grab a heavier coat. Sure, the daytime was warm, but at night, my little airport hoodie was not going to cut it. And Banff is the kind of place you want to walk around and take in, so don’t let being a little chilly cut your night short.
Day 1
Banff, for the record, is not a real place.
It’s the kind of town you’d imagine being dropped off somewhere along the Polar Express route. The entire town is framed by mountains, so no matter which direction you look, there’s this absurdly beautiful backdrop behind everything.
Our home for the weekend, Moxy Banff, somehow fit right into all of it. The hotel had this retro, mid-century mountain-lodge feel that made it playful without letting you forget you were surrounded by the Canadian Rockies. After checking in, we dropped our things and walked into town, which took around 20 minutes. As a former New Yorker, this qualified as basically next door.
That evening, I found myself at Pizzeria Sophia, eating the best lemon pasta of my life. I struck up a conversation with my server, who was from Australia. He was working at the restaurant while training to become a snowboard instructor.
Over the next three days, I would meet person after person who had come to Banff for the same reason: there was something here they loved enough to rearrange their lives around. They were people who had moved their entire lives across the world to chase something I would personally categorize as some “scary shit”! Without even realizing it, my wish to do some scary shit was already manifesting, with every person I met showing me what was possible when you stopped letting fear make your decisions.
Day 2
Some places are so beautiful your brain has a hard time computing that what you’re looking at is real. Lake Louise was one of them. The water was this almost ridiculous shade of blue, surrounded by mountains so massive that the whole thing looked less like a real place and more like one of those default MacBook screensavers.
At Moraine Lake, I climbed to a viewpoint overlooking mountains that had existed long before me and would continue existing long after me. Everything felt enormous, and all the little things that normally consumed my attention suddenly felt small.
I instinctively reached for my phone to take a photo and realized I didn’t have service.
There were no emails to answer, feeds to refresh, or notifications competing for my attention. Whatever was happening beyond those mountains would have to wait. For the first time in a while, I felt my shoulders loosen and my breath steady. All I had in front of me was the landscape and my camera.
I photographed the water, the mountains, and the people who appeared impossibly tiny against them. I started noticing composition and light again. I began looking at the world the way I used to, when taking photographs was something I did simply because it made me happy.
Then I looked down at one of my first images and low-key?
I still had it.
Day 3
If day two was about slowing down, day three was about learning how to say yes, even after I had already said no.
We set out that morning to kayak the Bow River alongside Evy Leibfarth. I was excited, despite having done absolutely zero research into what kayaking actually entailed. I climbed into a tandem kayak with another girl and almost immediately realized that I had no idea what I was doing. We could not get in sync. Within minutes, we were both frustrated, barely moving, and I was ready to call it, so I got out.
I had already decided I was good. I could walk, take some pictures, and enjoy the scenery from the very safe comfort of land. But everyone around me kept encouraging me, and eventually they convinced me to try again, this time in my own kayak.
Once I stopped worrying about throwing someone else off, I found my rhythm. I paddled down the river, surrounded by mountains, passing a beaver dam along the way. I realized the thing I had been terrified to do was actually…peaceful.
Even our kayaking instructor had moved from England to Banff because he wanted to snowboard. Another person who had crossed an ocean because there was something here he loved enough to follow.
After kayaking, we met back up with Evy for a multi-course lunch at The Maple Leaf Steak & Seafood. It was the perfect ending for what was supposed to be a terrifying day. Later that afternoon, I wandered through Banff by myself, stopped in museums, took pictures, and followed whatever looked interesting. There was no schedule to check and nowhere I needed to rush off to next. That afternoon, I got to simply exist.
What to Know Before You Go
I went in August, which was the right call. The weather was warm enough to spend my days outside, the mountains were still snow-dusted in the distance, and I could hike without having to become a winter-sports person overnight.
You can’t drive a personal car to Moraine Lake. Parks Canada closed Moraine Lake Road to personal vehicles in 2023, so you’ll need to arrange transportation ahead of time. There are several approved shuttle and public transit options available, but reservations can fill up quickly.
Yes, you need a park pass. Banff is inside Banff National Park, which means visitors need a valid Parks Canada park pass. You can purchase one ahead of time or when you arrive, but I’d handle it before the trip so there’s one less thing to think about once you’re there.
Moxy Banff is walkable to downtown. One of my favorite parts of staying at Moxy was being able to walk into town instead of constantly worrying about a car. Downtown Banff is roughly a 20-minute walk from the hotel, so pack comfortable shoes.
Check Marriott Bonvoy Moments before your trip. The kayaking experience I did was available through Marriott Bonvoy Moments, where Marriott Bonvoy members can use points to bid on or redeem experiences that go beyond a traditional hotel stay—from food and music to sports and outdoor adventures.
Bring good walking shoes, some layers, and an itinerary… or don’t. You’ll find something to do either way.
What I Wish I’d Known
Sometimes, when you’re in this mindset of wanting to heal, it’s easy to start experiencing your life in the third person. I found myself mentally checking in: Am I doing enough? Am I fulfilling the wishes I set for myself? Is this changing me yet? At some point, even healing can become another thing to accomplish. I wish I’d known that being present is actually much simpler than that. Sometimes, it’s just losing service on a hike and not panicking about it. Letting the email wait. Letting yourself look around without needing to document, respond to, or make meaning out of every second.
Eventually, I would have to go home, open my laptop, and return to real life. The emails, deadlines, and responsibilities weren’t going anywhere.
Banff was enough.
About the Writer
Jessika Hardy is a freelance writer and social strategist at Refinery29 Unbothered, covering travel, culture, and all things internet. When she’s not online, she’s probably baking banana bread or flipping through records.
Editor’s note: This trip was hosted by Moxy Banff and Marriott Bonvoy Moments. All opinions and experiences are the writer’s own.
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