Four guys heading up a slushy mountain for some pow, what could go wrong?
A few weeks ago, a few friends and I decided to take a boys’ trip out west to Whistler, British Columbia, for some kid-less fun on the slopes. Four days of fresh pow, beers, and a (few) solid night’s of sleep.
We locked down an awesome AirBNB, booked our flights and lift tickets, and realized: okay, this is becoming very real, very quickly. Then we realized we had *one* small problem: how were we going to get from Vancouver to Whistler without renting a car? I mean, we *could*, technically, hitchhike, but who wants to pick up a bunch of 40-something dads hauling gear? No one, that’s who. So I did what any resourceful dad would do: I reached out to my network for help.
Luckily, my friends at Honda Canada hooked me up and I was offered a 2022 Honda Odyssey Touring Edition for the hour and change drive up the mountains to Whistler – new winter tires and all! They even made the key exchange seamless: I took a 15-minute cab ride from YVR over to a fellow journalists’ house and the minivan was waiting for me, clean, gassed up, and ready for adventure. So I hopped in, changed the settings around to suit my liking, and hit the road to grab my buddies!
Loading was a breeze with the fold-away seats that I have grown all-too-familiar with (having three kids and a 2019 Odyssey of my own). We packed our stuff, hit the grocery store (and a few other stores with a more adult-use vibe), and took off.
As we set off, three notable features really stood out to me and became super-helpful along the way:
Wireless phone charging: the 2022 Touring comes equipped with this ‘should be standard but it isn’t’ feature and I couldn’t get enough. It allowed us to not worry about fumbling for wires when someone needed a boost.
Navigation: yes, Google Maps via CarPlay is often the more popular choice for day-to-day and I totally agree. It’s simply easier (and more intuitive) to use, plus it allows you to remain consistent with one device vs integrating and learning something else. However, when on a long road trip, where cellular dead zones are totally a thing and CarPlay can be buggy, built-in Navigation will always remain consistent. It follows a Satellite (so there is never a worry about losing connection) and offers the convenience of “set it and forget it”.
Extra cameras: Accountability is a thing, even into our middle age. The Touring Edition offers a ceiling camera (you know, for extra “wtf are the kids getting into now” visibility, which is great for keeping your friends in check when someone makes a mess and doesn’t want to own up to it.
You know what else was awesome: the active snow drive setting. The roads up to Whistler get treacherous fast. It goes from clear and easy, to wet, icy, and hard to see in the blink of an eye.
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