By the time spring was in full bloom, the snowboard shop had fully converted all of its snowboard stock into mountain bike equipment, which was something I had no interest in selling. I felt like I had overstayed my welcome in Banff and there was little point for me continuing to live there. Banff seemed like a great place at first, but I felt isolated from the rest of the world. I had been there for a total of ten months and had managed to save nearly eight thousand dollars. For the first time in my life, I was on my own, and excelling. I had established my independence and was confident I could make it in the real world without any help from my parents. But Banff was a small pond; I wondered how I would do living in a large metropolis.