Last week I had my first ever 'available' days. These are standby days that you check 7pm the night before to find out if you have been assigned home, or airport standby and what time. I had three of these in a row, followed by two days off. I checked two nights before the first of my three AV days and saw my first AV day was still showing as 'available', but my second and third showed a trip to YVR retuning the following day (three days in total). I remember thinking 'where on earth is YVR?' and googled the Airport Code... Vancouver!! I was so excited, I squealed and my mum came running in haha! I have always wanted to visit Canada and was so surprised as it's a route that Mixed Fleet don't usually operate - making me even more excited for the rare trip. I checked my roster a day later and my first AV day had been updated to Home Standby. During all 8 hours of standby I was praying not to be called out so I could continue with my Vancouver trip the following day. Which, at 8pm, after making sure I had full signal, no missed calls or messages I relaxed and started packing for Canada! I arrived at the briefing room ready for the flight, meeting & chatting to my colleagues, when the pilot walked in and proposed Skiing during the 24hours we would be there. After the flight we arrived at the hotel, those of us interested in skiing spoke to the Concierge, got prices & decided to meet in the morning to discuss weather on the slopes. I got up, ready & dressed the following morning and due to the lack of notice, I obviously had no ski equipment. I knew I would be able to hire ski equipment and a jacket & salopettes, however I had no ski gloves, no goggles and only trainer socks to wear in my ski boots! We met up, and decided to definitely go for the skiing. We got a bus up the mountain, hired our equipment and hit the slopes! I hadn't skied for about 3 years previous, so was such a good feeling, feeling that powdery snow under your skis! We all had an absolutely amazing day & it was certainly worth being knackered on the flight home that evening, knowing we'd been skiing in Canada, only hours before!