Canada

Welcome Home! Canada Sign in Halifax Photo Jennifer Morton
Travelling Your Roots: A Return to Canada

Originally Published March 19, 2019 Returning to Canada after a lengthy absence, Jennifer Morton discovers the joys of ‘coming home’. When I left Canada on a 12-month working holiday to Australia in 2001, I had no idea that I would end up calling Down Under home. But, like a travel
Continue Reading »

Algonquin credit: Lia Rinaldo
Wet, Wild (and Spooky) Adventures in St. Andrews by-the-Sea, New Brunswick

Originally Published March 27, 2019 An hour’s drive from the city of Saint John, and only a hop away from the American border, the colourful waterfront town of St. Andrews by-the-Sea, New Brunswick, has long been a summer playground for wealthy Americans. The Algonquin Resort, famous for its ghosts; the
Continue Reading »

Bird watching can be done in any destination - Photo Carol Patterson
Bird Watching 101 – In Any City, Town or Country

Originally Published March 27, 2020 Is it time to switch from the news channel to the bird channel? Watching birds can be done anywhere – even in urban environments and has big health benefits. Researchers in England revealed people living in neighbourhoods with more birds and trees experienced less depression,
Continue Reading »

Marmot Basin - Top of CRE - Photo Credit Marmot Basin
Do Winter Right in Jasper at Marmot Basin

Originally Published Feb 17, 2021 Gliding through the forest following the ski instructor, as we cross from the mountain shadows into a burst of sunlight and open slopes, brings a vivid spark of joy. This is winter at Marmot Basin ski resort, just outside the town of Jasper in Jasper
Continue Reading »

Tips to Enjoy Safe Family Skating on Canada’s Natural Lakes & Ponds

Originally published February 10, 2021 I have early memories of my parents strapping BOB Skates onto my bulky winter boots, and letting me shuffle around with my siblings on a natural lake in Southern Alberta. The sense of wonder and freedom I felt at the wide-open space still remains with
Continue Reading »

Niagara Falls - Canadian Falls Credit Blue Motel Room Photography
Niagara Falls Without the Kids?

In our household, Niagara Falls had always been a family destination — for waterparks, mini-golf, a wax museum, ziplining and of course, a boat tour aboard Niagara City Cruises. But with our kids now in their late teens, my partner and I decided to visit Niagara Falls in a whole
Continue Reading »

Sunset at Farewell Harbour Lodge - Photo Carol Patterson
Great Bear Rainforest’s Farewell Harbour Lodge offers Leaping Whales, Backcountry Luxury, and (almost) Zero Emissions

Flying through the air, higher than any agility dog clearing an obstacle, were two male orcas. They were killing a Dall’s porpoise! Bludgeoning it with their body weight so it would be defenceless when they moved in for the final attack. When I’d signed up for a visit to Farewell
Continue Reading »

Learning-From-Lilwat-and-Squamish-Teachers-The-West-Coast-carvings-are-beautiful.-Photo-Annie-B.-Smith.jpg
The Stories Are Alive: Learning From Lil’wat and Squamish Teachers

We stood in front of the cedar pole carving while the drumbeat began, strong and in time with the earth’s heartbeat. Qawam Redmond Andrews, our cultural ambassador, closed his eyes as he lifted his voice and joined his drum to begin the same song his ancestors used to call the
Continue Reading »

Strangest Airbnb Accommodation - Industrial but it was quieter than many RV parks I’d stayed in. Photo Carol Patterson
My Strangest Airbnb Accommodation Was…a Parking Lot?

When I headed to British Columbia’s Fraser River Valley for fall bird watching, camping spots were as scarce as a long-billed dowitcher (rare). Fortunately, a fellow horse-lover rents out the most basic of accommodation on Airbnb – a safe place to park – next to some horses and a short
Continue Reading »

Painted Warriors Bimose Forest Walk - Rebecca (left) learns about tying a clove hitch to secure the tripod for cooking over a fire. Photo Robyn Louie
Painted Warriors’ Bimose Stories of the Forest

We are walking with nature in a sun-dappled forest as we learn about Indigenous healing traditions with Painted Warriors, an Indigenous-owned business near Sundre in the Alberta foothills. Our guide, George, points out a native plant with feathery grey-green leaves, carefully breaking off a small leaf, crushing it to release
Continue Reading »