My two main passions are travel and photography. It’s really convenient that they go so well together! Here is one of my favourites. I took it last October, when I drove across Canada. The prairies were so beautiful, with all the golden fields and the hay bales. That day, the drive took me a lot longer than planned, because I just had to keep pulling over to take pictures. In true canadian tradition, someone pulled over to ask if I was ok while I was taking this picture.
I was recently tagged by @turnipseedtravel to be part of the #MyCanada bloggers’ roulette, and I’m happy that I get a chance to contribute.
The concept is that Canadian bloggers write a post about why they love Canada, and what they think travelers should do when they visit Canada.
This exercise has given me the opportunity to really think about what Canada means to me. My job involves quite a bit of travelling around Canada, and it’s been nice to think about what this means. Rather than wish I was travelling abroad, this is a good chance for me to look at all that I get to do here.
As you can see on this map, I have been lucky enough to travel across Canada. I’ve done this more than once – I’ve flown, driven and trained from end to end.
Coming to Canada for the first time, or living in Canada and wondering where to staycation? Here are some favourites!
1. Take the train or drive where you’re going
I’ve taken the train from Vancouver to Ottawa, and from Ottawa to Halifax. I’ve also driven from Halifax to Ottawa, and from Ottawa to Vancouver. The train and the highway take different routes, so they both allow you to see different things. I feel like I’m the only one who thinks this, but my favourite part of the cross-country journey has always been the prairies. On my latest drive across, it took me forever to get from Winnipeg to Regina, because I kept stopping to take pictures.
2. The East Coast
By far, the East Coast is my favourite region in Canada. Rough atlantic ocean, mild winters, and the friendliest people you will ever meet. The towns are small and colourful, and there is so much to see everywhere you turn. In Nova Scotia, make sure to check out Halifax (my #1 city in Canada), Lunenburg and Wolfville (where I hope to live one day). And if you’re in NS, you need – need! – to make the trip up to Prince Edward Island!
This is where I’m from, and it’s always harder to identify great things about your hometown. I have two favourites around the Capital region – walking around parliament, which offers amazing views of the river and Gatineau, and a drive through Gatineau Park to go to Champlain Lookout. When I first started driving, this is where I would go whenever I could. Toronto is also worth checking out – a lot of people don’t love Toronto, but I actually do. If you have time, you can walk everywhere, and it really doesn’t feel busy for a big city, more like a lot of little neighbourhoods all stuck together. Our region is also renowned for beautiful fall colours. If ever you are around in the fall, make sure to check out the forests. Ontario is also bordered to the South by the Great Lakes. I really feel like these are underrated. I drove by Lake Superior on my way across in October, and it was really incredible.
For those of you who don’t know, the ‘middle’ is Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Yes, I love the Prairies. I think that they’re beautiful. Unfortunately, I have yet to fall in love with any of the cities there. I’m going back to Saskatoon next week, and Winnipeg in April, maybe that’ll help. In the meantime, if you’re in this area, I’m going to invite you to check out McNally Robinson, Canada’s biggest independent bookstore. It’s actually the best.
Calgary, AB
Saskatchewan
Winnipeg, Manitoba
5. The West
And we’ve reached the other end of Canada! I am lucky to call this place home at the moment, but I don’t see myself living here forever. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy – and invite you to enjoy – the immense beauty of this place. Go see the mountains – walk, bike, or fly across. Spend time outside, by the ocean. Go into the forest, see the giant trees. And Vancouver really is a beautiful, beautiful city.
Gibsons, BC
Vancouver, BC
I want to thank Vanessa for inviting me to take this journey across Canada! Every time I think about everywhere I’ve been, I think about how lucky I am that I’ve gotten to see all of these places. You should to, when you get the chance!
At this point, there is no one for me to tag, but I am hoping that my buddy Christie will take up the subject on her blog – she’s from the Prairies, and I’d love to hear about the part of Canada that I know the least. I also want you guys to check out this guy. If these pictures don’t make you want to go to Canada, or take up hiking, or photography, nothing ever will!
This week, I was invited to be a guest blogger for a blogging carnival run by a canadian organization called kickaction.ca. Kickaction is an online community of young women acting for social change across Canada.
There were three themes to choose from, and I decided to go with HERstory. Check out their website to read everyone else’s contributions over the next three weeks. Below is my original text, and in the coming days, I will be posting more of these directly on here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I wanted to tell a story, HER story to be exact. I spent some time thinking about who would make a good storyteller, which woman would want to share her life with us. It wasn’t long before I realized we all have a story, so I decided to make this a Canadian HERstory. During my cross-country meanderings, I asked women from British Columbia to Newfoundland to answer a series of questions.
The whole purpose of this post is to show that we all have deep and varied histories, but we all have similar struggles and dreams. The original plan was to come up with a blog post that synthesized all of their stories into one, a Canadian HERstory of sorts. It turns out that ultimately, these stories are too rich, these experiences too varied, and these ladies too insightful, to be reduced to one tale. I’ve decided to merge the answers into one voice for the purpose of this blog post, and it broke my heart to have to shorten these answers – these women are genius. Make sure to check out my own blog in the coming days, as I will be posting each woman’s individual HERstory at WHERESALEX.WORDPRESS.COM
1. Where are you from, and how has it shaped your life?
Newfoundland. Ontario. Somalia. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Northern France. Saskatchewan. Québec. New Brunswick. Prince Edward Island. British Columbia. Not really “from” anywhere.
How can where you’re from not shape your life?! You are the sum of your experiences. And experiences depend a lot on where you live.
At the age of 19, I left all I knew and moved to Québec to learn French and start MY life. I became independent at an early age. I have always felt a little ‘different’. This has helped me stay strong during tough times.
The places my parents and I come from shaped my life in many ways. To be honest, I struggle with the Canadian identity.
I grew up in an isolated French community where people had to fight not only for survival but also for services. Transpires in everything that I do and am. I’m a fighter.
I was born in Northern France, in a city where unemployment, immigration and alcoholism are sky rocketing, and it gave me only one goal in life, get out of it… And I did!
I am from a province full of individuals who appreciate every little thing. They see blessings in everyday occurrences. This is the kind of person I want to be. This is the kind of life I want to live.
2. What is your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievement to date is remaining positive and curious about life despite the hardships I have encountered.
Graduating university. I really didn’t think I was gonna make it through.
Great is living your life to the best of your abilities and, in the process, not ever willfully doing something to hurt another person. Humans aren’t perfect and spending a life trying to achieve perfection is futile. Just do the best you can and be honest with others and yourself.
My children! (Interesting – every responder who has kids has named their kids as their greatest achievement)
Being able to get away from really toxic family history and making a better life for myself.
I’m 28! Give me a break! I’m only starting to figure out life… And you’re asking me what my greatest achievement is? I don’t like this question! Living in itself is an achievement. Putting one foot in front of the other. Not giving up. Fighting. Being out there. Trying to figure out what to do with one’s life. I guess that’s what I’ve achieved so far!
The fact that I’ve been married to my husband for over 31 years.
This summer I hiked for one month in Vermont. I was completely unprepared. But I did it. And I kept doing it.
3. What is your greatest regret?
My greatest regret is forgetting to put myself first.
That I started smoking cigarettes when I was 16 and have struggled with quitting, so far unsuccessful after many attempts, for most of my life.
I no longer believe in mistakes. Everyone takes a different route to get to their ultimate destination.
I’m learning now that one of the hardest things anyone can ever face is making the decision to try harder or walk away.
Although I try my hardest to live without regret, I definitely give myself a mental kick in the pants every once and a while for not spending more quality time with my father. I imagine almost every person who loses a parent feels that way.
Greatest regret? I have no regrets. There are some things that I’d probably do differently if I’d known then what I know now, of course. Regrets are negative energy that pull you back. What many people carry as regrets, I try to learn from and move forward.
4. What would you tell a young girl who is struggling with something like her identity, bullying, not fitting in, etc.?
Believe in yourself. That is the starting point. This is the best advice I can give. It’s not always easy, but if you can get up in the morning, say these words and believe them, all will be okay. Don’t let others put you down or make you feel worthless because they are wrong.
Be what you want to be, and go where you want to go. If doing so means certain people will stop caring about you, good! You’ll find real friends along the way, trust me.
Be strong. I know that it’s not easy, but so many beautiful things are in your future. Find someone you trust, and talk to them. It’ll take time for you to find who you are, be patient and gentle with yourself. You have more to offer than you will ever know.
My mother said it to me, and I will say it to you now that I am 60: do not waste your precious, vital, young energy worrying about how you look! Adjusting your unique look, personality, interests to fit in with how others think you should be, just makes you an anonymous sheep in the flock. Stay true to yourself. The world needs those individuals who know who they are and appreciate their unique individuality.
I wish I could give kids a handbook on how to survive bullying, but you really can’t survive it without others’ help. My only advice to everyone who faces bullying is to stand your ground. It is hard and it might feel like a mountain, but please, be strong. It was never your fault, and don’t feel like you brought this on yourself. You exist outside of a small classroom; so don’t feel like it is the end of your journey. The journey has just begun.
Boy, do we all want to fit it. We all want to be normal. Skinny. Beautiful. Smart. Lovable. Perfect. Truth is, we’re all flawed. Because we’re all human. With time, you learn to choose where you want to fit in. What you are willing to compromise to fit in. You choose your friends more wisely. And you slowly learn to accept that you can’t please everyone.
You’re beautiful just the way you are. Surround yourself with nice people and positive people that see the real you.
Find an activity where it’s hard to lie to yourself, where you feel so much like yourself, you can’t pretend to be anyone else. If you need to know who you are, if you need to figure out where you are going, if you need to make a decision or come to terms with something, put yourself in your own “lie-less” situation and there is no other option than to let the truth come to the surface.
I know it probably seems unbearable right now, and that it will take forever, but it will pass. Growing older is the best thing that happens to mankind.
Many people do not know who they are or what their passion could possibly be. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to find answers to these questions, just keep moving forward. Find something that appeals to you and do it. Do it unashamedly.
You are beautiful and perfect. Try to be brave and don’t let other people make you feel bad about yourself. Things will get better, they did for me. Make the best choices you can, based on what you know and feel and try not to regret those choices in the future.
With the risk of sounding cliche/like your mother, it really does get better.
You already are a person, important and unique. Be who you are, truly, and you will become an amazing woman. Respect who others are also, and do not judge. DO NOT tolerate injustice done to you or to others. Speak up for others.
Since there’s nothing to do but drive and no one to talk to as I do it, I spend all of my time listening to music. So far, there hasn’t been a moment of silence in my car. Here are some of my faves this week :
First of all, I need to talk about Passenger. All of my Katimakids know of my obsession with this singer. He’s been a fave since I saw him busking in Brighton a few years ago, and his music has made the past 30 hours lovely.
I always listen to this song at the beginning of a trip. Always always always.
And I love the lyrics of this song :
Mumford and Sons is another obvious choice. I love that their new album came out right before I left, and it’s currently being played on repeat.
And finally this is a new song in my repertoire – I first heard it at Marina’s wedding, and it makes my day start super well.
Also, there was no time to take a picture with the giant red paper clip from One Week, but I did find the world’s largest coke can!
It has recently been brought to my attention that what I am doing may not be considered normal by a lot of people. Right before I left, I had breakfast with a friend, who expressed concern over my 6 day, solo road trip. I hadn’t really thought about it, I just saw it as a series of six days of driving for 8-10 hours. I guess that most of what I do isn’t what a lot of people would do (drop everything every six months and move to England, Africa, New Brunswick…?), but I don’t notice anymore, because I’ve just been surrounding myself with like-minded people, and so my lifestyle hasn’t seemed extraordinary (my friend Jason just completed an overland trip from Zambia to Egypt!). I understand everyone’s concern, but this isn’t just something that I’ve always wanted to do – this is something that I’ve always known I would do one day. So that day has come, and I’m doing it. Pretty simple, yes? Well, it is to me anyway. I’ve flown across the country, I’ve taken the train from Vancouver to Halifax, and now I’m driving it. Maybe one day I’ll be really fit and I’ll ride a bike across. (Ha!)
The other things I’m hearing are incredulous comments about how long I’m spending driving. Believe me, I get it. I used to HATE driving. Just ask the girl that I went to Cape Cod with last year – I made her drive for the entire 8 hour trip back. And now, 8 hours seems like a breeze! Let me be very honest. I don’t always enjoy the driving. When it rains for 8 hours straight, I want to punch myself in the face. More than once, out of sheer boredom, I’ve wanted to pull over for a nap, only to find that it’s impossible because all of the stuff that’s in my car. My back hurts on and off, and when it’s really bad, I want to just leave my car somewhere and fly to Vancouver. I drive myself crazy because I can’t make up my mind about what music I want to listen to. I get angry at annoying drivers. Have I mentioned the rain?! When it rains, I want to punch the world in the face (which, on another topic, has me a bit worried, considering the weather patterns of my final destination…).
But you know what? I’m so happy that I’m doing this, especially solo. Believe me, I’ve spent some time wishing I had a partner in crime, but about 90% of the time, I’m super happy with my own company. I don’t have to talk, and most of the time I don’t even think. I can listen to whatever I want, and sing along in stupid voices and accents. I can listen to the same song on repeat 10 times, or skip songs every 25 seconds. I can say “Ooh! My boyfriend!” every time a Darren Criss song comes on. I still get really excited that my car only has one windshield wiper. I’ve named him Carlos, and he makes the rain slightly easier to bear. It’s like he’s waving at me every time he swooshes by. I can stop 10 times a day to stretch my back or go shopping or just look at the scenery. The scenery! When it’s not boring trees, it’s beautiful. I just got to the Prairies, and there’s so much sky! And old abandoned farms, and bales of hay everywhere. And because I’m by myself, I can stop and take pictures. I can take 100 selfies and not feel stupid, because no one is there waiting. I can take pictures of Carmen (my new car) and not feel weird that I’m taking pictures of a car. (To be fair, I’ve only taken two. Here she is, hiding in some tall grass. Hey, I never said I wasn’t bored.)
So, just so you know, things are great. Tomorrow, I’m heading to Regina, and I’m hoping to see more giant roadside attractions featured in the movie One Week. In the meantime, here’s a picture of me with my driving face on. (This was me being really excited to finally be out of Minnesota and back in Canada!)
When I was planning my itinerary, I got really excited about going through Sudbury, for one very specific reason : The Big Nickel. Most people don’t get it, but for me it definitely was a highlight. This movie is why :
I’d like to think that my journey across Canada is my very own ‘One Week’, obviously without the whole cancer diagnosis thing, and not running away from anything, but towards an exciting new job!
In order for you to feel like you’re a part of this journey, here are a few more highlights :
– I managed to leave on time! I left Ottawa at just before 9 this morning, and arrived in Sault Ste Marie just before 7 tonight!
– It was a beautiful fall day, which made 10 hours of driving through tedious Ontario forest so, so beautiful!
“Go West, young man, go West. There is health in the country, and room away from our crowds of idlers and imbeciles.” “That,” I said, “is very frank advice, but it is medicine easier given than taken. It is a wide country, but I do not know just where to go.” “It is all room away from the pavements…”
I got a job. A real live grown up one, at that. With a pension plan and all the bells and whistles. My oh my, things is changing.
It all started ten years ago. *cue rewind noise* When I was 17, I heard about a program called Summer Works Student Exchange, where Canadian youth aged 16 and 17 get to go to another province for the summer to learn about different parts of Canada and improve their other official language, and they get a job and a salary and a wonderful experience. So, without telling my parents, I signed myself up. You see, this exchange involves actually swapping places with someone your age – you go to their house and they come to yours for six weeks. You never meet them, but they effectively take your place within your family for a short period of time. My parents weren’t too hot on the idea, but by the time I got accepted, somehow they ended up with two kids, even though I still don’t think they ever agreed to anything.
Regardless. I went, I saw, I conquered. Imagine this: the day after graduation, 17-year-old me takes the train with 500 other 16-17 year-olds for a six day train ride across Canada. Epic, to say the least. I was placed at YMCA Camp Howdy, just outside of Vancouver, BC. I had a fantastic summer, and I made friends that I am still in touch with ten years on. The following summer, I returned as a full-fledged staff member, and then various decisions, university programs and job opportunities took me everywhere around the country and the world, but never back to BC.
Which brings us to June 2012. After Katimavik’s funding got cut (see previous post), I was actively (read : desperately) looking for work, when a supervisor from Camp Howdy (where I worked 10 years ago!) told me about a summer postion that opened up at the last minute at YMCA Camp Elphinstone, on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. Things worked in my favour and I got the job, and a great experience in a beautiful place. The summer ended, and once again I was looking for work… And once again, opportunity struck!
You are now looking at (the words of) the new Coordinator for the West, for the Summer Works Student Exchange program. That’s right – the exchange that I took part in in 2002 has led me full circle to a job coordinating the very same exchange program. Sometimes, I sit back, I look at my life, and I wonder how this is all possible. And although I can’t figure out how or why it’s happening, I’m going to take everything as it happens!
So here I am, roughly 48 hours from leaving home (again) to head out on a new adventure. This one doesn’t have an expiry date, and that’s equal parts scary and exciting. The idea of permanently moving across the country is also equal parts terrifying and exciting – I can’t wait to call Vancouver home, but I haven’t been settled anywhere in the last three years or so, and I’m not sure how that transition is going to go.
In the meantime, before Vancouver becomes home, I will be taking a 6 day road trip across the country, but that’s a story for another blog post. Stay tuned for pictures and stories of Alex’s next great adventure!
Where's Allie? 