The southern end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia has the perfect climate for growing trees: It gets plenty of rain and the climate is fairly mild (for Canada!). The area around the little town of Port Renfrew sits right in the middle of this perfect climate, so it’s no surprise that some of the …
Destinations
When I was planning Annapurna Base Camp Trek in Nepal, I wasn’t sure exactly what to pack. I had done lots of overnight hiking and camping trips at home in Canada but I’d never trekked in the Himalayas and I wasn’t sure what to expect. What would the weather be like? What kind of things …
Recently I spent 10 days in Stockholm. My husband was there for work, so I tagged along. While he was in an office sitting in front of a computer screen, I went sight-seeing on my own. And oh man… did I sight-see hard. I wandered the narrow streets of the old town almost every day. …
If you’ve been following my blog for awhile you know that I’m pretty much an expert on hiking, the Vancouver area, Iceland and Nepal. So you might be surprised to hear that I’ve put together the ultimate self-guided walking tour of Stockholm. Wait, what? Stockholm? In Sweden? Yup! A few years ago I went on …
At the end of September I went on an OMG-summer-is-ending-must-go-camping-before-it’s-too-late trip to Wells Gray Provincial Park near Kamloops, BC. Somehow, I had never been there before. It has a reputation as being a huuuuuge provincial park with tons of ginormous lakes for canoeing but I didn’t know much else about it. It’s not nearly as …
Trekking to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal was one of the highlights of my life. It was an amazing adventure filled with beautiful views, waterfalls, picturesque villages, incredibly tall mountains… And surprises like the gorgeous jungle and delicious momo dumplings. There were also some misadventures like getting heat stroke AND then food poisoning the next day. …
If you think of fall hiking, you are probably picturing strolling through a beautiful maple forest with red and gold leaves everywhere. That kind of scene is quintessentially autumn, but it’s kind of an East Coast cliche. We don’t have much of that near Vancouver. What we do have, however, is a pretty unique fall …
Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice thanks to its many glaciers and volcanoes. You can actually go INSIDE the glaciers by taking an ice cave tour in Iceland! How cool is that? Before my winter trip to Iceland I had zillions of questions about the ice caves and how to visit …
I do a LOT of hiking around Vancouver. I’ve hiked pretty much every trail that exists within an hour of the city. (And some that don’t exist… or used to exist… or I maybe was taking a short cut? But that’s a whole other story.) My readers often ask me to recommend a hike when …
We’ve all heard this advice: “Make sure you are prepared. Check trail conditions online before you go.” But what’s the easiest way to find trail conditions for Vancouver? Where can you find up to date info on what the trails are like? How do you know if there is still tons of snow, if there …