2021- Traveling a bit!

After a year of pretty much no travel following the 2020 Covid outbreak, we started to normalize a bit in 2021 with some domestic travel. It forced us to look within our own backyard and provided the opportunity to see a bit of Canada from Coast to Coast with new perspective. I haven’t been motivated to blog at all (deciding its not my fortee) and I’m rarely on Facebook or social media but thought I should make an attempt to record the memories of 2021 for ourselves as I like to look back at old posts. The best souvenirs from travel are the memories.

Even though work now only provides 3 weeks of vacation over the year (so miss the flexibility we used to have) and I can only take about a week at a time, we managed to work in a few trips. Beginning of April we spent Easter in Naramata, BC looking for our dream retirement property (still a dream) and visited with our kids in Kelowna. August we flew out to the East Coast for a one week Nova Scotia visit, then in October we drove out to the opposite coast to help move our son out west to Vancouver and then the beginning of December we did our annual retreat to Emerald Lake Lodge.

Above Naramata, BC
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Emerald Lake Lodge

Emerald Lake Lodge, BC

Usually this time of year we do our annual, fall sojorn to Whitefish , Montana with a group of friends but with new jobs and limited vacation time we opted for an alternative.  The group was going to Las Vegas for a week to party but we opted instead for a quiet couples retreat over a few days. We had always wanted to stay at Emerald Lake Lodge and this seemed like a perfect time.  Needing a quick break away from our busy jobs a short travel itinerary seemed like a great plan.

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Nuttin Matters in Naramata

The Naramata Wine Bench, BC
The Naramata Wine Bench, BC

We just returned from an awesome summer vacation and I can’t wait to go back again.  It was our first time visiting the enchanting Naramata Wine Bench which has something to offer everyone, from singles to couples to families.  I’d highly recommend it for anyone! For us this was the perfect family vacation with our adult children and dog in tow, it provided an awesome venue for a peaceful, restful and totally enjoyable vacation. It was perfect; Janet I had the first few days to ourselves, then the kids came out and we had 3 days as a family, then my cousin and her boyfriend joined us for the last few days and it was a party.

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For the Zen of Mexico

Grand Sirenis Matlali Hills, Puerto Vallarta, La Cruz, Bucerias and Sayulita.

Matlali Beach Club La Cruz

It took a while but after settling into newish jobs and regular life routines we were feeling the need for a recharge.  Starting new jobs and transitioning back to reality has been amazing, we are so thankful that the universe once again provides for us but it was time for a break. 

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The Calgary Stampede 2018- all the fun and festivities

Calgary Stampede Midway
Calgary Stampede Midway

Well its only taken me about three weeks to finally get to this post but took me that long to recover from all the Stampeding Festivities. The Calgary Stampede 2018 is a wrap and was one of the most successful with attendance way up. The gods brought us some of the best weather we’ve ever had for a week of Stampeding.  The first Friday in July is always the big kickoff starting with the Stampede Parade that signifies the opening of The Greatest Show on Earth. It’s the beginning of 10 days of festivities that transform the city into the wild west and a stomping ground of fun and gluttony. 

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Bragg Creek to Canmore Road Trip

Powderface Trail
Powderface Trail

You gotta love a great road trip and this Sunday drive was awesome with the best of homegrown, Canadian, Rocky Mountain scenery! Bragg Creek to Canmore- I’ve lived my whole life in Calgary and ventured up to Bragg Creek and Elbow Falls hundreds of times. I always thought the road ended in K-Country on Hwy 66 where it stops at Little Elbow until I read an article in last months Avenue Magazine telling of a fabled route out to Canmore.

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The British Columbia Hot Springs Tour

Halcyon Hot Springs, BC
Halcyon Hot Springs, BC

Wondering what to do on your summer holidays?  Here’s a fab trip idea for locals or tourists heading out from Calgary, guaranteed to be memorable! One of our most relaxing and fulfilling trips was a hot springs tour that took us from Calgary and into the heart of the BC Rockies. Our itinerary was focused on visiting the pools of Halcyon, Nakusp and Ainsworth that we hoped would provide the rest and relaxation we were craving but we got so much more.  The natural beauty of the BC Rockies, the serenity, solitude and escape from the usual crowds of summer will fill your soul and leave you feeling more fulfilled than any other vacation.Continue Reading

How much does a year of travel in Europe cost?

Packed and at the airport
Packed and at the airport

I’m ready to answer the ‘Million Dollar’ question that everyone had been asking us:-travel costs ‘How much does a year of travel cost?’ and I’m happy to say its not a million dollars! I kept a meticulous spreadsheet that tracked every penny of our spending over our year abroad. I’ll share it with you but first I have to tell you about how our plan came to fruition. I think its an inspirational story about the universe providing! If you only want the numbers and want to skip my long winded, thought provoking story then scroll down to the bottom.

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How to pack for all four seasons and a year of travel

Trip Planning
Trip Planning

I’ve had lots of emails through the blog asking what we packed for our year of travel.  I did a lot of pre-thinking and planning for it and glad to say we did fantastically well!  After live testing I can offer proven advice and some packing hacks that made our travels go brilliantly smooth. Below is a video while we were in Wales that will walk you through what to pack.

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Palermo-and so the story ends!

Almost a year later and I’m finally finished my travel posts on the places we visited over our year abroad, this will be the last until we get to travel again! The blog has been the best souvenir we could have brought back for ourselves, it’s a living memory of the adventures we had and I’m a little sad it’s all done. I do have a few ideas for some additional posts; ‘what it costs to travel for a year’, ‘what to pack for a year of travel and all 4 seasons’, ‘how to plan a long trip’, ‘how to travel cheaply by housesitting’….so stay tuned.

Quattro Canti, Palermo, Sicily
Quattro Canti, Palermo, Sicily

We ended our trip in Palermo, Sicily for five days before flying to London and then back to Calgary, wrapping up this incredible year at our most exotic locale to date.

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Spectacular San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily


This has been one of my most popular Youtube videos with over 12,000 views. It’s been shared extensively around Italy and the UK! To say this place is gorgeous is to understate it.

On our last day in Marsala we left early in the morning for a beach day in the small seaside town of San Vito Lo Capo. The drive there was beautiful, but it was busy and going into the center was quite stressful with parking extremely difficult to find.  Despite buying a parking pass from an ‘official attendant’ and parking where we were told, I had gotten a $65 parking ticket in the mail six months later which was automatically charged to my credit card by Budget Rentals. (So, save your parking receipt as proof of payment, but who would for six months?)

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Visiting the Medieval Wonders of Erice and Baroque Splendor of Trapani, Sicily

You have to see these amazing scenes from Erice and Trapani, Sicily

From our home base in Marsala we headed out the next day to the baroque city of Trapani where we took the gondola up Mount Erice to its ancient namesake town.  This was one of the highlights of our whole trip, we were mesmerized by the beauty of a city that looked like a live set from The Game of Thrones.  It had the most incredible views from a top the mountain and sweeping vistas looking out over the arid valleys below.

Looking out to San Vito Lo Capo
Looking out to San Vito Lo Capo                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

On one side you could see out towards the mountain looming over the beachside town of San Vito Lo Capo, on the other to Trapani spreading out to the sea and the islands of Levanzo, Favignana, Marettimo and Grande, misty blue in the background.

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Avola, Ragusa and Siracusa, Sicily- visiting the baroque beauties

I’ve left finishing up my travel stories in Sicily for far to long, thought I was almost done but realizing I still have a bit more to finish off. My last post ended in Agrigento where we visited from our hill top villa in Castrofillippo but before we got there I missed writing about the amazing cities we visited from our base in Avola; Ragusa, Modica and Siracusa.

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Agrigento, Sicily and The Valley of the Temples

As I’m sitting by the window watching the snow fall outside during this endless winter, my mind starts wandering to warmer places. Homesick for the warmth of Sicily I pull out my pictures of Agrigento and our tour of the Valley of the Temples deciding I have to render my video and do a post as I finish up the last of my Sicilian blog pieces.

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