Are there any Sesame Street fans here? You'll be sure to have a chuckle when you hear that our 2016 travel plans have been brought to you by the letter "S"! No, we promise we didn't plan it this way, but it won't be long until we're off to Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, Scotland... and we think some time in Spain is in order as well! And maybe we'll mix up the alphabet a bit and add in a "B" just for Barcelona!

I know I'm not the only one who's been dreaming of some pretty incredible destinations these days.  Some of the top travel trends for 2016 see Hawaii, Australia, and Mexico on people's wish lists. Sign me up for all three! And while we're at it.... I have something for you to sign up for as well. Read down to the bottom for some awesome contest info. (And if you win, don't forget to send me a post card!)

Otterville is a tiny village in the southern Ontario district of Oxford County - a village whose small size conceals a huge amount of history.  

Otterville's mild climate, fine stock of timber, and easy access to transportation routes, combined with incredibly fertile farmland, made Oxford County very attractive to a diverse group of early settlers. ​Many of these pioneers would soon call Otterville their home. A mill, a blacksmith shop, and eventually a rail station would all come to thrive in this prosperous community but in the early years, Otterville was serving a different kind of rail network.

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Spain has always been, and will always be, one of the most popular countries as a tourist destination. But where most people travel to Barcelona, Malaga or Madrid, I prefer going to some smaller, more interesting places, like Salamanca. 

Salamanca is a small city, nearby Madrid. They also call it ‘La Ciudad Dorada’ which means “the golden city”, because of the bricks used to build the city. They consist of a certain grain of sand that gives the stones a beautiful color, especially when they’re hit by sunlight. Besides this, there are a lot of monuments in Salamanca. You can walk through the city all day long and run into historical buildings on every corner. Thanks to this, the whole old center of Salamanca has been on the UNESCO list since 1988. That just goes to show how Salamanca is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Spain.

Note from Vanessa: Hi everyone! We're so proud to feature this guest blog post from our friends Illia and Nastia. We haven't been to this part of the world but we know that many of you are dreaming about it (as are we!) We're so happy we can share these Galapagos travel tips from some real travel pros so we can all get a grasp on what to expect in terms of Galapagos travel cost predictions. Happy planning and dreaming! 


There is a common misconception that Galapagos Islands are an extremely expensive place to go. To a certain degree it is true. However, you can considerably cut your costs on accommodation, food, and tours. Galapagos budget travel IS possible! Here are some tips which will help you to save big and go to Galapagos Islands on your next vacation. 

In the summer of 2010, we embarked on a 2 week road trip to Eastern Canada. I was determined spend less than $1,000, which meant a lot of camping. I came up with a plan to prep the majority of our food in advance, freezing it Ziploc bags and finalizing the cooking at the campground. Sounds like a great plan, right?

Everyday we had whole wheat caramelized banana pancakes for breakfast. I would take the frozen batter out of the cooler to thaw at night and, in the morning, I simply had to snip the edge of the bag and squeeze the pancake batter into the waiting hot pan. I thought (and still think!) they were delicious but the novelty soon wore off for Ryan who even today will shudder if they're on the menu more than once in a trip. Happily, his hesitation doesn't apply to other pancakes and their culinary brethren around the world!

​Pancakes are a hot, hearty meal that's both comforting and familiar and yet curiously exotic no matter where you go. And they're always affordable! I asked my travelling friends to share their favourite pancake spots around the world and they didn't disappoint. Stay tuned for an amazing recipe at the end - and Happy Pancake Day!

Who doesn't want to travel? Convincing people to talk about travel is easy –it’s finding the free time to go that’s often the problem! I know here in Canada that the majority of working professionals don’t use all their allotted vacation time each year and I for one would love to see that change. But when you have no choice but to use your vacation time in segments of week or less, it’s hard not to feel rushed and over-scheduled and tired the whole time.

As a chronic over-scheduler, I am my own worst enemy with this. There’s only so much you can do in a few days – but that’s never stopped me from trying to double down on our schedule. But experience has taught me time and time again that exhaustion and crankiness aren’t worth it to see just one more thing. That’s why I’m changing my tune a little when it comes to short trip. It’s time to get creative and get packing!