I'm so excited to be telling CTV Ottawa Morning Live viewers (and all of you!) about our amazing upcoming Aeroplan round the world points trip.I'm so proud and excited to have presented travel information (and hopefully a little inspiration too!) with my friends at CTV Ottawa Morning Live. I've had the pleasure to visit them before to talk social media in my role as the owner of Sculpt Social - on my last segment, we chatted about the best designed apps for organization.
This visit however was extra special as I got to talk about the first love of my life - TRAVEL! Specifically, crafty travel that allows regular folks (like you and me) to maximize their frequent flyer miles. In case you didn't get to see the entire segment - or if you loved it so much you want a recap - this mini post is for you! Traveling with dogs can be a lot of fun - until you start stressing about what to pack for them. These are our essential items for canine adventure (and Oliver's too.) We all love vacation, and we love it even more when we get to bring our best doggy friends along. Travelling with your dog is great, but it does call for some extra planning. Dog travel supplies are just as important as human supplies, after all! While looking into pet friendly accommodation and transportation may be your top priority for arranging a trip with your canine companion, there are definitely some other factors to consider. So for the sake of making everything easier and for keeping your dog safe and happy, here are five items no traveler should leave home without - and our pampered pup, Oliver, wouldn't leave home without them either!
Planning a Canadian road trip? Here's a roundup of our top travel recommendations for New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.
The period when late spring turns into early summer is one of my favourite times of year and it's not only because of the great weather and the chance to dig in the garden after a long, cold winter. It's also the time when people ask me a lot of questions about traveling to the Canadian Maritime provinces. Longtime readers know that I grew up in Nova Scotia and that Ryan and I make frequent trips to Canada's east coast to visit family and sneak in a little travel of our own. It's always exciting to see that other people are planning their own trips and we're only too happy to help with the process.
While I hope you peruse all of our Maritime posts at a leisurely pace, I thought it would help you fine folks if I did a round up of some of our favourite destinations, routes, foodie experiences, and Maritime roadtrip tips and tricks. And I've also included links to some inspiring pieces written by other bloggers to help fuel your great Canadian travel adventure! Whether you're in Halifax for a weekend conference or taking the trip of a lifetime and spending an entire season on the road, I hope you'll come back to dip into this post again and again! What's the secret to minimalist packing? Maximizing the space in your bag by using straps and paracord, the stealthy workhorses of the travel world.
Five shirts - never four, never six - some brightly colored packing cubes, a couple of hot chocolate sachets... You probably know my minimalist packing list as well as I do! But there are a few items among my otherwise discerning selection of gear that may just catch you by surprise. One of them is a stick of menthol body glide. It keeps blisters and chaffed skin at bay. Another random addition is the handful of colorful pens I always toss in my purse at the very last minute. After all, you can't have ill-coordinated lists, even when traveling! And the most unexpected item of all? Rope.
Yes, this light packing, anti-adventurist gal carries rope in her backpack. Well, not rope exactly, but, depending on the trip, webbing, straps, and paracord might come along! No, I haven't secretly taken up mountain climbing or hang-gliding or even off the grid camping. Can you imagine? Yet this unusual gear is one of the unsung heroes of my packing success. And with our incredible round-the-world trip looming on the horizon, it is going to be more important than ever before. Saguenay is the best place to go kayaking in Quebec - even if there are a few misadventures along the way.
Brimming with confidence and cutting a dashing, athletic figure, I nimbly slid into the stern of my sea kayak, ready to embrace the elements and be one with nature.
Wait a minute.... that's not me! I've never been nimble at anything I do, let alone anything to do with boats! But when I had the opportunity to kayak the Saguenay, Quebec, Fjord - and specifically be in the Saguenay St Lawrence Marine Park, adjacent to Fjord National Park- I WAS truly ready to be one with nature. The chance to navigate a fjord here in Canada was a rare travel experience I couldn't miss. As for the confidence.... well... let's just say that I was about as confident as I was nimble. But it didn't take me long to hit my stride, with only a few minor mishaps. And it was all worth it to be better acquainted with an absolutely incredible corner of the world. Here's why I think sea kayaking is among the best things to do in Saguenay (even if there were a few awkward wetsuit moments along the way). Beluga whale watching in Quebec is an exhilarating travel experience - but what would a queasy girl like myself think about it?
Vomiting. Vomiting on people. Toppling over furniture. Quietly crying. Some of my most woe-begotten travel moments have involved motion sickness and many of those have involved boats. Who can forget when I had motion sickness while on the Houseboat Museum of Amsterdam? I'm not an adventurous girl and, on the rare times that I am, that adventurous spirit does NOT involve boats. But all that changed when I had the chance to go beluga whale watching in Quebec; Tadoussac to be exact. "Whale watching: Quebec" has been on my travel bucket list for a long time, and for good reason. Whale watching in Tadoussac is reputed to be among the best in the world and there was no way that I was going to miss it - no matter what my stomach wanted to do!
Bon Appetit! Cooking classes around the world offer great meals and great memories. Here's what we look for to make sure we get great value as well.
We were sticky, sweaty, and we smelled distinctly of onions. Our feet were coated in a layer of fine dust and we had mysterious red splotches all over our shirts. We needed showers, we needed rest, and -truth be told - we probably needed to drink something other than wine. But we had the best morning imaginable!
We weren't participating in some kind of strange obstacle course or adventure excursion. No, Ryan and I were fresh from spending the morning at an incredible cooking class in Prague. The onion odor and red stains were the result of carefully (... or not so carefully....) stirring the base for a goulash and the dusty feet were courtesy of a market tour. And the wine, well...All in a day's work! Cooking classes around the world are our new favourite travel activity and we're not alone. Classes for non-chefs and travelers are popping up everywhere. We've never had a class we didn't absolutely love nor a meal that didn't leave us groaning with happy, overfull bellies. To ensure that your experience is just as great as ours, here's what you should look for in an overseas cooking class. Can you take bath bombs on an airplane? What about packing bath bombs in carry on luggage? Our readers ask the BEST questions about TSA carry on rules and we can't wait to help!
I absolutely love it when readers send in their travel questions - and often those questions focus on packing, specifically packing and carry on luggage. And this month's question is an especially good one: Can you take a bath bomb on an airplane? The answer is yes. But I know you don't come to me for short answers! You want details! You demand explanations!
As a lover of relaxing baths AND easy to pack luggage, I am only too happy to dig a bit deeper into this particular query regarding toiletries and TSA carry on rules. A Rila Monastery tour is among the best of Bulgaria's tourist attractions and activities. Even if you have a few less-than-graceful moments like I did!
Rila Monastery is Bulgaria's most famous, most visited, and best loved Eastern Orthodox monastery. Technically named The Monastery of St Ivan of Rila, this stunning complex is located just over 100 kilometers from the capital city of Sofia. The surrounding area, Rila Monastery Nature Park, is a protected area of pristine forested wilderness, where in one corner you'll find St Ivan's cave and final resting spot. Rila's importance in terms of Bulgaria's history, cultural, and religious life cannot be overstated. And, thankfully for visitors, it's not at all overrated! You couldn't ask for a better day trip from Sofia.
My visit was a highlight of my time in Bulgaria - even though I had some decidedly non-monastic awkward and ungraceful moments! Here are my best tips for visiting Rila and making the most the tour experience. |
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