unexpected canada

It’s so Easy to Get Hooked by the Laid-Back Lifestyle on Denman Island, B.C.

I’ve come to Denman Island on false pretenses. Although ostensibly here for the annual writers festival, I am in fact on a scouting mission. As the last of our children prepares to move out, my wife and I are facing an empty nest in Calgary. Wistful thoughts turn to retiring somewhere warm. Somewhere green. Located […]

Canada

A Bad Catholic’s Silent Retreat

When I joined three Augustinian sisters for mass last November, I did not take communion because I am no longer Catholic. Not anymore. But this mass wasn’t really about my own complicated feelings about religion. I had come here to learn something from these sisters – something I would have to learn from their silence. […]

Unexpected Canada

Tiny Cabins, Big Dreams

You can now immerse yourself in Ontario’s wilderness without having to pack in a tent, or rent an overpriced cottage, thanks to Cabinscape’s off-grid retreats. The Canadian-owned company has over thirty micro-cabins that overlook lakes and rivers or are nestled deep in the woods in locations across the province. Despite their remote, far-away-from-it all feel, […]

Canada

On the Right Track: A Train Journey for the Ages

Milestone birthdays deserve a matchless experience. This is a personal tenet I take pretty seriously, especially when the recipient is someone I speak to at least a half-dozen times a day and devotes her all to her family. So, when I was offered the opportunity to take my mother, turning 70, on a voyage that […]