If one was to calculate the size of a country by landmass, Canada would rank number 2, at almost 10 million square kilometers. While much of that remains almost completely uninhabited, especially above the Arctic circle, that's still a practically inconceivable size to wrap your head around. This vastness makes visiting much of the country a difficult and time consuming endeavor, yet one that beckons to the inquisitive and adventurous traveler. From the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, using the Trans-Canada highway (the world's longest national highway), is an incredible 7821 kilometers covering (with slight variations) all ten Canadian provinces. And that doesn't even take into account the northern Territories, much of which do not have adequate roadways. Two years prior I had the privilege, with my girlfriend Beverly, to explore some of the eastern Maritime ... read more

Rome, a city of 4.3 million and capital of Italy, is said to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in all of Europe. With a history dating back to at least the 7th century, Rome, also known as the Eternal City, was once the center of the largest Empire the world had ever known and influenced the development of human civilization in numerous ways. And because of this most every corner of the old city can be considered historical and in fact we would find out that one needn't walk far in any direction to come across a relic or ruin from an age long ago. I was traveling with my brother Shawn, yet again on an Air Canada standby flight, and we had planned a quick visit to Europe having been able to take ... read more

After completing the Salkantay Trek and reaching Machu Picchu with my brother Shawn, we were back in Cusco and boy did we ever need a rest day. We were staying at a hostel named Milhouse in a six bed dorm that we were sharing with some of the others from our trek. Doris and Misha were checking out but Katie had switched out of her hostel and was joining us in ours. We slept in for the first time in what felt like a while, and got up to have an abundant breakfast in the dining area. We hung out with Iceland, Sara and some of the others. We all had a few things to take care of and today would be the day to do it. A pressing matter for most was the overwhelmingly pungent ... read more

Here I was with my Dad, waiting to see if we'd be getting on the flight from Montreal to Toronto. I had never flown standby before. My brother Shawn is a flight attendant with Air Canada and we were trying to meet him so we could catch a connecting flight to Havana, Cuba. With one seat left it wasn't looking good, so right before the doors closed, it was decided that I would board the plane and my dad would try for the next flight, about an hour later. After witnessing an argument between two boarding staff, I was off. Shawn and I arrived in Toronto at about the same time. Once we met up we headed straight for a flight lounge, compliments of his Amex card membership. We got drinks and dug into food until ... read more

The ship tendered a few kilometres off the coast of Belize City, and we were on the first boat off. It took about a half hour to reach land, and once we did, we quickly found Roberto who was our contact to visit some Mayan ruins further inland. I hated being on a timer but sadly that’s the reality with this kind of travel and we had to be back by late afternoon or our ship would be off without us. We had some time to wander near the port because Roberto was still waiting for some others to join us. Belize is a small Central American country that was once ruled by the British. About 330 thousand people call it home and once one leaves the Caribbean coast and reef filled waters, and heads west, ... read more