Our Travels

The best things in life aren’t things. They’re the experiences and connections that shape us and travel has always had a place in my life from the time I was a boy until today.

In 1998, Yim joined me on the adventure and our big trips are still to come.

I enjoy writing about our travels and using my photography to illustrate them as a way of recording a life I am grateful for. I hope you find something you enjoy.

Madeira

Getting ready for a three week journey to Madeira, Portugal was a big deal this year. We planned it for almost five months before we left, finding a nice home we both liked in an area of the island that we both liked, rented an automatic car so we both could drive, considered all the hikes…

Autumn Colours at Home

It’s been a beautiful Autumn this year. The weather seems to be getting slightly warmer for longer each year. This year, a full ten years in to our having begun work on landscaping the backyard as a clean slate, we saw our scrawny little red maple drop enough incredibly brilliant red leaves to blanket our…

Flowerpot Island

Flowerpot Island near Tobermory, Ontario, is one of the most beautiful and unique places in Ontario. The island, part of the Fathom Five National Marine Park, is famous for its rock columns that resemble flowerpots – narrower at the bottom and wider at the top. We had visited years before but had never disembarked onto…

Rome

Beginning in the 8th century B.C., ancient Rome grew from a small town on Italy’s Tiber River into an empire that at its peak encompassed most of continental Europe, Britain, western Asia, northern Africa and the Mediterranean islands. After 450 years as a republic, Rome became an empire in the wake of Julius Caesar’s rise…

Tuscany

“Tuscany,” Goethe observed, “looks like Italy should.” When we began talking about traveling to Italy, Tuscany was the area I most wanted to visit. I wanted to rent a Tuscan Farmhouse where we would feel at home, a nice little car and spend a week enjoying the twisting roads of the countryside while visiting as…

Cinque Terres

Yim and I had been talking about hiking the Cinque Terres for years. This year, we finally made it. Tucked between Genoa and Pisa, along a mountainous six-mile stretch of the Italian Riviera, lie the Cinque Terre. The five towns that make up the Cinque Terre – Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso – all…

Three Days in Venice

When planning our Italy trip, we each had different areas we wanted to see. Yim really wanted to see Venice so we decided three days might be fun – and it was. It’s a ridiculous city and I’m not saying that in a bad way, although I am certainly happy we don’t live there. Once…

Hoggs Falls, Ontario

Hogg’s Falls, located just outside of Flesherton, is one of the many waterfalls of Grey County, Ontario. Located on the Boyne River, Hogg’s Falls is about a 2 hour drive north of Toronto and 40 minutes from Collingwood. This is a small, secluded and mostly wild waterfall, located in forest preserve within The Beaver Valley.…

Acadia National Park

Established originally as Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916, Acadia National Park encompasses more than 48,000 acres on Mount Desert Island, the Schoodic Peninsula, Isle Au Haut, and many smaller coastal islands.  The major portion of the park (30,500 acres) is located on Mount Desert Island with 10,156 acres within Bar Harbour’s boundary lines.…

The Jesup Path, Acadia

Recently we visited Acadia National Park in Maine and the only hike that was mandatory for me was The Jesup Path. Why? Because of the birch trees.  Anyone who knows me knows that birch trees are my favourite tree so when I was researching our trip to Acadia National park, I was excited to find…