The Canadian dollar is in freefall, dropping below 70 cents the other day for the first time in more than a decade. It’s great for the Canadian tourism industry, but not so wonderful for snowbirds who’re looking for greener pastures in winter. Luckily, there are ways to soften the blow. Here are some tips from a guy who’s been a full-time travel writer for the better part of 10 years and has spent a good many nights on the road in his lifetime. 1. STAY HOME: I don’t mean build a man (or woman) cave in your basement and pry Read more
Canada
I was one very lucky guy in 2015, checking out magical places all around the world from Easter Island to the beaches of Lake Huron and tea plantations in The Azores. It takes a lot of work to travel this much, and there are a lot of people in the business who make it all happen for me; tourism boards and airlines and hotels and tour guides and more. So thank you to those folks. I’ve been compiling some of my favourite travel moments for year, and here’s another version of the annual Jimmys; awards for just about anything from Read more
Such a big world. So many great places to go. The Internet is filled (well, not quite) with year-end stories that look ahead to great places to visit in 2016. I’ve found some nice suggestions from folks such as Frommer’s and Conde Nast, as well as Lonely Planet, which singled out Quebec City. But they’re not me, so I’ve come up with my own suggestions of cool places to check out in the New Year. Happy travels to all! CALGARY The city has quietly become a hotspot for cutting edge cuisine, as evidenced by the recent naming of Pigeonhole as Read more
From a new centre celebrating Stompin’ Tom Connors (“The Good Old Hockey Game”) to the NBA All-Star Game in Toronto and on to a fab new gallery in Whistler, there’s no shortage of excellent events, happenings and openings across Canada in 2016, our nation’s 149th birthday. Here are some things you might want to catch in the New Year. ALBERTA Things are booming in Calgary’s East Village, where the new national music centre is set to open next year. It’s a booming area already just east of downtown, with cool restaurants like Charbar. Calgary’s Pigeonhole (http://pigeonholeyyc.ca/#modal) was named the country’s Read more
KEY WEST – The Florida Keys have always been a favourite for me. I’ve always driven down from Miami in the past and enjoyed watching the colour of the water change and checking out the odd tiki bar along the way for a beer and a blackened fish sandwich. Usually I drive, but this time I flew in with some other Canadian travel writers, landing on the short runway at the airport in Key West. Someone on our very short bus ride into town was telling me they find it hard to describe the feeling of coming from a cold Read more
