Tag: North America

  • Camping at Quebec’s Parc national des Grands-Jardins

    Located in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, Parc national des Grands-Jardins is a short 2 hour drive from Quebec City or 4.5 hours from Montreal. Grands-Jardins translates to “great gardens”. The park features unique landscapes including the taiga characterized by lichens (usually only found much farther north) and areas ravaged by the forest fires of…

  • Scuba diving in the St. Lawrence river

    Scuba diving in the St. Lawrence river, specifically the stretch between Kingston and Montreal, doesn’t seem obvious from above the surface. But with a long history as a shipping channel, there are numerous historic shipwrecks all along the river that make for some very interesting dives. Many wrecks have been underwater for more than 100…

  • Where to eat in Tulum in 2023

    Where to eat in Tulum in 2023

    The main strip in Tulum has no shortage of restaurants, but they cater to tourists with overpriced drinks, and American-style hamburgers. Luckily it’s easy to find more affordable local restaurants if you veer off slightly onto a side road or follow the main street just past the main tourist area. If you’re trying to figure…

  • 10 prettiest villages along Quebec’s Route 132

    While some road trips are all about the final destination, others are about the journey. With a province as large and varied as Quebec, it’s easy to plan both types of road trips. In this article, I share some of the cutest, most picturesque villages are passed through on our various Quebec road trips. These…

  • 5 days in Gaspé’s Forillon National Park

    During our 2020 Quebec roadtrip, we stayed a few nights in Gaspé’s Forillon National Park, but we only scratched the surface of what the park had to offer. We also really enjoyed the drive out to Gaspé along Route 132. So in 2022 we decided to do another Gaspésie roadtrip, this time spending 5 days…

  • 7 day ultimate Newfoundland roadtrip

    With the Atlantic provinces of Canada opening up again after COVID-19 border closures, we figured it was a great time to embark on a major bucket list vacation with 7 days in Newfoundland. With our vaccine certificates in hand, we’d be sleeping in our van the entire time and following all local health guidelines for…

  • Quebec roadtrip to the Gaspé peninsula and Saguenay fjord

    With two weeks of vacation fast approaching, we pressed through the first iteration of our Ford Transit Connect van conversion. We had originally planned to use the first week of vacation to finish the conversion, and travel for the second week, but we realized that if focused on the conversion on weekends and evenings, we…

  • 5 days in Turks and Caicos (on a budget)

    Learn how to visit Turks and Caicos on a budget while still visiting all the best beaches and doing all the top activities, including snorkelling, parasailing, paddleboarding and horseback riding.

  • Scuba diving in Cabo San Lucas (with sea lions)

    It’s been a dream of mine to dive with sea lions. So finding ourselves in Cabo San Lucas after a dive trip to the Socorro Islands, we had the perfect opportunity to find sea lions. Beyond sea lions, the other dive sites at Cabo San Lucas are worth a day or two of diving.

  • Scuba diving in the Socorro Islands (Revillagigedo)

    The Socorro Islands is a scuba diving paradise in the Pacific Ocean, 390 km southwest of Cabo San Lucas. Its known for its large animal life, including giant oceanic mantas, 10 species of (friendly) sharks, large schools of fish, whale sharks, dolphins and yellowfin tuna.