Canada – what I’m planning for my next adventure

Canada is a place I’ve always wanted to visit. I had a bit of an obsession with the TV show Due South when I was in college (still do tbh) which only exacerbated my Canada obsession. The show isn’t actually set in Canada, but Benton Fraser embodies everything I imagine Canada to be. If Canadian people are anywhere near as polite as the internet makes out, I will absolutely love it. After travelling Europe last year I feel like I can go further from home now. It actually feel less scary because there’s not a language barrier. That’s one of the things I struggled with most when I travelled before.

I’m going to do a few things differently this time as well. For accommodation, I’m going to stay in hostels rather than Airbnbs because I want more opportunities to make friends. Airbnbs made it harder to find people to chat to or go out with, and it got a bit lonely. The nights I stayed in hostels were my favourite. I’m also going to stay a bit longer in a each place, and plan what I want to do. Money was tight when I travelled Europe so I skimped on a lot. There was still a lot to do and see, but I want to do more excursions and stuff in Canada. This trip feels more “once in a lifetime” because it’s further away, so I want to make the most of it. Obviously I’m not going to splurge, but I will do the “bucket list” stuff even if it costs a bit of money.

My Canada Adventure:

Fly to Toronto

• Toronto Islands via the Toronto Island Ferries.
• Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada – I MUST go to the aquarium. Apparently it’s amazing, and I love aquariums at the best of times.
• CN Tower (obvs)
• Toronto Zoo
• High Park. I love parks, and they’re free. I think the zoo is in the park, so I’ll see it anyway.
• Lake Ontario. I might pay for a cruise on it, or I might just wander around it.
• Day trip to Niagara Falls. This is going to be one of those costly things I do, but I know it’ll be worth it. Some of the tours stop at a vineyard on the way, which has totally sold me on the idea.

Fly to Edmonton

This really only a stopover, but I may as well go see things and experience the city while I’m there. It looks like there are a lot of nice parks there, which I’ll probably spend most of my time exploring. I don’t want to spend too much money here as there’s so much I want to do in the other cities.

• William Hawrelak Park
• Muttart Conservatory – oddly I’m a sucker for plants and stuff
• Elk Island National Park. ELK! I wanna see the elk!!!

Get the train to Vancouver

I want to get the train so I can see the Rocky Mountains. It takes over a day, but it would be incredible. Scenery and trains are two of my favourite things, so even if means sleeping in a train seat I want to do it.

• Whale watching! The main reason I want to visit Vancouver.
• Stanley Park
• Vancouver Aquarium
• English Bay
• VanDusen Botanical Garden
• Queen Elizabeth Park (I did say I like parks!)
• Granville Island on the Aquabus

I think I’ll leave it at that for now, I’m not spending long in each place and don’t want to overwhelm myself with stuff! I’ve not even booked the flights yet, so it’s not time to get excited just yet…

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