"Mead"ing in the Beamsville Bench

When I interviewed my good friend Melissa for a Toronto Star travel story a couple of weeks ago, she couldn't stop gushing about the beauty of the Beamsville Bench.

"It’s just a beautiful place—it’s full of peach orchards and wineries and what could be less pleasurable and beautiful than that?" she told me. I was already sold, but then she said the magic words: "It's not a zoo. It's not Niagara-on-the-Lake or Niagara Falls."

So when I was sent passes to attend 20 Valley's "Get Fresh" wine and culinary event in the Beamsville region, it was pretty much a done deal.

Expat Living in Roatán, Honduras: The Lucky Ones

The truth is, I never plan these things. They just seem to happen. This time, it happened like this:

On February 4, I received a Facebook notification requesting that I "like" the fanpage for Sophie's Ice Cream. The request came as a bit of a shock.

I've known Sophie for a little over 10 years. The older sister of my soul friend Chloé, our paths have intertwined over the last decade. About five years ago, Sophie moved from Edmonton to Toronto with her boyfriend. When it didn't work out, she took an all-inclusive vacation to the island of Roatán, Honduras--much like many jilted single ladies before her. But here's where it gets crazy; a month later, Sophie decided to move to Honduras. (I know, right? Everyone fantasizes about impulsively leaving their lives behind and moving to a tropical island. But Sophie actually did it.)

So maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised to receive the Facebook invite, but I still had to immediately send her a message:

"Wait a second. . .are you the Sophie of Sophie's Ice Cream?" I wrote.

"I sure am! Surprise!" she wrote back. "I'm opening up an ice cream shop. It should be open in two weeks. Don't you want to visit me now?"

Um, of course I did. But with a number of contracts on the go and tax season upon me, it didn't seem like a possibility.

Later that afternoon, I sat in the window of my favourite Toronto coffee shop working. As I looked out onto Dundas Street's bleak sidewalks, I had the sudden realization that there's no point in being a freelance journalist if I'm not taking advantage of the "freelance" part of my job description. Really, I could be sitting on my laptop anywhere in the world. So why not Honduras?

By February 6, I had booked my flights.

Prince Edward County: The Perfect Day Away

Everyone has friends like these. They're the ones in your life that you hold dearly and wish you could see more often, but for whatever reason--be it timing, a lack of mutual friends or physical location--you rarely get together with.

For me, Gill and Natty are these friends.

Over the last six months, we've been trying unsuccessfully to coordinate a hangout. Something low-key. Wine, drinks, dinner. Maybe cooking together. We all live in downtown Toronto, so it should be easy right?

Apparently not. In the last year, I've maybe only seen Gill once, when she joined me at the gym for a weight-lifting class. (As it turns out, trying to catch your breath in between burpees is not exactly an opportune time to catch up.) And even though Natty lives a 10-minute walk from my house, it's been more than two months since I saw her last. 

So when I quite randomly invited them both to join me for a day touring Prince Edward County for an article I was writing, I was shocked when they both confirmed within two minutes. As it turns out, with these girls low-key isn't the way to go--something out of the ordinary is.

Reaching for the Stars in Washington, D.C.

I'm working on another travel series for the Toronto Star over the next two months. First up: Washington, D.C.

The only problem with this latest writing assignment? It makes me want to visit all the places that I'm writing about.

The Voluntourist

"We all have stereotypes of people around the world and what we think is going on. If I told people I was going to Bethlehem, they would think, “baby Jesus” and be like, “Oh, that’s nice.” If I said I was going to Palestine, they would say, “Oh, you should wear a bulletproof vest. Are you going to be safe?” It was a completely different perception. 

Anywhere you go, you find people are pretty much the same—we just want to have a good life."

-Ken Budd, author of The Voluntourist: A six-country tale of love, loss, fatherhood, fate and singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem, shares his thoughts on the perpetuation of stereotypes while travelling. Read my full interview with Budd here.