The Moments That Changed Us

Jani Burden: Discovering Your Own Backyard

Growing up in Nova Scotia, Jani Burden had always known about Shelburne. She'd driven the South Shore countless times, stopping in familiar places like Chester, Mahone Bay and Lunenburg, but somehow had never made it to the historic waterfront town.

That changed last summer.

On a road trip with her husband to Yarmouth, they decided to take the time to explore Shelburne instead of simply passing through. Wandering its quiet streets and historic waterfront, Jani found herself wondering how she had overlooked it for so long.

"It was one of those moments where you think, 'How have I never been here?'" she recalls.

The town's beautifully preserved architecture, working harbour and layered history made an immediate impression. Founded by Loyalists in 1783, Shelburne was once one of the largest communities in North America and later became home to one of the continent's earliest settlements of Black Loyalists. Today, that history lives alongside independent shops, galleries, cafés and waterfront inns that invite visitors to slow down and stay awhile.

For Jani, the experience was a reminder that even the places closest to home can still surprise us.

Sometimes the journey that expands our view of Canada isn't the one that takes us across the country, but it's the one that encourages us to finally stop somewhere we've driven past for years.

Sarah Cortes: More Than Meets The Eye

After six months of living in Montréal, Sarah Cortes thought she had a pretty good sense of Québec.

Montréal sits on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, but it doesn't feel like a coastal place. Growing up on Vancouver Island, Sarah was accustomed to being surrounded by the ocean. Montréal felt decidedly inland.

Then she drove to the Gaspé Peninsula.

Friends had told her it felt like another world, and they weren't exaggerating. The farther east she travelled, the more the landscape changed. Fishing villages lined the coast. The St. Lawrence widened until it became saltwater. Suddenly, Québec felt unmistakably maritime.

"It really does feel like you're in the south of France," she says. "It's a totally different vibe."

The trip changed the way she thought about the province.

"I think that's what makes Québec so special," she says. "Most people see Montréal and Québec City, but they don't really venture beyond that. And they should!"

Izabela Jaroszynski: The Long Road

The Tłı̨chǫ Highway begins in Whatì, a small northern community on the shores of Lac La Martre, and travels 97 kilometres through a landscape of lakes, black spruce, and exposed rock before connecting with Highway 3 and the rest of the Northwest Territories road network.

Izabela Jaroszynski travelled it in early August alongside Tłı̨chǫ artist Darrell Chocolate. The day was warm and still. They passed few other vehicles, but did slow for a small herd of bison grazing quietly along the roadside.

In many ways, it was an ordinary drive. Darrell and Izabela spent most of it talking about Darrell's art and his childhood in Gamèti as the kilometres passed beneath them.

"I had flown in to Lac La Marte Lodge and saw the road from overhead. It was one long ribbon stretching through the endless wilderness," Izabela says. "But on the way back, as we drove it, the road became so real to me. It was humbling to see just how much distance there is between communities."

Years later, she still thinks about that road.

Somewhere between Whati and Yellowknife, her understanding of Canada's North shifted. The drive expanded her mental map of the country, reminding her that there are communities, landscapes, and experiences that exist far beyond the version of Canada many of us know.

Lorree Preddy: Unexpected Luxury

Driving to Trout Point Lodge, Lorree Preddy watched the last houses disappear in her rearview mirror. For nearly 45 minutes, there was little but forest. Then, tucked away in Nova Scotia's UNESCO Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve, she turned onto the lodge's driveway, where the staff were already waiting to greet her.

"I just loved the property," she says. "It's luxury, but relaxed."

From the moment she arrived, the experience felt deeply personal. She checked in from a comfortable living room with a glass of wine in hand. Her bags had already been taken to a room furnished with handcrafted pieces made from local wood. Even dinner became part of the experience, unfolding leisurely over two-and-a-half hours.

What stayed with Lorree wasn't simply the level of hospitality, but where she found it. Hidden deep within the Acadian forest, Trout Point Lodge delivered an elevated experience in such a remote pocket of Nova Scotia.

"You wouldn't even know it was there," she says.

Aubrey Reine: Close and Personal

While visiting Newfoundland's Bonavista Peninsula, Aubrey Reine and his wife Nikki skipped the typical whale watching excursion in favour of a small boat tour led by a local guide.

What they expected was an afternoon on the water. What they found was a window into Newfoundland's history.

Before the boat left the harbour, their guide shared stories of growing up in the cod fishery and demonstrated how a traditional fishing stage was once used to process the day's catch. Out on the water, the rugged coastline became more than a beautiful backdrop as they visited former outport communities, learning how families once lived along these shores and how the resettlement movement forever changed life on the coast.

The afternoon ended with tea and homemade biscuits at a remote coastal cabin, but it was the stories that stayed with Aubrey long after the boat returned to shore.

"That afternoon is something I will never forget," he says. "It's easily in my top three experiences I've ever had in Canada."

For Aubrey, the experience reinforced something he's come to appreciate about travel: beautiful landscapes are memorable, but it's often the people who bring them to life.

Michela Sileo: All Season Adventure

When Michela Sileo left her home in Calgary for a solo road trip last June, she packed mainly for spring weather.

Rain followed her out of the city, but as she turned onto the Smith-Dorrien Highway, rain gave way to snow. By the time she reached Mount Engadine Lodge, winter had returned to the Rockies. The snowfall was so heavy that the road was effectively closed for the evening, leaving guests to settle in and wait for morning.

The next day, as she continued toward Nordegg, the snow disappeared. Summer had returned. People were paddling on the lake, patios were open, and the mountains looked entirely different than they had the day before.

"It felt like I'd travelled through all the seasons in the span of a weekend," Michela recalls.

The experience became a reminder that the Canadian Rockies rarely fit neatly into expectations. Weather, elevation, and geography can transform a journey in a matter of kilometres.

Nordegg itself left just as much of an impression. Tucked along the eastern slopes of the Rockies, it offers easy access to some of Alberta's most spectacular landscapes without the crowds of more familiar mountain destinations. 

"It's close to everything," she says, "but it feels like a world away."

Today, Nordegg remains one of Michela's favourite places in Canada, a reminder that some of the country's most memorable destinations lie just beyond the places everyone already knows.