This month we hit another milestone! We have officially been to all 10 provinces of Canada! Of course, we haven’t even come close to visiting all the places we want to see within the 10 provinces (not to mention the territories), but still, it is pretty cool to have been able to see as much as we have! So, for this month’s post, I wanted to write a little bit about our time spent in each province so far and share a few of the things still on our list for whenever we make it back. Enjoy!
Alberta
We first went to Banff just a few months after moving to Canada, and we were absolutely blown away! I have a feeling we’ll be back to the Canadian Rockies a few times before we leave the continent because they are truly spectacular. Calgary was an easy entry point, Canmore and Banff were amazing, but the highlight was definitely the drive up to Jasper National Park on the Canadian Icefields Highway. Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Athabasca Falls, countless glaciers: it was incredible! In fact, for our next trip out that way, we’re actually thinking of doing it again just in reverse: flying into Edmonton, spending time in Jasper, and taking the Icefields Highway back down to Banff – the same gorgeous scenery in the opposite direction, and ideally, in a different season. The biggest challenge will definitely be deciding which season because I have a feeling all four are equally stunning!
British Columbia
Okay, so technically, British Columbia was the first province Tucker and I ever visited together. In 2008, we went on an Alaskan cruise, which served as my 50th US state expedition and our high school graduation trip, but unfortunately, we were only in Vancouver for a day. Therefore, it is high time for a BC re-do! Luckily, that trip is already in the books for January 2027. We’ll be stomping around the city for about a week, snowboarding for a day or two, and hopefully hopping over to the island as well. Of course, Whistler is also an option or the Sea-to-Sky Highway or more of the Rockies… Clearly, I’m still workshopping this trip, but whatever we don’t get done this time will just be on the list for a subsequent trip! Like the majority of Canadian provinces, BC is huge, and it really requires multiple trips to see and do all the things we’d like!
Manitoba
The very last province we made it out to was Manitoba, right in the center of the country. Here, we spent the majority of our time in Winnipeg, aka The Peg. Somehow, I feel like Winnipeg gets a bit of a bad rap, but we found the city to be super fun! It’s all very spread out, but it has a plethora of beautiful parks, lots of unique activities, and a solid amount of local color. I absolutely loved Assiniboine Park; Tucker loved all the breweries, and on our mini road trip day, we had a great time checking off a ton of fun roadside attractions en route to/from Riding Mountain National Park. Of course, I’m still eager to get back out to Winnipeg in winter, so we can see if “Winterpeg” really lives up to its name! Maybe we’ll combine that with a trip up to Churchill, the Polar Bear Capital of the World, which is on Hudson Bay on the northside of Manitoba. If you know us, you know that’s exactly the sort of thing we’d do…
New Brunswick
I sometimes feel a bit bad for New Brunswick. It seems like the most underrated/left-out province of them all, but it’s honestly so nice! The Bay of Fundy was probably our favorite sight since it’s so unique, but really, there is a lot we love about visiting NB (I think after Québec and Ontario, both of which we’ve called home, NB is our most-visited province). New Brunswick is right in the middle of Québec, Nova Scotia, and Maine, and I think it has a lovely mix of all the things you associate with those three slightly more famous destinations: French, forests, coastlines, etc. Of course, the Bay of Fundy is the true draw of NB. This bay actually has the highest tidal range in the world at over 50 feet, so here, you can literally watch the tide change right in front of your eyes. You can also walk on what is essentially the ocean floor if you time your visit correctly. Anyway, I actually wrote a whole post about the Maritimes, so if they’re on your to-visit list, definitely check it out!
Newfoundland and Labrador
The Far East, okay, not as far east as China, but as far east as you can get in Canada! In fact, the time zone in NL is 30 minutes ahead of East Coast time, which was just the first of many interesting facts we learned out there. Our trip centered around Newfoundland, which is an island affectionately known as “The Rock”, and I’d say that’s a fair assessment. NL is incredibly rugged. It’s also a bit isolated, which explains why it feels vastly different from the rest of the provinces. We spent a lot of our time in Newfoundland hiking because the coastline is dotted with lighthouses, lookout points, and depending on the season, either icebergs or rare birds. Despite some challenging weather, we had an absolutely amazing time schlepping around the island, and of course, the hospitality of the locals is second to none in all of Canada, so we also spent a good amount of our time chatting and drinking with locals who were just as curious about us as we were about Newfoundland. All in all, definitely a trip I’d love to do again, perhaps this time making it up to Labrador as well!
Nova Scotia
Another heavy-hitter in Canadian tourism, Nova Scotia has a lot to see. Halifax, of course, but the infamous Cabot Trail and Peggy’s Cove are here as well. Plus, the lobster rolls, Halifax donair, Moon Mist ice cream…it sort of seems like food was a driving force during our time spent in Nova Scotia, and on that front, we were never disappointed (well, unless you count that time a seagull stole a $30 lobster roll right out of Tucker’s hand lol). Seagulls notwithstanding, Nova Scotia is absolutely beautiful and really accessible. When compared to some of the other provinces, driving across NS seems downright quick! And, like Newfoundland, the locals are incredibly welcoming and really seem to enjoy sharing their favorite local hangouts. At one point, we were even considering moving to Halifax, so you never know, we might soon be exploring even more of Canada’s Ocean Playground!
Ontario
Where do I even begin with Ontario? We called this province home for 2 years, so obviously Ottawa is my favorite city in Ontario. But we also took trips to Niagara Falls, Toronto, Kingston, and about a dozen smaller towns in southeastern Ontario. Our first Canada Days were celebrated here. Ontario was where we were introduced to Beavertails, butter tarts, ketchup chips, and Coffee Crisps. This is also where we learned to love the extreme seasons of Canada, specifically of Central Canada. And even though we’ve already made trips back to Ontario after having moved to another province, there are many more we still want to make. Top of the list would probably be Thunder Bay. Lake Superior is the only Great Lake I have yet to see in person, and Thunder Bay looks like a stunning place to do just that. The problem with Ontario is that it’s absolutely massive. If I wanted to drive from Ottawa to Thunder Bay (both of which are in southern Ontario), it would take 16 hours. Maybe we’ll just fly.
Prince Edward Island
PEI might be the tiniest province of Canada, but it definitely packs a punch! I associate the island with Anne of Green Gables, but there’s a lot more to see than the rolling green hills and red dirt paths described in the novels. Prince Edward Island has a little bit of everything: farmland, gorgeous coasts, vineyards, the longest bridge in Canada! One of the best things about it is how much you can see there in a short amount of time. It only takes 3 hours to drive from one side to the other. While we were there, we saw the most beautiful sunset on the west coast of the island, and ever since then, I’ve had the idea to go back and watch a sunrise on the east coast in the morning, spend the day crisscrossing the island, exploring all the amazing restaurants, shops, coastal drives, etc. ending up on the west coast for another spectacular sunset. Of course, these days, I’ve been talking with a lot of people who have cruised to the island, which also seems like it would be a lovely way to see PEI. We’ll just have to see!
Saskatchewan
We finally made it out to Saskatchewan on one of our most recent trips, and I’m so glad we went full-on prairies! I knew I wanted to see the prairies in all their glory, so not only did we spend several days in Saskatoon walking the Meewasin Valley Trail, we also rented a car and drove for hours around the vast nothing between Saskatoon and Regina. And if that wasn’t enough, we also took a 14-hour train ride right through the prairies so I could be absolutely sure we saw the true extent of the province’s vast supplies of wheat, canola, and potash from every possible angle. I’m not sure what we expected before spending time in Saskatoon, but we left feeling like this was another underrated city that is well-worth a visit. It’s called the Paris of the Prairies, and I’d say for good reason. The Saskatchewan River is extremely picturesque, and the city wraps around it beautifully with a collection of lovely bridges. Calgary and Winnipeg on either side have vastly different vibes; Saskatoon feels to me a bit more like Québec: a little calmer, a little more relaxed, and really just a great place to slow down and take it all in. I can easily see us going back to Saskatchewan. I mean, we didn’t even make it all the way down to the City that Rhymes with Fun (aka Regina)!
Quebec
Another one that’s hard to sum up into one short paragraph! Quebec is our home, and even before moving here, we had visited several times. There’s no denying Montreal is effortlessly cool, but clearly, I’m Team Québec City all the way! As much as it’s cliché to say, there really is a certain je ne sais quoi about Quebec. The province has glittering lakes, winding rivers, forested mountains, colorful leaves, snowy winters, and everything else you could ever want from nature. Quebec is culturally rich as well; it’s indigenous, French, English, and Canadian all at the same time! During our time here, of course, we’ve seen a lot of what Montreal and Québec have to offer, but also Charlevoix, Saguenay, Rivière-du-Loup, Mont Tremblant, and more. Our next big trip within Quebec will probably be out to Gaspé, another one of the most beautiful landscapes in all of Canada. And in case you were wondering, I do in fact pinch myself often just to make sure this really is my life and not just a dream!
So, here’s to the 10 incredibly beautiful provinces of Canada! I sincerely hope you also get the chance to visit them all one day because from coast to coast to coast, Canada really is something special!
The second New Year (also known as the Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year) has come and gone, and with it, possibly our last long winter break off together. Just like last year, the Chinese university semester break coincides with the holiday giving us several weeks off, which, of course, we put to good use! My program had its mid-year meeting and conference in the Philippines this year, and somehow, Tucker and I managed to squeeze in three (and a half) other destinations on our island hopping itinerary. You might have seen the hundreds of photos on Facebook, but I’d also like to share a few words about our time traveling in South Asia. To be honest, it’s a little surreal to be writing this as I watch the snow fall outside, but here we go!
Our first stop was Macau, a “special administrative region” of China. It gets this rather long name due to it being somewhere in between a province and another country entirely. It’s a part of China, but it’s also not China, which is actually one of the reasons we wanted to visit. We wanted to see if there were any noticeable differences. We also wanted to visit because we were eager for another taste of Portugal. Macau used to be a Portuguese colony and has retained quite a bit of the Portuguese flair in architecture, food, and language.
After a few days of strolling around Macau’s narrow alleyways, we took a massive speed boat (TurboJet) to our next destination just across the water: Hong Kong. This was actually our second trip to Hong Kong, but last time we didn’t quite get to everything on our list – this short stopover on the way to Midyear was our second chance. We had less than 24 hours in the city, but we managed to make it out to Lantou Island to see the incredible Buddha and cableway there, we took the bus to the top of Victoria Peak to watch the sunset over the city, and we went to Tim Ho Wan for the world’s cheapest Michelin Star eats. While I definitely preferred Macau’s laid back, European vibes, it’s hard to not like Hong Kong as well. Macau and Hong Kong are a couple of tiny islands (and respective peninsulas) that I highly recommend everyone to visit! No visas needed for US citizens! :)
All too soon it was time to fly to the Philippines and get to work. When we first landed in the Philippines it was chaos! Passengers getting up and grabbing their bags before the plane had stopped moving; people sitting on seemingly every inch of the floor in the airport; signs for flight changes being moved by hand from gate to gate; loud cover songs of 2000’s hits playing in every corner of the terminal, etc. All I could think was “Well, we’re definitely not in China anymore.” As we sat waiting for our flight though, the newness wore off, and it was easy to see that the Philippines are just plain fun! In fact, their national slogan is “It’s more fun in the Philippines”, and I totally got it. Smiles were everywhere! The flight attendants wore bright yellow polos and hummed songs as we boarded. Fellow passengers sang along with the music they heard on the plane. The joy was contagious!
The first week we were in the Philippines I had to “work”. I attended meetings with the other Fellows, we planned and executed various group activities, and generally bonded and reconnected after our last five months apart in our various host cities/countries. For this part of Midyear, we were put up in a resort on Mactan Island, which was incredibly fancy and not the sort of place Tucker and I usually go for (I’ve never heard so many “yes ma’ams” and “hello sirs” in my life). It was beyond beautiful though, and luckily Tucker was able to take full advantage of the beach, the snorkeling, the infinity pool, etc. However, after a few days completely devoid of local culture, I was definitely ready to get to our next location: Cebu City. It was here that we attended and presented at a local teacher training conference held at the University San Jose Recoletos. Easily my favorite part of Midyear, I was able to meet and interact with many local Filipina/o teachers and get a much better feel for what life in the Philippines is really like.
Once the conference and Midyear were officially over, Tucker and I hadn’t quite had our fill of the Philippines, so we headed to Manila for some good old-fashioned touristing. Manila is an incredible city with some of the best food I’ve had in a long while. Their specialty seemed to be fusion restaurants. We had super interesting and delicious food at Loco Manuk (Filipino, Peruvian, and Chinese) and El Chupacabra (Filipino and Mexican), and saw a Japanese-French Cafe that looked amazing as well! In addition to the incredible food, we also had a great time walking around Manila Bay, grabbing a drink in Intramuros (the Old Town), and watching the Super Bowl at a local expat bar. The Philippines boasts an amazing mix of languages and cultures, and it was so fun for us to be able to use English (commonly spoken there) to ask about a million questions of our taxi drivers, servers, and any other local we could find. We learned about the strong influence of Catholicism in the Philippines, the new-ish movement towards environmental clean up, and most of all, we learned how welcoming and friendly the people are.
At this point we were over the halfway mark of our trip, and my body had had enough. I left Manila with a fever and several other ailments (not so fun to describe), but I was still super excited to see Singapore! We watched Crazy Rich Asians on another leg of this trip in preparation, but the movie doesn’t do the city justice. It is by far the cleanest city I’ve ever seen, and has represented its multicultural population incredibly well! Singapore is made up of large groups of ethnic Chinese, Malays, and Indians, and each has a dedicated area of the city where you can find their respective religious buildings, restaurants, and specialized grocery stores. Even with the diverse neighborhoods in place, the city as a whole really seems to cater to each group in so many ways. Colorful, artistic, and clearly very well-off, there are so many lovely parks and public spaces in this city, where we saw families wearing everything from tank tops and sundresses to saris and hijabs. I often talk about places where there is a mix of cultures, but its usually a watered down mix, where clearly one culture has dominated, but in Singapore they were all there loud and proud. It was amazing!
It turns out KL was full of surprises for us. The majority of people living in Malaysia are Muslim, so it was much more conservative than I was expecting. Most everyone wore long sleeves and pants despite the high temperatures, and the presence of beautiful and delicious “mocktails” was at an all time high for me. KL is actually not on an island, and to us, it seemed like we lost that friendly, carefree island-vibe as soon as we arrived. Interactions were a bit more abrupt and businesslike – like they usually are, I suppose. Another surprise was the color we saw all around us – both the Philippines and Singapore were incredibly colorful cities, but I think any city would be hard pressed to match the vibrancy of KL. Brightly colored murals everywhere, some of the lushest, greenest trees I’ve ever seen against the bluest of skies, and the insanely colorful Batu Caves just outside the city made for some incredible scenes (and photos).
✔ Learn to play Mahjong
✔ Visit a Buddhist Temple
✔ Perfect our Chopsticks Skills
✔ Hike Huangshan
✔ Share Hotpot and Selfies with Friends
✔ Devour the Dim Sum in South China
✔ Wander around West Lake
✔ Feel like a Kid at Disneyland Shanghai
✔ Learn about the Minority Groups in China
✔ Celebrate Dragon Boat Festival
✔ Drink Tsingtao from the Source
✔ Walk along the Great Wall
✔ Make Dumplings from Scratch
✔ Crisscross the Yangtze
