About

I have always been enthralled with the idea of a travelling adventure. All of my life I have loved to travel and explore new places.

In the early nineties, fresh out of university, I bummed rides and hitchhiked my way across Canada, making it to Tofino, B.C.

Not long after, I accepted a job teaching English in South Korea. I spent the following two decades living and working in Asia. In addition to my time in Korea, I have lived the life of an expat and worked in Tokyo, Dubai, and Hong Kong.

I have backpacked and travelled extensively through Asia, Australia, and Europe, embarking on adventures from the heights of the Himalayas to the depths of the underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef.

In the summer of 2014, my family and I returned to my hometown of Peterborough, Ontario, where I began teaching at the local school board. I returned to plant roots where I was born, but my thirst for adventure continued.

That first summer back in Peterborough, my brother booked a site on Bottle Lake in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park, a mere 35-minute drive north of my house. Although it was hardly a backcountry wilderness trip with the parking lot only a few hundred meters from the lake, I fell in love with the idea of camping next to the water on a site that is only accessible by canoe. The next site was over 500 meters away and no one was on it! We had a fantastic little beach oasis next to the mouth of a creek and the bass fishing was good. I knew I would be back for more trips like this.

Later that fall, my children and I were invited on a weekend canoe trip to Cold Lake, another location in the Kawartha Highlands, with some old grade school friends. Again, we had a fantastic time around the campfire in the Canadian Shield. This time I was hooked. By the following summer, I had my own canoe, started collecting my own backcountry gear, and was learning to go on adventures just a short drive north of my home.

Now, I try to head out into the backcountry as much as time and duty will allow. Each year I go a little further away, for a little longer, and on routes that are a little more challenging.

I love going with those who are close to me; my wife, my daughters, and old and new friends alike. My father often joins me on longer trips further afield. However, if no one is willing or able to come along, I often venture out on my own.

Each trip is a learning experience, and with each trip, I see and do a little more than the last. I have gained an amazing appreciation for this great land of ours and its connecting waterways. In addition to exploring Canada's incredible natural wonders, I try to learn about the historical significance of the areas where I travel from both a European and an Indigenous lens. Each trip is another adventure that I can look back on, learn from, and enjoy. I feel so lucky and, dare I say it, blessed that I live so close to an Eden that contains the majority of the world's supply of fresh water. Along with this knowledge, however, comes the responsibility to protect what remains of Canada's wilderness. I hope this series of trip reports can aid in creating awareness to that end.

If this collection of trip reports can inspire an appreciation for the Canadian backcountry and contribute to a greater understanding of the need to protect it, then the time it takes to share my trips and write about them is well-spent.

Thank you for taking the time to join me on my backcountry canoe journeys.