I believe in love. I am fully, completely, and with a giddy, fluttery heart in love with love. It's hard for me to explain how important it is for me to know that. My heart has been through a lot lately, and it would be easy to let cynicism guide me. It wasn't a delivery of a dozen roses or a new guy though that reminded me of the power of love, but an invitation to march in the Ottawa Capital Pride parade. What better place to find affirmation for living and loving wholeheartedly than …
Gordon Downie Showed us How to Live and Die, Canadian Style
I originally published this article at YMC the day after The Tragically Hip's final concert aired on the CBC in August 2016. It went viral across Canada, with over 73,000 shares on Facebook alone. I wrote it from the heart, and it remains one of the things I've written that I'm most proud of. On the anniversary of that concert, I've decided to bring it home and have it live on my site where it belongs. And tonight, you can be sure I'll be listening to The Hip and remembering. None of us is …
Into the Great Wide Open – Skydiving Into Life’s Next Chapter
This was supposed to be an article about skydiving in Ottawa but as often happens, the story I intend to write and the story that gets written is often wildly different. And oh my god, doesn’t that last sentence just sum up the last twenty years of my life. So, apologies in advance if you came here to learn about skydiving in Ottawa, because this is actually about skydiving into a life. I recently published a list of 50 things I wanted to conquer in honour of my upcoming 50th and you …
Need Peace? Go East – Five Reasons to Go to Cape Breton NOW
I just returned from the east coast and from the bottom of my heart I believe that everyone needs to go to Cape Breton now. If there was ever a travel prescription for obtaining inner peace it's this emerald island just off the coast of Nova Scotia. Full disclosure, I didn't always feel this way. I actually hated Cape Breton for a long time. My family roots run deep on this island, so every single summer vacation growing up was spent there visiting family. By the time I was a surly …
Travel Tips for Venice Sprinkled with a Few Strong Opinions
Who doesn't want to go to Venice? As one of the earth's most popular tourist destinations, it's a mecca for the travel-addicted masses. As one of the flock that recently visited, I have a few travel tips for Venice but also some strong opinions to share before you make your way to The Floating City. Travel Tips for Venice It's Really Sinking Honestly, this debate was over a long time ago but I know there's some stragglers out there that think that climate change is just a weather …
