About Me
FAVOURITE DESTINATIONS FOR:
NATURE
British Columbia, Yukon, Alaska, Galapagos & Namibia
SKIING
Fernie, Sun Peaks, Alta, Steamboat, Le Massif, Kiroro
WINTER
Quebec, Alberta, Arizona, Hokkaido, Colorado
PADDLING
British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Mexico
BIKING
France, Malawi, Quebec, California
BACKPACKING
Rockies, Patagonia, Colombia, Alps, Scotland
TOP ON MY BUCKETLIST:
GR20 in Corsica
Alta Via 2 in Italian Dolomites
Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland
Anything in the far north
5 THINGS I PACK ON EVERY TRIP:
Sleep mask, camera, good book, Lole bag, lightweight sandals
17
Number of Toenails Lost
400+
Number of Nights I've Slept in a Tent
60+
Number of Countries Visited
25+
Average Number of Trips Per Year
BEST PLACES I'VE STAYED IN:
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
Onguma Bush Camp in Namibia
BEST TRAVEL MOMENTS:
Hitchhiking in France with a fellow who wined and dined us in a hilltop mansion and then drove us to the Belgian border.
Newfoundland Inn owner who gave us her car so we could drive to dinner, many kilometres away.
HIGHEST I’VE BEEN:
Summit of Mount Kilimanjaro
5,895 metres (19,340 feet) above sea level
LOWEST I’VE BEEN:
The Dead Sea in Jordan – 423 metres
(1,388 feet) below sea level
PLACES I’VE LIVED:
(AND NO I’M NOT IN THE WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM)
London, Ontario
Mississauga, Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
Waterloo, Ontario
Acton, Ontario
NUMBER OF CAREERS: 7
Geologist
Registered professional dietitian
Owner of a flower store in Niagara-on-the-Lake
Vice-President of an Environmental Equipment Company
Mom
Author
Adventure travel blogger
MOST REMOTE PLACES I’VE BEEN:
FAVOURITE MODE OF TRAVEL
Self-propelled
FAVOURITE WINE
Mersault
LONGEST HIKE
Around Manaslu, Nepal over 28 days
FAVOURITE COUNTRIES
Turkey, Namibia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Colombia
MY HAPPY PLACE
On a deserted beach on the west coast of Vancouver Island with my husband and a kayak
LONGEST BIKE RIDE
Three weeks cycling from Tanzania to the border of Zambia and Botswana
SCARIEST THINGS I’VE DONE:
Descent on skis on the last day of the Wapta Traverse in Alberta
Kayaking in the Broughtons under wind versus tidal outflow and standing wave conditions
Jumped over a rattlesnake
MOST FUN THINGS I’VE DONE:
Canyoneering in Utah’s Escalante Wilderness and Jasper National Park
Sliding down thousands of feet on the snow with an ice axe in minutes from Quandary Peak, a 14,000+ foot peak in Colorado
Descent by bike from Malawi to the Zambia border
COOLEST NATURE ENCOUNTERS:
Seals that jumped into our whale-watching boat in Namibia
Elephant outside my cabin in Botswana
Swimming with penguins in the Galapagos
ATTEMPTS ON HUSBAND’S LIFE: 3
Left him with angered rattlesnake poised to strike
Pushed him into seething, shark-infested waters during a feeding frenzy in Rangiroa
Left him to deal with oncoming grizzly bear in northern BC while I hightailed it out with dog