Exploring Canada - Maple Syrup & All {2/3}

[trip style = urban + wine tasting]

I feel very strongly about Canada. When someone tells me they like Quebec's maple syrup, I take it as a personal compliment. I'm not from Quebec, nor do I make syrup or know anything about tapping the tree, but as big, as far, and as wide as Canada's border extends, every bit is part of me. Maple syrup and all.

Since Tuesday I've been tasting my way through Vancouver, Richmond and the Okanagan with four other bloggers from Paris, Australia, the UK and India. The maple syrup factor has come into play a lot. I blush a little hearing them gush about eating doughnuts in Vancouver, drinking bubble tea in Richmond, and sharing chicken poutine in Kelowna, again, as if I had something to do with the process.

Being a tourist in my own backyard offers a crash course in Canada all over again. And I love it. Everything is new. Even in familiar territory, it's healthy to switch into tourist 'learning' mode sometimes, because there's always a region, restaurant, shop or person that's new---something I've been discovering on this trip, as well as on jaunts to Montreal, Banff and Victoria over the past few months.

As my train was pulling into Banff National Park a few months ago, I could not believe my eyes. Surrounded by a real-time reel of nature through my glass-domed coach, the jagged, snow-dusted edges of the rocky mountains humbled my soul and put my camera in workout mode.

Oh, and by the way, when everyone in my train coach was admiring the Rocky Mountains, I took that as a compliment too, as if I painted the snow on the rocks and hand-selected the positioning of the trees below the peaks.

Speaking of real-time reels, you can find my Canadian version via instagram, twitter and facebook. Otherwise, I'll be posting a full feature on Monday. In the meantime, I'll be sipping wine on the Naramata Bench. Cheers!

[photos taken while exploring BC via Tourism Canada]

Exploring Canada {1/3}

[trip style = urban + sightseeing + wine tasting]

This week I get to be a tourist in my own backyard, gushing about BC’s coast and countryside, while snapping and scribing the latest and greatest.

Over the month of September, Tourism Canada has invited a bevy of international bloggers to comb the  True North from coast to coast. Some are pop culture junkies, some are foodies, some are adventurers and some are photogs {for example, in my group we have a New Delhi-based photog whose shot for National Geographic}. On the menu: Heli-yoga in Alberta, lobster fests in PEI and wine tasting in the Okanagan. {Mountie sightings not guaranteed}.

Covering the nation from the Pacific to the Atlantic, four teams are combing Canada's varied landscape for a class in Canadiana 101. Four Canadian bloggers are also jumping onboard, each one of us covering a different region. I’m e-x-t-a-t-i-c to be part of the BC group, because eh, as much as I write about traveling elsewhere in the world, I’m also a huge proponent of getting up close and personal with one’s own nation.

My trip started yesterday and wraps up on Saturday. I’ve made a short video---gulp, please DON'T judge or stop reading TS because of it---outlining the trip's 411. I wish it was funny, but it's not, and someone has already "disliked" it on YouTube---SO MEAN. {Note to self: get better at videos.}

As a result, this week we’re tweaking our regular editorial schedule to fill your cuppeth full of red and white kanadian Kool-Aid {my fave flavor} today, Friday and Monday. Follow my adventures sipping cocktails in Gastown, sampling dim sum and bubble tea in Richmond and savoring wine in the Okanagan.

I’ll be posting regularly to instagram, twitter and facebook, and if you’re a real keener, follow the #explorecanada hastag on instagram and twitter to see BC from FIVE different perspectives.

[graphic via tourism Canada]