Cliffs of Moher

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The weather in Ireland isn’t for the faint of heart. We had our fingers crossed for at least a semi-reasonable day for our visit to the Cliffs of Moher. When we were leaving Galway to head out, the forecast was a bit of a flip of a coin on what we’d get. There was going to be wind (that was for sure) and on the drive, the clouds kept closing in to the point that visibility was almost nothing when we arrived. But a few minutes later, after we had ducked inside to put on ponchos for our hike around the cliffs, the clouds started a magical pulling away and while we were in danger of being blown off the cliffs and were pelted with rain, the view opened up and we were in awe.

Us at the Cliffs of Moher
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Galway in photos

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Galway, Ireland.

I knew before arriving here I’d fall in love with this place, and I was proven right. From the moment I stepped off the train from Dublin, to driving away three days later, this place touched the Maritimer sensibilities inside me and reminded me in all of the best ways of the roots I have in Nova Scotia. It was also a wonderful change from what was a very busy Dublin. Galway felt quieter and indulgent, and even the uncooperative weather lent this visit some additional charm. In fact, the rain, some of it quite epic, pushed us into lazy afternoons in pubs where we got into some wonderful conversations over drinks that made these three days a truly special experience.

Night one – we stopped on this bridge over a canal and the sound of the rain, the smell of the salt air, and the heavy fog just made everything feel like nights in Halifax.

Galway, Ireland on a rainy night
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A day trip to Belfast

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Once we had decided to travel to Ireland, we ran into a challenge of how we wanted to organize our visit. Would this be a trip of getting a car and doing a two week driving loop around the country? Would we focus on one or two places? Should this be a trip where we were frequently on the move or one where we caught our breath and spent longer stretches in a place? Regardless of the answers to those as we were planning, we knew that we wanted to visit somewhere in Northern Ireland. As our planning took shape and Galway and County Donegal looked to be the prime locations for a slower paced visit, we decided on a day trip from Dublin to Belfast for our first ever visit to the UK.

Belfast
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The Guinness does taste better there

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Traveling to Ireland had been our tentative plan in 2020 before the pandemic. Since then, we had opted for a few different destinations, but this past fall, we finally followed through on a two week visit to Ireland. We decided this was the year for this long awaited trip as my wife’s football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, were playing a game in Dublin. In our realm of travel planning, that made for a good enough reason.

This was a vacation we were very much looking forward to. The past year had been a bit of a struggle in all kinds of ways, so we decided to be indulgent in a few spots including upgrading to first class for the flight overseas. On account of lots of time spent on planes in 2024 and some points sitting around, we got our vacation started in style at 37,000 feet with Champagne, lots of room to stretch out, some great good, and amazing views. Nowhere near Dublin yet, but the vacation was already well underway!

Enjoying our first class pod experience!
Views shortly after taking off from Vancouver
Enjoying our first class pod experience!
Enjoying our first class pod experience!
Enjoying our first class pod experience!
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Old and new favourites

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I have written more than a few times of my love for Vancouver. It really is one of my most favourite cities in the entire world and I’m very lucky to now have lived a quick direct flight away from it for the past decade. Arriving in Vancouver for a short vacation always feels a bit like coming back home even though I have never lived there. I have this selection of favourite places that I have accumulated over the years to go with the excitement of trying new things in a city that keeps evolving. Day one of any solo trip is now a well rehearsed practice – early morning flight, Skytrain from the airport to my hotel, drop my bags at a very early hour, find good coffee, then if the weather is great – Stanley Park for a hike around the seawall or if the weather is sketchy, head further afield for some craft beer tasting in Port Moody or Burnaby (or both!!!). With clouds threatening rain on my arrival in late August last year, I hopped on a train to Port Moody and enjoyed tastings at Twin Sails and Yellow Dog breweries followed by another tasting at Dageraad in Burnaby. My Vancouver vacation was off to a great start!

Beer tasting at Twin Sails in Port Moody, BC
Beer tasting at Yellow Dog in Port Moody, BC
Beer tasting at Dageraad in Burnaby, BC
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Baseball, and beer, and more

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I have nine Major League Baseball parks left to visit and my quest to visit such exotic locales as Kansas City, Arlington, St. Louis, and Milwaukee is indefinitely on hold as travel south of our border really isn’t appealing to me these days. Fortunately, it’s been more than a hot minute since I had been to a few Jays games in Toronto and this past summer I was eager to visit the remodelled Skydome (I will not call that place by its corporate name) and enjoy the Blue Jays as they were in the midst of their supercharged season.

With baseball as the backbone of the trip, I coloured in the gaps with a lot of fun. I adore solo travel for the indulgence it offers, and after arriving on a dinner-time flight from Saskatoon, I stashed my bags at my downtown hotel and made my way up to Queen Street West to take in a show by The Montvales, a band I had become smitten with over the summer. In all of the time I have spent in Toronto over the years, I had never managed to see a concert at the Horseshoe Tavern and loved every minute of soaking in not only a great show, but also all of the history of Canadian music that has played on the stage. Even a pretty deep accidental cut on my thumb from some broken glass couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm for my first night in TO. Take a listen to these two part harmonies on their song “Bad Faith” and you’ll understand why.

The Montvales concert at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto
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On the road again

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I think it is now official. After ten years living in Saskatoon, my favourite road trip destination is Calgary. I can assure you that is not due to the wonderful drive. It is a touch over six hours and after doing it a number of times, describing it as monotonous might be a tad generous. This might be the kind of road trip where the destination compels the journey. Even with good coffee (or road trip appropriate Timmies) and snacks, great company with my wife, and great tunes and podcasts, this drive is a bit of a grind.

On our last visit to Calgary, the drive there was eventful. A couple of very powerful and large thunderstorms made for some white knuckle driving, while a few smaller ones like this one about an hour east of Calgary made for some beautiful scenery.

Prairie highway during a storm in Alberta
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There’s a reason that I love this town

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Ten years on from moving away from Halifax, it continues to be one of my favourite places in the world. Friends would say I speak frequently of Halifax and truly, it is hard not to. From favourite hangouts to the music scene, from strolling along the harbour to cheering on the Mooseheads in an arena I refuse to call by its now corporate name, there is a lot of Halifax in my blood and I really like it that way.

Returning to the city is always a treat, even if it doesn’t happen as frequently as I might like. But when it does, like the last time on account of work, I enjoy it especially when my wife joins me and we treat it as a return to our roots and where our relationship began more than twenty years ago. Shortly off the plane, there was no doubt about our plans for the first night, starting with a return to the water that we miss so much in this prairie chapter of our lives.

On the Halifax waterfront with my wife
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Looking back on 2025

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Two trips to Toronto. One to Washington. Three to Montreal. One to Vancouver. One to Halifax. One to Calgary. One to San Antonio. And a perfect two weeks traveling from Dublin to Galway to County Donegal and to Belfast. Looking back at this past year, I was lucky to have so much joy from my travels – returning to old haunts, making new friends, being filled with awe, eating some amazing things, and mostly, just loving the hell out of what travel and exploration continues to bring to my life. It is impossible to distill everything, but here are a few of what continue to be my favourite memories from 2025.

(1) Czech-style beers with a much shorter flight – Twice in Toronto, and on both occasions I spent an afternoon at Godspeed Brewery in the east end of the city savouring their Czech beers and letting my mind drift back to being in Prague and being in beer heaven. Godspeed is one of Canada’s great breweries and I loved my time there this year.

Beer tasting at Godspeed Brewery in Toronto, ON
Beer tasting at Godspeed Brewery in Toronto, ON
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