My encounter with Audrah was unexpected. I arrived in the small town of Minnedosa, a forty-minute drive North of Brandon. My spirits were high as I was finally out of mosquito and black fly riddled bogs. Before arriving, I was graciously offered an invitation to stay at a friend, relatives home, Gwen and Uncle Bob. Still wearing the same clothes after a week on the road, I desperately needed to see the inside of a shower. I think their hospitality was more pity than anything…
Read MoreThe year is 2016. I’m leaving one province and venturing into the next. I welcome the change in landscape, trading the lush wild forests of Northern British Columbia for endless prairies and the cold lakes of Manitoba. I crossed the Saskatchewan Manitoba border from the North heading East on Highway 77. The sun was high, and the summer heat was already in the air days before officially starting. ..
Read MoreOn a not so particular day in May 2016, the search for people from small towns and remote areas continues. This next story and subject come from a place in British Columbia’s Caribou Range. An area of beauty that is nothing short of breathless. After recently getting hitched in the previous Fall, to the woman of my dreams, I asked my partner in crime to join me on this next leg of Back To The Land to Northern British Columbia…
Read MoreIn the last week of September 2017, my wife and I decided to do a quick eight-day road trip to the West Kootenays; two reasons, explore some new areas of British Columbia and secretly I wanted to photograph more people for my Back to The Land project. My wife continues to give me evil eyes if I don’t even humour the idea of bringing her along. Like any trip, we stop where ever we can pitching a tent in lieu of a hotel, cook food roadside because we can, annoy each other when we are bored and always keeping a keen interest to explore the things we both enjoy. Our approach may be slightly different from some and our motto is simple; we stop if it feels good and we keep going if it doesn’t. For us, it’s about trusting our intuition and just letting it
Read MoreThere I was sitting in a cafe in Campbell River, sipping a freshly brewed coffee with the ocean no more than a stone's throw away. A paper map stretched over the table, eyes wide and looking for another small town to visit. That's when I noticed the name Zeballos in the middle of nowhere.
Read MoreAs I continue to catch up on blog posts from May of 2015 I leave you with a chance encounter from the British Columbia Kootenays. I met Raphael while taking a short pit stop in the town of Slocan which sits directly on the south end of Slocan Lake. If you ever get a chance to visit this part of Canada, I highly recommend driving HWY 6 between Upper Arrow Lake and Slocan Lake as the landscapes will leave you breathless. As I pulled into a gravel parking lot
Read MoreWhen you think of Canada you may think of hockey, cold winters, mountains, and really friendly people (or at least I do); you don’t think of surfing. Obviously Canada isn’t known for producing world-class surfers on the big stage, however our waves are starting to take notice especially in a places like Tofino. If you have ever visited Tofino
Read MoreI met Lyndon through Brian Henderson's son as he operates a tree-plating business working throughout the BC Kootenays. My intention was never to go tree-planting, it was more of an opportunity that presented itself while sharing stories over a meal with Brian and his wife. Then, in less than 36 hours I was up at 5am, following a small convoy of rusted pickup trucks down a busy highway, and turning off onto a hidden road that was only visible by a small gap of random trees
Read MoreBlacksmiths has been around for hundreds of years, but have you ever seen anyone forge, bend, and form metal by hand with your own eyes? Neither have I until I met Patrick McIvor. I found this man through other locals while I was staying in the town of
Read MoreI randomly met Brian Henderson through a series of introductions that all started with the wonderful Michelle Colley (previous blog post). After one introduction after another, a domino effect occurred and within 24 hours of arriving in Ymir, I felt as though I already knew half the town. This is how I came to meet Brian Henderson and his wife Sharon; they live just behind the town off a steep back road that hugs the base of the forest-covered
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