Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Month: September 2019

Snapshots from Nova Scotia – Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail

Mark, Maya, and I had five weeks to explore the Canadian Maritimes, before my parents would arrive from Belgium. Time flies! Especially when all hiking and sightseeing is postponed on rainy days. We knew we couldn’t circumnavigate Nova Scotia in its entirety, due to long distances, expensive fuel, and time constraints.

Crossing New Brunswick took about a week, then we spent another one in the Halifax area, where we had to choose: travel about the southwest corner of the province or the northeastern part. We picked the latter and headed to Cape Breton Island, many hours and kilometers away.

We hit the Cabot Trail – a famous scenic drive – on the first day of September. Another traveler had recommended we’d drive counter clockwise to take in the dramatic vistas from the best angle, so we did. While pretty, it wasn’t as spectacular as we anticipated; the nicer parts reminded us somewhat of the Acadia National Park shoreline in Maine.

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Snapshots from Nova Scotia – Picturesque Ports & Places

Mark, Maya, and I spent about two weeks in Nova Scotia, a beautiful province that is part of the Canadian Maritimes. This is the first of two posts I will publish about our time there, the end of August and the beginning of September 2019. Before that, we explored the southern part of New Brunswick.

Economy

Our intended camping experience near and hike to Economy Falls failed, due to the road’s horrible condition. Mark and I could have biked to the trailhead, but not with Maya. Ten miles of running beside bicycles on top of a five-mile romp in the woods would be too much. So, we opted for free camping option two: Thomas Cove Coastal Reserve. There, we found a peaceful spot to park along the Bay of Fundy, at the beginning of multiple flat but fun hiking trails. (Click on photos to enlarge and read captions.)

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Monthly Expenses – August 2019

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting, and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce, and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Because of our income level, Mark and I are eligible for free health care within the state of Massachusetts. For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast.

Mark, Maya, and I are living  and traveling full-time in our van again, recently in the Maritimes (East Coast) of Canada. That - and a "surprise" hurricane - explains the delays with my blog posts, as we don't have a cost-prohibitive data plan in this country. Ironically, we still pay for the one in the US without using it. Luckily, it is quite easy to find free WiFi here in libraries, visitor centers, Tim Horton's, McDonalds, Walmart, and Canadian Tire, among other businesses. Usually, we briefly stop to grab emails and send the next batch, prepared offline.  Once in a while - ideally on a rainy day - we do more effort to find long-term internet.

Boondocking in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia

August was an average spending month, I'd say, except for the extras, like my dentist visit in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, a haircut before we left on our adventure, and new shoes and flip flops for Mark. But, every month has something special in store! I was tempted to put that $8 for parking under "camping" as we spent the night on the same lot in Halifax, but, parking there is free between 6pm and 8am, so - once again - we boondocked (or "urban camped" in this case) for free and had a nice evening out on top of it.

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A Hurricane… in a Van… in Canada!

I was going to post a blog about our August expenses today, but something else came up. Well, it actually looks like I won’t post anything on this Sunday, September 8th, 2019, because the electricity and internet are both down on the entire island. Good thing we have a self-contained camper van; we have power and can even take a hot shower, which is more than some tourists staying in hotels can do. Internet, however, we can’t reproduce.

You might remember my whining about how we always have bad luck with the weather, wherever we go. Somehow, we encounter extremes: the wettest spring in California in a decade (hey, it did end the drought), the coolest and rainiest September on Vancouver Island, the coldest winter in Southern California and Southern Arizona (we even escaped into Mexico for a few days to look for elusive warmth), the most miserable May in Southern Utah ever, with rain, sleet, hail, and snow instead of the average 75 degrees (24C) that time of the year, the hottest and most humid June in Toronto and Montreal, and the hottest day of the year in Massachusetts (on which Maya got lost)!

Even though this selection of the last two years sums up our weather misfortunes well, none of it beat our experience this past weekend. The three of us found ourselves in the path of Hurricane Dorian – the same one that caused havoc in the Bahamas managed to make landfall on Nova Scotia, with strong effects on Prince Edward Island (PEI), where Zesty is located. Yep, a hurricane in Canada. The last time that happened was Hurricane Juan in 2003. What’s the chance of running into this? With us, pretty big.

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IWSG Writing Update September 2019 – Not Much Writing on the Road

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) engages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement, or anything really, about their writing. A different question is posed each month as a writing prompt. Answering it is optional. For September, the question is: “If you could pick one place in the world to sit and write your next story, where would it be and why?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are Gwen Gardner, Doreen McGettigan, Tyrean Martinson, Chemist Ken, and Cathrina Constantine. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they’re up to.

My answer to the question (If you could pick one place in the world to sit and write your next story, where would it be and why?)

I love this month’s question! Mention “the world” and I’m excited. One place I would never pick to do such a thing would be… a camper van on a discovery trip of the Canadian Maritimes. 😊

Picturesque Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Even before I became a writer, I said to myself: “One day, I want to write a book from a self-contained cottage in Hawaii!” This has not happened (yet); I’ve never even been to this tropical US state. I have, however, lived and traveled in self-contained units, like two sailboats and three campers. The part of using nature for resources like electricity, water, and propulsion (in the case of the sailboats) thoroughly pleases me and basic living off the grid surely is my thing. But the absence of a dedicated desk, internet, and the word “unlimited” in the above list makes writing difficult. I guess I could always use a notebook!

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