It’s been a long time since I was in the Prairies. I used to go to Winnipeg a lot for work (in a former life). I actually spent so much time there that I even had an apartment there. So naturally I would make a point to spend a couple nights there while heading west to the Pacific Ocean.

I never really spent any time visiting The Forks, so this time it was a focus for me. It was here that I realized that as good as the camera is on my phone, it just didn’t have the range of features that I wanted going forward. So after visiting a couple pawn shops and being very disappointed, I stopped into a proper camera store and picked up a new Canon and a zoom lens. Most of the wildlife that I would encounter on this trip would not take kindly to me getting close enough to get a good picture, and I’m not stupid, so a simple zoom lens would help a lot with capturing some wildlife photos without putting myself in danger, or disrespecting the wildlife in general.

If you’re an aviation fan, make a point of stopping in at the Royal Aviation Museum located right beside the airport. It’s worth it! Going inside a vintage Air Canada plane was a real treat. Stay tuned for another video featuring the museum!

After a couple nights in Winnipeg, it was time to press on westward along HWY 1 (aka The Trans-Canada Highway) towards Saskatchewan. Now saying the Prairies is flat and barren is a bit of an understatement. Just don’t say “There’s nothing to see” to the locals. They’ve heard it all before, so try and be original and come up with something else. Haha

I decided to bypass the city of Regina because there’s nothing to…ahem. Anyway…moving on. Moose Jaw! Now here’s a small town that’s also flat but hey…they have Mac! Mac the Moose is the largest Moose in Canada and a neat roadside feature worth stopping to see. If you’re an aviation fan, there is also one of the SnowBirds jets on display there too.

After spending the night in a small town called Brooks, it was time to check off a Bucket List item…it was time to visit Drumheller and Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta.

Dinosaur PP is where over 60 species of dinosaurs have been discovered with more being unearthed nearly every year from the natural process of erosion. Being in this place with it’s truly amazing looking geology is nothing short of breathtaking. You can’t help but have this other-worldly feeling about the place as you stand in a spot rich with history from millions of years ago.

Next it was to Drumheller to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum where fossils are processed and studied. It’s at this facility where more has been learned about the late Cretaceous period than anywhere else in the world. There are an almost countless number of fossils on display (some are replicas cast from the originals though). The displays range from as recently as the Mammoth from 4000yrs ago, and other creatures back to over 400million years ago. This is what the Alberta Badlands is famous for and it didn’t disappoint. If you ever get the chance to check this place out…make it a priority.

This is when psychologically things started to change for me. Up until the Badlands, the drive just felt…repetitive. Hour after hour of the same view…vast, flat openness. So after being blown away by the scenery of the Badlands and seeing all the exhibits in the museum, and now Calgary, this is when the trip started taking on a different feel. Also known as Texas North, because it’s known for the whole Country Western theme, Calgary was a turning point and time for some shopping! Although a cliché, I figured when in Rome…

The best place to buy a proper Cowboy hat in Calgary is a shop called Smithbilt’s. This is their specialty and the official provider of Cowboy hats to the Calgary Police, so if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me. Once you select a colour, you then have to decide on a shape/style, and brim width. They do all the customization right there in front of you. Check out my YouTube video of my hat being specially crafted just for me.

After that it was a trip to Lammle’s Western Wear which specializes in, you guessed it…country western clothes. Now I haven’t had a proper pair of Cowboy boots in decades so it was time for a new pair and some authentic Wrangler jeans and a new belt to finish off the look. Generally speaking, Cowboy boots have never been known as being the most comfortable of footwear and they really aren’t made for walking in. Not for long distances anyway. Fortunately for me, and my soft baby-like feet, the very first pair I tried on utilized some very modern technology and I found them far more comfortable than the other pairs that I tried. When all was said and done, the Cowboy conversion was complete and I must say, the Cowboy look suits me well. Actually…Calgary as a whole suits me well and it’s a place that I could see myself living in.

The biggest event of the year here is the Calgary Stampede, It was starting in just 10 days but my schedule didn’t allow for me to hang around for it, nor did it allow for me to return in time for it. This wasn’t on my list of things to do though, but it is now so one day I’ll make a point to return to Calgary to witness this event in person. I’ll be sure to wear my new boots and hat!

Calgary is the last stop in the Great Plains region known as the Canadian Prairies. Just 30min after leaving the city westward, off in the distance, the hazy outline of mountains began to come into view.

The Rocky Mountains were on the horizon.

To say that Ontario is massive is nothing short of an under statement. Even people who live there don’t really realize how big the Province truly is.

I started the “Three Ocean Expedition” from Toronto and headed west towards the Pacific Ocean. The first major milestone was getting out of Ontario and reaching Winnipeg, Manitoba…it took three days!

Okay, if you go by the numbers, reaching Winnipeg takes 24hrs of driving from Toronto, but when you include fuel stops, the occasional stretch, and of course time to sleep…it took three days. Hell it took an hour just getting out of Toronto!

The first proper stop was in Sudbury famously known for it’s “Big Nickel”. Sudbury became (and still is) famous for it’s Nickel mines and the Big Nickel is a popular tourist destination. So of course I stopped there also and out the drone up to get a better look at the area. Check out my Instagram page for the video by searching for “@goforadv”.

The first stop for the night was Lake Superior Provincial Park. Lake Superior is the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world and is considered an in-land sea because of it’s size and it’s famously harsh weather conditions. Many ships and sailors have been lost on Lake Superior, the most well known is the Edmond Fitzgerald and her crew.

The next night was a stop in Thunder Bay but only after many hours of slogging through some torrential rain. Umm…I hate to say it but the most interesting thing about the place is the view of a distant peninsula that the Indigenous people called the “Sleeping Giant” because that’s what they saw. Of course as luck would have it, the fog and overcast conditions didn’t reveal much on this day.

Fortunately though, I had taken a long detour prior to getting to Thunder Bay and actually drove out on the Sleeping Giant. This turned out to be a great opportunity to get some photos and video (from the ground and from the sky) as this was the one moment when there was a break in the weather.

It was another long day on the road but after a good night sleep, I was ready to push on into Manitoba and to visit a city that I haven’t been to in a very long time…Winnipeg.

It was very exciting to finally reach the border with Manitoba but it dawned on me again just how massive and beautiful Ontario really is. Once you clear the farm lands of Southern Ontario, you find yourself in an ocean of trees. You can literally drive for days and despite the changes in elevation and terrain, you are still in a vast ocean of green.

When going “off-grid” for even just a couple of days, having a source of power (like a battery bank or generator) is important. Eventually though, that source needs to be topped up. Now in the case of a generator, it’s just a matter of adding more fuel, but if you’re using a battery bank of some sort, it will need recharging. This is easy while driving as the power is provided from the vehicle’s electrical system. Although if you are stationary for a couple of days, solar panels are the way to go.

Most solar panels are large and flat and that’s usually ok if you have space for them but if you don’t, then you should consider a folding panel system like this one. This 100W foldable panel can be easily found on Amazon for a very reasonable price (when compared to the solid panel competition).

For over 10 years I’ve been thinking about, dreaming about, traveling more and seeing more of my own country. I live in the second largest country in the world and I’ve really only explored a small bit of it. I kept putting it off though. Just one excuse after another. Not enough money this year, timing is bad, whatever. It was always some valid reason that stopped it from happening. Not anymore.

Two years ago today, during the height of a global pandemic, I walked into the Princess Margaret Hospital alone for a surgery that would alter my life forever but ultimately save it. Two months prior I had been diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer of the tongue and it was spreading fast. The surgery was far more invasive than expected with over 80% of my tongue removed, along with all the lymph nodes in my neck/jaw area, and a few teeth, and after two weeks recovering in hospital, I was sent home and told to come back a couple weeks later for intensive radiation treatments and chemotherapy.

Fast forward to today. I’m cancer free (at least for now) and although my quality of life has changed dramatically, I am alive and starting the trip of a lifetime to check off several bucket list items. I am departing Toronto early on June 24th (the 2yr anniversary of the surgery) and heading west to the Pacific Ocean, then north to the Arctic Ocean, then to the east coast to the Atlantic rounding out all three Canadian oceans. I will be on the road for about two months and will have traveled about 25,000km (over 15,500 miles) by the time I’m done.

I encourage you to follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Just search @goforadv and you’ll find me.

Also, If you could find it in your heart to pitch in for some gas, it would be much appreciated! Help fuel the dream at GoFundMe.

Nowadays, going completely “off-grid” while camping doesn’t really happen anymore. We still want our phones, cameras, and even laptops charged up at all times. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I ain’t judging…I’m the same way!

The easiest and cheapest way to do this, is to get a power bank/power generator. Now gas powered generators have been used for decades for RV, motorhomes, and camper trailers but they are big, noisy, and stinky. The newer, cheaper option is a small battery bank of some sort but there are many popping up on the market with various capacities. They can range from 150W for under $200 up to 2000W for thousands of dollars.

I would suggest that if you are only 1-2 people needing to keep your phones, cameras and a laptop charged up, you can get by with a smaller unit. Especially if you are only off-grid for a couple of nights.

This 300W unit from GOLABS is what I could afford at the time and while I’m driving, it’s kept charged up from my van via a 12V adapter. Although more is always better, but they take up a lot more space in your vehicle, this 300W unit is so far suitable for my needs. I also paired it with a 100W solar panel to extend my power needs, which is working great.

Once again, you can find these on Amazon and the prices do range. The Jackery brand seems to be the best but they do come with a hefty price tag. The GOLABS brands are much more affordable, although their capacity is limited to the lower range (1000W and up doesn’t seem available at the time of writing this).

Again though, if you are only going off-grid for a few nights and only need to charge a few mobile phones, a camera or two, and a laptop or tablet, you should be fine with a 500W unit or less. My 300W unit when paired with 100W of solar panels has so far gotten me by just fine.