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1.22.2024

A Few of Elisabeth's Thoughts On Travel

As you know, I love to travel! I am always curious about how other people plan, how they started their travel journey, where they have been and what they liked. I think that talking to others is a great way to get ideas for future trips and also a great way to form connections with other people. I also love to ask questions and am a very curious person, although I think that some people are not as impressed by it as others!! Luckily, my guest is not only an avid traveler, but she also doesn't mind me picking her brain and is happy to answer my questions with gusto! 

She probably does not need much of an introduction, so I will get right to it: please welcome my guest for today, Elisabeth. I was drawn to her because she loves to travel, is friendly and easy to talk to, is frank about her feelings, is a staunch thrift store shopper, and is just an all around good person. But enough out of me, let's get to the Q and A already! (Also, you can find my answers to Elisabeth's questions over on her site today!) 

For the readers who don't know you, please tell us where you are from, a little bit about who you are and one thing that even those who know you may not know about you. 


I have lived my whole life on the Eastern side of Canada. I was born in New Brunswick, moved to Nova Scotia as a toddler, moved back to New Brunswick as a teen, and then moved back to Nova Scotia as an adult! Aside from the winters, I am a Maritimer at heart. 


Baby Elisabeth


I’m married to an incredible man named John (here's some backstory on our entrepreneurial history together) - and we have two children; a 12-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son.


I had to think for a while about what surprising fact I might not have shared before (this may hint that I’m an oversharer). Most people know I hate water on my face, have a crazily sensitive back, and am a direct descendant of William Wallace (aka Braveheart). What I don’t think anyone knows is that, in another family setting, I likely wouldn’t be writing these words today. Because of some high risk factors my mother had been warned not to have any more children after her third…seven years later she found out she was pregnant with me. My parents were shocked and the doctors were not amused. They told my mother in no uncertain terms she needed to terminate the pregnancy because they were certain I would have life limiting challenges. That wasn’t a decision my parents could support ethically, so my mom spent the rest of her pregnancy assuming I was going to have severe mental and physical limitations.


(Another lesser-known fact: a month after I was born, I won a local beautiful baby contest. My parents still have the trophy.) (K: I get that; you were a cute baby!) 


If I were to come and visit you for a three day weekend, where would you take me and why? 


This collage belongs on a travel website!


First, I’d say: 
Oh goodie! You will LOVE Nova Scotia. Then I’d get down to organizing an itinerary.

Day One: We’d start the day at our local farmer’s market to grab a fresh breakfast and coffee while listening to local musicians play outside. Then we’d hike the waterfront/dykeland trail all the way to Grand Pré (a Unesco World Heritage Site). We’d walk back to town (an 8 km round trip) for a well-earned lunch at my favourite local eatery: the Naked Crepe. We’d wander around the various stores in downtown Wolfville for several hours and pop into my favourite cafe for a warm drink and some baked goods before driving out to Scott’s Bay for an evening of beachcombing, complete with a bonfire, seaside picnic, and incredible views of the setting sun.


Day Two: We’d hike Cape Split (one of the most famous trails in all of Nova Scotia; about 13 km return), picnicking at the summit. Then we’d make our way to Blomidon Provincial Park to take in the soaring bright red cliffs, and trek through the mud to the water's edge. On our way home we’d stop at Medford Beach, which is located just fifteen minutes from my town but it looks like another planet. We’d explore all the formations before heading home to clean up and then I’d make a home cooked supper (Chicken Mango Curry, rice, and cornbread). 


Day Three: We’d start at Peggy’s Cove - perhaps my favourite spot in all of Nova Scotia - followed by a trip to the South Shore. We’d spent a few hours walking around Lunenburg and Mahone Bay (quaint little towns full of colourful shops), followed by a stop at a local white-sand beach.


Cape Sable

If we had a bonus day, I’d hire someone to take us out to Cape Sable - an island just off the coast of Nova Scotia with one of the tallest lighthouses in the country (103 ft.) and a whole lot of sheep. It’s breathtaking and you would love it. (K: That all sounds perfect, plus I see you added some hiking; thanks! Also I can't wait to try your curry and cornbread! Also I am so glad that Peggy's Cove made the list.) 

What was the first place you remember traveling to, who were you with and what did you do? 



I’m going to cheat and answer this three ways. 

The first place I traveled regularly was our family cottage. It had no electricity or running water and it was the most magical place on earth. We’d go for 3.5-4 weeks each summer and be completely off grid. I LOVED it. My siblings were a lot older, so in later years it was just me with my parents, but early in life it would have been our whole family of 6. I’ve been there every year since birth, so that doesn’t really feel like the answer you’re looking for?


The next travel adventure was taking a 2.5 hour ferry from Digby, Nova Scotia to Saint John, New Brunswick to visit my maternal grandmother. These trips were SO exciting and I always went with just my mom. 


The last memory I'll share is when I was 11 - the first time I left Canada. We drove to South Carolina for my sister’s wedding and I thought it was the most exciting thing I’d ever done in my life. Everything looked different. Miles instead of kilometers on speed signs, gallons instead of liters of milk at the grocery store. I was enraptured. I turned 12 on the day she got married <3 (K: I bet that was fun; my first experience in real life with km and l was when I was in my 20s!) 


If the above was not by plane, tell us a little about the first place you went to by plane. Do you remember how you felt about flying for the first time? 


I flew to St. John’s Newfoundland when I was 19 for a conference where I presented research from my Honour’s thesis. I don’t really remember how I felt; likely very embarrassed that I was the only one who had never flown and nervous I would mess it up somehow. (K: my first international flight was alone and my parents came with me to the gate! Remember those days?) 


What travel experience has been your favorite so far? And tell us one place we should go to if we go there ourselves. 


I don’t know if I can answer this? I have loved Paris and Rome the most, but I wouldn’t want to go there alone. I always prefer to travel with someone (preferably John), but if I had to explore a place alone, I’d likely pick NYC. (K: I love NYC and could wander the streets for hours and never get bored)


I will give you $10,000 but you have to spend it on travel to somewhere you have never been before. Tell me where you would go and what you would do. 


Either the Amalfi Coast - it just looks so beautiful - or Scotland. I know the latter is an odd choice, but I’ve always wanted to go for some reason; maybe because my family roots are strongly tied to that region? I also really want to go back to Iceland, but technically I've already been there...albeit just on an extended layover. (K: I have Iceland on my short list and can verify that you would love Scotland!) 


What is your opinion on traveling abroad with children? Is there an age that is too young? Are there certain places you would go or any you would steer clear of?


Elisabeth and fam in New York

How do I put this delicately? If I had the choice, I would always travel without kids at this point. John and I have done: Sydney, Australia (not to be confused with Sydney, Nova Scotia), the Dominican Republic, Paris, and Rome solo while my parents watched the kids. It didn’t feel like we could ask my aging parents to keep managing that responsibility, hence taking the kids to Barcelona. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I would rather be going just with John.


All that said, we did take our daughter to Denmark when she was a toddler. We have some great memories but it was also pretty miserable since her sleeping and eating was thrown completely out of whack. I’m a bit nervous about Barcelona and definitely would prefer to only travel with my kids (internationally at least) once they’re both teens.


Baby A in Denmark

Other people have very different feelings about traveling with kids. 


On the other hand, we have done a LOT of road trips with our kids and keep them very engaged with local adventuring. I never went outside the country before I was 12, so the things our kids have experienced already in life far outpaces my own. (K: they may not know it now, but these travels will shape them so much, and in so many good ways!) 


Tell us about something weird or scary that happened to you while traveling.


Hmmm. I’m drawing a blank here…I guess I could mention the time we booked the wrong dates for accommodations on the Cabot Trail. Once we realized our mistake, there was literally only one place left we could find an availability. There was a reason it was still available. The door to our motel room was wide open to the outside when we arrived, there were dead bugs all over the floor, and in the morning I realized my feet were getting wet. Turns out a pipe broke flooding our entire room! When John went to tell them at the check-in desk about what had happened, they didn’t seem the least bit surprised. We did not stay for the included breakfast but our daughter loves to retell this story so it has a happyish ending since it provided a lasting family memory. (K: Yikes! I once had a room in India with a poo-scented shower and dead mosquito guts on the walls and it was a horrible night of sleep, but I guess the worst experiences make for the best stories sometimes!) 


One state I have never been to is South Carolina and I know your sister lives there! If I went there for the weekend, what would you suggest I do? 


Charleston is lovely; walking across the Ravenel Bridge, strolling through the battery and looking at all the cool architecture makes for a great active adventure. The beach at Sullivan’s Island is lovely on a sunny day.


In Columbia - where she lives - the Riverbanks Zoo is wonderful if you have kids in tow. I’m not a zoo person, but this is my favourite of any I’ve visited. I also really love their new riverwalk; it snakes along a river and the whole (long!) path is lined with tall black lamp posts. It looks like something out of Narnia. 

Columbia River Walk

I’d also highly recommend befriending my sister and having her family take you out on Lake Murray for some tubing, a delicious picnic, before rounding out the evening by watching the sun set over the water. (K: Sign me up! I love new friends and tubing and picnic sounds great!)

Tell us about your travel planning process. Do you and your husband share tasks or does one of you do more planning? How far in advance do you plan? Do you stay in AirBnBs or hotels or BnBs, etc.!!? 


John books the flights and hotels. He consults me for the broad things - dates, general locations - but does all the rest of this process. We generally stay in hotels. He gets points by staying at many chains, and we make use of the bar fridges to store snack/breakfast items. We generally book plane tickets 4-5 months in advance, book accommodations 2-3 months in advance, and I start planning 2 months before we head out.


generally handle most of the itinerary. First I pull together a (very) rough draft of places from my initial research. Then I like to use search strings like “Best Free Things to Do in X” and “Hidden Gems in X.” I’ll read a dozen “Hidden Gems” articles, see what overlaps between them, and write down places I think would be especially interesting for us. Then I research each spot and pin them to a Google map if they seem to warrant a visit. 


Once the map is complete, I look for patterns and try to group our activities within a set radius each day (for example, for our Toronto/NYC family road trip in 2022, we spent our first full day in New York in midtown, the second day in Lower Manhattan/Brooklyn, and the final day in uptown). (K: I love using Google map pins! I did this with the Alaska trip and it made things so much easier!) 


What is your perfect day when you are "on the road"? 


Waking up refreshed, but early so we get to our first stop early to avoid lines. (The weather would be perfect of course; not too hot, not too cold.) We’d grab a coffee along the way, and maybe a local pastry or breakfast smoothie. After touring the first place, we’d meander for several hours, looking at local architecture or visiting some of those “hidden gems” I've discovered in my research. John would take lots of incredible photos. We’d enjoy a leisurely lunch and then head to another “main stop” before strolling around until we see a little market or store where we’d pick up supplies for a simple picnic enjoyed in front of a famous monument or square where we’d watch the sun go down and enjoy the magical transformation of a city/town/lake at night. (K: This sounds like a great day to me!) 


Do you have any follow up questions for Elisabeth? Who is the travel planner in your household? What place(s) would you go to if you had $10,000? 

27 comments:

  1. You would be such a good host for someone visiting you! And you're such a good advocate for Nova Scotia. I honestly don't even know what I would do if someone came to visit me for a weekend - I'd probably now show off Wisconsin very well.

    No one is the travel planner in our household which is why we don't travel! LOL.

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    1. I know! Aren't her answers so thoughtful! I definitely have an "agenda" for when people come to visit, but it is fairly easy since we have a great mix of touristy vs non, city vs woods, a plethora of different foods and lots of things to do!

      I am sure your town has a walking path and a coffee shop! That is all I really need most days!

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    2. Nova Scotia really sells itself. If you were coming to New Brunswick (where my parents live/I graduated high school) I honestly have NO IDEA WHAT WE WOULD DO. It is mostly landlocked and just forests and boring stuff. Nova Scotia is like this hidden gem in the world full of rugged coastline and colourful little towns.

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  2. OMG, that baby picture is the cutest thing ever!

    It's interesting to think about what I would show a visitor here. Beyond the beach and the pool, anyway! Probably do a boat tour in the Everglades to see the gators and manatees and all the birds.

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    1. Ha! Nothing wrong with the beach and the pool, although the Everglades are definitely fun too! You could say that the first one to spot an anaconda gets a free cocktail (I heard that people let their pet snakes loose and you can sometimes find them in the Everglades now).

      PS I love manatees and really enjoyed swimming in the springs, tubing in the springs, and swimming with the manatees (for something a little different!)

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    2. It was all downhill after the beautiful baby contest - ha - but at least I have that as a claim to fame :)

      Well there are definitely NO gators or manatees handy where I live, so that sounds very exotic to me.

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  3. Elisabeth!!! How nice to see you in Kyria's house!!!

    I'm taking notes for an NS visit - mind you I don't have one on the calendar but it's got to happen in the next few years right?

    I would sink the $10,000 into my tentative plan to spend at least one night in every state and province in the next 10 years. A good portion of it might go toward train tickets.

    I agree that it's a pain to travel with kids but the memories are priceless. I think the key is to always make space for couple & solo vacations. Yes it's hard to leave the kids but they get to have their own adventures staying with other family while you're away.

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    1. Birchie! You can come to NS when I do then we can eat cornbread together! :) I love your new passion for trains. You would love my grandmother's journals; she was not a flyer and took the train several times cross country and always journaled about it, even down to how much she tipped the porter! Such adventures! I would love to have that kind of adventure too.

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    2. I think you would LOVE visiting Nova Scotia. I mean...look at the pictures?! It's just breathtaking.

      It's a mixed bag leaving the kids; it's a lot of work of prep for me, but then having the solo time with John is amazing. It feels "right" to be doing this next trip as a family and I think we'll try to have my parents keep them overnight so we can do a local getaway just the two of us at some point this winter.

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  4. How have you never been to South Carolina?? Kelley's mom lives on Lake Murray, and both of my brothers' were in Charleston for over 20 years. I grew up in Greenville.

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    1. I know, I know! It just fell by the wayside I guess!! But I now am going to befriend Elisabeth's sister and apparently Kelly's Mom and so I am definitely due for a visit!

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    2. Greenville! That's another place we visited this most recent trip. I'd prioritize Charleston (personally), but Greenville has some lovely parks and I think it's quite close to some really great hiking options. My aunt was just up to visit a few weeks ago and she has lived in Greenville for 40+ years.

      Lake Murray is huge and being in a bathing suit in MAY always gives me a thrill since there could, technically, still be hints of snow in the woods here in Canada.

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  5. Wow, the story about the doctors telling Elisabeth's mom that she shouldn't have her is CRAZY.

    I didn't realize you hadn't been to SC either! I kind of assumed you'd been to nearly all of the states by now! I traveled for the first time when I was 19 when I flew to Chicago with my siblings for my oldest brother's engagement party. I remember being very excited and just a little bit nervous. All of our travel was done by car when I was growing up and most of our vacations were at the lake. My parents owned a business and they didn't have a set up where they could just take a week off work so their only "vacations" were weekends spent at the lake. My life is so very different from theirs - I've traveled a ton and taken lots of vacations. Watching how hard they worked and how hard it was to take time off is a big reason why I've never had ANY DESIRE AT ALL to own my own business. It is nice to be an employee sometimes. :) Kyria, I know your parents had a business, too, so you can relate to my experience.

    With $10k, I would take Phil to Paris so long as my parents would agree to watch the boys. They are getting up there in age so this won't always be a possibility. Paris is also a great city to visit alone. I've only been there alone actually. I did a ton of travel on my own in my late 20s/early 30s. Phil has a mental block when it comes to Paris and thinks it's a country full of snobs so I want to show him that really is not the case. I was never treated poorly in Paris.

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    1. Tell Phil he needs to get his cabeza out of his culo and just go with you and have fun (Hi Phil!). I never understood why people get that impression of Parisians; I mean, if you have been to Manhattan I find them a lot more rude than Parisians! Anyway, sorry Phil, but I think you need to try it before you can knock it, brother! I love France and Lisa, I KNOW you love France so it would be so fun for you to show Phil (and eventually the boys) all of the things that you love about it. I enjoy it a lot, and spent quite a bit of time there alone (did I ever tell you that I lived in a guesthouse near the Place de la Resistance for about a month once?) as well as with others and I really had a great time every time! If Phil doesn't want to go, can I come with you and he can watch the kids? :)

      And yes, we are parents who owned businesses twins. I never want to have to be on call 24/7 and have all my money tied up in one thing like that. No thanks!

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    2. We had a great experience with Paris. For the record, John wasn't that fussed about going to Paris (it was top of my dream list). He ended up going for work and texted me to say: WE HAVE TO COME HERE TOGETHER and then we went and it was magical and, gah, there is a reason people go crazy over Paris.

      I will say, too, that I really did adore Rome.

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  6. I'm curious about the pregnancy scare (HOW SCARY THAT MUST HAVE BEEN!) Did the doctors do tests that said there was likely something wrong, or was it only based on the prior pregnancy? I had an uncle with Downs syndrome, and it was REALLY hard on the family. Back then they institutionalized people for it, and doing that almost killed my Grandma. UGH. I'm so glad that everything turned out OK!

    My BFF has been traveling Europe a lot lately (her son is living in Ireland)..she has been to Italy (Sardinia, where her family originates), Mallorca, Paris, London, Dublin, Cork, and Scotland (not sure where in Scotland) and she says Scotland is her favorite of all, though she has loved all of it.

    I love these thoughtful questions and answers, and I really want to go spend 3 or 4 days with Elisabeth now! I'm afraid that if someone were to come visit me, there would be a lot of time spent in the car getting from point a to point b and fighting traffic. Blah.

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    1. I am jealous of your BFF! I went to Scotland and really did love it too. Of course, for me, it helped that I had friends there (in Glasgow) so it helped with the cost and the planning! However, the countryside is beautiful and the whiskey was delicious! My friends now live in Edinburgh, which I did go to on the last trip, but it would be nice to have someone local to hang out with this time. Maybe it's time for a trip back!

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    2. I think you'd love NS, J.

      I'd have to check with my mom on the details again; I think there were some concerns from the ultrasound and maybe they did an amnio? Coupled with her age (38 which wasn't the norm back then + a medication she was on that was known to cause developmental issues).

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    3. I just can't get over how scary that must have been for your parents. A nurse misread my results for the initial Downs screening and told me my baby might have it, and I was terrified. She figured it out within a minute or two, but I almost passed out anyway. I think I would have made the same choice your parents did, but it would have been hard waiting to see. THANKFULLY you were/are healthy and it was much ado about nothing.

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  7. Ooooh! Now I'm fantasizing about having the $10,000 to spend. I would take three months off work and go on an epic road trip through the US. There are so many places I STILL haven't seen- particularly out west- and I love road trips. My daughter would not be invited on this trip- since it's a fantasy, she'd be happily occupied... elsewhere? My husband might be allowed to come along.
    Great questions for Elisabeth! I'm not sure I would want to travel anywhere if I lived in Nova Scotia- it looks so, so beautiful.

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    1. Epic road trip sounds great! I giggled that you are leaving your daughter behind though!! Haha! But your husband MIGHT be able to come. So epic solo road trip is really key!! 👍

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  8. Travelling with kids--I learned to Lower Expectations. I remember once hearing my two-year old pipe up from the backseat, "Hey! Am I going to LIVE in this carseat?" LOL

    We knew then that we had to cut way back on our expectation of how much time we could spend driving. It honestly worked out better for all of us.

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    1. We lived about five hours from our grandparents and so I remember quite a few long car rides as a kid. We used to count the number of cars going the opposite way, look for the alphabet in signs, and play "I spy" for hours in the car. I also do remember a lot of naps and fighting with my brother in the backseat... Those travel stories have their ups and downs!

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  9. I am so late to this, but so much fun to read! I love to travel and do it far too infrequently. It's wonderful to live vicariously through others. That baby photo is so adorable -- no wonder Elisabeth won a cute baby contest!

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    1. Right? Isn't that a cute photo? I would actually l like to hear the story; like how do you even find out about these kind of contests? Was it local or is she a national superstar? :)

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  10. Elisabeth! A looks just like you - I thought your baby pick was her! Incredible.
    Also, I'd love to travel with you to Scotland (and Iceland) - pretty please, and can we have you and John do the planning? You're so good at it :)

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    1. That sounds like the perfect blogger meetup! Iceland retreat!

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