I Have A Plan

I'm planning another road trip. Wait! Note that I did not say I am going on another road trip. All I said was that I am planning one. I like that process, the process of figuring out the route, determining the best places to stay, deciding how to get somewhere that I been before by going on a road untraveled. I enjoy looking for the hotels, finding the sights along the way, learning something new about where I am going.

If I could, I would spend the rest of my life traveling, mostly by road, with intermittent stays at home, perhaps a split of 50/50. Being home is precious, no doubt. Being away is work, no doubt. Both bring different things to me, often at the same time. In the same breath I can say I love being at home at the same time as I say I want to plan another road trip.

The plan I was working on yesterday is a 21 day tour from Calgary to Quebec City, right in the middle of the leaves changing colour, from late September to mid-October. This time, instead of going the tried and true route along the Trans-Canada, I would sneak north to Saskatoon, then over the top of Manitoba to Flin Flon. The next adventure would be down Lake Winnipeg and then down south of Winnipeg, through the US, to Fort Francis. After that, various routes to Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Val d'Or, and finally the northern Ontario route back to Thunder Bay.

I love this country, love to wander its roads, rivers, and oceans. This is the most beautiful land I have ever seen, a land of inspiring mountains, reflection pool lakes, storm tossed coast lines, and vast open-skied prairies. I have seen the power and majesty of this land, of the creatures that inhabit all its corners. I have seen the small animals that cover almost every inch of Canada, from the northernmost mink and fox to the southernmost rabbit and marmot. There is no land quite so rich as ours.

This road trip is only a dream. I simply cannot afford it. The plan I have been making has a budget of $7,000 so far, with a 21 day duration. That's an average of $335 a day. Like I said, it's out of my reach. On the other hand, I get to dream that it might happen, that I might win the lottery, or some magazine might pay at least some of the cost to have me write about this adventure. Who know? If I get the call, at least I have a plan ready.