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Genevieve

Most memorable travel experience: My favorite aspect of travel is exploring off the beaten track, so my most memorable experiences have come from that kind of unexpected discovery. A recent experience saw me wandering the back streets of Havana, Cuba, where I came across a shrine and old voodoo beads. Those are the moments that stick out for me, more so than any sight I read about in a guidebook.

Most amusing travel disaster: A motorbike tour with my dad when I was 16. We were going through the Rockies, and had planned to spend the night in Lake Louise, but didn’t book our accommodation ahead of time. Turns out there was a conference going on in the area, and everything was completely booked up! We ended up having to keep on driving. A freak snow storm hit us (in August!) but we kept on going until we hit Red Deer. It was an annoyance, but made for great stories to share for years to come.

Most unique/weird travel experience: A camping trip to the middle of nowhere BC. It was beautiful, remote, and wild… as evidenced by the wolves coming out to investigate. It was an incredible feeling to be in tune with nature.

Dream travel destination: There are so many. I’d love to see Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during Carnival, or visit the Great Wall of China. I’m also very excited about a trip I have coming up next winter visiting the unique Ice Hotel in Québec.

Josh

Most memorable travel experience: Conch diving in the Cayman Islands. It was a completely unusual experience diving 20 feet underwater and being able to hold up to 6 shells, bizarre and beautiful. I love when travel leads to opportunities you would never have anticipated from home… Conch diving hadn’t been on my “must do” list, though now I know it should have been!

Most amusing travel disaster: Although not amusing at the time, when an old dilapidated R.V. I was trucking around Western Canada in broke down in between Clearwater and McBride, I had to laugh. Clearwater and McBride are not hot spots on any map, so I knew it might be a wait. Books, inane conversations, and plenty of junk food got me through the 4 hour wait before a car showed up that I could ask for help!

Most unique/weird travel experience: Staying at a hippie bed and breakfast on the Southern tip of Hawaii. This was before the environmentally-friendly/sustainable market really took off so its existence was still unusual. There was an organic food store next to the tent staking site, a private slide guitar show after dinner, and a personal invite to go cliff diving – all of which I took full advantage of! As they say, when in Rome…

Davis

Most memorable travel experience: Spending a month in Punta Banco, Costa Rica. I was staying with a local family and volunteering with Ridley turtle conservation programs. I got the chance to improve my Spanish, make a difference, and spend days surfing!

Most unique/weird travel experience: In France, I went to the 60th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy ceremony at Juno Beach. The Queen and all sorts of other high officials were present, and it was an incredible moment. More incredible was leaving the ceremony and overhearing a Brit speaking into his cell phone about the logistics of the Queen’s visit. We got to talking, and it turns out that this man was working as a liaison to the Queen. Not only that, but he was continuing on to attend the ceremony of the burial of the heart of Louis XVI’s son (it had just been identified) as he was somehow a descendent, and he invited me! I went to this bizarre political burial ceremony in my dirty travel-worn clothes and a borrowed suit jacket, sitting next to counts and other officials.

Dream travel destination: I like travel that puts you out of your comfort zone so I’d start with more travel in Central and South America.

Katherine

Most memorable travel experience: Going caving in France as a kid and seeing cave paintings. I’d seen them in books in school, but nothing could have prepared me for the sense of awe I felt being in their presence. That’s what travel is about – the realization, be it sudden or progressive, that we’re all connected to a history and a humanity greater than ourselves. I consider that trip and that experience a direct cause of my later choice of Anthropology as a University major!

Most amusing travel disaster: While camping on Fraser Island in Australia, our flimsy tent was torn in two by a brief storm. We’d thought ourselves so intrepid and well-prepared, but sometimes nothing can compare with Mother Nature! We ended up having to sleep rolled up in the tent, it was definitely an adventure.

Most unique/weird travel experience: Traveling around the UK, I stopped to explore the beautiful Bath Abbey and the interesting ruins it houses. We met the church rector, who gave us insight into the church’s history. Most particular was that even though this wise man and I had never met, he was able to pinpoint the name of the town I had been born in! He must have had some kind of connection with someone up there.

Dream travel destination: India. I’ve always been fascinated by India – the culture, the vibrancy, the history, and the people. The incredible sights, food, and sunsets don’t hurt much either.

Robin P

Most memorable travel experience: Working in indigenous schools in Guatemala, teaching students who otherwise would have had no opportunity to go to school. I was required to teach entirely in Spanish, a language in which I was not yet fluent, and it was extremely difficult at first. A powerful motivator was seeing the kids improve in such a short time. The other teachers and I were welcomed by the community and invited into their homes. I really felt like I made a difference.

Most amusing travel disaster: Deciding to “see it all” in a whirlwind tour of Greece and Italy. We visited beautiful areas but the speed was such I kept feeling like I was forgetting where I was and what I was looking at! I definitely learned to take trips at a more relaxed pace, dedicating leisure time in each area.

Most unique/weird travel experience: There have been a few, but taking a dune buggy and sand boarding trip through the driest desert in the world (just outside Ica, Peru) is one that stands out. We went flying over the sand dunes before cruising down steep, sandy hills. The sun was blazing and the landscape extreme, it was quite unique.

Dream travel destination: I would love to go to Africa, specifically Tanzania, in order to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and see the big five.

Louise

Your most memorable travel experience: Traveling New Zealand was definitely memorable! I skydived at Lake Taupo and bungee jumped from the original AJ Hackett Bridge in Queenstown. The best part of all was having some friends of my parents take the time off work and show us around the south island for the local experience.

Your most amusing travel disaster: Arriving in Glasgow and discovering our budget hostel wasn’t quite what we’d envisioned. Not only was it nowhere near the centre (as it was advertised), but it wasn’t very clean either. A staff member gave us the grand tour, including passing through the very dirty dining room where he picked a pillow case up off the floor, en route to our room. After seeing us to our room, he promptly made up my traveling companion’s bed with the dirty pillow case he’d picked up off the floor! The night was only improved by the return of the other roommates, very drunk muscled men, one of whom mistakenly climbed into my bed. The next day we left and got on a ferry to Ireland.

Most unique/weird travel experience: Seeing the polar bears up close in Churchill, Manitoba. The landscape was so surreal with endless snow and ice so different than the West Coast where I live. And the bears themselves were incredible – I couldn’t have expected them to be so big and intimidating and strangely beautiful. With global warming threatening the habitat and the continued existence of the bears it was especially great to be able to see them in action.

Dream travel destination: Changes all the time! If I won the lottery I would do a complete round the world trip for a full year. I would travel in relaxation, no more carrying large backpacks or sleeping in hostels with 20 people in the same room! Somewhat more realistically, my boyfriend and I want to rent an RV and travel right across Canada to the Maritimes.

Jennifer

Most memorable travel experience: Edinburgh at Christmas. It was such a festive atmosphere – there were lights in all the trees, lots of decorations, and a fair in Princess Street Gardens with a huge ferris wheel. There were so many friendly people and so much to do it was impossible to feel homesick, regardless of where home was.

Most amusing travel disaster: A rough encounter between our cheap rental car and a wayward tree stump in Quebec. We backed out of a camping spot and somehow drove over the stump. With the cheapest car and no extra insurance, that accident ended up costing more than the rental!

Most unique/weird travel experience: Ghost tours in London. We were led down underground London and through these dark and creepy tunnels to pagan altars. Tales of Jack the Ripper and ghost stories made it even more of a creepy thrill.

Dream travel destination: Belize... I’m going on a cycling trip there in September! It’s so beautiful, so natural, and so tranquil, I can’t wait.

Kelly

Most memorable travel experience: Surfing Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. The beach itself is stunning, with the huge monoliths and a sky that is reflected in the sand and the waves, but that day the weather made it particularly incredible. It was raining, but still warm out, and the beach was practically all ours. The sun broke through as we were finishing up our lesson, and we got to ride the waves in a suddenly sunny day.

Most amusing travel disaster: Camping with friends over May long weekend near Kamloops. The weather turned and became a mess of snow, hail, and gale force winds, so we all squeezed into one tent together and laughed and talked it out. I doubt I could have had much more fun in balmy weather with constant skies.

Dream travel destination: I would love to go to Australia. I want to surf the beaches, cruise along the stretches of open road through the Outback or down the Coast, take in the different sights like the Opera House and Ayers Rock, and drink a pint with my new mates.

Jeremy

Most memorable travel experience: Working in a leprosy village in Tanzania. I had just left school and it was the first trip I’d really taken by myself, what a huge culture shock.

Most amusing travel disaster: Discovering similarities in an Orangutan Sanctuary in Sumatra. At one point it started raining and one monkey picked up a large umbrella shaped leave and put it on his head to stay dry.

Most unique/weird travel experience: Seeing a religious procession in Penang. A stream of devotees with hooks and knives through their cheeks and skins were walking down the street demonstrating their religious devotion through self mutilation – not exactly common practice in the West.

Dream travel destination: Heli-skiing in the Rockies. The scenery is great and the resorts are well-established, but what would be really incredible is the powder. You can’t get skiing like that anywhere else in the world.

Robin R

Most memorable travel experience: I have so many, it’s hard to choose one. I will always remember wandering out a slyly revealed sand-spit to a previously unattainable island in Tofino, or discovering myself alone with the ruins, ocean, and memories of Delos, a desolate and empty Greek island once home to 30,000 people. But then again I consider watching the sun set over an inner city lake in Phnom Penh, surrounded by four generations of the guesthouse family, to be among my most cherished memories ever. I find travel experiences especially memorable when they’re unexpected.

Most amusing travel disaster: Deciding to go for the "local" experience by cramming myself into a local bus in Cambodia. The bus turned out to be a mini van stuffed with 20 other people!

Most unique/weird travel experience: Being so immersed in the history and sights of the Taj Mahal that I didn’t realize my friends and I had become the tourist attraction – there was a school group and at least a dozen other people clamoring around to take our picture! It was funny and uncomfortable, but definitely made me more aware of where I point my camera.

Dream travel destination: I would love to trek to Macchu Picchu, cycle through the Maritimes, dive in the Red Sea, browse Turkish fairs, and witness the Masai Mara in Kenya from a hot air balloon. There are very few places in the world I don’t dream to see!

John

Most memorable travel experience: There’s so many, but one that stands out is crossing a rope bridge in the mountains of northern Vietnam and meeting a Hmong tribeswoman in traditional costume coming the other way. The bridge rocked scarily and she looked a little worried as I am 6ft 3 inches and she was all of 4ft 6inches. But somehow we greeted each other as fellow travelers and she beckoned me to visit her home, which turned out to be a thatched hut with a dirt floor. She didn’t speak a word of English but we sat on stools in companionable silence, smiling at each other and laughing at the antics of her baby crawling at her feet.

Next most memorable – having a humpback whale leap out of the water 30 feet from my kayak on the west coast of Canada - then come straight for me like a submarine, only to submerge and go under my kayak at the last second.

Most amusing travel disaster: My first stop upon leaving England for Asia, was Sri Lanka - and I got so sick my friend had to leave me outside a train station because I couldn’t walk and he needed to get us a taxi. While he was away, I lay there moaning and puking, but at one point I looked up and realized I was sitting in a long-line of poor, miserable and mostly handicapped, beggars – and I had only been out of England 24 hours!

Dream travel destination: There are many places in Canada I still want to see – the Prairies, Prince Edward Island and the High Arctic amongst them. Also I long to go back to Nepal, where I have had many happy adventures. Also Bhutan one day…

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