REVELSTOKE, B.C. - Snow in my mouth, flakes up my nostrils, crystals plastered to my goggles … I must have missed the snorkel advisory on the equipment list.

QUEBEC CITY - We have transformed into dwarfs with pointy green hats. Suddenly, I feel shorter and wonder if I will grow a long white beard.

WATROUS, SASK. - The last time my mother and I went to Manitou Springs Hotel & Mineral Spa, she floated away. Literally. The water at this European-style spa on the shores of Little Lake Manitou is so buoyant it can be a challenge to stay on the benches lining the pool, and as we soaked, I occasionally had to grab her leg and haul her back.

QUEBEC CITY - The red-and-white icing covering the biggest birthday cake I’ve ever seen is making my mouth water in anticipation. I want to swish my finger across the top to taste the sugary sweetness, but I don’t dare.

VANCOUVER - Doing the Grouse Grind, a 2.8-kilometre climb up Grouse Mountain, is like a rite of passage. It says you’re tough enough to tackle one of the most challenging fitness feats in a city that lives and breathes fitness.

WHITEHORSE, YUKON – It’s just past midnight and the temperature is around minus 50C. Frost covers my eyelashes, my fingers and feet are numb and I’m shivering uncontrollably.

ST. ANDREWS BY THE SEA, N.B. - Calling the Kingsbrae Arms a hotel is a bit of an understatement, maybe even an insult to the two charming individuals - David Oxford and Harry Chancey Jr. - who have worked so hard to create a home away from home for weary travellers.

ST. JOHN'S, NL - The phone call from our friends and frequent travel companions Dave and Mary Apps from B.C. held promise of a grand new adventure.

IQALUIT, NUNAVUT – Nowhere in the world is quite like Canada’s High Arctic.

TORONTO – I reach the top of the hill on the crooked street and Casa Loma’s regal turrets come into full view.