Transfortressing Attendance

Attendance at the Fortress of Louisbourg has been up nearly 50% this summer, with well over 100,000 visitors arriving by car, motorcycle, motor home, or cruise-ship-by-way-of-coach-bus. The spike in attendance is partly due to uncommonly good weather, but mostly we can thank the federal government for its Canada 150-themed waiving of admission. As we marvelled…

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Transforming Hostels

Clink78, one of London’s many youth hostels, is a converted courthouse, once stately and severe, now sporting a hip, neon vibe. The lobby’s arched ceiling bears quotations about travel: “A tourist doesn’t know where they’ve been,” reads one condescendingly, “A traveler doesn’t know where they’re going.” Another is an attempt at quoting Dickens, and ought…

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Transforming Rocks and Hard Places

Odysseus was trying to get home; he missed his wife. To reach Ithaca, his ship was forced to navigate a perilously tight passage flanked by two sea monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. Upon the advice of Circe the enchantress, he sailed closer to Scylla, losing six of his crew but preserving his ship. Travel makes me…

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Transforming International Travel and Inspirational Coffee Shop Signage

I’m in the best coffee shop in Canada. Well—the best, according to a Buzzfeed article, and why would you ever trust a source whose name is basically a 21st century synonym for “rumourmonger”?  It’s called Third Space3 Coffee. It’s got hardwood floors and beechwood tables, along with some retro swivel chairs whose backs have been…

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