Discovering Canada By Train with VIA Rail

Posted on July 17, 2012  •  2 minutes  • 314 words

Up until now, most of my travels across Canada have been done by campervan, car, bus, and countless long and boring flights. While I’ve been fortunate to see some of the most incredible sights that this massive nation has to offer, it always felt like I was missing something, like the journeys I had taken weren’t officially complete. Like “I Backpack Canada” had somehow become “I Backpack Parts Of Canada”. It was an unnerving thought.

Then after a visit home to Saskatchewan I became infatuated with the train tracks that ran across this country and their part in making this country what it is today. Without rails settlers wouldn’t have been able to make it west. Towns wouldn’t have prospered and turned into cities. The railway lines literally helped carve the face of this country. Then it hit me like a punch in the side of the head – “I must ride these iron rails with VIA Rail from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Vancouver, British Columbia. A true coast to coast journey stopping at several major city centers to explore the country at a slower pace to better take in the sights & sounds. A summer journey filled with writing, photography, and video. The Summer of VIA Rail ” On July 4th I began my travels with VIA Rail and will be documenting my journey over the coming months. First leg – Halifax, Nova Scotia to Charny Quebec then a quick shuttle to Quebec City. Be sure to stay tuned and follow along on Twitter with #ViaRail ! I’ll be posting as fast as possible; however, there’ll no doubt be some lag time due to the amount of photos and content I need to create. I’ll fill these moments of silence with a few posts in my back catalogue. Keep an eye out for some video as well, now let the ~7000km+ journey begin!