As state-at-home orders and lockdowns are being lifted across Canada, more and more people are increasingly looking forward to escape their domiciles and finally go out. Health experts also agreed that spending time outdoors during the pandemic is even safer than staying inside, assuming, of course, that proper social distancing is maintained. Turns out, nature is a great healing power, so exposure to outdoors will help you improve your physical and mental health. But don't get too excited, at least not yet, as travelling in Canada is largely limited to a province of your residence. But who said that exploring your own backyard is a bad idea? Especially, if your backyard is a beautiful wilderness within the city limits. 

April 15 marks the first anniversary of the fire that devastated Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the greatest landmarks of the Western civilization. The Cathedral was accidentally set ablaze likely by a short circuit due to an ongoing renovation and miraculously remained intact besides losing a spire and a wooden roof. Throughout its 850-year-old history, Notre-Dame de Paris survived a number of swirling events including the French Revolution, the World War I and World War II, as well as plague, smallpox, cholera, flu and other fatal diseases that ravaged France and the rest of Europe. The current COVID-19 pandemic has temporary put breaks on the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris which is quite symbolic as it exemplifies hardship and resilience of the French people. I was very fortunate to visit Notre-Dame de Paris in 2017 and was stunned by its grandeur and beauty, and today I'd like to share some of those memories with you.

I don't know about you, but I first learnt about Switzerland from a TV commercial featuring Milka Chocolate and lush green Swiss alps valleys with perfectly groomed cows wearing sonorous bells. To my deepest disappointment, Milka Chocolate, though originally made in Switzerland, has been produced in Germany for the past 100 years. On a bright side, these Swiss valleys with perfectly groomed cows do exist, and I was fortunate enough to locate a few of them in Appenzell, a little village that sits next to the Swiss border with Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. 

It's already become a good tradition to post my favourite pictures of the passing year on my blog's anniversary day. Looking back, 2019 was another busy year with abundant work-related travel, however, I managed to squeeze in two fantastic road trips as well as a five-day long journey of a lifetime to a place that most people would pass by due to its rigid climate and high cost of travel - Canadian arctic territory of Nunavut. Most of the pictures you'll see today are from these three trips. In an increasingly busy world, I know how difficult it can be to carve out time to read blog articles, especially long ones like mine, so I'm very thankful to you, my readers, for following, liking, and commenting on my posts as well as sharing them with your friends and families. This surely keeps me motivated to continue creating content which you find relevant, engaging, inspirational, and thought-provoking. Happy New Year and wishing you and your families all the best in 2020!

Northern New Mexico makes a perfect place for sci-fi movies: frequent UFO sightings, a former secret federal research facility that developed the nuclear weapons, extinct volcano caldera that still seeps through cracks in a form of fumaroles and hot springs. But there is something else, completely different, hidden in the ponderosa pine forest just outside of Los Alamos: a ghost village of the ancient and now bygone Pueblo culture called Bandelier National Monument.

Congratulations! The moment you decided to visit the Walt Disney World in Florida, you have committed to one of the most terrific and memorable experiences in your life. But how do you get the most of it without sacrificing your sleep and well-being, tormenting your kids or emptying your bank account? This article is the result of my consuming of the two books and testing out all those 9 tips recently with my family. Take it with a grain of salt, of course, because everyone's situation and priorities are different, and invest some more time in prepping yourself either through reading the guide books or surfing the Internet.

Contrary to popular belief, Québec does not only bring an old European city to mind, but rather has its own distinct French-Canadian flavour unlike anything you can find in Europe. Québec looks and feels fabulous in many ways. I know quite a few people who aren't big fans of Montreal, but not a single person who wouldn't fall in love with Québec after visiting it. Even in the middle of winter, when it's freezing cold outside and there is a real chance of getting frostbite, Québec somehow manages to attract busy crowds for its world famous winter carnival. Mesdames et messieurs, make the acquaintance of Québec, one of my favourite places in Canada!