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Canoes, Kayaks and Snowshoes – It’s the Getting There

Next week I embark on my annual canoe trip with a group of close friends. We typically stick close to Algonquin Park, as our cottage is located there, making it an easy jumping-off point. Plus the joy of a post-trip ice cold beer in the sun on the dock is hard to pass up. Ontario has […]

Birding is Boresome and Other Myths

Let this be an ode to the non-tactile senses. To the joy of looking and seeing, the richness of listening and hearing. To being still long enough and staying put long enough to enjoy some of the world’s subtleties. About 15 years ago, I had burrowed my way into the professional world of travel. In […]

BC Wild: The ultimate Canadian adventure brought to you by Trufflepig & Best Made Co.

We’ve once again teamed up with our friends at Best Made to stage their latest catalog shoot and test their  awesome new gear. Following on the heels of our Brazilian adventure we felt it was time to showcase our own backyard – British Columbia’s backcountry. The Setting The British Columbia backcountry is a relatively bland way to […]

‘Twas The Week Before Christmas

And the choice wasn’t hard. Late nights in the office finishing reports and getting ready for the arrival of the in-laws while buying mediocre last minute gifts on Amazon. Or bursting through chest-deep powder high up in the Canadian Rockies enjoying the year’s best snow and conditions with the world’s best guide. Yes the week […]

Foodies Fogo

Gastronomes rejoice!  The ultimate long weekend getaway is alive and well, and clinging to a rock in Newfoundland. My wife and I were fortunate to spend a recent long weekend out at Fogo Island Inn, on remote Fogo Island, out in the Atlantic just off Newfoundland, and (as their website puts it) ‘just over halfway […]

Secret Supper

Years ago, my wife and I were coaxed into trying our first supper club. We were told it was well worth the money, and to show up at an old loft building at a certain time to get in. Bring wine. Italian wine. If you bring anything other, you will be ridiculed. Well then. We […]

We Need a Farm Manager

Trufflepig’s headquarters are in Toronto, where our office is known as the Farm. We’re looking for an experienced and capable office manager with a level head and the multi-tasking capacity of an octopus to help keep us ship-shape. To herd us into effectiveness. And to stop us mixing our metaphors. This person will look after […]

Flavours of Montreal

I like to eat. Nothing is too weird, too sickening, or too belly busting for me. I’ve eaten a sheep’s face in Africa, bugs in Thailand, and brain in Toronto. I’ve even had whiskey with a dead cobra in it. When I travel, my favorite thing to do is try all the local food. Even […]

Make Like a Tree and Leave

Sometimes—you might even say often—we travel to escape. When routines become audible like the meshing of gears, we feel the compulsion to lose ourselves, to shed skin. Some places encourage fantasies of time travel—where we imagine ourselves living as adults in a different age. Take the ancient Medina of Fez for example, or the caves […]

A Dozen to Dream About

Every November, for the past years, we’ve attended a remarkable travel show in Marrakech—PURE Life Experiences. It’s where we go to take the pulse of the travel industry (oh no, did I just use that word?), meet with some of the hotels and people we work with, and sniff around for new and noteworthy places. […]

Yes Way, Weiwei

I’ve never been to China. But yesterday I went to see an art show at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) in Toronto, featuring the phenomenal work of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (pronounced ‘I Way Way’). Even though I know there’s nothing like seeing a country in person, I kind of feel like this show […]

On My Plate: PEI

There are lots of good reasons to visit Prince Edward Island off Canada’s eastern coast. Red sand beaches, scenic golf courses, Anne of Green Gables re-enactments. But the best reason to go is to eat your weight in seafood. Where: Carr’s Oyster Bar & Restaurant in the hamlet of Stanley Bridge, PEI What: Malpeque oysters […]

A Pig by Every Other Name

I have two tiny kids, so my travel these days isn’t always far-flung and exotic. Think Chinatown, as opposed to say, China. But I still get ye olde travel itch on a regular basis and am always looking for little ways to scratch it. With the kids in tow, of course. This past weekend was […]

Four Seasons Whistler

When it comes to the big mountains, the coveted hotels tend to be slope-side. But in Whistler, being right in the heart of the action may not be your best bet. In fact, Whistler’s best spot to stay is located ‘off-piste’, at the Four Seasons Whistler. Though the Fairmont is right on Blackcomb mountain, and the […]

Herding for City Slickers

North of Toronto’s urban sprawl lies a secret universe of undulating hills and dense forest, not to mention the best horseback riding in all of Ontario. Rawhide Adventures operates out of Peace Valley Ranch in the Mulmur Hills, where the cattle are grass finished and the resulting beef is amazing (order a grilling box before the summer is […]