Back on the Road: September 2016 Wrap-Up

I’ve decided to try out an idea for a new series on Wandering Footsteps: the Monthly Wrap-up.  Because my stories, Instagram photos, and travel map aren’t updated simultaneously or in real time, people have expressed some confusion about the actual flow of our travels. 

And so, I conceived of the Wrap-Up Series to give people a more concrete, non-poetic description of what the previous month has been like, and therefore a better grasp of what the nomad overlander life is like! 

Here are some of the things you can expect to read about in my new Wrap-Up series:

• The number of kilometers we’ve driven
• What we’ve been up to, with links to previous posts that describe our activities this month
• A description and map of our exact route
• Any noteworthy camping spots
• A few highlights (or lowlights)
• What we expect the next month to hold for us (keeping in mind that future plans are always very changeable!)

So, without further ado, here’s our September 2016 Wrap-Up!

On September 2^nd, after being on an overlanding hiatus for five months (with the exception of Bruno’s travels from the south of France to Belgium in July) Bruno and I finally hit the road again!

For days leading up to our departure, I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off gathering my belongings scattered around my parents’ home, choosing the few essential items that would fit in Totoyaya and packing away those that hadn’t made the cut into my parents’ storage area.  One of these days I’m going to have to get rid of those belongings that are unnecessary in my nomadic lifestyle, but I never seem to have the time to sell things off online!  Thanks again, mom and dad, for storing my things another year…

New Brunswick sent Bruno and I off with a bang… of cold, rainy, windy weather!  It felt like winter in northern Spain, and I briefly wondered what two crazy people take off on a road trip through Canada in September.  Thankfully, by the time we hit the St-Lawrence River, the weather shifted back into late summer warmth.

Our Route

This month, Bruno and I drove from Grand-Barachois, New Brunswick to Toronto, Ontario.  We traveled through northern New Brunswick then along Quebec’s St-Lawrence River, visiting Quebec City and Montreal (the details of our experience from Grand-Barachois to Quebec City are in my previous post).  By the middle of the month we were in Ontario, where we continued along the St-Lawrence, spending a couple nights near the Thousand Islands National Park before reaching Toronto (more on that in my next post).

Our total number of kilometers this month was 2,264.

Notable Camping Spots

We boondocked (my new, North American term for bush camping) five times this month.  We would have done more – as I mentioned in my last post, camping in campsites has proven to be very expensive in Canada – but we spent 18 nights staying with family and friends.  Visiting loved-ones in Quebec and Ontario are actually what we did the most in September, and my next blog post will be devoted to this topic.

Out of all our boondocks, I really enjoyed two and will describe them briefly (according to our own experience), with GPS coordinates:

1. Halte Municipale, Riviere-Bleue Quebec. GPS N47 26.891 W69 02.035.  A municipal park on the side of the road with a few potential parking spots hidden by trees from the road.  Two toilets open 24/7 and one cold running water tap.  Camping either officially allowed or tolerated – the signs were a bit confusing.
2. Public beach along St-Lawrence 4km east of Kamouraska. GPS N47 35.610 W69 49.061.  Favorite beach of locals, busy on holidays and weekends in season.  Small parking lot 200m from national road directly along beach.  Camping tolerated and very popular when we were there.  No toilet or water facilities so come prepared.

Highlights of the Month

The highlight of September was definitely getting back on the road with Bruno.  Getting to drive through beautiful countryside, explore new places, and live simply and freely again was just amazing after so many months living in homes.  There was a moment, watching the sunset our first night along the St-Laurent, that the beauty of being on the road again truly set in.  I felt calm and at peace as I sat there with my beloved with the impressions of our day in a new place playing around in my mind and no responsibilities to cloud my thoughts.  Being on the road – and all that comes with it – was bar none the highlight of the month!

A close second, though, has definitely been getting to reconnect with various friends and family members around the central part of Canada and having them finally meet Bruno (but more on that in my next post!)

On the Cards Next Month

For maybe the first time in my life, I actually have no clue what the next two weeks hold for us.  I don’t want to give too much away just yet (there will definitely be a blog post devoted to this soon), but our lack of certainty about the coming weeks has to do with our efforts to find a replacement for Totoyaya.

However, I can say with more sureness than usual (we actually have flights and theater tickets booked!) what the second half of October will hold for us.  Our plans will, once again, involve a hiatus from our overlanding life… poor Bruno!

First, we will spend a few nights with my aunt Louise in New York City, as she is the only member of my immediate family who has not yet met Bruno.  She will show us “her New York,” as she likes to put it, and Bruno will revisit a city he hasn’t explored since he was a twenty-something backpacker!  I’m looking forward to seeing Louise, and revisiting New York City for the second time in three months.

Then, on October 16^th, we fly out of NYC to France to spend three weeks with Bruno’s family.  It seems as though we’ve just left France, but we don’t foresee another time until next fall that we could go, since we hope to be heading toward Alaska and the Yukon next spring and summer, so it’s now or never.

October will hold a mixture of unknown, big city exploration, family visits, and an overseas flight.  Stay tuned on the blog for stories and photos of these adventures!

I hope you enjoyed this new blog series, and that it helped give a concrete wrap-up of our current state of affairs.  If there’s any information you wish were included in this series, please do post your suggestions in the comments section below so that I can target this series to exactly what my audience is looking for.  Thanks a bunch and see you next month with another update!