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2023 Travel Round Up!

2023 was a year of exploring my backyard of Banff National Park and travelling to other parts of Canada, visting home and an all-inclusive family holiday to Mexico!

January February March

1) Wales

The second week of January I flew home to see everyone in Wales for 1 week. I LOVE my home and make it a priority to visit home as often as possible!!

2) Alberta & British Columbia

I spent the next few months working in Banff and exploring surrounding areas on my days off as well as visiting family in Red Deer.

Highlights include: witnessing the Northern Lights(!), seeing wild coyotes, bighorn sheep, elk, deer and an owl, riding a helicopter over the Canadian Rockies, seeing the incredible frozen ice bubbles at Abraham Lake, going to British Columbia (specifically Invermere) with 12 friends for snowmobiling and staying in an epic airbnb, joining a weekly pub quiz (winning speakers and a go pro), visiting BC again to Yoho National Park, visiting the wolfdog sanctuary in Cochrane, hiking Tunnel Mountain in the snow, taking walks through Canmore, and surviving a -40 degrees Canadian Winter!

Banff Blog Posts

April

3) Montreal, Quebec

I went on a long weekend to Montreal. Next stop, Montreal!

I LOVED Montreal!! We explored the city, went to the famous Schwartz deli (part-owned by the Queen Celine Dion), went on a food tour, climbed Mt Royal, went to a comedy show and experienced this great cultured-city.

Montreal Blog Posts

May

This was such a special time for me because my mum and her partner came to visit us in Canada!! It was surreal to greet my mum as she got off the bus in Banff. I was so happy to show them around, go for drinks, have food, take them to bingo, go on cool excursions through my work and spend quality time making precious memories I’ll forever treasure.

4) Vancouver Island

While they were in Canada, we all went on a trip to Vancouver Island together, flying to Victoria and road-tripping around the south of the island.

Our route was:

  • Victoria to Sooke
  • Sooke to Nanaimo and Coombs
  • Coombs to Port Alberni
  • Port Alberni to Ucluelet and Tofino
  • Ucluelet back to Victoria

We seen ancient trees, turquoise lakes, fast rivers, petroglyphs, wildlife, the rugged Pacific ocean, had epic bbqs with fresh seafood, found hidden gems along the way and enjoyed spending the time together.

The biggest highlight was going on a Whale Watching Tour (aptly named Prince of Whales) and seeing a humpback whale and her calf. Indescribable. Canada has been like that for me with the landscape and wildlife; you have to see it with your own eyes. I’m so glad my mum came here and did just that!

Vancouver Island Blog Posts

June July

5) Alberta & British Columbia

The beginning of the month was a HOT one including beers at the river, renting a speed boat on Lake Minnewanka and swimming at Johnson Lake.

Around 15 of us went to BC for a Kicking Horse white water rafting trip which was incredible before renting a sick airbnb in Fairmont Hot Springs!

Mid-way through June the weather took a turn (rain at least helps the wildfires).

Later we rented a car for an Alberta road trip including visiting Horseshoe Canyon, Drumheller (the dinosaur capital of the world), family in Red Deer and staying in a converted Windmill in Rosebud!

The rest of the months were spent enjoying Banff National Park, neighbouring Yoho National Park, visiting the most beautiful lake in Canada (Moraine Lake), working and spending quality time with Banff friends.

August

6) Kananaskis

Coming to the end of a busy summer in Banff, we did the most fun camping trip in Kananaskis (okay it was more like glamping) which started with driving the Smith-Dorrian route (proper bumpy, gravelly but worth it because I seen my first bear)!! We did a few hikes, seen the suspension bridge and then we had a barbecue, beers and S’mores at the lodge with friends. Bliss!

The last week of August, we went home for 1 week to catch up with friends and family and I finally got my braces off – eek.

September

7) Mexico

September began in the beautiful and friendly country of Mexico with family! A week, all-inclusive, swimming to the pool bar, playing Monopoly Deal, eating everything (including a great Japanese restaurant where they cook in front of you) and a day trip to a cenote and a bucket list experience of swimming with sea turtles at Akumal Beach!! Amazing.

8) Invermere

I then returned to Banff for my second year in the incredible Canadian Rockies! My partner’s mum came out for a visit and we went on a family trip to Invermere staying a night in an Airbnb on the lake and were very lucky to see the Northern Lights with the naked eye as it danced in green across the sky. Unreal!

  • Things to Do in Invermere

9) Calgary

We ended September with 1 day in Calgary to see Nightmare on Wax DJ set with friends.

October November December

As I started a new job and moved to a new place, my travels came to an end for the year but I’ve been planning and booking some trips for 2024.

Musings

This year I have made some amazing memories, and even better friends which of course comes with really sad goodbyes, visited a good few spots in Canada, made two trips home, had great family holidays, read 52 books (favourite was Daisy Jones & The Six), still kept up with cooking new recipes, eaten the most delicious Ramen from my fave Banff spot every week, and got to live in the Canadian Rockies!

There was so many more things I wanted to do but never got round to it like hiking Cascade mountain, going to more places in Canada, writing far more about Banff on my blog and travelling to the USA. So these are all things that I’m going to make a priority in 2024.

Thanks for reading, see you next year 🙂

My Previous Wrap-ups:

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