ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Researching the adventures, experiencing them, and surviving to write this book would not have been possible without the support, help, participation, enthusiasm, and vision of many people and organizations across Canada. With URLs provided after each item, I encourage you to find out more about these one-of-a-kind destinations, characters, and activities. Behind the scenes, I’d like to thank, in no particular order:

BRITISH COLUMBIA: Destination British Columbia, Janice Greenwood-Fraser, Andrea Visscher, Lana Kingston, Susan Hubbard, Liz Sperandeo, Teresa Davis, Josie Heisig, Luba Plotnikoff, Geoff Moore (#thanks), Heidi Korven, Cindy Burr, Mika Ryan, Nancie Hall, B.C. Ferries, Howard Grieve, Morgan Sommerville, Holly Wood, Robin Baycroft, Dee Raffo, Sarah Pearson, Jeremy Roche, CMH guides Rob, Mikey and Bob, heli-ski buddies (Natman, David, Dave, Mike, Jimm, and Larita), Greg McCracken. The WCT crew: Kyle, Jarrod, Robbie, Andrew, Chris, and James. Amber Sessions, Jorden Hutchison, Sonu Purhar, Tourism Vancouver. Also Randy Burke, David Suzuki, Feet Banks, Monica Dickinson, Jeff Topham, Eagle Rider Kamloops, James Nixon, Masa Takei, Michael Hannan, Rusty Noble, Juliette Recompsat, Jeff and Dianne Pennock, Teneille McGill, Sam Olstead, Graham Bell, Holly Lenk, Katie Dabbs, Lee Newman, T.J. Watt, and Bhaskar Krishnamurthy.

ALBERTA: Travel Alberta, Jessica Harcombe-Fleming, Anastasia Martin-Stilwell, Amy Wolski, Hala Dehais, Vanessa Gagnon, Charlie Locke, Tricia Woikin, Mary Morrison, Tessa Mackay, Doug Lentz, ski instructors John Jo and Kaz, Go RVing, Neil English and Isabel, Nancy Dery, Bin Lau, Ralph Sliger, and Ian Mackenzie.

SASKATCHEWAN: Tourism Saskatchewan, Jonathan Potts, Shane Owen, Jodi Holliday, Carla Bechard, Jenn Smith Nelson, Corporal Dan Toppings, the RCMP, Tyrone Tootoosis, Gord Vaaderland, Aviva Zack, Alexandra Stang, Tourism Saskatoon, Tourism Regina, Gary Kalmek, and Parks Canada.

MANITOBA: Travel Manitoba, Cathy Senecal, Julia Adams, Jillian Reckseidler, Linda Whitfield, Gillian Chester, Tourism Winnipeg, Tricia Schers, Lynda Gunter, Neil Mumby, Maureen Fitzhenry, Shel Zolkewich, Parks Canada, and Robert and Kristen Baron.

ONTARIO: Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership, Jantine Van Kregten, Kattrin Sieber, Vanessa Somarriba, Ann Swerdfager, Melanie Wade, Melanie Coates, Michael Braham, Henriette Riegel, Irene Knight, Sue Mallabon, Niagara Parks, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Paul Pepe, Ian McMillan, Cathy Presenger, Larry Lage, Steve Kristjanson, Helen Lovekin, John Langford, and Matt Rothwell.

QUEBEC: Tourisme Québec, Gillian Hall, Patrick Lemaire, Paule Bergeron, Magalie Boutin, Catherine Binette, Pierre Bessette, Gilbert Rozon, Lola Burke, Lucas Aykroyd, Suzie Loiselle, Nancy Donnelly, the Adventure Travel Trade Association, and everyone who joined me for Winter Carnaval and on the via ferrata.

NEW BRUNSWICK: Tourism New Brunswick, Alison Aiton, Margaret MacKenzie, Heather MacDonald-Bosse, Lynn Meehan, Joan Meade, Kurt Gumushel, Jocelyn Chen, and the kind officer who pulled us over at 166 km/h and didn’t ruin our day.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Tourism Prince Edward Island, George Larter, Joe Kalmek, Keri May, Nathalie Gaultier, Keri May, Caroline Mongrain, Ryan and Stacey Evans, Pat Deighan, Brenda Gallant, Isabel McDouggal, Robert Ferguson, Eza Paventi, and Pamela Beck.

NOVA SCOTIA: Nova Scotia Tourism Agency, Destination Cape Breton, Pam Wambeck, Randy Brooks, Gregory Gallagher, Angelo Spinazzola, Gregory Gallagher, Wolfgang Greiner, Ludovic Bischoff, Parks Canada, and Monica MacNeil.

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, Destination Labrador, Gillian Marx, Keith Small, Randy Letto, Jon Rothbart, Laura Walbourne, Janice Goudie, Ford Canada, Sarah Sullivan, Monica MacNeil, Nunatsiavut Group of Companies, Tour Labrador, Peter Bull, the Anchor Inn, Munju Ravindra, and that moose for not killing me.

YUKON: Travel Yukon, the one-of-a-kind Jim Kemshead, Denny Kobayashi, Peter Mather, Marten Berkman, Frank Turner, Terry and Cyara Dodge, Parks Canada, Helena Katz, Guy Theriault, and Peter Maher.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: Northwest Territories Tourism, Julie Warnock, Kylik Kisoun-Taylor, Barb Cote, Eva Holland, Tundra North Adventures, Carlos Gonzalez, Ash Mohandas, and Parks Canada.

NUNAVUT: One Ocean Expeditions, Aaron and Cathy Lawton, Elyse Mailhot, Jeff Topham, the staff, crew, and passengers of the Akademik Sergey Vavilov, Ryan Bray, Sara Acher, Richard Weber, Tessum Weber, Nansen Weber, Josée Auclair, and everyone at Arctic Watch, Ruslan Margolin, Prisca Campbell, Graham Dickson, Nunavut Tourism, Parks Canada, Leslie Qammaniq, Tamara Tarasoff, and Paul Scriver, who gave me the shirt off his back.

Thanks to everyone who has attended one of my speaking events and/or and registered on canadianbucketlist.com!

SPECIAL THANKS: Jaclyn Hodsdon, Margaret Bryant, Kirk Howard, Carrie Gleason, Karen McMullin, my patient editor Allison Hirst, Synora van Drine, Cheryl Hawley, Catherine Dorton, Courtney Horner, Laura Boyle, and all at Dundurn Press. Hilary McMahon and all at Westwood Creative Artists. Cathy Hirst, Jackie Miller, Mark Mizzoni and all at the Lavin Agency. Gloria Loree, Deidre Campbell, Helen de Faye and all at Destination Canada. Matt Drennan-Scace, Lauren More, Michelle Lee-Gracey, Josh Norton, and whoever figured out how to make a Ford Escape survive the Trans-Labrador Highway.

Thanks to Ann Campbell, Randall Shirley, Linda Bates, the late Ron Barker, Ian Mackenzie, Ken Hegan, the Travel Media Association of Canada, the Vancouver and Burnaby public libraries, Heather Taylor, Katherine Beatty, and all at Keen Footwear. Nathalie Gauthier, Kerri May, Caroline Mongrain, and all at Great Canadian Trails. Chris Lee, Minty Thompson, Kimberley Morton, Elyse Mailhot, Karen Margolese, Jon Rothbart, Jarrod Levitan, Marc Telio, Sherill Sirrs, Patrick Crean, and everyone else who helped me shape an unlikely career over the past decade. My thanks to David Rock for his invaluable help with producing our bucket list videos and website. My thanks to Mary Rostad for the wonderful maps.

Several stories were researched while filming the TV series Word Travels, which taught me how to travel hard, write hard, and chase a good story. A big shout-out to Heather Hawthorne-Doyle, Julia Dimon, Leah Kimura, Caroline Manuel, Sean Cable, Deb Wainwright, Mike Bodnarchuk, Mary Frymire, Peter Steel, Zach Williams, Ian Mackenzie, Paul Vance all at Omni Film, and the visionary Patrice Baillargeon.

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING, WITHOUT WHOM THERE WOULD BE NO COMPANION WEBSITE OR SPEAKING TOURS: Ford Canada, Destination Canada, Parks Canada, Travel Manitoba, Tourism Saskatchewan, Tourism New Brunswick, Great Canadian Trails, Spectacular NWT, and KEEN Footwear.

My family has supported me since the beginning of my travel writing career, holding me up when I was sworn in as a Canadian citizen, battered and bruised from my accident the previous day. They provided the much-needed encouragement and space to prove I could make a living travelling the world. With love to Bradley, Staci, Gary, Abby, Erin, Bobba, Cecile, Alex, and Ian. My late grandfather once told me that he’d always wanted to see the world, but by the time he could afford to, he was too old. I got the message, Abie Esrock.

Finally, deep gratitude for my parents and part-time roadies, Joe and Cheryl Kalmek (without whom there would be no Robin Esrock), my ever-supportive wife, Ana Carolina, and my inspiring children, Raquel and Galileo. Daddy’s coming home.