Japan Act II: Tokyo

Travel and Leisure

Part II of our Japanese adventure took us to Tokyo for 5 nights. Using the Shinkansen high-speed train, the total journey was only about 4 hours, end-to-end. Tip for first time users of this service, is that you want to make sure you buy reserved seats, preferably in the Green (1st class) cars, or at least the ordinary cars. We didn't get reserved seats on our 2nd Shinkansen journey, and that was a big mistake (more on that in the next episode).

Day 7: travel to Tokyo and settle in

Anyhow, we managed to find our Airbnb without much fuss, and used the rest of Day 7 of the trip to settle in, grab a bite to eat and hit the local supermarket. Getting a little tired of the Japanese cuisine, she found an Indian restaurant a few blocks away down a neat restaurant street; the place was called Dipmahal Yotsuya, and it was great! We're normally leery of having meals that don't match the ethnicity of the countries we are visiting, but this was as good as we'd had locally, and great value to boot. Look at the size of that naan!

Day 8: Asakusa area and Shinjuku at night

We were about due for some more temple time, so we hit the big one in Tokyo: Sensō-ji. The lead-up to the actual temple grounds is pretty neat, as you follow a long shopping street for over 200 meters, called Nakamise, which has been around for several centuries. Today, it sells a combination of street food and touristy items, but it is a lively pedestrian-only area; we got there just as they were opening up the shops, but it was packed by the time we walked out. 

Admission to this temple and the grounds was free, and understandably, this was a popular tourist spot. We wandered around for a bit, and even went across the street from the Thunder Gate entrance, to the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center observation deck; it gives you a great view down the shopping street and temple area. Since we saw that there might actually be some cooler weather coming (did I mention how hot it is here?), we headed to the local Uniqlo for some shopping.

That evening, I had mapped out a brief tour of the Shinjuku area, starting with The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, for it's two free observation decks, at 202 metres above street level. Unfortunately, this was one of the only drizzly weather evenings we'd experience, so daytime views were not great. However, arriving just before dusk, we were able to take in the nighttime lights, and as a bonus, found out that they run an evening light show. projected onto the outside of the towers!

After taking in the brief light show, we walked the short distance to Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane); this network of narrow alleys and streets hosts many tiny bars and restaurants serving yakitori. If you've ever seen the original Blade Runner, this area is reminiscent of that first scene where Deckard sits down for some street food. With tourists and diners packing the area, we were lucky enough to find to available bar seats right away, and took in the experience with cold beverages and skewers barbecued right in front of us!

Day 9: teamLab light exhibit and Shibuya at night

Recommended to us by more than a few people, the teamLab Borderless is a must-see exhibition that is difficult to describe. Part art show, part immersive experience, it is described as a world of artworks without boundaries, a museum without a map. Indeed, you walked through the dark passages of the facility with art and light moving around you, and the light often interacted with your actual movements. It is necessary to book reservations, so we had set up for the earliest (9-9:30 am) slot for the day. As such, it wasn't too busy, and we spent around 90 minutes wandering the ever-changing lightscape around us.

It was a Sunday, but the shopping mall that teamLabs is attached to was open, so we did a little bit of window-shopping before taking in some of the views of the Tokyo Tower. If you think that it looks a little bit too similar to the Eiffel Tower, you'd be correct, as it was directly modelled after the iconic French version. Just as the Paris version is used for radio communications, Tokyo Tower was designed specifically for that purpose - and a tourist attraction as a secondary intent.

That evening, we had to go see the other iconic Tokyo experience - Shibuya Scramble Crossing. Located in the centre of the Shibuya district, seven streets come together in this one intersection, and when the walk lights turn green, chaos ensues! We went up to the 2nd floor of the Starbucks on one of the corners to capture this image, and it is definitely a spectacle to behold. We continued walking around the busy area, taking in the energy and sights of the brightly lit streets.

Day 10: Enoshima & Kamakura day trip

Two days is really enough for us in Tokyo, so we planned the rest of our time based there to day-trip; first was the seaside towns of Enoshima and Kamakura. Enoshima is mostly known as a touristy island that offers variety of attractions, including a shrine, park, observation tower and caves. Mount Fuji can be seen when the conditions are just right, but it was hazy enough to prohibit that view for us. We still hiked to the top, and then back down to see the caves that had been carved by the ocean, then converted to shrines. It was a tough morning of many stairs as, you guessed it, it's really hot here.

A streetcar ride took us to Kamakura, where the principal attraction is another giant Buddha; this one a little smaller than the one in Nara, but since the temple hall that housed it was destroyed in a typhoon, this one sits out in the open. There are a number of temples to see in this town, but at this point we were pretty templed-out. So we strolled the pedestrian shopping street for a bit, then caught the train back to Tokyo.

Day 11: Kawagoe (Little Edo) day trip

We used our last day in the Tokyo area to do another day trip, this time to Kawagoe, known as Little Edo because the main street is still lined with Kurazukuri (clay-walled warehouse-styled) buildings that retain an ambience reminiscent of an old town from the Edo Period (1603-1867). It's a relatively easy day trip, that is, if you can figure out where the right bus stop is that takes you to the old town.

There's other temples and Kawagoe Castle there, but we decided to pass on those, but did find the interesting Kawagoe Festival Museum. Since we were going to similar festival in Osaka, this was a great warm-up visit, and at only ¥200 to get in, a great bargain. This festival takes place in the third weekend of October, the same way it has for 370 years. Huge wooden floats are dressed up and paraded through the streets, then face each other in performance “battles” of the hayashi music played by the onboard participants.

Back in Tokyo, we had a relatively quiet night, but did discover a great restaurant, Teppan Dining SAYA. It was a little more high-end than what we had experienced so far, but we were just happy to have something close by for us to try. We discovered that we both liked the signature dish, Okonomiyaki, which is a savory Japanese pancake dish made from a batter of flour, eggs, dashi stock, and your choice of other toppings. We tried the "Osaka-style", pictured here. 

We returned to the Airbnb to pack up for the last five nights of our trip, to be continued... Click here for Act III.

Japan Act I: Kyoto

Travel and Leisure

We did it - our first (together) trip to the Orient. Probably more for posterity than anything, here's a brief outline of our trip and the activities we packed into a 16-night trip.

While we flew in and out of Osaka (purely based on price of the air), we immediately grabbed a train to Kyoto for 6 nights. For anyone else looking to do this, there's a discounted rate for foreigners to take the one-way JR Haruka Limited Express train, but you must buy the ticket from home. We had a minor credit card issue, so we were unable to purchase before hopping on board our flight. Note to self: some credit cards still require advance notification of overseas travel authorisation to allow for purchases.

Day 1 and 2: orientation

With a late afternoon arrival, and bumbling around at the KIX train station, we arrived in Kyoto around dinner time, so dropped our bags at our Airbnb and ran out to grab a bite and basic groceries for breakfast. So our Day 1 was pretty uneventful, except trying to figure out where to eat (more on that later). For Day 2, we had little on the agenda, as we prefer to do now, using the first full day as kind of a decompression stop after the long haul flight. We had a brief neighbourhood intro walk with the owner of our Airbnb, who showed us a few of his favourite restaurants in the area, then we strolled the length of Nishiki Market; known as "Kyoto's Kitchen", this area has been used for selling fish as early as 782. Note: It's hot here.

In the afternoon, we visited the nearby Nijō Castle and grounds, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 3,300-square-meter Ninomaru Palace consists of six connected separate main buildings, but the characteristic feature of the hallways, was the "nightingale floors"; normally old floorboards creak, but these floors were built in a way that the flooring nails rub against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises. I tried to capture the sound with my iPhone, but was unsuccessful.

That evening, instead of just walking around trying to find a place to eat, Christine used Google Maps to zero in on a place that better suited our palates. Kyoto Niku Shokudō was a simple eatery, serving rice bowls quickly to a small room of only 16-20 diners. We were lucky to walk right in and grab the last two available seats, as a lineup formed moments after we ordered our meals. Since we're both not big seafood eaters, this place was a win for us, with beef on rice dishes - she had the "gorilla" version.

Day 3: Higashiyama temple touring

With our legs under us, we took the day to go to the eastern side of Kyoto, with many historic temples and shrines. The biggie was Kiyomizu-dera, a 1250-year old buddhist temple, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located 1/2 way up the mountain, and this would be the first day that we really started testing our legs. 

Getting to/from the temples in this area took us through really interesting, historical streets. Even if you wanted a new store, e.g. this Starbucks, it needs to stay in the traditional style of the neighbourhood. Christine had mapped out our temple touring for the day, and we visited Kōdai-ji, another Buddhist temple, Ginkakuji, a Zen temple known as the Silver Pavilion, and then strolled a little bit of the Philosopher's Path before catching the bus back to our Airbnb.

Day 4: day-trip to Nara

A brief 40-minute train ride from Kyoto takes you to the city of Nara, famous for their wild deer population that roam freely on the streets and specifically in Nara Park. You can buy special crackers to feed the deer, and at only ¥200 per pack, I decided to buy three. However, these deer are smart, and hover around the stand where the lady sells them, and immediately descend upon the unsuspecting tourists! I was getting mobbed by them, and in this pic, two are nibbling at me to get their crackers! We had to hot-foot it out of that area and leave behind the herd there; luckily the deer were not that aggressive all day long.

Inside Nara Park, is the Tōdai-ji Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples. Inside is the massive 15m tall, 500 tonne Great Buddha statue. We wandered the rest of the park, meeting and feeding many more deer along the way, and visiting other smaller shrines along the route. If you stopped and visited every temple and shrine, it would take all day to get around Nara Park, so we did an abbreviated visit instead.

Day 5: Western Kyoto

Tour organiser Christine had mapped out our third day on the west side of the city using the Japan Guide suggestions, starting with a hike up to the Arashiyama Monkey Park. Unlike the deer, these monkeys are not to be messed with! There were very explicit warnings: stay 2m away, don't make eye contact, do not point your camera at them. Another sign indicated the monkeys' traits when showing teeth: if you see only their bottom teeth, they are angry - step away from the monkey now.

Our self-guided tour took us across Togetsukyo Bridge into town to… another temple! The almost 700-year old Tenryū-ji is yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site, but growing a bit weary of temples, we only toured the beautiful gardens on site. This particular temple however, is located next to a bamboo forest, so we took the obligatory stroll through the towering rows, along with hundreds of other tourists looking for that IG shot.

After a street-food lunch stop, we took a break from the heat (did I mention that its hot here?), and rented e-bikes to continue touring around. This was a great idea, as some of the next sites were spread relatively far apart, and up some hills. One was even closed, and we pitied the poor folks that had trekked all the way up the historic Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street to the Otagi Nenbutsuji temple, only to discover they had wasted their energy.

One last remote temple stop at Daikaku-ji, where it was so empty, we had an entire bamboo forest to ourselves! With all the temple stops we'd had, we opted to stroll around the pond and the grounds instead of going into the complex and museum. A leisurely ride back downhill took us back to Arashiyama street-car station and a complimentary foot-spa, before we rode the tram back to our Airbnb. Back in our 'hood, we discovered a great little restaurant for dinner, Meat Bar Dining Ageratam, that served beef as their primary menu item, and were not disappointed!

Day 6: Fushimi Inari-taisha and urban Kyoto

We got an early start on probably THE most popular attraction in Kyoto: Fushimi Inari-taisha. The shrine sits at the base of Inari mountain, where the trails and stairways that take you up the top are lined with arcades of torii gates. There are over 10,000 of these torii, and each has been donated by a family or business; the name is inscribed on the left post, and the year that it was donated on the right. 

The hike takes you up to many smaller shrines, which goes up 233 vertical metres and spans 4 kilometres. Even though the Grouse Grind is almost triple that, it was tough sledding getting up to the top; Apple Health calculated that we went up the equivalent of 78 stories that day. Unsurprisingly, the crowd thins out as you get further up, so you can quickly catch these shots of empty stands of torii. Luckily, we were up and down before the crowds and heat of the day kicked in (yes, it's still hot here).

After some relaxi-taxi back at the Airbnb, we went down to the core of Kyoto, surrounding the main station there. First stop was a trip up to the Nidec Kyoto Tower observation deck for sweeping, 360º views of the city, and to take in sunset. It was better than I was expecting, as we were able to use the telescopes to see the temples and sites we had visited on previous days. Attached to the station, is the massive JR Kyoto Isetan department store. 

We didn't visit to go shopping however, but to take in the views and the light show that takes place each night on the Grand Staircase. Kyoto Station itself is an architectural masterpiece, and there were a number of unique areas to explore that were lit up at night. After that, it was back to our neighbourhood beef restaurant for a great Wagyu hamburger (not to be confused with Kobe beef), and to pack up for departure to Tokyo.

That's it for the first leg of our Japanese trip - To get you into the spirit of the Hallowe'en season, I'll leave you with a video of the Grand Staircase at the JR Kyoto Isetan:

Up next - Act II: Tokyo

Where to start? A brief guide to travel planning resources

Travel and Leisure

So you’ve got a travel destination or region in mind, and it’s time to plan. If you're like us, we like to be independent travellers, so we rule out packaged tours, for the most part. But with so many tools and tips out there, where do you even begin? Here’s my comparison of the best resources to help you plan your next adventure, from Google and guidebooks to Facebook groups and YouTube travel vlogs.

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First trip to Europe was London and Portugal

When I first started overseas travelling, I was a rank amateur. Sure, I had travel experience from my various business trips over the first ten years of my career, but I hadn't yet become a good tourist, mostly because I hadn't been a tourist. I didn't feel that I had enough disposable income to make the trip across the pond, and didn't start travelling to Europe until later in the 90s when one of my mates was getting married in London. But when you're young, you think you know everything, and the thought of buying a book to have someone else tell you what to do was a pretty foreign concept. Besides, I was heading to London, where I had mates who lived in the city, and could give me tips and advice.

Travel like a local - if you can

Visiting Amsterdam with local friends

This leads me to probably the best way to experience a different country - as a local. Obviously, if you don't have friends or family who live in the destination of your choice, then this isn't going to be an option. But if and when it does happen, this is by far the way to go. I don't mean inconveniencing them with an impromptu accommodation request, but at a minimum, finding out how they would recommend spending what little time you have there. Taking the guesswork out of what to do for the afternoon, or trying to find a decent restaurant are things that the locals know, and will save you time and effort.

Brussels Grand Place

Next best, is to get advice from your friends and family that have visited the places you are going to go; why is this important you might ask? It's because they know you, and can suggest things that you will want to see/not visit during your stay. Like the time we were going to Holland, and I asked a Belgian friend if he felt Brussels was worth visiting; he said definitely yes!
But what if you don't know anybody who lives in the city(ies) that you are planning on visiting? The first couple of times that I went to new, unknown places, I simply followed the rest of the tourist crowds and did end up seeing interesting stuff, but knowing what I know now, I definitely missed out on things. So that's where planning resources come in.  

Google, Tripadvisor, Yelp: The Big 3

Google

Walk or take the Metro? Ask Google!

This is by far the easiest, fastest starting point, and probably the #1 reason why you need an eSIM for your smartphone. Whether you’re searching for “cool things to do in Prague” or as I often do, "how long does it take to get from Berlin to Hamburg on the train?", Google serves it up. Use the map feature to visualize spots, but beware — it often favours what’s popular, not always what’s worth it.

Bear in mind that you're not getting custom-tailored advice, but rather "wisdom of the crowd" for ratings of restaurants, hotels and attractions; however, with thousands of people contributing their reviews, the collective opinion is likely to yield the best judgement. One of the issues using Google is that results are often skewed to "Search Engine Optimised" sites, or ones that get paid for ads - i.e. the top hits might not be the best ones. Additionally, the "aggregation engine" for ideas and opinions is you; e.g. after pulling up a half-dozen sites on travelling in Japan, you need to sift through and determine that say, Osaka is really only going to require two nights.

Tripadvisor

Great for hotels, restaurants, and attractions. It’s packed with reviews and often has forums with detailed traveler Q&A. But keep in mind, the “#1 restaurant” might just be the most tourist-friendly, not the most authentic. My recommendation there, is to not eat at the popular-looking spot right on the main drag, and walk a block or two away from the pedestrian strip. So you find a hotel that looks like it's in a decent area, but the average TA rating from 800+ guests is only 3-stars. That's probably a good indicator that things may not meet your expectations at that property. But you see another one with 4.5-stars, but only a couple of dozen reviews. There's two issues here; first, with only a small sampling, there isn't enough "crowd" to give an empirical result, and secondly, with only and handful of ratings, there may be fake reviews skewing the score. I like to look for businesses that have lots of reviews, then zoom into the most recent ones, to make sure that new management or post-COVID service is still living up to their reputation.

Yelp Fork (France) or regional alternative

Unfortunately, Yelp is only really strong in the U.S., and let's face it, who's going there right now? Some countries have their own specific app/site for food; e.g. The Fork is specific to France, but we didn't really try it out on our last trip. So while Yelp shines for food and service-related reviews if you happen to be going to the states, you’ll need to revert to one of the above for recommendations in Europe and other parts of the world. In our experience, we end up defaulting to Google and Tripadvisor for restaurants.

💡 Pro Tip: Use side by side to spot patterns. If a cafe gets love on Google and Tripadvisor, it’s probably a good bet.

Adding pins to Google Maps helps you plan sights and attractions together

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📚 The Classics: Lonely Planet & Rick Steves

Lonely Planet

The OG for indie travellers. Whether you buy the book or use the app, LP offers in-depth, practical info — from hostels to hidden temples. It’s written by pros who actually go to the places. I've never used Lonely Planet books before, but now that we're going to Japan, I borrowed a copy for our upcoming trip. It would seem that they are very useful books with colour and lots of ideas for exploration and tips for each location, but have limited recommendations for hotels and restaurants. I personally find the type a little too small for my reading preference too. Compared to Rick Steves below, I feel that the LP books are a not as strong on history or 2nd/3rd level of depth on a particular area or attraction.

Rick Steves

Rick is THE king when it comes to European travel, and we find that his style matches with our travel vibe (and his political stance). His books, site, and TV show offer deep cultural insight, organised itineraries, and practical advice. We love using his free Audio Europe app to listen while we walk around towns or in museums where he has a recorded tour. He also has walking tours written in his books, but we've found them problematic to use; one person has to read the passage aloud, while the other looks around. I've actually taken to recording the written text into audiobook files to solve that problem. If you want to take the guesswork out of travel planning, Rick is the go-to resource.

✍️ “Rick Steves is like that friendly uncle who makes sure you don’t miss the good stuff — but also won’t make you feel bad for skipping the Louvre.”

Using Rick Steves guidebooks for planning is now mandatory for our European trips

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📺 YouTube & TV Travel Shows: Inspiration in Motion

YouTube

The real MVP of modern travel planning; once I've zeroed in on something, I'll often search to see if there is a video that someone has created. Unlike photos that can easily misrepresent something, a video really tells the story. As an example, I watched a number of ocean cruising clips before our Caribbean cruise with Virgin, and found them to be extremely valuable. You can watch full trip walkthroughs, food tours, and “what I wish I knew before visiting…” videos. I even like the ones that show you how to do simple things, like the how to buy a Metro ticket in Paris one below. Sounds silly? Not until you're that couple of noobs who can't figure out the ticket machine while impatient Parisians queue up behind you.

Travel TV Shows

Old-school but still inspiring. Think Anthony Bourdain, Somebody Feed Phil, or Rick Steves Europe. They’re less about exact itineraries, more about falling in love with a place’s culture and rhythm. We like to watch them to get a feel for where we're planning on going, and making sure there isn't that one place that we should have stopped at. There often isn't enough depth or time during the show to give you real travel advice, but it's just entertaining to get into the travel frame of mind.

🎥 “YouTube shows you how to travel. Travel TV reminds you why you want to.”

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💬 Facebook Groups & Online Communities

Travel-focused Facebook groups are booming, but they can be problematic. Whereas Google and Tripadvisor use the "wisdom of the crowd" to reach a reasonable consensus on an attraction, hotel or restaurant, there can be that one vocal person in the FB group that is preaching their one and only favourite. It's a great concept, taking people with like interests, and having them on a dedicated page for your destination. While this can be great for tips that are unique to the area (e.g. do you really need the Paris Museum Pass?), Recommendations for hotels and restaurants may be misrepresented by members of the group. i.e. maybe they have never been there, and are just being paid to say that the food there is divine. Don't forget that these people don't know you, so they can't offer guidance that is relevant to you. As an example, I belong to a FB river cruising group, as we've been on more than the average person, and I feel like I can offer decent, objective opinions. Some newbie will always join the group and ask, "Who should I choose for a river cruise?". Often, people will have only cruised with one operator, and will say things like "Go Uniworld!" but offer no insight or commentary as to why they feel they are the best choice. Without answers to things like budget, interests and activity level, no one can really make an informed suggestion. 

Pros

• Real-time info ("Is the river level low right now on the Rhine?")
• Honest traveller tips
• Good for niche questions ("What’s the cheapest eSIM for Japan?”)

Cons

• Can be overwhelming
• Quality of advice varies
• Watch out for sponsored posts and spam

🧠 Best for travelers who like chatting, swapping tips, and hearing unfiltered experiences.
📸 Suggested Image: Screenshot of a Facebook travel group discussion or poll.

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🌀 ChatGPT and other AI engines

(This response was generated entirely using ChatGPT) 

Using ChatGPT as a travel planning tool can be surprisingly effective, especially when you’re looking for fast, personalized advice without digging through dozens of websites. Here’s a breakdown of its pros and cons to help you decide if it’s a good fit for your travel style:

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✅ Pros

1. Personalized Recommendations

ChatGPT can tailor suggestions based on your interests (like architecture, food, history, or adventure), travel dates, pace, and budget. Unlike general travel blogs or guides, it can adapt its advice just for you.

2. All-in-One Convenience

Instead of jumping between Google, Tripadvisor, and forums, you can ask questions and get summaries, itineraries, safety tips, and more — all in one place.

3. Time Saver

Need a quick 5-day itinerary in Bavaria or a list of must-try dishes in Vietnam? ChatGPT can generate it in seconds, helping you avoid hours of research.

4. Flexible & Iterative

You can refine your questions (“What if I have 3 more days?” or “Add more cultural stops”) and get updated results immediately — something static blogs or guidebooks can’t do.

5. 24/7 Availability

No need to wait for travel agents or post on forums — it’s ready whenever you are, whether it’s 2 PM or 2 AM.

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❌ Cons

1. No Real-Time Data

ChatGPT can’t check flight prices, hotel availability, local weather, or traffic in real time unless paired with live tools or plugins (which might not be available in your version).

2. May Lack Hyper-Local Insights

While it knows a lot, it may miss hyper-specific or newly opened places, especially small local gems not well-documented online.

3. Not a Replacement for First-Hand Reviews

It can summarize general sentiment about places, but it’s not pulling the latest user reviews like Tripadvisor or Google Maps can. It’s best paired with those tools, not used instead of them.

4. No Visuals

Unless specifically asked to generate or find images, ChatGPT responses are mostly text-based. If you’re a visual planner, this might be limiting.

5. Accuracy Depends on Input

The quality of its advice depends on how clearly you explain your preferences. Vague prompts get vague answers.

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🧭 Best Use Case

Think of ChatGPT as a smart travel assistant that helps you brainstorm, organize, and refine plans — especially useful in the early stages of trip planning or when you want to adjust an itinerary on the fly. If you’re open to trying it, ChatGPT works especially well alongside tools like Google Maps, Booking.com, YouTube, and local Facebook groups.

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🧳 What Works Best for YOU?

Traveler Type	Best Resources
First-time international trip	Google, Tripadvisor, Rick Steves
Food lovers	Tripadvisor, YouTube, Google
Budget/backpacker	Lonely Planet, Reddit, hostel review blogs
Adventure-seeker	Facebook groups, niche YouTube explorers
History & culture fan	Rick Steves, TV travel docs, museums’ official sites

 🎒 Final Thoughts
Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. The best trips are usually a mix of planning and serendipity. Use these tools as your compass, not your cage. And if something looks cool on paper but doesn’t excite you in person — skip it. Your journey, your rules.

Cancelling a flight? Know your rights!

Travel and Leisure

You might have noticed that there is a bit of apprehension on the part of Canadian travellers to head to the US right now. In fact, it's pretty much the rest of the world that is turning away from going anywhere near the states, especially Europeans. The UK and Germany recently issued advisories about travelling to America, and Canada went on to say that university teachers and educators should avoid non-essential travel to the United States.

As you can imagine, this has a knock-on effect across the entire travel industry, and the first to feel the effects of this are the airlines. The Guardian reported that "Passenger bookings on Canada to US routes are currently down by over 70% compared to the same period last year". Over 70 percent? Wow. Who would have thought that a bunch of maple syrup-drinking, snowshoe-wearing, igloo-dwelling Canucks would be so patriotic? But Canadians are expressing their displeasure with the current administration's economic threats and statements about annexing Canada, making it the 51st state.

While we stand with the rest of Canada, most of Europe, and the rest of the world, we weren't planning on going to the US anytime soon, but we did have a flight booked that took us through Houston on or way to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. The best flight itinerary was with United, but the first leg from YVR-IAH was with Air Canada, and I guess we fell victims to the changes in Air Canada's scheduling, as that segment got cancelled. We had already been second-guessing our plans to route through a US airport, even though we would not set foot outside the airport in Houston. So when they changed our itinerary to a much earlier departing flight, I used this as an opportunity to cancel the entire journey.

Here's where it gets interesting, and why knowing your rights is important. As you can see from the screenshot from the US DoT website above, they indicate that a significant change in the flight entitles you to a refund, even for non-refundable tickets. Not wanting to get caught by the "significant" wording, I checked the actual rules posted on the United site, specifically for flights originating from Canada. Here's the screenshot:

As you can see, their rules basically say that they are obligated to refund the ticket if we were to refuse the rebooking options, which we wanted to do. Ok, so facts in hand, I called United. Suffice it to say that their initial response was to offer a flight credit, to which I refused, and quoted both of the excerpts above. 15 minutes later, the full refund was issued for the flight cancellation.

So the moral of the story is, don't accept what the airline says as gospel, and as with everything (especially in these trying times), check your facts!

Why Canadians used to put flags on their backpacks

and where did Canadian flags go and why they're back again

Travel and Leisure

Back in the 90s and even earlier, Canadians travelling abroad, particularly Europe, would often sew a Canadian flag onto their backpacks. While some might have seen this as merely a patriotic display, most of us knew why this practice was so common: 

We didn't want to be mistaken for Americans.

American Tourists Illustration by Dustin Elliot

If you're Canadian and you're reading this, I don't need to explain this to you. But if you're American, hear me out. While GIs rolling through the streets of Paris in 1945 got a hero's welcome, times had changed since then, and many countries had seen, or more likely heard, enough of Americans. With the advent of inexpensive airline travel, Americans were flocking to Europe in record numbers, and by the 1980s, most had had unpleasant interactions with these new tourists. Well known for their stereotypically loud voices, rude and entitled behaviour, American tourists were easy to spot (or hear) and often were disrespectful of local culture and customs. For most of the folks from the US that I know, this information comes as no surprise; some Americans have even been called out for pretending to be Canadians while travelling.

The problem for most of us Canadians, is that we sound like folks from the West Coast states, and we follow the same fashion trends as the US; we look and sound like many Americans. I remember on my first trip to Europe, how different the styles were, and how easily you could spot North Americans. So Canadians started putting the flags on their backpacks, which immediately distanced ourselves from our Southern cousins. Europeans with anti-American sentiments were quickly put at ease with this minor display, and in general, we received better treatment and service than the US tourists.

While most of us Canadians are quite patriotic, proclaiming our nationality and chest-thumping is not aligned with our stereotypically meek behaviour. Sure, when we beat the Americans in hockey in the 2010 Olympics, our hearts were bursting with national pride. Little Canada, with only 34 million people, had beaten the big brother, USA with a population of almost 10 times ours; it truly was a David vs. Goliath moment. We love our country, but we exhibit our patriotism judiciously; if it's always on display, you tend to forget that it's there.

Over time, the practice of putting our flag on our luggage diminished, mostly because we stopped backpacking as we got older, and I believe we just got better at being good tourists. Whereas Americans were still self-identifying and getting poor treatment at the local boulangerie, maybe we just took the time to understand the local customs and etiquette. Also, when I started travelling to Europe on business trips, I was carrying a computer briefcase and some sort of wheeled luggage, and so I wasn't inclined to stick anything on my precious leather shoulder bag. It's not that I didn't want to show my Canadian flag, it's that I no longer needed to.

But then there was the event that occurred not long ago, that caused us to put away our flags completely. Early in 2022, disgruntled right-wing truckers used the Canadian flag as the symbol of their rallying cry against all things anti-government. Fuelled by skepticism over vaccine mandates, COVID-19 safety protocols and other anti-science theories, they drove their big rigs across Canada to our nation's capital to protest. Hate Justin? You're in! Anti-immigrant? Come on down to Ottawa!

It was ironic (moronic?), that these climate-change deniers and carbon-tax naysayers burned all that fossil fuel to haul nothing all the way to Ottawa. The rest of Canada watched in horror as the "Freedom Convoy" idled their huge diesel engines, blew their horns, and flew our flag in the name of the supposed freedom which we already have. And that's how our flag became a symbol of stupidity, synonymous with right-wing idealism, anti-government, xenophobia, etc. We cringed as these flat-earthers waved our Canadian flag and caught international news headlines around the world. That's why normal Canadians quietly archived their flags, not even bringing them out on Canada Day, the one day that we might be inclined to display one, for fear of being branded a rightwing nut.

Image Trump posted of Switzerland

But now, we are in the early stages of Trump's 2nd term, and unless you have just come out of a coma, you have undoubtedly heard that he wants to annex Canada, making it the 51st state. Right wing supporters will say that this is just part of his negotiation style, as he's levied/removed/re-levied tariffs on Canada (and Mexico) as part of his America-First program. But everything we have seen and heard from his senior staffers and advisors, is that he's serious about taking away the "artificial line" and forcing a sovereign nation to submit to his will through economic coercion or other means. Warren Buffet has these called the tariffs on Canada an "act of war". 

War? Canada has historically responded very well during wartime. We repelled the US the last time they tried to annex part of Canada (then part of Britain), and we even burnt down the White House in retaliation. So now Canadian patriotism is now at an all-time high, and our flags are back, proudly on display.

We even went out and bought a new one to put on the front porch, a practice almost unheard of in Canada. "Buy Canadian" is on everyones' mind as they shop, and travellers are cancelling US trips in droves. And when we most needed it, Canada was facing off against their arch rivals in the NHL's Four Nations final. Again, our boys rose to the occasion, and defeated the USA in overtime with a decisive shot from Connor McDavid.

For Americans wondering why we would resist being part of the US so much, I have a long-winded response for you. By now, you've seen the video of Jeff Daniels playing Will McAvoy on Newsroom where he responds to a question, "Can You Say Why America is the Greatest Country in the World?" If you haven't seen it, here it is - go ahead and watch it; I'll wait.

Whew! Well that was quite the speech. And while the TV series is now over 12 years old, the sentiment still rings true. The factoids however are no longer current; I don't have the source for them, and so I pulled some recent information from the web and compared them with where we sit in Canada. Scholastically, the US has fallen from the data points that Will quotes, but Canada ranks higher in all three noted areas. Life expectancy has dropped in the States to age 79.40 whereas the average Canuck lives to 83.26 years. I don't know how they measure happiness, but Canada leads again at 15 versus the US at 23. In terms of safety, Americans are way down the list at #131, and incarcerate 531 adults per capita - the most of any democracy on earth. Chew on that for a bit.

Canada on the other hand, comes in at 11th in safety, with only 85 incarcerated adults per 100k. What about freedom - that which Americans hold most dear and tout more than any other thing? 17th. Canada, unsurprisingly, ranks 11th. Oh and one last factoid that Jeff Will brings up; there are more Americans that believe in angels than vaccines. So when you hear on the news about random Americans saying, "why wouldn't Canadians want to become part of the US?", now you know why the answer is "Sorry, but no thanks".

And to our cherished Maple Leaf, we're sorry that we abandoned you for a while there. But we're ready to put you front and centre again as we fight for our country. 

We display our Canadian flag because we're proud Canadians; we don't want to be Americans, let alone be mistaken for them. 

Elbows up Canada!