Single Older Woman – Cdn Vacations – Itinerary planning methods

July 2022

With the River cruise dates booked and secured, my entire vacation itinerary had to be “turned around”. Instead of the cruise being the start of my vacation, it would now be at the end.

My plans had to include a swim at Martinique Beach and a visit to the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, NS – more details to follow.

I ordered travel brochures from both PEI and Nova Scotia and reviewed their online tourism websites. I sourced local restaurants, locally owned wine stores, provincial parks, gift shops, banks and grocery stores, etc. Lets not forget all the Tim Horton’s coffee shops for my driving beverage needs. I thumbed through my Parks Canada brochure for any National Parks I could visit and found “Dalvay by the Sea”. I would book a lunch there one day.

I retrieved all my paper maps of both provinces and used them as guides for potential places to visit and to give me estimates on travel times and distances.

I mapped out the location of the train station in Truro, NS to my desired hotel in Truro, I calculated the distance from Truro to the Ferry Terminal in Caribou, which would take me to Woods Island, PEI. I discovered the rental car agency would be only 10 minutes from my Truro hotel….bonus….

I decided I would visit only the Eastern section of PEI, as my BFF and I had done the central area back in 2018.

I found the ideal motel in Souris, PEI and planned accordingly where I would visit. I mapped out too picturesque Lighthouses to visit and added their locations to my list….

As long as I was in NS, I would make a day trip to Cape Breton Island – there were a few waterfalls that looked nice, so they were added in. The island is also home to the Alexander Graham Bell National Park.

By the time May 2022 rolled around, I was counting down the days to July 17.

One aspect of this vacation, different from all the others, was for 10 days, I would don my comfortable walking, outdoorsy attire – shorts, t-shirts, leggings, sneakers, baseball cap, etc. Then for the next 7 days, I would be more comfortable in dressier shorts, leggings, capri’s, nicer tops and blouses, summer dresses, as I would be a passenger on a river cruise boat. For this special adventure, I bought myself a very pretty hat. All of this additional clothing would require a bigger suitcase and an extra carry on bag…..Oh my….

Then on Friday July 8, a week before my awesome vacation, comes news that the staff at Via Rail Canada were in negotiations with their union for a new contract!!! They were close to going on strike……NO, tell me this is not so……!!!

For 3 agonizing days, I waited for updates on the news…. If they went on strike, I would not be going out east!!! I was quite despondent over this and started to look at my options- how would I get to Ottawa for July 28, so that I can go on my cruise…..

Finally, at the 11th hour on Monday July 11, a deal was struck and all the staff would be at work. I was gonna kiss them all when I got on that train…..no, I did not. I thanked them though for their service.

Away we go!!!!

Thank you for reading and for letting me share.

Joye