Scott and Becky go East

Scott and Becky’s grand adventure – around the world without airplanes.

Author: Rebecca J Hogue

  • Nova Scotia winter #staycation

    As the days get longer, and the weather starts to warm, I watch as friends start to think about which seeds they should be starting in preparation for the growing season. I, on the other hand, am thinking about cross-country skiing. This has been a particularly good snow year for the South Shore of Nova…

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    A lone cross?country skier glides along parallel tracks on a bright, snowy verge next to a curving road, bordered by tall evergreens and leafless trees beneath a clear blue sky.

  • Cohousing and my fantasy future

    I first learned of the concept of fantasy future in a group therapy session when I was at a Commonweal Cancer Helping Program retreat. We keep in our minds a vision of our future, but that future is a fantasy. It is a future that is never going to be. One of my neighbours reminded…

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    Looking out the window of a tractor with a snow plow blade, at night. It is snowing and there are 3 foots snowbanks.

  • The cost of a can of beans?

    After several hours of pedalling in the heat of the afternoon sun, we pull into a small convenience store. We know we will be wild camping tonight, so we need to find a source of water, not just for drinking now, but also for cooking dinner tonight and wiping our sweaty bodies down before sleeping.…

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  • Standing Up

    I have a knot in my stomach. I’m scared. I feel like an impostor. Will the water be too cold? Can I get back on the board in deep water? These thoughts are running through my mind as I prepare to leave. 

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    Selfie of Rebecca with the van and an orange stand up paddleboard in the background

  • A short getaway

    Getting a campsite on weekends in this part of Nova Scotia during tourist season is almost impossible unless you’ve booked in advance, so we opt for boondocking. We decided to check out the coast southeast of Shelburne, closer to Yarmouth, somewhere we’d never really explored.

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  • Where did the water go?

    Sitting at an old wooden table on second floor of a cottage with the window open listening to the birds and overlooking the Minas Basin. There is over a mile of ocean bottom naked and exposed to the sun, brown-red mud with cracks, lines that meander towards the ocean. It is low tide, and the…

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    The Minas Basin at low tide. You can see the ocean floor of red-brown mud running into the horizon. You cannot see the where the ocean water begins.

  • Wild Camping

    I worry about where we’ll sleep tonight. I worry about our budget. We had planned to camp more in Italy, but most campgrounds are closed for the season. Aside from one night in Nicotera Marina, when a generous Couchsurfing host let us stay in his beach house, we’ve relied on hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. It’s been…

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  • Songkran

    It’s stifling. A hot humid heat that makes the air feel heavy. Sweat isn’t dripping from me so much as it is pooling on me, sticking to my skin and failing to cool me down. I consider using some of the water in my water bottle to cool my head, but that water is precious.…

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    A group of people, dressed in colourful floral shirts, are joyfully engaging in the water-splashing festivities outdoors. The central figure, a man in a blue Hawaiian-style shirt, raises his hands in excitement while his face is partially covered in white powder, a traditional Songkran practice. Surrounding him, others laugh and play, some holding water bottles and hoses. The lush greenery and wet clothing indicate the playful and refreshing spirit of the event.