It could only be a coincidence that my friend Marisa subsequently clued me into CanaDream RV. The world is conspiring to get me behind the wheel of a trailer it seems (the jury is still out).

Now that practically everyone is posting Facebook pictures of themselves kayaking and rafting and roaming the roads, it seems only natural to add an RV to the mix. CanaDream is one of the largest RV rental companies in Canada. The fleet is more than 1,000 strong, and you can rent from locations in Vancouver, Whitehorse, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. There are various size categories—sleeping two to six people—from super-manageable like this one in the picture to “driving the living room around” size. Whichever, you’re never more than a few feet away from bed. I could really get into that.

You have the freedom to explore on your own or plug into a pre-made itinerary, such as the Yukon Explorer or the Okanagan Wine Tour. (Seriously, this idea has “wine country” written all over it.) The company also has about 1,000 campsites available to its customers, so you don’t have to fret about packed public camp grounds. (We know how busy those are going to be this year.) There’s a booking app called the CanaDream Club to help navigate all this kind of stuff.

The kicker is that you can rent an RV for just the one way, say, Toronto to Halifax, pick up and drop off. And it works out to something like under $30 a night.

Cheap family fun, quiet interlude, honeymoon, buddy trip—whatever, hit the open road, get back to nature and get out of Dodge.

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“More and more visitors are coming to Northern Ireland, to see the Giant’s Causeway, to go to the Titanic Museum, to learn about their ancestors maybe and to get in on the great food we have,” says Derry-based chef and author Emmett McCourt, a champion of Irish food heritage. “Tourists want to learn about Irish food customs and traditional methods of food preparation. They like the stories behind the food. They want the connection to the food producer to lend meaning to what they’re experiencing.”

Drink in the scenery. On our way up the legendary Coastal Causeway, we are stunned into silence by the pastoral beauty, absorbing picture-postcard views at every turn. Farmland, villages, ocean, forest—the variety is mesmerizing. Between the castles, the cheese, the cliff walks and the gin, this is one of the best road trips in the world.

WHERE TO STAY: NEWFORGE HOUSE
HOW-TO: DRIVE ON THE LEFT

Break bread. When we reach the North Atlantic Ocean at Ballycastle, we wander into Ursa Minor Bakehouse, where baker Dara O hArtghaile and his wife Ciara treat us to a lesson in sourdough. They use methods that can be traced back hundreds of years, long before the birth of commercial yeast. The O hArtghailes dress up their loaves with things like linseed oil, nuts, grains or beer, and feature them prominently in the hearty menu at their busy vegetarian café.

TASTE TO TRY: VEGETABLE STEW RECIPE

Brave the bridge. The 250-year-old Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge was once used by fishermen to reach the region’s salmon, but now used merely to thrill the tourists.

Visit the giants. Reaching the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we head out with a guide to see the 40,000 basalt columns. This geological anomaly was created by volcanic eruption 60 million years ago, the columns formed by molten lava cooling into hexagonal stone steps. This being Ireland, there’s an alternate version of the story that has little to do with volcanoes, and more to do with Celtic warrior Finn MacCool and his Scottish rival Benandonner.

Relive Game of Thrones. Twenty minutes’ drive inland, we take a spooky stroll through The Dark Hedges—a favourite stop on all the Game of Thrones tours.

Go to the beach. The famous Strand, a two-mile stretch of golden beach in Portstewart, is the ideal spot for picnicking, surfing, birding or just taking in the view. The beach also makes the perfect backdrop for dinner at Harry’s Shack. As the name implies, it is a big, wooden shed tucked at the edge of the dunes, family-run by people with restaurant resumés as long as your arm. Inside, the interior is raw and rustic with a wood stove crackling away. We tuck into perfect fish and chips and fried chicken, washed down with a bottle of wine, watching the sand slowly turn from gold to blue to black.

DISCOVERNORTHERNIRELAND.COM

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My friends all pulled a big face, screwing their noses up as if I smelled. “Why the hell are you going to Buffalo?” Morons. Because it’s right around the corner, I told them. Turns out we were on the Peace Bridge in two hours and nine minutes, and well on our way to an excellent weekend away.

A quiet revival is taking place in the Queen City: cool neighbourhoods you could picture yourself living in, old buildings and homes getting a new lease on life, once derelict parts of town now the talk of the town. We also locked into the hospitable vibe from all the nodding; people actually acknowledge your presence—in store lineups, on street corners, bellying up to the bar—like a small town. Turning off the Toronto anonymity is often like a vacation in itself.

Peg a whole day for art. Spin through the Albright Knox Art Gallery in the north end of town to absorb its incredible collection of modern and contemporary art. Follow that with a visit to The Burchfield Penney Art Center across the street, a museum exhibiting works by Western New York artists.

Pay homage to the master. Completely nerd out the restored Frank Lloyd Wright Darwin Martin House. This 1905 home is one of Wright’s architectural masterpieces. From the open-concept living areas, crazy talk at the time, to the nature-inspired embellishment of more than 400 art glass windows to the pergola through to the conservatory, now full of orchids, the home is a solid marvel. Wright’s legendary controlling nature is on full display in many rooms, especially those with built-in cabinetry—he didn’t want anybody moving the furniture around.

Fill your belly. Buffalo is a bubbling-under town on the scope of the national food scene, chefs often returning here having made their name elsewhere. We manage to eat our way through a chophouse, a diner, a whisky bar and a Southern restaurant, before our jaws drop at Las Puertas, the city’s much-lauded Mexican restaurant. This 35-seat gem in the West Side, founded by 2018 James Beard-nominated chef Victor Parra Gonzalez, who hails from Acapulco, is thoroughly and distinctly modern Mexican, yet executed with classic French techniques elevating it to top-10 status.

Dance it off. The gay watering holes in Allentown are fun, and mostly old-school, like the town itself. We start off dodging drunk pool players at Cathode Ray on Allen Street, then proceed around the corner to Fugazi, where a slightly younger crowd is throwing back martinis. Gotta love the American free-pour.

Dip south for a side trip. More art and architecture came in the form of a small side trip to the town of East Aurora, a half-hour southeast of Buffalo. Hit the trail to visit Roycroft Campus, a cluster of historic buildings that was once home to a community of Arts & Crafts movement artisans in the early 1900s. Known as Roycrofters, the group began as printers and publishers, expanding under founding father Elbert Hubbard to become a self-sufficient guild of furniture-makers, metalsmiths, leathersmiths and bookbinders. It’s a rare survival of an art colony, the story and art kept alive through several restored workshops and an excellent museum.

CURTISS HOTEL
HOTEL HENRY
INNBUFFALO OFF ELMWOOD
THE ROYCROFT INN

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Nantucket is not just for the summertime anymore, either. Autumn really is the best time to visit, because the population drops from 80,000 to 10,000. Absolutely everybody who doesn’t live there has gone home, so you can wander the cobblestone streets and rub elbows with the locals without tripping over other tourists. Plus, in the fall, you can still bike, sail and golf, and generally enjoy the outdoors a bit longer—and you can get a table at any of the nice restaurants. Table tip: Scallops are smaller and more velvety at this time of year, harvested from the chillier waters.

Digs in the fall are cheaper: Three to try include the three-storey mansion the Jared Coffin House (circa 1845), the Wauwinet (circa 1875) for lobstering and surfcasting, and the gorgeous and sprawling White Elephant (circa 1920s).

Be sure to pop into the Whaling Museum, which relates the island’s 19th-century history as a whaling hub.

If your visit coincides with December, the annual Christmas Stroll is classic New England: markets, carolers, dozens of trees decorated by local artists and special sales. Santa arrives by coast guard.

When you give in and plan it, Cape Air can take you there from Boston in about 45 minutes, or you can make it a road trip. If you plan to visit the whole state, here are 100 things to do in Massachusetts from Your RV Lifestyle.

NANTUCKET-MA.GOV
MASSVACATION.COM

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