2025 was a wild ride for us. It felt very, very busy due a major life change combined with lots of travel. For that reason, it also passed incredibly fast. Regardless, we feel very fortunate to have experienced such a year.
Thank you for checking out this 2025 round-up. I write it annually, primarily for myself, to keep a record of each year’s highlights. In a year that felt like such a whirlwind, I’m so glad I can take this moment to reflect.
Buying a house
While not an ‘adventure’ in the usual sense of the world, our entire 2025 was shaped by one big exciting yet slightly terrifying milestone – buying a home together.
We started the year by continuing our search on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. Sadly, the houses in our budget there were not viable and we pivoted to purchase a place in Penticton, where we’ve been based for the last decade. In hindsight, this decision made 2025 a lot less stressful!
After making an offer in April and closing in July, we moved into our new-old house in August. But it wasn’t until October when we were able to spend more than a week physically in it. And even then, October was a full month of renovations with invaluable assistance from JR’s dad and partner.
January will be the first full month we’ve spent in the house (just the two of us) and I can’t wait for it!
From coast to coast – exploring Canada
The reason we barely spent any time in our new house this year? We spent a lot of time travelling Canada, both for work and personal trips. I’m so grateful for it, especially since we visited so many new places as well.
We returned to Vernon in spring to enjoy the wildflowers, quiet trails and warm weather. Next stop was New Brunswick to visit JR’s family and friends. Some highlights included running on the Trans Canada Trail and feasting on all the local seafood (we timed it just right for lobster season).
We headed to Calgary with my parents for a special event (more later) in late May, followed by a quick trip to wonderful Waterton Lakes National Park.
From there, we drove to Saskatoon and spent the next few weeks exploring the city, eating all the local food, discovering birding and meeting with old/new friends at the Travel Media Association of Canada conference. Always love to see you Stephanie, Lindsay and plenty more!
On the way back to BC, we checked out some amazing sand dunes (Saskatchewan is so underrated!)
Late July was all about slowing down a little, with a stay in Thunder Bay and a week long canoe adventure in the magnificent and wild Wabakimi Provincial Park. We shuttled in and flew out on a floatplane – something I’m not going to forget for a long, long time.
Fast forward to August and we travelled to Quebec to explore a completely new region – Abitibi-Témiscamingue – and delve deeper into one of our favourites (Côte-Nord). Driving the rest of the Whale Route was a dream!
Another dream materialised in late September, on a trip to Vancouver Island. We joined three different bear watching tours, with the highlight being a land based grizzly bear adventure in Bute Inlet. It was a true bucket list experience and I think about it often.
Hiking in the Rockies
The Berg Lake Trail in the Canadian Rockies has been on my ‘to hike’ list for over a decade. We almost made it in 2021, but then the trail flooded and closed for repairs. This famous trail finally reopened fully in late June and we managed to nab some prime mid July spots.
And truly, this hike lived up to all my long held expectations. And with four nights on the trail, we were able to explore it extensively. We hiked in with wall-to-wall sunshine (and views of notoriously shy Mount Robson!) and were able to hike up to spectacular Snowbird Pass on another beautiful day.
We were joined by new friends too, ones we had only just met the month before in Saskatoon! As a big introvert, it’s not often I push myself out of my comfort zone when it comes to anything social but in this case, this trip was even better with company. Thank you, Ashlyn and Aaron.
The Berg Lake Trail wasn’t our only big hike in the Rockies this year. Our good friends Leigh (HikeBikeTravel) and John invited us on a two night trip into the White Goat Wilderness Area, accompanied by Thomas from Out And Across.
Not only incredibly scenic, this adventure was also an interesting one as it starts from the Icefields Parkway and yet is so remarkably quiet. It also had some challenging bits, specifically the very steep Cataract Pass. This hike still sits in my drafts folder but I’ll get there eventually.
One hike I did find a moment to write about was the Hermit Trail in Glacier National Park. While not the Rockies, this was also a very worthwhile adventure (with mountain goats!)
Our first trip to Mexico, Christmas in the UK
Although it may seem surprising, I went to Mexico for the first time this year! While JR had previously visited, it was not for a good couple of decades.
Our destination was Loreto, a small Baja California Sur city on the Sea of Cortez. And it was incredible!
As someone who doesn’t love big resort areas, Loreto feels more authentic and is a very manageable (and walkable) size. There are plenty of outdoor activities, great beaches, abundant wildlife, plenty of tasty seafood, historical sights and, of course, strong margaritas. We really loved it and look forward to returning sometime soon.
Mexico wasn’t our only trip outside of Canada this year – we also travelled to the UK for Christmas for the first time since 2019. I don’t do this journey often as I find the flight prices so prohibitive. I’d rather visit twice for the same price of going once at Christmas!
This year, however, everything aligned and I found a good deal. We fit in some quality time with family and friends alongside walking the 53km Basingstoke Canal Path. I love being able to hike such long trails in winter with such ease in the UK – it’s truly something special.
Blogging challenges and pivots
As I mentioned last year, the blogging world is changing quickly and significantly with the rise of AI chatbots, overviews and unhelpful Google algorithms.
There’s no reason to sugarcoat or hide it – like a lot of bloggers, we’ve seen our Google traffic and ad income decline over the last year. Pivoting and diversification are still the name of the game, however much I would just prefer to stay in my very comfortable comfort zone!
We launched another map-focused interactive travel guide in early 2025 for the Canadian Rockies, joining our existing Vancouver Island one. I think they’re a great accompaniment to this site, with features far beyond what I can offer (drag-and-drop itineraries, road trip maps and more). I’ve been offering customised itineraries all year.
Our BC/Alberta Travel Tips Facebook group, in collaboration with Leigh from HikeBikeTravel, now has more than 11k members. Check it out if you’d like to chat all things travel in BC and Alberta.
Running for success
While not work or travel related, I had to include one of my biggest achievements this year in this round-up. In May, I ran the Calgary Marathon!
Running a marathon was something I’d wanted to do for a very long time. I’ve been running on and off since 2019, starting with 5k parkruns and advancing to half marathons in 2023.
With algorithms and AI developments making me feel that so much about blogging was out of my hands, I decided to train for a marathon in 2025 to focus on something I could control. And I did it!
Training injuries and race day blisters meant that I was unable to hit the time target I had set myself but I decided it didn’t matter. I ran 42.19km and actually had a lot of fun. The last stretch was the best – I somehow avoided ‘hitting the wall’ that so many do.
I am so grateful for JR’s support during the training and for my parents and friends who were there on race day. It meant the world!
Looking to 2026
Our calendar for next year is looking a bit unsettled at the moment. JR and I will both be doing some studying, which ties us closer to home. Our new house is also a big consideration. We still have a lot of travel and adventure ideas but it’s going to be interesting to try and balance everything!
Thank you so much for all of the support this year. We really appreciate it. I still feel so lucky to be able to call travel writing my job. See you in 2026!
Read our other annual round-ups
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
One half of the Canadian/British couple behind Off Track Travel, Gemma is happiest when hiking on the trail or planning the next big travel adventure. JR and Gemma are currently based in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada. Consider buying us a coffee if you have find any of our guides helpful!