"Winters greets us with a mild mood" Faiza-Ifrah's Profile

The main picture shows Eaton Mall decked out for Christmas season.

We came out of Fall season with our micro-travel projects - exploring fall colours, micro-hiking trips, and lots and lots of shopping.

Please enjoy our travel reports and photographs of deserts, forests, lakes, vales and mountains bashing mini-adventures in 10 countries that we have visited to-date.

Fall colours

This picture shows American Falls with Niagara's Horseshoe Falls (in the far background) in New York State Niagara Falls Park..

We love national parks, state parks, provincial parks and other conservation parks. Our tips on these pages are mostly about vacationing for or day tripping into conservation areas of all kinds.

The picture on the side is of a forest at peak fall colours on our way to Algonquin Provincial Park.

Recently visited national / state / provincial parks:

1. Bruce Trail in and around Hamilton: covered under Hamilton, Ontario page
2. Blue Ridge Parkway: covered under Boone, North Carolina page
3.Fathom Five National Marine Park: covered under Tobermory, Ontario page
4. Bruce Peninsula National Park: covered under Bruce Peninsula National Park page
5. Niagara Falls State Park: covered under New York State
6. Shenandoah National Park: covered under Virginia page.

!75th anniversary celebration at a village

"A tourist visits to confirm what he already believes of the world. A traveler journeys to challenge the unknown. A family traveler takes a mid-route - going off the beaten path."

Our pages cover destinations that are less visited, but offer equal or more fun and learning, especially for women and children. Moreover, you will notice that our travels are done with family and family friends. There is strength in numbers, as Kipling had once written,

"Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."

We have found that visiting museums, memorials, and historical places has been a good way to increase our awareness and to educate our children on world cultures, religions and environment. The picture is from a village in my neighbourhood celebrating 175th anniversary. I live at the corner of a scenic residential road that passes by a conservation park, a meadow where one can see deer grazing and coyotes prowling, over a river by a historic village that is 175 years old, by several playgrounds where people and dogs abound, and has many cultural events going on all the time.

Our memorable trips for family education can be found on the following pages:

1. Museums and historical gardens: covered under Boone, North Carolina page
2. Royal Ontario Museum and Ontario Science Centre: covered under Toronto page
3. Shakers Village, Berkshire Museum and Chesterwood: covered under Massachusetts page
4. Many memorials under Washington, DC page

Canoeing under the overhanging cliffs

Whether it is airboating in Florida, canoeing in the lakes and rivers of Canada, kayaking on New river, or pontoon boating in Massacusetts, we like it all.

These activities are replaced by dog sledding in winters, although taste for it is recently acquired.

Canoeing and kayaking are the best ways to enjoy wildlife and are exciting activities on their own. I am afraid this will never be liked by Rafting enthusiasts. All 4 of us have been involved in minor accidents when it comes to canoeing, but none of us would give it up.

Canoeing, kayaking, and boating appear prominently in our vacation trips.

Some memorable boating, canoeing, kayaking, and dog sledding trips have been on:

1. Toronto off the beaten path and sports tips
2. New River: covered under Boone, North Carolina page
3. Pontoosuc Lake and Oneonta Lake: covered under Massachusetts page
4. Diable River, Lac Tremblant and Lac Moore: covered under Mont-Tremblant page

Mr. Porcupine up a fall tree

We love aquariums, wildlife conservation parks, zoological and botanical gardens, museums of natural history, and observing fauna and flora in National and other conservation parks.

Yes, we are family travellers and also wildlife lovers. This does not mean that we would go adventure travelling into the rain forests of Brazil to see how Jaguars live, but would certainly take any opportunity that comes our way to enjoy nature.

The picture at the side is of a porcupine up a tree showing fall colours.

Catherine and Gianluca

VT is a good place to make friends and meet them. Here, I am standing with two VT friends Catherine (Drolkar on VT) and Gianluca (janchan on VT) outside a restaurant in Dubai. The two made a brief stay while on their way to Afghanistan. My family loves this dynamic duo on all kinds of social work that they are doing across the globe. My external page will take you to their impressive website.

Dubai itself has blossomed as a tourist destination and is considered hot. But then why hangout in Dubai only. Venture out with us into the deserts and valleys on our UAE pages.

Fall colours near a rest area in Algonquin

Because of our inability to fly to distant destinations, thanks to one in the family afraid to do so, we resort to driving to our destinations. Our road trips are fun. Not only do we explore towns coming our way, we drive on roads through major attractions like Blue Ridge Highway and other picturesque country roads that are less travelled.

Some memorable road trips:

1. From Mississauga, Ontario to Boone, North Carolina in 2009
2. Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, North Carolina in 2009
3. Blue Ridge Parkway near Harrisonburg, Virginia in 2008
4. Scenic Mohawk Trail, Berskshires, Massachusetts in 2008
5. From Mississauga to Sudbury, Ontario in 2005

K2 is a couch potato inside and a devil outside

These page have been created by our mother and daughter team. The pages are maintained by me, pictures are selected and uploaded by my daughter. My husband used to take most of the shots before my son got his digital camera as a Christmas gift. My husband also helps me in writing the tip on word document that I cut and paste ;-), which also explains why my daughter and I take so much time in putting our tips on the VT. Finally, my son reviews critically, whatever that means :-)

The picture on the side shows our Kuvasz boy 'K2' during a hike with my son at a nearby conservation park after first snow on December 31, 2011.