"7 years, 16 countries, and oh-so many friends!!" Jefie's Profile

My name is Isa and I'm a Canadian/Quebecoise with a passion for literature, history, languages (I speak English, French, some Spanish and a little bit of Italian), and traveling of course! I live in beautiful Quebec City, Canada, where I work as a bilingual editor for government publications. I enjoy traveling on my own or with friends and family, but my absolute best travel buddy is none other than my husband Sylvain - he's basically the only one who can keep up with me!

I first stumbled across VT as I was doing research for a family camping trip. A search engine took me to the VT Travel Forum, I read the guidelines, took a quick look around, and immediately thought this was the perfect Website for me! I've been a member for over 6 years now and I've enjoyed building and browsing through other members' travel pages, but most of all I've had the pleasure of meeting some amazing people (you know who you are!) thanks to VT.

I've always loved traveling, but since I joined VT, this passion has turned into an obsession! I like to post information about my latest trips on my homepage, but feel free to click on my travel map to browse through my travel pages. As for what's coming up next, my mindset is the same as ever, meaning that I've got quite a few projects in mind, and while some will hopefully get done, some will inevitably get postponed. I plan on seeing most of the world anyways so it doesn't really matter in which order I do it. Just go with the flow and keep your mind open to new adventures!

Sylvain and I at the La Fortuna waterfalls

After years of dreaming about it, looking at brochures and then changing my mind at the last second, I finally made it to Costa Rica!! To make the most of our little adventure, we decided to join an ecotour, which we were both excited and nervous about since we'd never been on an organized tour before. In the end, we had the chance to travel with a fantastic guide and a really fun group of people, and it turned out to be a really good way of discovering some of the natural wonders of Costa Rica and getting the inside scoop on life in the country. I'll do my best to share what I've learned and discovered on my Costa Rica travel page!

Enjoying the sun at Fort Myers Beach

This year my in-laws decided to change things up a bit and settle in Florida for the winter, so Sylvain and I decided to take a short break from work and spend a week with them in sunny Port Charlotte. Like many Canadians, I'd been to Orlando before, but I'd never explored Southwest Florida. As it turns out, I really enjoyed visiting some of the small cities located along the coast: the warm temperature and casual feel of the region made for a very relaxing holiday, an experience that I really wouldn't mind repeating once winter hits Quebec City...!

VTmeet with Eman (Zajem) in Praha

After listening to a great violin solo, Sylvain suggested going to Vienna for our next trip to Europe. Building on that idea, I decided to add Budapest and Prague to our itinerary, and off we were to Central Europe! We spent two weeks walking around those three beautiful cities, taking in all the sites and as many museums as possible, while also taking the time to sample the local food and drinks. To make it even better, I got to spend my last day in Prague with Eman (Zajem), one of the very first friends I made here on VT. It doesn't get any better than this!

At Johnnys Po-Boys in New Orleans

New Orleans is just one of those cities I'd wanted to visit forever - I've always thought that its history, culture, music and food (!) were absolutely fascinating. After having spent 5 days in NOLA, I can say that the city definitely lived up to my expectations, and then some! I loved how warm and friendly people were (OK, so it might help that everyone was slightly tipsy!), and one thing I did not expect was to enjoy its nightlife the way I did. Since we were only there for a few days we spent most of our time walking around the French Quarter and Garden District, leaving plenty to discover for (hopefully) the next trip!

Having fun with my mom-in-law in Caye Caulker

Two years ago, Sylvain and I discovered the beautiful island of Caye Caulker, Belize, and this year it felt like we were ready for more so we went back for another week of fishing, snorkelling, cave tubing and rum punching!! It was a pretty special feeling to go back to this tiny island and bump into some of the people we'd met the last time, all of whom were there to greet us with warm hugs and big smiles - especially my wonderful in-laws with whom we got to spend the week and share several drinks, laughs and amazing adventures!

With "Rachel" at Pike Place Market in Seattle

When I found out that my friend Sylvia would be presenting at this year's Jane Austen Society AGM in Portland, I thought it was the perfect excuse to spend a week out on the West Coast. We ended up spending a day in Vancouver, 4 days in Seattle and 4 days in Portland - and believe it or not, we did get to enjoy a little bit of sunshine! But even when it rained, I very much enjoyed discovering the history and funky side of Seattle and Portland, especially their take on that great custom called "Happy Hour"!!

Vincent, Isa & Sylvain at Cap Alright

One of my life-long dreams just came true: I finally made it to les Iles-de-la-Madeleine! Along with Sylvain and his cousin Vincent, I spent two amazing days driving around these charming islands on my rental scooter. Located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Magdalen Islands are part of the province of Quebec but they're so incredibly unique, I constantly had to remind myself that I was still in Quebec - the food, the architecture, the landscapes, even the locals' lovely accent made me feel like I was miles away from home. I've already started dreaming about my next visit!