Introducing the Explore British Columbia Summer Blog Trip!

Good day,

I’ve been waiting to tell all of you about this adventure for so long, I literally had to rip the zipper off my pants and sew it on my face not to tell anyone over the past few weeks. It was even worse at TBEX  but I managed  to keep my mouth glued and here we are!  SHABL is going to British Columbia for a solid month starting June 23rd and things are going to GET CRAZY.  Think about what you think you know about a press trip then look at that little light carried by Will Smith in the movie Men in Black and forget it. Things are changing and SHABL is proud, honored and incredibly excited to be on the front lines for this innovative initiative!

What’s happening you ask!? Well the pleasant people at Tourism BC have developed two groups of bloggers who we’ll call team Eagle and Team Orca (me!). Team Eagle consists of a couple from Ontario named Dina & Ryan who write for VagabondQuest. The other team aka the one I’m on is called team Orca and it will consist of myself and Brendan from Brendan’s Adventures. I’ve never met Brendan but he did just come back from West Africa so I know we’ll at least be eating flavored ice-cream on this trip. I do know that I’ll know a lot more after a month as we’ll be spending quite a bit of time together. We’ll be discovering British Columbia in a rental car, yes we’re going on an epic west coast road trip AND MORE.

Enough of this though, why am I so excited? I’m stoked because I love British Columbia and when I first started my trip, I spent a month or so out there just soaking it all in like a sponge named Rob, not Bob. I love it so much that before this even materialized, I had already made plans to spend the end of August and most of September in and around Vancouver and Victoria. To say I nearly freaked out when I got the email in my inbox on that fateful day would be an understatement.  What’s also awesome is that the route Brendan and I are taking is very unique and I believe that most people who have been to BC, even many times will find something new and exciting.

Let’s discuss some itinerary, shall we? Without giving away the goods just know that I’ll be all over Vancouver Island, hanging out in Tofino for Canada Day (come say what’s up, seriously) , doing the grizzly bear experience in Khutzeymateen,  a gliding adventure in Pemberton, whale watching in Telegraph Cove and MORE. What also makes this unique is that many decisions will be made by the fans of Tourism BC. So if you like them, you can help decide where I go this summer and what I do, cool?

What can you expect from me? Well, I’ll be busy with all this travel so expect to see 2-3 posts every 6 months and the odd hotel review, NOT. SHABL is going to do what it has done every day for nearly 3 years and what it does best, documenting an egregious trip in real time in a style that is informative and at times, entertaining. By the end of this trip, we’re all going to be experts on the British Columbia nobody ever really hears about. Dina and Ryan will be covering the more iconic sites as this is their first visit. As long term visitors, Brendan and I are off to see the side that gets less discussion.

Naturally I’ve left out most of the cool stuff, I want it to be a surprise. Nothing like a good surprise, yes!?

I want you to join in and help direct the trip, will ya? Visit the Tourism BC Facebook page and get involved!

Tips hat while tap dancing on a Toshiba from Thailand.

P.S: The trip will also include golfing, fishing, white-water rafting and a gliding adventure!?

P.P.S: All these photos are from the month I spent in BC when the trip first started in 2009…

P.P.P.S: Big thanks to Tourism BC for including SHABL on such an adventure, appreciated!