From 1 May – 6 August this year Emma went on a 3 month solo trip around Canada and the United States (Turtle Island) exploring the landscape, indigenous culture, visiting museums and art galleries, being with friends and doing a month long training in wilderness therapy in California. Along the way she wrote, took photos and visited many libraries. Starting and finishing at Toronto she travelled over 8000 miles by train, car, bus and ferry (not to mention the 3400 mile flight each way, plus the many miles she made on foot and local public transport!) Emma is gradually posting here a tidied up version (with information and links added) of the WhatsApp blog she posted to friends and family at the time. Keep returning here to catch the unfolding story and visit Calderdale Libraries this Autumn to see a touring display Emma has created about her trip.
Sat 4 May 2024 Welcome to this WhatApp Community – a place for me to share photos and info about my trip to Canada and USA for friends and family. I hope you enjoy it and happy travels wherever you are. 😊🇨🇦💜🌳🇺🇸🌞
Click on the links below to catch up with more of the adventure...
Emma began and finished her journey in Toronto where she was born, spending time first with her sister where together they did Toronto and Niagara Falls. She then headed West solo to Manitoulin Island, Northern Ontario, followed by long train rides taking days through forests, lakes, plains and mountains to Edmonton, Alberta, then Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Family adventures, meeting the land, indigenous culture and big trees.
From Vancouver Emma travelled South to the USA and sunny California. Wine country, the Charlie Brown Museum in Santa Rosa, more culture, more trees and a beloved city, San Francisco.
From 11 June – 14 July Emma undertook a month-long training programme with the School of Lost Borders in the Inyo Forest of California. It was a rich and intense experience, living in community in the desert, connecting deeply with nature and self. She brings back much she is still processing to enrich her life and work as wordsmith, guide and elder.
Returning to the world after a month in the desert, Emma began heading homeward, East, visiting more of California, small town Nebraska and two weeks with dear friends in Ohio. From there she made her way back to Toronto and then – home.
If you enjoy this you might also be interested in the travel blog Emma wrote on a trip she made in 2010 following her father’s footsteps. (She subsequently turned this into her first show Beyond Dreams of Aberystwyth plus the Online Book you can read here).