Woodstock, New Brunswick awaits.
I have mentioned my travel playbook in several posts, including You Have to See the Midland Ice Caves. and I used it extensively in Sussex New Brunswick- Don’t Just Pass Through. My book is not a fancy laptop or a modern app, it is an old-fashioned notebook where I jot down important facts, with a pen, about places I plan to see.
My current book is a hardcover bound journal, one I have been using for the last two years and it is nearly full. Looking through the pages of items I have checked off, I am impressed with myself. I get a wow.
Why do I use a book? The young will answer that it’s because I am old-fashioned, but I just find it quicker. I may collect information on a place for a month or more before I go, and I get inspiration from many sources: television shows, internet searches – even the local news when they mention unknown filming locations, a house where someone famous resided, or a hike to a look-off or rock formation. To keep track of them – I have a book for that.
My next target location is Woodstock. I have been there before, passed through and collected a few roadside attractions. Nackawic, which is on the way, has the world’s largest axe, which I featured in Size Matters In New Brunswick .
The lure this time is the story of Benny Swim being hanged twice in the courtyard of the Carleton County jail. It is too delicious a story for me to swerve long. I was going there last weekend but it snowed, and the weather forecast this weekend looks the same. So my itinerary is set but I will have to wait for a break in the winter weather to see what Woodstock has to offer.
Until then, I know my first destination, then I will add to my collection of national historic sites and monuments with the Connell House . After that I will refer to my book.
Yes, It might be nice to have it all in a computer program of some sort, I could itemize every historic building or piece of public art in Edmunston, New Brunswick or Lunenburg, Nova Scotia but it would do me no good while I’m camping in the back country where there is no signal or place to charge a low battery.
I do create a lot of Google maps to efficiently identify the quickest path between attractions, but once I have my itinerary figured out they go in the playbook. There I can easily open to the page marked Woodstock, look at my list of points of interest, locate the coordinates to the trail head of the waterfalls that someone recommended. Perhaps I will snowshoe the Maliseet trail.
Until a clear day arrives, happy travels from Maritime Mac.
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MaritimeMac 
Love this whole post and idea!
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Oh thank you so much
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Love using good old fashioned pen and paper, writing letters and sending postcards. It’s nice put down the technology and think freely, great post 😊
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Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it
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Snow days are excellent for planning. I use both a notebook and my laptop for planning. It is warming up here in the subtropics but I am looking at central America with interest…🌞
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Nice. I hope my next big trip , (outside Canada) will be to south America, I really want to go to peru
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Peru is amazing! Save some time for Lima and Miraflores. Went there for a long weekend, the food is delicious, the people are charming and the Spanish architecture stunning,
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I have wanted to go all my life. I am fifty now and I wonder if I will ever be able to afford a trip there. fingers crossed I continue to focus on it
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There are a variety of inexpensive ways to get to Peru. Some of them stop at Mexico City or Panama. We have a direct flight from Houston but it isn’t cheap. Look at Taca or AeroMexico. Even Spirit Airlines goes to Honduras…
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I have to come from Eastern Canada, fly to Toronto, then flight south from there
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I did a quick search and there is a non-stop return flight on Air Canada from Toronto to Lima for $498 – not bad for the length of journey.
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That’s one way? And another $500/600 from Fredericton, New Brunswick
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I found one for $789 return from Fredericton, that is a really good price at end of March.
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Makes perfect sense to me. I tend to do much the same, with some modifications. I simply don’t have a pressing need to pay monthly charges for a smart phone.
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I agree, I have a basic phone package for emergencies since I do live alone and family is many hours away.
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I also love writing things down and end up making lists and to-do-lists for everything!! I am not very tech savvy and and like ticking off things i’ve done and adding more if something comes up!
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Haha, I’m not alone, in my note taking
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I’m a note taker too, but they aren’t nearly as well organized as yours. I’m eyeing your book with interest … I may have to give it a try to give all those random notes a home!
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It works and I take it will me when ever I hit the highway. I have lighthouses, road side attractions, covered bridges so know matter where I am I can check and know I am going by something interesting
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I think it’s a brilliant idea. So often I find myself in an area of the city I don’t normally travel in and wondering what was on my list that is in the area.
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Glad I could help
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Hey Kelly,
I enjoyed your post and I too prefer paper notebooks for collecting thoughts, planning and first drafts. Thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind words. I look forward to enjoying more of your work and learning from your travels. In my notebook I’ve penciled in, ‘Bicycling across Canada summer 2018’. Your writings will provide inspiration and give me a better understanding of the country, especially the maritimes. I still don’t know where to end our trip, Oh, I almost forgot, I truly enjoy your photography also. Best wishes. Brick
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Why thank you, glad you enjoyed my posts. And I yours. I have always wanted to bike across Canada,most people do the trip west to east due to wind and spring generally arrives first in the west, and fall lasts till December in the east.
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