We met Bruce at our first family-style dinner at Ojibway and instantly took a liking to his many stories about the lodge and the region. He had been coming to this exact spot since 1951 when he was a 10-year-old overnight camper from outside Detroit. Now living in Virginia Beach, he spends a little over a month each summer in his cabin on an island across from Ojibway to listen to waves lapping ashore, smell the sweet pine, watch the night sky, and explore the lake via canoe or motorboat. While Tanya and Louise are the consummate hosts who run Ojibway, Bruce is the unofficial guide. He said he’d take us on his boat to see some of this immense lake that first night and we thought he was just being friendly. But then he did just that on our last day, as we went out with him to one of his favorite spots in the northern part of the lake. We brought lunch made by the kitchen, drinks, and headed off. 

As soon as I laid eyes on the waters of Lake Temagami, all I wanted to do was jump in and swim. And for 3 days, that’s primarily what I did. Dove in the heavenly waters of this vast lake and swam free crawl, backstroke, elementary backstroke, underwater, to a small island directly across from us, where our friend Bruce had his cabin (I’ll talk more about him tomorrow). It was a perfect cleansing of my body in these pristine waters, happily washing away the year’s stress with each stroke. 

On our first day at Bartlett Lodge, we signed up for a Tom Thomson tour with our guide, Malcolm. Tom Thomson was arguably Canada’s first iconic painter, sketching lone birches and pines swaying in the wind on the shores of Algonquin’s many lakes. While not technically a member of Canada’s Group of Seven artists, he was good friends with many in the group and would have certainly been a member if he had not died under mysterious circumstances at Algonquin in 1917. Thomson would spend a good 5-year span at Algonquin before his untimely death and Malcolm did a thorough job showing us the many sites where his paintings were created. We started at Tea Lake Dam, where Thomson first camped in the area along a babbling brook. Thomson was also known as an accomplished angler and paddler and you can easily see him living happily on the water’s edge here. It helped that Malcolm brought along a laptop to show us the sketches that were created in this exact spot and many other locales we would visit that day. 

As soon as you step foot in that large wooden boat and are whisked away a mere 5 minutes from the parking lot to Bartlett Lodge, tensions start to melt away with the calm Cache Lake waters. Traveling with Amy and Josh from their home in Toronto, it took us about 3 ½ hours to reach Algonquin Provincial Park in central Ontario. Amy had met the owners of Bartlett Lodge, Marilyn and Kim on an Adventure Canada cruise circumnavigating Newfoundland last fall, and she wanted to make this our first stop on a tour of classic Ontario cabins. She started with a winner, the circa-1907 Deil Ma Care cabin, created before the resort even opened by a doctor from Ottawa who would bring patients with TB and other respiratory ailments to Algonquin as a salubrious retreat. After 3 nights at Bartlett Lodge, I’m happy to report that the lodge is just as therapeutic today as it was a century ago! 

I like to carry my trusty Hydro Flask water bottle when traveling, but it takes up a lot of space in my carry-on. That’s why I was excited to try a new collapsible water bottle called HYDAWAY. The foldable 17-ounce bottle is leakproof and made of BPA-free plastic. Plus it can go in the dishwasher. The best part is it only retails for $25 so it won’t break the bank. 

When we last stepped foot on Virgin Gorda February 2018, the island was devastated in the wake of Hurricane Irma. We were sailing the BVIs and the locals were overjoyed to have any travelers to this region. But it was hard not to be saddened by the overwhelming state of destruction. Upon arrival in Tortola, boats were capsized in the harbor, roofs were ripped off houses, and locals were driving cars with broken windows. Classic resorts like Bitter End and Peter Island were in tatters, large tankers beached, homes destroyed wherever you looked. Thus the reason why we’re overjoyed to find out today that the Rosewood Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda is now accepting reservations for March 2020 and beyond. Laurence Rockefeller found this wilderness outpost so appealing that he built Little Dix on a deserted beach. The allure comes from the almost primitive feel of this 10-mile long island. There is little shopping, few restaurants outside of the hotels, and the only major site is a snorkeling spot called The Baths, where rock grottos on the shoreline form natural pools. With few distractions, this is the place to book a room for a week, relax on the beach, and read a good thick Russian novel like Anna Karenina that you’ve always wanted to read and never found the time. 

Having taken a memorable Older Teens & 20s (17-23) trip with Backroads to Switzerland, I know firsthand what a pleasure it is to have your children travel with kids in their specific age group. Not to mention, it was also a joy to meet other active families who love being outdoors as much as we do. That’s why I’m delighted to see that Backroads has now expanded these trips to families with children in their 20s and 30s. God willing, I plan to be hiking and biking well into my 80s and there’s no better way to get my weary body up that mountain than with my children. Backroads options span the globe, but the ones that look most tantalizing to me are New Zealand Multi-Adventure, Greece Multi-Adventure, and Spain’s Mallorca and Menorca Bike Tour. Please have a look and, if interested, contact ActiveTravels to check if ages match up on a specific trip, and to help with flights and pre- and post-lodging. 

Mention the Allagash River to a canoeist and his eyes suddenly become moist and dreamy as he inevitably responds, “Yeah, I’d like to go there someday.” The river has somehow attained legendary stature. Perhaps it’s the way the blue streak of water slips off the map of America’s northern fringes, remote and isolated, hundreds of miles from the nearest metropolis. Or maybe it’s the legacy of writer, philosopher, and inveterate traveler Henry David Thoreau, who ventured down the waterway a mere 155 years ago, waxing lyrically about the last great frontier in the East in his book, The Maine Woods. Whatever the reason, the 92-mile Allagash Wilderness Waterway continues to lure 10,000-plus paddlers to its shores every summer, turning farfetched dreams into reality. Paddle the Allagash in September like I did and you’ll be treated to moose in heat, fall foliage colors, and no bugs. Go with a trusted guide like Mahoosuc Guide Service, who led me down the West Branch of the Penobscot River for this Sierra Magazine story. They still have openings on their September 24-29 trip, $1250 per person all-inclusive. 

The kids are stand-up paddle boarding near the middle of the lake. Lisa is sea kayaking with her siblings and their spouses closer to the shoreline. Steady wind blowing through my hair, I’m at the tiller of an 18-foot sailboat accompanied by my mother-in-law, Fran. I grew up sailing on the large lake to the south, Lake George, where there's far more boat traffic and large passenger steamboats like The Mohican, which I always seemed to be on a direct line to hit. But here on the southern tier of mighty Lake Champlain, there is little traffic on this July weekday and I don’t feel a worry in the world. Vermont’s Basin Harbor Club is one of a handful of resorts that we like to send clients in summer who are looking for a large family get-together. One that’s suitable for all ages, from toddlers to octogenarians. Please see the latest ActiveTravels newsletter to find other recommended resorts. We also discuss the Canary Islands, a popular getaway for the Brits, but not yet on the American radar.