Where the Trail Went Quiet - and Where It Led Us Next

Trans Canada Trail from Coast to Coast to Coast

“Yeah, it might be all that you get

Yeah, I guess this might well be it

Well, heaven knows I've tried…”

Marcus Mumford and Tom Howe, Ted Lasso Theme

If you’ve followed our #Hike4Birds journey over the years, you may have noticed something unusual as we headed north on the Trans Canada Trail: the stories slowed, the photographs went quiet, and for long stretches (indeed, entire provinces and territories) there were no journals or blog entries at all.

That silence wasn’t an ending - it was a stepping back, and a time to allow us to reorient ourselves. It was an opportunity for us to back away from social media, from the ever-personal critiques and to refocus on connecting with nature. And…it was a hope that we could find our love of the trek once again.

As it turned out, this was the right choice for us and for very practical reasons.

As we ventured onward toward the Arctic, wifi connectivity became intermittent, days blended together, and our focus narrowed to the essentials. Moving forward safely, observing the land and its wildlife with care, and learning that maybe…just maybe…we need not narrate every step, and need not share every picture, or post every day. 

We came to feel that we could write about the trail or we could hike the trail,  but not do both and enjoy the journey.

But while the shared trail stories and blogs grew quieter, the hiking itself never stopped.

Walking Beyond the Map

Before the Trans Canada Trail reshaped our lives, we were already drawn to long-distance walking as a way of understanding place. Caminos across Spain, France, and Portugal - the Camino Francés, Via Podiensis, Camino Portugués, and later the Via Augusta, Via de la Plata, and Camino Sanabrés - taught us how slow travel gives way to seeing the world more clearly, the option to explore history and the opportunity to see different cultures with fresh eyes.

As walkers, we think a lot about how people and places are interconnected. And the Trans Canada Trail has only strengthened that feeling, seeing our home nation as a series of stories braided together rather than divided by borders and varied histories

Each trail we walk, just as every person we meet, leaves their mark, and over the past three years, we have continued our hiking, exploring and birding.  We have repeatedly sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on vessels like Wind Surf, voyaged along the Alaskan coast and into Norway’s far north.  We have walked the length of Portugal on the Rota Vicentina and Camino pilgrimages and returned again and again to the national trails of England and Scotland.  All while we have continued our trek across Canada along gravel roadways and down long paved highways.  

Slow Travel and Sharing Again

We know that many people first found us through the Trans Canada Trail - and some may have stayed for that journey alone. This update is an invitation to step back into the wider map.

#Hike4Birds has always been about more than sharing the entire Great Trail and it is more about sharing just one trail. It’s about moving slowly through the world, paying attention to birds and landscapes, and choosing presence over performance. Sometimes that means publishing daily; sometimes it means walking quietly and trusting that the stories will surface when the time is right.

If you followed us years ago and wondered where the trail or our trek went, trust that it didn’t end. We just gave ourselves and it room to continue in our own way and continued to “draw a line” of trails and routes around the world beyond Canada.

We’re looking forward to sharing more of these journeys - old and new - and reconnecting with those who have walked alongside us, whether for a single trail or across continents

There is still so much to share and to see on the Trans Canada Trail – eventually it will find its way online.  Give us time as we slowly release new blogs and adventures. 

See you on the Trail!