Jennifer Bain

The @tdsb.on.ca is forcing out beloved RHSA Principal Barrie Sketchley who has served this public art school for 33 years, ignoring students, parents & staff. We urge MPP Paul Calandra to act — reinstate Mr. Sketchley & help restore trust in TDSB governance. #SaveSketchley

Exploring The Salamander Capital Of The World On a recent trip to Tennessee, I lost count of how many people told me the same strange and unusual thing about Great Smoky Mountains National Park. If you stacked up all of the park’s salamanders aga...

Happiness is searching for salamanders with a scientist in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a trip to Townsend, Tennessee: www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/03/expl...

Seabeaning Among Marine Debris At Padre Island National Seashore The first time that I went seabeaning, I triumphantly scooped up what looked like a shrivelled brain from a national seashore that was dotted with plastic trash. I turned the fist-sized oddity over in...

As a tiny reprieve from all the madness in America right now, I bring you sea beans (note: harvested from Padre Island National Seashore on the Gulf of MEXICO): www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/03/seab...

Guns and Grief: The Measure of a Nation YouTube video by Tod Maffin

"There was a mass shooting tonight in Canada." That's a sentence you don't hear often, but it's true. It happened.

I have some thoughts about guns and grief... and the measure of a nation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNqB...

Rainbow Trees, Cold War-Era Planes and Other Reasons to Love Grenada — Modern Traveller Sipping on the pungent liquid reminds me of everything that grows here, and feels like the perfect way to wrap up my first weird and wonderful visit to such a spicy island.

In Grenada (which you can get to on a non-stop flight from Toronto), I developed a micro-obsession with a tree. My latest for @moderntraveller.bsky.social: www.moderntraveller.ca/home/rainbow...

El Capitan displays a massive American flag upside down—the traditional signal of distress or extreme emergency.

March of the World-Famous Peabody Ducks: Adventures in Memphis Women travellers can become a duckmaster for a day by walking the red carpet with the famous Peabody Ducks.

When in Memphis, walk the red carpet at the Peabody Memphis with the resident ducks and duckmaster Kenon Walker. I spent a lot of time polishing this ode to microadventures for @journeywoman.bsky.social.
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journeywoman.com/uncategorize...

Video obtained by CNN shows the rear landing gear of the jet buckling and the right wing shearing away in a fireball after the plane landed hard on the runway.

I hope America is as lucky as the delta jet - everyone survives but the right wing explodes

Saving Grenada's Critically Endangered National Bird Every seven seconds we hear it — the long, drawn out “hooooooo” of one of the world’s rarest birds. The Grenada Dove may be shy, elusive and critically endangered, but it’s cooing its heart out on thi...

On a recent group media trip to Grenada, I was poking for a national park story to write about for National Parks Traveler. I thought I was going to write about Grand Etang National Park. Then I spotted a national park/dove sanctuary on the map. www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/02/savi...

My latest was Greenland to Labrador so a little different and not the Canadian arctic but the highlight was being one of the few Canadians who has been to Torngat Mountains National Park:

Why do I love seeing the Canadian arctic on expedition cruises with Adventure Canada? My latest story for Zoomer (the Feb/March issue is on newsstands): jenniferbain.co/wp-content/u...

Have you toured the mid-century modern international lounge (a public space) at Gander International Airport in Newfoundland? Sometimes the best part of a story (this one is for Zoomer: jenniferbain.co/wp-content/u...) is the chance to run a photo.

When in Memphis, Don’t Miss the Whole Honey Gold Chicken Wings — Modern Traveller Luckily I had an entire roll of paper towels to myself and nobody to see the mess I made.

When I was told that Memphis has twice as many wing joints as barbecue joints, this former food editor and two-time cookbook author knew what her angle would be for @moderntraveller.bsky.social: www.moderntraveller.ca/home/when-in...

Rare Steller’s Sea-Eagle Visits Terra Nova National Park “Are you a birder?” the woman asked from the front seat of her pickup truck in the parking lot of a Newfoundland national park on New Year’s Eve.

That time I hopped a plane to Newfoundland just because a super rare Steller's Sea Eagle was spotted in a national park. Another @parkstraveler.bsky.social story: www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/01/rare...

First Look At Jasper’s Caribou Conservation Breeding Centre Behind an electrified fence along a seasonal road in Jasper National Park, a trailblazing Caribou Conservation Breeding Centre is nearing completion despite setbacks from a massive summer wildfire.

Really interesting things going on with caribou in Jasper National Park. My @parkstraveler.bsky.social story: www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2024/12/firs...

Lessons from Petra, Jordan: What Hiking the Back-Door Route Taught Me A back-door hike to Petra, one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites, gives you precious time away from the crowds.

I went to Jordan in October 2023 + sold two stories as soon as I returned. But it took until now to find a happy home — with @journeywoman.bsky.social — for this last piece: journeywoman.com/destinations...

I've always been a newspaper-style writer - writing each story as it comes. Every now and then, I get to write a retrospective, — like this "birds I've seen around the world" piece for Zoomer (in the Feb/March issue on newsstands): jenniferbain.co/wp-content/u...

Christmas By Candlelight At The Halifax Citadel It was a reminder of Christmases past, a time when simplicity not splashiness ruled.

A good story writes itself, we learned at journalism school. You have to write your way through the rest of them. That was my challenge when I went to the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site in Nova Scotia to write about Christmas.
#travelwriting www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2024/12/chri...

Touring Habitat 67, Montreal’s Brutalist Icon — Modern Traveller Still our intrepid guide freely admitted that Habitat 67 is an isolated apartment building that never realized its full potential. 

If you haven't already taken the Habitat 67 guided tour, I highly recommend it when it opens for the 2025 season. One of the best things I've done in Montreal. Here's my story - I caught the second last tour of 2024: www.moderntraveller.ca/home/touring...

I did this same thing while Toronto Star food editor, only it was “how about oatmeal” (specifically steel-cut oats for a section front). My boss said yes, she trusted me to figure it out.

Touring Habitat 67, Montreal’s Brutalist Icon — Modern Traveller Still our intrepid guide freely admitted that Habitat 67 is an isolated apartment building that never realized its full potential. 

Sometimes you go to a city a million times before finding the spot that really speaks to you. I finally caught a guided tour of Habitat 67 in Montreal & geeked out on the Brutalist spot whose creator insists it's actually anti-Brutalist:
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#travelwriting www.moderntraveller.ca/home/touring...

Anything to do with woody is scary 🤣

Waking up Woody The Talking Christmas Tree in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia — Modern Traveller In search of quirky Canadian Christmas traditions, I flew to Nova Scotia this month for the Evergreen Festival in Halifax and to meet Woody across the harbour in Dartmouth.

Woody the Talking Christmas Tree, I am your new + biggest fan. I met you twice since you refused to wake up the 1st time. I hit the Halifax library microfiche to try to learn more about your 1983 origin story. Does anyone have 1983-2021 Woody intel/photos?
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www.moderntraveller.ca/home/waking-...

I've spent the weekend communing with Woody the Talking Christmas Tree in the Mic Mall Mall in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Story to come in @moderntraveller.bsky.social on this freakish indoor roadside attraction (ballpark 55 feet)!
#visitnovascotia #compellingnovascotia #travelwriting

In Canada, pre-existing conditions does apply when you're buying/using travel insurance.

Jasper National Park Emerges From The Ashes Of A Wildfire In a mountain forest ravaged by fire in Jasper National Park, charred trees stand alongside a few that look like giraffes, their blackened trunks dotted with golden patches. Locals have taken to calli...

I spent 3N/2D in Jasper to gather 3 stories on how the town/park is recovering from the devastating summer wildfire. My 2nd story is for US-based @parkstraveler.bsky.social and is wrapped around bizarre-looking trees I photographed @ Lake Annette:
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www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2024/11/jasp...

Inuit drum dancers perform outdoors in Pond Inlet, Nunavut.

A feral cat named Two-Face with a deformed ear and two different coloured eyes sits on rocks in San Juan National Historic Park in Puerto Rico.

A badge for winning gold in the 2024 SATW Canadian Chapter Awards.

A badge for winning bronze in the 2024 SATW Canadian Chapter Awards.

Winning awards brings $ and the chance to revisit favourite stories. My story on the feral cats of San Juan won bronze in the SATW Canadian Chapter awards + my photo of Inuit drum dancers in Nunavut won gold.
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2023/08/mari...
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2023/11/insi...

Jasper is Ready for Winter — and for Visitors — Modern Traveller I can’t get enough of the charmingly goofy black bear, making pilgrimages to him on my own and with tour guides.

When is the right time to return to a beloved tourist town that has been ravaged by wildfires? For Jasper, the time is now. I travelled to Jasper National Park, took food + van tours + wrote about it for @moderntraveller.bsky.social #travel #travelwriting:
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www.moderntraveller.ca/home/jasper-...

One of my all-time favourite stories to research - I can still taste the
Meat I won and shared with my table

I have to go to bed, so sadly I'll miss the big moment, but knowing that when I wake up Bluesky will have reached its 20 million-user target is incredibly exciting to me, and I expect too many of you.

So glad this place is blossoming! And so glad to be experiencing its blossoming with all of you. 🦋