I have the good fortune to be able to stay with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law on the coast of northern Maine near Gouldsboro for a week each summer. This year I decided to take two separate day trips into Canada.
The first trip was to St. Andrews in New Brunswick. It was about a three hour easy drive up Route 1, crossing the border in St. Stephen (near Calais, ME), and back down the peninsula on the other side of the St. Croix River via Route 127 to St. Andrews. The primary attraction for the day in St. Andrews was the Kingsbrae Garden, which is a 27-acre public garden. Some of the areas include a sculpture garden where sculptures are surrounded by a coordinating garden, perennial gardens, rose gardens, formal gardens, scents and sensitivity gardens, sustainability gardens, peace gardens, and much more. Kingsbrae also has animals and children’s activities, plus a nice place onsite for a picnic lunch. There is a café with a terrace if you prefer more formal dining.
In addition to the Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews has a downtown area with shops, restaurants, and places to stay. Surrounded on three sides by water, area businesses offer whale watching, fishing, kayaking and other water adventures. St. Andrews is a great way to do a day trip into Canada from Maine. Make sure you have your passport or passport card with you.
A shorter day trip (about 2 hours) is to Campobello Island, also in New Brunswick. You may recall from the history books that Campobello was the summer home for President Roosevelt and you can tour the house and grounds in what is now Roosevelt Campobello International Park. To get there, take Route 1 past Machias, to Route 189 to Lubec, and then over the FDR International Bridge to the Border Crossing for Campobello Island (again, bring your passport or passport card). Route 774 runs the length of the island and is well marked for the attractions. The views throughout the island are beautiful.
My favorite part of Campobello Island is the Head Harbour Lightstation, which is at the far point of the island in Wilson’s Beach. This is the oldest surviving lighthouse in New Brunswick and is also known as the East Quoddy Light. The grounds are the classic rugged rocks and low trees for the area, and to get to the lighthouse itself you go up and down a series of metal ladders imbedded in the rocks and cross a beach that’s only accessible at low tide. Bring a picnic lunch to eat out at the lighthouse and enjoy the beautiful view. But, watch the tide, or you’ll be stuck out there until the next low tide.
On the way back, be sure to stop in Lubec, ME (the easternmost point in the U.S.) to see the West Quoddy Lighthouse. Also, stop at Monica’s Chocolates on Rt. 189 in Lubec for a special treat and Wild Blueberry Land on Route 1 in Columbia, ME to pick up a box of Maine blueberries and some of the best blueberry pie around.
Even when you are away from home, keep your eye open for interesting day trips from where you are staying. Often these side trips are inexpensive and a great way to explore new places.
Several years ago, I spent a couple of weeks in Switzerland, staying with family. I asked where the locals eat when they were traveling around Switzerland, and the answer was – the grocery store. Two of the largest chains, Coop and Migros, had cafeterias in their stores that offered a wide variety of meals and individual items that were freshly made and relatively inexpensive.
No longer was the grocery store just for snacks and bottled water! If the hotel room has a refrigerator, you can pick up items for a couple of days at a time. Here are some suggestions:
Dinner – Many stores have store prepared hot items, salad bars, and pizza. You can also get items for a picnic such as roasted chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, bread, and cheese. Almost every area has beautiful parks or gardens available to enjoy your picnic. Some areas also offer free concerts or street performers (buskers) in the evening to entertain you while you eat. One of my favorite meals in Paris was meeting up with a group of people for a picnic of cheeses, sausages, bread, fruit, and wine in a local park on a beautiful evening.
With a backpack only weighing 12.5 lbs, navigating the airport and the long walk on my layover was a breeze. I opted to take the airport shuttle recommended by the hostel where I had reservations, but I was the fifth stop and an Uber for $5 more would have been better. However, I did get a good tour of the city.
out during WWII for the Pacific (including my father) started their journey and is now a national park. The hostel is up on a hill overlooking the bay, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The San Francisco Bay Walking/Bike Trail goes right by the hostel and runs along the bay for miles. It was a 15-minute walk to Fisherman’s Wharf, 20 minutes to Pier 39, and 40 minutes to the Ferry Building. Walking the other way was the Marina area, where hundreds of people were out walking, running, and riding bikes right along the water and once a week they have a Food Truck (and Booth) event called Off the Grid.
Every morning while at Fort Mason I ate breakfast at a picnic table overlooking the bay and every evening watched the sun set over the bay. Although crowded, there are lots of things to do. I went to the Aquarium, some Maritime Museums, and the Exploratorium, which is an amazing place with hundreds of hands on activities for both children and adults. At Pier 39, which is a large commercial area, seals hang out on the docks. I spent hours walking by the bay and roaming around the area. I was amazed at the access people have to the bay.
There is a free swimming area and one evening I watched the large area triathlon group practice their swimming. For people who want to take a boat out onto the bay, there are options both large and small. It seemed like every corner had a bike rental place, and there was tons of public transportation. In the evenings, I hung around the common room, talking with other travelers (many international) or participating in activities such as a Tai Chi class. I decided to decline the Bar Crawl Tour led by one of the hostel employees.
For the fourth through seventh night, I hopped a bus to 
I decided to buy a two day hop on/hop off bus ticket, which offered unlimited rides on four different tours of the city in open air busses. On the first day, I took three of the tours (1-2 hours each), including one that went over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito. The tour guides did a great job talking about the history of the area, the impact of the earthquakes, pointing out good places to eat and visit, and interesting stories.
and the Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens was having an exhibit called Flower Pianos, where twelve pianos were placed around the gardens and people were encouraged to play them. It was beautiful to walk around the gardens and listen to a 
variety of piano music. A short walk away was Haight-Ashbury, which was fun to wander through. When I was done, I just hopped back on the bus, and went off to the next place to explore. For my remaining days, I headed back to the bay area, stopping to watch the street performers, reading in the gardens by the water, people watching, eating ice cream, going for long walks, etc.
Staying at the hostels cost me a rate (before hotel tax in the downtown location) of $47 – $65 per night. A light continental breakfast was included. The Fort Mason hostel had eight women in a room and the downtown room had four. I prefer the smaller rooms, but because you are primarily using the room to sleep, it really doesn’t matter that much. Both locations had great common rooms and good communal kitchens.
My advice if you want to try hosteling is to try it for 2 nights. That’s enough time to get a taste of what hosteling travel is like without the risk of ruining your entire vacation if it doesn’t work out. Hosteling isn’t for everyone, but I found that as a single female traveling alone, it provides me with great people to talk to and a sense of community I don’t get when staying by myself in a hotel. Considering the hostels in both locations were full, a lot of people seem to agree.
in another project. These aren’t fancy and didn’t take long to make. I found some cord locks on Amazon that keep the bags closed. The bags stayed put for the whole trip, but if I was concerned, I could have used a strap around the bag to keep everything secure.
Strategically pack the bag like a jigsaw puzzle – no wasted space. Write down how you did it or take pictures with your phone so you can do the same when you return home. There you have it! One bag, 12.5 lbs.