Feb 11 2026 - Huge Expedition News

 

I've only been back home for a few days, but tomorrow I begin what will become a series of consecutive expeditions that will literally take me around the world to some of the most interesting places, and harshest climates.

First I'll be headed to Tasmania to board Le Commandant Charcot, the icebreaker that I was on in Greenland last year for a month-long expedition to the Magnetic South Pole and East Antarctica. These areas are very seldom visited. More people have (by far) been to the Geographic South Pole than the Magnetic South Pole. The ship will continue along East Antarctica to the French Southern & Antarctic Islands, then end in Cape Town, South Africa.

From there, I head directly to Nouakchott, Mauritania for a 2 week overland expedition into the Sahara Desert, specifically to the Richat Structure, also known as "The Eye Of The Sahara."

But that's not the end. From Mauritania, I continue on for another 2 weeks in Morocco to the Atlas Mountains and more.

I will update as much as I can here during this epic adventure.

Feb 08 2026 - Southampton, U.K.

 

I've been at sea for the past 10 days straight. We were expecting to stop in The Azores, however, the winter storm that aaffectwd North America impacted us as well, causing high winds and sea swell to the point where we were not able to stop in Ponta Delgada.

The captain did his best to keep us south of the worst of the weather, but we eventually had no choice but to turn north, causing the swell to hit our port side, which made the ship roll quite a bit. Luckily, I wasn't seasick, but I'm certain many were.

Condintions improved as we sailed past the Iberian Peninsula and into the English Channel.

We arrived in Southampton on time this morning, and I slowly made my way back home from the ship via Uber, a bus to Heathrow airport in London, and a flight home to the freezing cold conditions we've been having in Toronto for the past few weeks.

This was my frst time aboard the Queen Victoria. She is a fine vessel, and I'm looking forward to the next time I get to sail aboard her.

Jan 28 2026 - Anguilla

 

The ship docked at St. Martin this morning, on the Dutch side of the island. I had been to St. Martin before, so this time I wanted to do something different, so I decided to take the day and go on an adventure to Anguilla. The ship was holding my passport, but I managed to get it back temporarily.

Anguilla is a British overseas territory, so this was going to be an international adventure. First thing after an early breakfast, I headed ashore and grabbed a taxi. The weird thing was I ended up sharing the taxi with a local woman, and the cab driver dropped her off at the emergency room of the local hospital. I have no idea what was going on. Anyway, we went from the Dutch side over to Marigot on the French side, where the ferry terminal is.

I exited Saint-Marten and boarded the local ferry. The weather good today, so the 20-minute ferry ride was no problem. Once I arrived in Anguilla, I cleared immigration and grabbed another taxi to take me up to the north shore of the island. There was a particular spot I was looking for, so I got the cab driver to let me off on the side of the road, and I walked until I found it. A trail that winds its way down the hillside to the sea at Sandy Ground Beach. It was a gorgeous beach, and there was practically nobody else. I think I saw 5 other people the whole time I was there.

The main attraction was a shipwreck. The Pamead was a cargo vessel that was broken up by Hurricane Luis (or Lenny) in the mid 1990’s. Sources seem to disagree on the details of what happened. There's actually not just one, but 2 ships that had been wrecked here. The Pamead, which was easy to reach, and a smaller one, possibly a tug boat, further away. I had the shipwreck all to myself, so took some photos, had a snack, took off my shoes and enjoyed the beach for a while.

I didn't want to risk missing the boat, so I gave myself plenty of time to get back. Instead of finding a taxi out in the middle of nowhere, I'd planned to walk back to the ferry terminal. The walk was nice, hot but not scorching.

I reversed the process and exited Anguilla, got onto the public ferry, then went through French immigration back in Marigot where I took my final taxi ride of the day back to the ship. It was a good day, and Anguilla is my 91st country (3rd new one on this voyage).

Jan 26 2026 - St. Kitts & Nevis

 

This marks my 90th country (Or overseas territory). Quite a milestone, I can see the next big target ahead of me. Regardless, it was a gorgeous morning, but it was windy, and the sea looked a bit choppy. We got off the ship early to go on an excursion to Nevis Island. I figured that if I was going to visit St. Kitts and Nevis, I should probably visit both islands.

The ride over was in a very fast catamaran, and it was much smoother than I was expecting. No problem. Along the way, we passed some super yachts at the south end of ST. Kitts, and in the channel between the 2 islands was Booby Island (Yep, that's the name).

Once on Nevis, we went on a mini-bus tour. We saw the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton in Charlestown, then the ruins of Fort Charles and eventually went to a beach spot for lunch, some rum punch and a swim in the ocean.

Jan 25 2026 - Record Breaking Snowstorm Back Home In Toronto

 

Toronto got absolutely slammed by a combination of a potent snowstorm, plus unusual, intense lake-effect snow off of Lake Ontario to produce a single-day snowfall record. The most snow to ever fall in the city in a single day. Some parts of the Greater Toronto Area received over 60cm of snow. Hundreds of flights were canceled, schools and businesses closed, and city came to a standstill. My house was in the hardest hit area. I wish I had been there in person for it, but I'm away in the sunny Caribbean.

Jan 25 2026 - Antigua

 

I made the decision to hike out to Fort James today, which is located on a long spit of land northwest of St.John’s. I left pretty early, at 8:45 to ensure that I missed most of the harsh, mid-day sun. It took me almost an hour to get out there. Along the way I stopped to photograph some cattle egrets, and take a stroll along Fort James Beach.

I arrived at the fort, and it looks like it was abandoned, then repurposed, then abandoned again. It was very decrepit, so I decided to do some urban exploration in there. The floors were falling apart, and full of holes, the roofs of the buildings were decayed. It was quite dangerous to go inside any of these buildings, and I'm surprised the place is actually open to the public. My whole time there, I only saw a few other people. I did befriend an orange and white cat that seemed to live there. I gave him some water and petted him a bit. Unfortunately, I didn't have any food for him.

There were several old canons still aimed out towards the sea. The fort was built to guard St. John's harbour and is one of the many forts built by the British in the 18th century. Fear of a French invasion prompted the construction, but the site now lies in ruin, but it still offers a great view of St. John’s Harbour.

I kept walking around and found another abandoned building. This one was Russel’s Bar & Seafood Restaurant. The place was absolutely abandoned and should be torn down.

By the time I got back to town, it was getting hot, and I was running low on water, but I saw the big cathedral was close by, so I walked up the hill to check it out. An impressive building, for certain. It was Sunday, so there was a service going on inside. I didn't linger long before heading back to the ship. In total I was out walking in the tropical sun, carrying my heavy camera bag for about 4 hours.

Jan 24 2026 - Roseau, Dominica

 

The last time I was in Dominica was back in 2007 when I did the world’s first ever rope-traverse of the Boiling Lake. I would have loved to have done the hike up there, but it takes too much time, and I only had one day here.

We went ashore early, and it was warm & humid, with the occasional drizzle here and there. I wanted to check out the botanical gardens and there was a hiking trail I was interested in. It was a short walk through town to get to the botanical gardens. One interesting monument was a school bus that had been crushed under a huge Baobab tree during Hurricane David, back in 1997. The tree is still alive and is a testament to the power of that hurricane. Dominica gets hit by them frequently.

I continued to the Jack’s Walk Trail, a steep, winding trail through mostly bamboo forest. It was steep, but a good workout, I had the whole trail to myself. At the top there was a lookout where the Morne Bruce Garrison used to be. There's still an old canon there.

The view overlooking the city was great, a nice reward for a sweaty hike. I passed the Morne Bruce Cross and walked up to another viewpoint. There, the sun came out and a nice rainbow made an appearance over Roseau.

On my way back, I ran into some more lizards, and a bunch of huge caterpillars. Turns out they are Frangipani worms (Pseudospinx tetrio). They're huge, about as long as my hand, and are voracious eaters. It turns out they're also poisonous, so don't eat them. Apparently, they bite too. They end up turning into giant brown moths with a 6-inch wingspan.

Down the trail, I encountered 2 large, green lizards, feeding on something in the underbrush, so I stopped to photograph them as well. Afterwards, I walked back through the botanical garden and strolled around a bit in town before heading back to the ship.

Jan 22 2026 - Aruba

 

I made it to Aruba, away from the frigid -26 wind chills at home.

 

I've spent the past couple of days checking out the island, boarding the Queen Victoria and getting settled in. This is my first time to Aruba, and I've been enjoying it very much. I took the free trolley around the capital of Oranjestad and had some great local meals.

 

I kept walking along the shore, looking for wildlife. There were plenty of pelicans who seemed very accustomed to people. I was mainly looking for iguanas, and did manage to spot one, swimming in a little lagoon. I was able to fire off a couple of shots before he disappeared in the foliage. There was also another smaller lizard nearby that was darting around, trying to evade my camera. I found a deserted beach (Governor’s Beach) and spent some time exploring around there. There was another pelican sitting on what looked like the skeleton of an old wooden boat in the shallows, along with many other sea birds.

I walked around and took my sandals off to wade through the water and into the mangroves. On the way back I spotted some crabs on the rocks.

Jan 19 2026 - Heading back to the Caribbean... And Beyond.

 

Over the past few years, I've become a somewhat regular guest lecturer aboard the ships of the British cruise line Cunard. I've given talks aboard the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Anne, and the Queen Mary 2. This voyage, aboard the Queen Victoria, will be a bit of a milestone for me. Getting the opportunity to lecture aboard every ship in the Cunard fleet.

 

Tomorrow I fly to Aruba where I will be boarding the ship, then we continue through the Caribbean, visiting several islands there, some new to me, some of them I have been to before. We will then sail northeast to do a full trans-Atlantic crossing, stopping in the Azores along the way.

 

Things are about to get REALLY busy. This voyage is merely the first step in a 3 month multi-continental series of trips that will be taking me to some of the most extreme and interesting places on planet Earth. Check back often or follow me on the social media links above to get more updates.

Jan 17 2026 - Explorers Club Meetup

Last night there was a get-together of the Toronto area members of The Explorers CLub, held at the Fjallraven outdoor clothing store downtown.

We got to watch the premier episode of The Quest For The Lost Vikings. This new documentary travel series features three of our own Canadian Chapter explorers on a mission to explore the truth about their family’s Viking heritage. David Collette FN’14, Jo Sigurdson MI’12 and Mackenzie Collette MI’14 grew up listening to stories about Vikings descending from Hudson's Bay to explore the New World. Now, they are using their years of experience to uncover the truth about Viking exploration of the Americas.

Jan 16 2026 - Toronto Snowstorm

A major snowstorm hit Toronto yesterday that certainly outperformed expectations.

Pearson airport received 22 cm of snow, while here in the east end of the city, Scarborough North had between 48 to 53 cm.

At my house, I measured 36 cm and it still kept coming down for several hours after I observed that. I was clearing snow for most of the day, thankfully it was light, fluffy snow, but there certainly was a LOT of it.

Schools were canceled across the city, and the main north-south highway, the Don Valley Parkway was shut down in places due to heavy snow and black ice.

Jan 07 2026 - Clarington Photography Club

Many thanks to everyone from the Clarington Photography Club in Bowmanville, Ontario.

It was great fun to share my stories of trying to take photos in some of the harshest conditions on planet Earth.

Jan 01 2026 - Happy New Year

2026 is going to be stacked. I have so many trips, adventures & expeditions planned for this year. Be sure to check back often for updates.

Some of the locations where I'll be include plans for: The Caribbean, Antarctica, The Sahara Desert, Italy and more.