Hello! We are Emma and Stewart and in September 2014 we left England and headed off on a Canadian adventure.
Emma always dreamed of doing some long term travelling and working abroad seemed like the perfect solution to ensuring the money doesn’t run out. For a long time it was just been a dream but with the age of 30 rapidly approaching and therefore the ease of getting a visa reducing, it seemed like the perfect time to take the plunge. Fortunately she managed to convince Stewart to come too!
So armed with our working holiday visas we left Cambridge (and our 2 gerbils 😦 ) on 22 September 2014 and flew out to Toronto. We then spent the next few months exploring what Canada had to offer, taking in the sights of Toronto, the Niagara Falls, Algonquin Provincial Park, the Rockies, the southern BC interior, Vancouver, Seattle (yes we know that this is in the USA!), Ottawa and Montreal. This was an absolutely amazing experience and we are so glad we decided to travel before settling down and finding a job.
Our original plan was to live and work in Vancouver but plans change and we can now be found in Toronto with our foster cats. Whilst we are here we intend to make the most of it and experience as much of our new home as possible. We hope to use this blog to not only keep our friends and family up to date on what we’ve been doing but hopefully inspire others to travel. We read so many blogs on the run up to our trip that were incredibly helpful with the visa process and inspiring us on where to go and we want to add to that community.
Who is the Brown Bear?
The brown bear is Boris, our travelling companion.
Some say that he looks more like a black bear. We prefer to think of him as very, very dark brown.
Want to get in touch?
We would love to hear from you (unless you’re a spammer). Drop us an email at: emmaandstewart@brownbeartravels.com.
Brown Bear Travels 
Thanks for stopping by our site. I’ve been poking around yours and enjoy reading about Canada from your perspective. Read your bucket list – it might be too short notice for you to swing it but if you can, the Winter Carnaval is underway in Québec City until mid-February – it is the biggest winter festival in the world – a one-of-a-kind event not to be missed…and a perfect place to practice your French. A belated welcome to Canada to you both – Ginette
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Thank you and glad you’ve enjoyed our blog 🙂 It sounds like you are in for a pretty exciting adventure soon, very much looking forward to reading about it! Thanks for the tip about the Winter Carnaval in Quebec City as well, if we don’t get a chance this year we will definitely visit next year as it looks like a lot of fun.
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Hi Emma and Stewart! I’m writing an e-book all about working holidays in Canada and while I have one section with interviews with previous participants, I have realised that it all very West Coast biased i.e. all five of the people lived in BC! I wondered if you’d be interested in being part of it too? It would just be a couple of questions about your experience so far living in Ontario. Free feel to contact me via email! Thanks!
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We’d love to! I’ll send you an email now
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Great blog Emma & Stewart!
So many similarities – myself and my girlfriend originally left Ireland on September 22nd. We didn’t have gerbils but had to say goodbye to my beloved bearded dragon! Living in Toronto since August after spending a few years in Australia and some travel in between.
Looking forward to following your blog. Followed you on Twitter – Emma I’m not too fond of horses either 🙂
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Thank you, glad you like the blog. We’ve been enjoying yours too. I especially like the squirrel!
How does Toronto compare to Australia? I guess the weather is the pretty obvious difference but at least you arrived in summer so you’ve also been eased into the winter…
Haha glad I’ve found a fellow horse hater 🙂
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Love the idea of this blog! Am signed on to follow the adventure!
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Hi guys, thank you for following my travels. It seems we have ‘travel’ in common. I wish you well with your working overseas and your adventures 🙂
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Thank you so much for following our blog. We have NOT been to Canada but we would love to. In the meantime, we will live it vicariously through you 🙂
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No problem, I’ve enjoyed reading your adventures! You should definitely come to Canada if you get the chance, it’s beautiful 🙂
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Thank you for following my blog, Darwin on the rocks and around the world. I’ve never had the chance to visit Canada, but I’ve been to Seattle and I loved the atmosphere. I would love to visit Canada and Alaska and the beautiful wilderness.
It’s so great you’ve taken the plunge ! I hope we will be able to do the same in two years 🙂
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Chanced upon your blog and really enjoying reading it already! Taking a leap of faith and moving halfway across the world is quite a story. Wish you all the best in Canada and look forward to reading your stories.
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Thank you, nice to hear you’ve been enjoying the blog :). Have to admit it was pretty scary moving all this way and still is at times but we always said if we didn’t like it we could just fly home – no chance of that yet!
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Hi, great read! I spent a year in Australia on a working holiday visa, it’s been so much fun! Enjoy every moment, the first expat experience always stays special. Though, it can get addictive… Been living in seven countries so far. 😉
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Thank you :). Wow seven countries is impressive! I can imagine it is addictive though, we’ve just applied to stay here longer and then there are all the other places to go after.. Hope my parents aren’t reading this!
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Hi Emma and Stewart, nice to meet you. Good for you guys for taking the plunge and start travelling. Sounds like you’re having a (mostly) good time.
I know it’s been nearly two months since you pushed the follow button on our blog. Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you. Anyway thanks so much for following. I hope you enjoy the stories of our journey. And don’t be a stranger – feel free to comment and join the conversation.
Cheers,
Alison
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My husband, myself and our cat have recently arrived in Toronto from South Africa. I love when I come across other couples that have chosen to live a slightly less ordinary life and nomad about the globe.
I came across your blog and have been doing some major stalking and it has now made me add to my already very long bucketlist!
Thanks
http://www.journalofacitygirl.com
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Welcome to Toronto! Love that you were able to bring your cat with you too.
Looking forward to doing some stalking of your blog as well. It’s nice to see someone else get excited by snow 🙂
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Hi Emma and Stewart. It is nice to discover fellow bear-toting travellers such as yourselves and thank you for following RV inSane?.
Having been born in, and lived in and around Toronto all my life, I enjoy reading your posts as you now “discover” parts of the city or the attractions it has to offer! Keep exploring and Enjoy the Ride!
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