This is where, from the age of two, I was raised and lived until I emigrated to Canada in 2002. It's a place I only really appreciate now that I visit it extremely infrequently. The Eastern coast is, as you can see, densely populated along the shores of the famous River Mersey, across which lies the even more famous port city of Liverpool. The western half of the peninsula is much more green and life there (which is where I grew up and to which my father's family has ancestral links going back to the 1700s) is far more rural. Towns such as Hoylake, West Kirby, Greasby Heswall and Neston have a preserved feel to them - mostly built up during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these small but thriving communities filled with period architecture are reminiscent of a bygone era. A great place to grow up and a very pleasant part of England to spend a day or two. 

A truly stunning part of the world, and where I call home these days. Largely uninhabited (only four million people in area bigger than the UK and France combined) the natural beauty of the westernmost Canadian province is breathtaking and is often just a short drive away from our doorstep. Use the map to explore any of the locations mentioned in the forum!

Right next door to BC and sharing the Rockies, Alberta is a province of prairies, mountains, rolling hills, forests and opportunity! Canada's richest province in terms of per-capita income and natural resources (so far), Alberta is a place I have become a little familiar with in the course of my work and travels. It's also where I got my most expensive speeding ticket!

The province that sounds like a big sneeze, but is genuinely an impressive rectangle of the continent. The skies really ARE big, and the prairies really ARE that flat! The old joke is that you can watch your dog run away for three days (I apologize to all residents of the province for that old cliche), but it gives you  a flavour of the amazing landscape, which helped me to fulfill that Douglas Adams concept of feeling like an invisible dot on an invisible dot (it's all about PERSPECTIVE, man). North of Saskatoon the landscape begins to change and rolling hills and lakes begin to dominate - a beautiful and underrated place.

Reputedly the province of the mosquito monsters (that hasn't been my experience yet, but there's time!) and a continuation of the varied and water-soaked landscape of Saskatchewan...I've only visited Winnipeg in this province however that's probably not the best advert for the province as a whole...Manitoba stretches up to the famous Hudson`s bay and includes Churchill, the world famous town of the Polar Bear `Jail`...

Is there anyone who doesn't want to visit this place? It's certainly on my bucket list, and the fact that I have relatives there is even more motivation...