A year after getting married, my wife and I embarked on what I consider an epic journey. We packed our new Sunfire up with camping gear and headed East from the sheltered valleys of British Columbia across the prairies. Our goal was Montreal, and from there we would head south to Indiana and then back West through the United States. We planned to camp along the way, in order to save money. Our vacation was an interesting one. I would not term it a disaster, but there were several significant events along the way that led me to realize several key facts about planning and implementing a big trip, which I would like to share in this article.
Our first trials came as we left the mountains of my youth and descended into the treeless prairies. Treeless is significant, as we realized on our first stop that there was no wood available at the campsites for fires, beyond a couple of old fence posts. Saskatchewan, therefore, saw us dining on cold canned food. Lesson number one: Know the foliage of your destination and plan accordingly. The buffalo have vanished and therefore the old pioneer fuel of chips is no longer an option.
The next night, we consulted our travel...