
Janice, Evelyn, Mariellen and Nora meet in 2009
From humble beginnings, travel blogging in Toronto is now exploding!
With just days to go before the Travel Bloggers Exchange (TBEX) rolls into Toronto, I wrote this post all about how I started Breathedreamgo, co-founded the Toronto Travel Massive and watched travel blogging grow, evolve and now, with TBEX coming, explode!
It was the summer of 09, the summer of change. This was when it was becoming clear to me that my future as a freelance writer, and my dreams of becoming a travel writer, were in jeopardy. Magazines were shrinking, newspapers closing, writer’s fees dropping, contracts becoming untenable.
I went to the annual Canadian authors and publisher’s conference, MagNet, in June 2009 with hope in my heart. However, the atmosphere was gloomy, turning to downright nasty at the end of the second day when a newspaper editor said they would were no longer paying writers for the essay that appears daily on the back page. Everyone else was still getting paid, from the editor to the printer, to the illustrator to the delivery person. Everyone but the writer. Continue Reading →








A taste of India in Toronto


I think it was the mosquito that did it. When I saw that mosquito, etched into the Celtic Cross at the mouth of the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, I suddenly gained new insight into the harsh conditions Canada’s early settlers faced. The Celtic Cross stands at Ottawa’s most picturesque spot in honour of the 1,000 Irish workers and their families who died building the Rideau Canal (1826-32). Apparently, a significant percentage of them died from malaria. I had no idea. The other symbols on the cross include an explosion, a wheelbarrow, a pickaxe & shovel and in the centre of them all, a harp — the symbol for Ireland. Approximately one-third of Rideau Canal workers hailed from Ireland.
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Welcome to Breathedreamgo, the India-inspired, meaningful adventure travel blog. I traveled to India for 6 months in 2005 on a trip that changed my life, and I've been back again and again. Now, I'm passionate about the power of travel to transform, and I write travel stories, guide tours and speak at conferences. To find out Why India? read 


