Published: June 18, 2011
Words: 77,145 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458072238

Short description

The Best Laid Plans is a valuable guide to Western Canada and an entertaining and humorous piece of travel writing. It gives useful tips but it contains more than that. It is full of interesting people, wildlife encounters, strange eating experiences, sudden plan changes, little-known facts, all written in a humorous and engaging style. Great for travellers or for those who like a good story.

Extended description

The Best Laid Plans is an extensive and entertaining account of a self-planned journey around Western Canada. The book begins with background on the planning stage of the holiday, and then follows the month-long journey around British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies. A journey that begins in Vancouver and Victoria and then follows a counter-clockwise route through the Kootenays, up the Canadian Rockies, across from Jasper to Prince Rupert by train, cruising the Inside Passage and then down the length and breadth of Vancouver Island.

The book provides plenty of useful tips for the prospective traveller, especially for those who enjoy self-planned holidays. Much of the travel was done by car, though planes, trains and ships also feature strongly.

Whilst the reader can obtain good travel advice the book contains far more than that. It is built around fascinating, close-up encounters with wildlife, interesting people, strange meals, amazing scenery, unexpected friendships, moment.. (Read more) The Best Laid Plans is an extensive and entertaining account of a self-planned journey around Western Canada. The book begins with background on the planning stage of the holiday, and then follows the month-long journey around British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies. A journey that begins in Vancouver and Victoria and then follows a counter-clockwise route through the Kootenays, up the Canadian Rockies, across from Jasper to Prince Rupert by train, cruising the Inside Passage and then down the length and breadth of Vancouver Island.

The book provides plenty of useful tips for the prospective traveller, especially for those who enjoy self-planned holidays. Much of the travel was done by car, though planes, trains and ships also feature strongly.

Whilst the reader can obtain good travel advice the book contains far more than that. It is built around fascinating, close-up encounters with wildlife, interesting people, strange meals, amazing scenery, unexpected friendships, moments of deep travel despair and the joy of being in a foreign country abounding with generous people. Woven throughout the journey are interesting diversions and little known-facts.

Most of all, the book is an entertaining and humorous account of travelling in this fascinating corner of the earth. Those considering a trip to Western Canada will certainly get plenty out of the Best Laid Plans, but so will the armchair traveller, and anybody who can see the humour in the world around them.
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Tags

humor, planning, jasper, food, humour, vancouver island, driving, rail, wildlife, accommodation, victoria, british columbia, travel guide, nelson, travel writing, vancouver, travelling, banff, lake louise, inside passage, grizzly bears, alberta, black bears, canadian rockies, rockies, kootenays, icefields parkway, tofino, skeena, whale watching, self planned

Available ebook reading formats

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Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Buy	No sample available
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)	Buy	No sample available

Reviews

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Review by: Anna Gram on July 16, 2011 :
I was in fits of giggles the first night I sat up way too late reading this book. The footnotes and side stories are a hoot. A warm and inviting tale with humour that is sly and dry. Conveys the travellers' wonder and joy of discovery, the excitement of the unexpected and the gentle amusement to be found when plans go awry.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: bmogle on July 14, 2011 :
I really enjoyed the book - I particularly loved all the 'interesting' words - it had me flicking back and forth to the list at the back! Lots of fun.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Audrey Semon on July 13, 2011 : (no rating)
This travel book will spur you on to make that trip to Western Canada and along the way, you will enjoy the journey with a self confessed lover of words - ranging from the colloquial to the erudite. The author also allows readers a generous peek into his lifestyle and wide-ranging interests.

There is some very helpful information about planning trips – the why, where, and how to, ideas which drive the structure of our travels. Without indulging in schadenfreude it’s always a relief to know that other people don’t always achieve the perfect itinerary either. The trick is not to focus on the mishaps (although they do make good stories afterwards) and enjoy the wonderful privilege of new experiences.

The Icefields Parkway will definitely go on my bucket list and surprisingly, so will the Shorepine Bog Trail. I never thought I would want to go anywhere near a bog but after reading Chris’s description I have a new perspective.

The very title “The Best Laid Plans” indicates that this will be a “warts and all” account of what turned out to be a wonderful journey to see animals, unknown in Australia, in their natural habitat of stunning scenic splendour. The pleasure and excitement of Chris and Kate’s encounters with brown bears, otters and many other wild creatures is a joy to read. The author’s observations on human encounters also make interesting reading.

So I’m going to start planning for my trip to Vancouver, the Rockies and Vancouver Island. Why did I leave it until I’m so old I need to go with a tour group? Better late than never!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Michelle Mashman on July 11, 2011 :
This book is highly recommended for those with a sense of humour as well as the absurd - and it doesn't hurt either if you have a fascination with obscure West Canadian wildlife and words less often used. This is an entertaining and thoughtful book by a writer who not only shows he has a true joy of life but a joy of words as well. It is a well written book, full of funny anecdotes which relate the good as well as the bad of a fabulous trip.It offers good advice for the traveller with Canada in their sights and for those with a sense of adventure. Plans which go awry sometimes do provide the most memorable highlights and amusing tales from a holiday, and Chris Jones captures this very well. Wry insights add to the pleasure of the book.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Patricia Puddle on July 07, 2011 :
I would love to visit Canada one day, so I bought this travel book. Plus the title and cover grabbed my attention. I was so glad I did because this story is much more than a travel log or diary, it's full of humour and extremely well written. The chapter about Grizzly bears was wonderful and I loved reading about this couple's ups and downs throughout their travels. Well worth the money. I recommend it to anyone travelling to Canada or anywhere else in the world.
The humour will keep you laughing right to the very end and there are so many links to check out all through the book. Good value.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: mf on June 20, 2011 :
The best laid plans kept me reading and chuckling late into the night. So who reads travelogues half the night? Well, me obviously... but this one was highly entertaining. I'm sure you'll enjoy it even if you don't feel the need to track down a single elusive animal possibly lurking in an obscure corner of Western Canada or eat oversized meals of dubious quality. Read it - if only for the opportunity to extend your vocabulary in unexpected ways!!
(reviewed the day of purchase)

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