A few things worth knowing if September's calling your name too:

Pack for summer, not fall. Days are still warm, evenings cool off a bit earlier than they did in August, but you're not layering up like it's October. If a spot's been on your list all summer and you couldn't get near it in July, this is the month to actually go.

If a friend asked me how to enjoy Tofino and Ucluelet in peak season without getting swallowed by the chaos, this is what I would tell them.

Sometimes the best part of the drive isn't the destination, it's taking the road you almost drove past. Here's why the old Island Highway might become your favourite stretch of Vancouver Island.

It felt peaceful in a way that’s hard to explain without sounding dramatic, so I’ll just say it plainly. It felt like I had stepped away from everything for a minute. Not forever, not in some life-changing, runaway sort of way, just long enough to breathe and feel small, in a good way.