In 2003, a day before being sworn in as a Canadian citizen, Robin Esrock was riding his scooter through downtown Vancouver when a car ran a stop sign and hit him, breaking his left knee cap.
It was a total wake-up call, he says . I was like, Hey, its time to go see the world.
With the money that he received for the damages, Esrock, a journalist, bought an around-the-world ticket with plans of writing about his adventures, checking off experiences on a list of things to do before he dies.
These adventures became content for a travel column in the Vancouver Sun and then a National Geographic and OLN travel writing show called Word Travels. Years later, Esrock turned his attention to Canada with a Globe and Mail column focused on things to do in Canada before you die.
Esrock was approached by a publisher to turn the column into a book, The Great Canadian Bucket List.
For 18 months, Esrock explored the countrys provinces and territories, ticking off the 115 experiences which are in the new book as well as an accompanying website.
The incredible thing, I thought, was nobody had done it before; it seemed like such an obvious book to write says the South Africa native. Canada is almost like 13 countries in one. I want people to see that there are so many incredible experiences and things to do in their own backyard.
From hardcore adventure to winter festivals to intimate wildlife encounters, the list in Esrocks book represents the diversity and vastness of the Canadian experience. He repelled down cliffs in Nova Scotia (Its terrifying), he mingled with polar bears in northern Manitoba (It was just an amazing, incredible encounter with the animals) and he got drunk at the annual winter carnival in Quebec (Youre drinking something called Caribou like hot brandy wine and partying your face off.)
But with an admitted slight British Columbian bias, Esrock has 15 BC items on the list the most from any province including hiking the Grouse Grind (Certainly not one of the worlds most dangerous hikes), heli-skiing near Revelstoke (Now I understand what its all about) and visiting Wreck Beach (Its like from another planet).
BC itself is so rich with experiences, says Esrock, who has been to 109 countries. We see the trees and the ocean but its really quite diverse when you go into the interior. Like something as simple as floating down the Penticton canal: its such a cool thing to do. I had only done something like it before when I was in Laos and you could float down the Mekong (River). Its such a simple thing and it costs three dollars to do and BC is full of these things. BC has a lot of rich experiences and I dont know if a lot of people know that.
So now that his personal bucket list has been checked off and then some, can he die a happy man?
Well, I had a daughter born in April, he says. And thats the new bucket list watching her grow up and sharing these things with her and taking her to new places. Its been a game changer.
