Thank you for checking out my blog!
Hello, I am Marie. Traveller. Blogger. Photographer. I was born in New Brunswick, Canada and now I am living in the province of Ontario. I have traveled to over 30 countries around the world ever since I started traveling at the age of 6.
I hope this blog will give you some inspiration and useful tips to pursue your adventures. Let’s find some beautiful places to get lost!
What does “Msurlaroute”? It’s French for M on the road. Why a French name? Because I’m French-Canadian of course!
My mission? To show fellow adventurers, especially my fellow ladies, that solo travel isn’t just possible – it’s downright exhilarating! So, buckle up and join me on this wild ride as I navigate the globe one solo adventure at a time. Because let’s face it, waiting around for someone else’s schedule is so last season.
Want to know more? Read the Most Asked Questions!
Most Asked Questions
First of all, it’s important to note that I am not a full time traveller. I’m actually a University Professor who travels on her spare time. That means that I go on as many adventures as I can on the weekends and during my vacation time. For me traveling can be as simple as exploring the hiking trails around my city, or as elaborate as trekking the Sahara desert on camel back.
In the mid 2010s, I created a blog called Entre2escales. This was my very first experience blogging and on social media. After a difficult split before the pandemic, I had to close it. It broke my heart. When we were on lock down during COVID I decided to take on photography again and created my Msurlaroute Instagram page. It’s only very recently that I decided to start blogging again and I’m so excited for this new blogging chapter.
I absolutely love solo traveling. I love the freedom it gives me and it’s a way for me to step out of my comfort zone. Over the years, I’ve become a pretty experienced solo traveler. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy going on trips and adventures with my fiancé. We both love going on hiking trips around the world! I’m doubly lucky that he also supports my love of solo traveling.
About Partnership
Yes! I love collaborating with tourism boards and I’ve worked with many across the world over the years. My services range from creating social media content, photography and writing blog post for my blog or for tourism board’s websites. As a bilingual content creator, I am as comfortable creating content in French and English.
If you are interested in working with me, please email me at msurlaroute@gmail.com !
I am always interested in posting sponsored posts on my blog. However, my priority is always to share my honest thoughts with my readers.
I also only write on places and experiences I’ve tried myself!
I am! Photography is a passion of mine and I’ve created photos for many different brands and destinations.
If you are interested in hiring my as a photographer for your destination please email me at msurlaroute@gmail.com.
Follow me on Instagram!
I almost made a very different version of this reel.
Last time I posted about Smiths Falls, the comments surprised me and a lot of them seemed to come from people who actually live there. There’s nothing to do here. It’s boring. My first instinct was to make a whole clap-back video, screenshots and all.
But honestly? I get it. Nobody is a tourist in their own town. The canal is just the thing you cross on your way to work. The museum is where you went once on a school trip in grade four. When you see a place every single day, it goes invisible.
I grew up near the Bay of Fundy - home of the highest tides on the planet - and as a kid I thought it was the most boring place on earth. It took moving away to realize people cross oceans to see what was in my backyard.
So this reel is me being a tourist in your town for you. The 1912 bridge you’d paddle under if you hadn’t stopped noticing it. The museum where you can climb into the trains, and even sleep in one. The thrift trail. The mural. All of it.
To everyone who’s never been: this is your sign for an easy day trip from Ottawa or Kingston.
And to Smiths Falls locals: I dare you to do one thing from this list this weekend. Report back. 😌
What’s the thing in YOUR town that you’ve stopped noticing? I want to hear it.
🇫🇷 La version française est dans les commentaires.
#SmithsFalls #RideauCanal #OntarioDayTrip #ExploreOntario #smalltownontario
I have a confession: half my road trips are reverse-engineered.
I don’t pick a destination and find a coffee shop nearby. I pick the coffee shop, then build a whole day around justifying the drive. A hike here, a beach there, some antiquing, all very respectable cover stories for the fact that I drove two hours for an iced latte.
Because here’s what I’ve figured out after years of crisscrossing Ontario: the best coffee shops are never just coffee shops. They’re the unofficial welcome centre of every small town. The barista knows which trail is muddy this week. The regulars will tell you where to park for free. The bulletin board has better local intel than any travel blog, mine included.
So this list isn’t really about coffee. It’s about the 12 places I use as an excuse to keep exploring this province. Swipe through, every single one comes with what to pair it with so you can build your own cover story.
From Thunder Bay to the County, consider this your permission slip to drive unreasonably far for caffeine.
Which one’s closest to you? And more importantly, what’s YOUR coffee shop worth driving for? I’m always taking notes. ☕
🇫🇷 La version française est dans les commentaires.
#OntarioCoffeeShops #OntarioRoadTrip #DiscoverOntario #OntarioTravel #SmallTownOntario
For over a hundred years, the men who lived in this house woke up, looked at the lake, and went to work captaining the Wolfe Island ferry. Three generations of them. Same water, same crossing, every day.
I thought about that a lot during my stay at @themullinhouse_ (mainly from the bathtub, because the tub faces the lake and once you’re in it there’s no reason to be anywhere else.)
The Mullin House just opened as a stay, and those who brought it back to life did it in the best way that possible. Keeping the soul of the place.Places with an actual story make my job as a photographer easy. I just have to pay attention.
And if you want to stay here too: It’s a free 20-minute ferry from Kingston, 5 bedrooms, sleeps 10. So this is your sign to plan the group trip you keep talking about.
Save this for when you book it, and be honest, would you make it out of that bathtub by checkout?
Thank you to @themullinhouse_ for having me!
🇫🇷 La version française est dans les commentaires.
#wolfeisland #kingstonontario #thousandislands #exploreontario #ontariotravel
I grew up an hour from the Bay of Fundy. And every few years, my school would pile us onto a bus and take us to Hopewell Rocks or Fundy National Park. And every single time, as a kid, I thought : ‘okay, cool. Rocks. Trees. Can we go home now?’
I had absolutely no idea what I was standing next to.
It took me leaving New Brunswick, travelling across the country before I came back to the Bay of Fundy as an adult and genuinely had my breath taken away. I grew up next to one of the most extraordinary places on the planet and completely took it for granted. And I think a lot of Maritimers probably feel the same way.
This carousel is my attempt to fix that, for myself, and for anyone who’s never made the trip. Scroll through and I’ll show you exactly how I’d plan a road trip along the New Brunswick side, from the tidal flats to the coastal cliffs to the little fishing towns that feel completely frozen in time.
And if you have extra days to spare, Saint John is absolutely worth a stop, underrated city, great food scene, and it sits right on the bay.
I’m also heading back this summer to try a stay I’ve had my eye on for a while, I genuinely cannot wait to tell you all about it. 👀
Save this for your New Brunswick road trip. 🙌
👇 Have you ever been to the Bay of Fundy? Were you as underwhelmed as I was at 10 years old? 😄
🇫🇷 La version française est dans les commentaires.
#BayOfFundy #NewBrunswick #ExploreCanada #CanadaTravel #FundyNationalPark
I’ll be honest, when I pulled up to @whispering_springs I didn’t know what to expect. I’d seen the photos, I’d read the website, but nothing really prepares you for the moment you walk into your safari tent and realize this might actually be nicer than your apartment.
We’re talking a king bed, more space than I expected, and an actual bathtub, in a tent. I took a bath. In the woods. And I would do it again without hesitation.
Oh and the s’mores bar? Someone thought really hard about what would make people unreasonably happy at the end of a summer night and they nailed it.
Save this for your summer planning because at 90 minutes from Toronto there is really no reason to wait.
Now tell me have you ever gone glamping? If not, what are you waiting for!
🇫🇷 La version française est dans les commentaires.
#OntarioGetaway #GlampingOntario #OntarioTravel #WeekendGetawayOntario
ExploreOntario
