When 2020 began, travel blogger and YouTube show host Cailin O’Neil was in Sri Lanka, taking in the natural beauty and rich culture of the Indian Ocean island country.
At the time, she had no idea that soon the world would get a lot smaller with the onset of COVID-19, and her ability and desire to explore new vistas would soon be greatly diminished.
“It’s scary and weird and I hate it all,” says the enthusiastic South Shore-based traveler who’s been sharing her journeys on the Travel Yourself blog and YouTube series for more than a decade.
But not content to sit idle — and eager to explore the scenic, historic and culinary opportunities offered in her own backyard with the easing of local travel restrictions — O’Neil is putting her home province under the microscope with her new site Nova Scotia Explorer.
Over the years, O’Neil included favourite Bluenose hotspots on Travel Yourself, along with posts from more than 50 countries she’d visited on five continents, and had the idea to start a second site a year ago. After coming up with a catchy name that best suited her approach to travel, she officially launched the new blog on Jan. 2 with her list of the 101 Best Things to Do in Nova Scotia.
“Unfortunately, and conveniently, the pandemic hit and I was like, ‘Well, I guess I’m definitely doing this and getting it going,’ ” says O’Neil.
“I’ve lived in Nova Scotia my whole life, I’ve always loved exploring it, but a lot of the times we don’t choose to explore it and decide to go elsewhere. Myself included; I’ve only been to Cape Breton a few times.”
O’Neil felt like she was making up for lost time when she took an extended trip to Cape Breton last summer — and did a healthy sampling of island bakeries to see who had the best oatcakes — and hopes to fill in other gaps in her travels like the Acadian Shore between Yarmouth and Digby.
“The Lobster Crawl they have every February on the South Shore took me to Barrington for the first time a couple of years ago, and I wondered, ‘How have I never been down here? It’s the Lobster Capital of Canada! It’s my home!’
“So I need to be visiting more places like that. It’s great that I can explore unique and cool things that are just a couple of hours away.”
Providing a Nova Scotia tourism resource
Besides taking her own enjoyment in the best treasures and hidden gems of Nova Scotia, O’Neil also hopes she can use the site to draw readers to corners of the province they might not have considered before — like the culinary and cultural attractions of Guysborough — and provide a boost to local tourism and food industry providers as they endure their toughest season on record.
“There’s just so much potential for this website,” she explains. “There are other bloggers doing it, but I feel I’ve got a lot of experience and understand SEO (search engine optimization) and different things a bit better, and hopefully I can do it justice and fill a needed void for people that want to visit around the region.”
Recent Nova Scotia Explorer posts include a list of the ingredients that go into the perfect Nova Scotia road trip and a rundown of the province’s best hikes, from the Cape Breton Highlands to Halifax’s own McNab’s Island, which has recently been reopened to visitors.
Her most recent post is a #SupportLocal themed entry with fellow local bloggers sharing their favourite homegrown eateries and retail outlets. It’s a key reason why she wanted to establish the site in the first place, as a hub where she can share the best that the province has to offer.
“I’ve been kind of cautious with where I go and what I do, and every time something opens up, I wait a couple of weeks to see how it does,” says O’Neil, who’s currently ramping up her efforts to work with local tourism boards and businesses to see what can be enjoyed safely by Nova Scotians in the current health climate.
“So I’ve been slowly waiting and just making sure it’s safe for me to get out there because I don’t want to bring anything home to my family.”
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