lory henry

The Savvy Traveler :: Lori

[trip style = active & adventure + budget conscious + staycation]

Lori is an uber-accomplished travel writer. She comes by it naturally. Fascinated by travel at an early age, when she was seven years old she told her parents she'd live in a hotel, now she does---part time. A modern-day renaissance woman with a kind soul, Lori is good at everything she sets her mind to: Polynesian, tap, jazz, ballet and modern dance {I wouldn't be surprised if I saw her on So You Think You Can Dance Canada}, and acting to name a few other disciplines she's successfully conquered. Most recently, Lori's added published author to her resume. When she's not writing about indigenous culture, outdoor adventures, sustainable travel and dance in New Zealand, Japan or far-flung parts of Canada, find her biking around Vancouver. Follow Lori's life of adventure on Twitter @LoriHenry and via her website {updated regularly}.

1/ Pick your top three trip styles.
[trip style = active & adventure] Often the best way to see a place is by getting outdoors and into spaces that aren’t part of people’s regular paths. That usually means hiking, cycling, jumping, wading or being airborne to get there. Ideally, self-propelled.

[trip style = budget conscious] Travel shouldn’t only be for those who have lots of money. I would rather travel more with less money, than travel less with more money.

[trip style = staycation] Travelling can be pretty damaging to the environment, so staying close to home is increasingly more appealing to me. It helps that I live in British Columbia, one of the most stunning places in the world.

2/ Overpacker or underpacker?
Underpacker. I hate being weighed down, so I would rather have less than more. I do lots of hand washing in sinks and bathtubs!

3/ The destination that stole your heart?
Cape Breton in the summer! Nova Scotia in general is one of my favourite places to travel to, but Cape Breton actually stole my heart. There is a warm current that runs through the island that is woven together through step dancing feet, linked hands in an Allemande Left, and fiddle tunes that have seeped into my soul.

4/ How often do you travel?
Up until last year, I was travelling once or twice a month. It was insane. Now I am better at balancing shorter trips with longer trips, and getting more than one story each time. Travelling is exhausting!

Last Trip: Kyoto, Japan. This is the oldest city I have ever been to {it was the capital city of Japan in 794} and it was fascinating. I don’t tend to get much culture shock anymore, but I was wide-eyed here in my first jaunt to the country. Everything was a contradiction, yin and yang, old and new, and everything had a cute factor of 10.

Next Trip: It looks like I’ll be heading to the desert this month, for a wellness trip to Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona. There will be massages, kayaking and hot desert air.

On Your Radar: Polynesia {where I am focusing my next books} and Southeast Asia, where I haven’t done much travelling to at all.

5/ You recently wrote a book: Dancing Through History: In Search of the Stories that Define Canada. Tell us about it!
Dancing Through History is a travel/culture/dance book about Canada. I spent four years travelling around the country, on and off, to find cultures that had kept up their traditional dances. The book explores how people and societies use dance as a way to tell their history, family stories, reveal their beliefs and practice their customs, all the while having a good time!

The chapters cover Inuit drum dancing in Nunavut, touch on folk dancing in Newfoundland, and step dancing and square dancing in Cape Breton, what it’s like to dance in the Cirque du Soleil, pow wow and hoop dancing, Métis jigging in Saskatchewan, Ukrainian dancing in the prairies, and First Nations dancing in Vancouver and Haida Gwaii. It’s all about dance, yet goes far beyond dance itself. You can read more here.

More Savvy Travelers
Marc, Extraordinary Adventurer
Marissa, 30 By 30
Jason, Living To Travel
 

{If you know anyone who should be featured in our once-monthly The Savvy Traveler series, drop us a line!}

[photo c/o lori]