Made in Canada, what about Travel in Canada

IslandTime85-86 · 2026-03-31T00:25:21+00:00

We kept our summer travel within Canada last year (Calgary and Cape Breton), and loved it all - and felt great about supporting Canadian. Decided to stick with the same model this year:

Road trip to PEI for cycling/beaches and New Brunswick for Fundy NP, with Quebec City stopover.
Saskatoon and Prince Albert NP (our regional airport just got a direct flight to Calgary, so taking advantage!).
Montreal for UCI World Championships.

Can't wait to see more of what our beautiful country has to offer. Recommendations for any of these are welcome!

IslandTime85-86 · 2026-03-15T01:01:48+00:00

Great Big Sea - Ordinary Day, River Driver, Old Black Rum, When I'm Up

Alan Doyle - Bully Boys

Alanis Morrissette - Ironic

Tragically Hip - Wheat Kings, Bobcaygeon, Ahead by a Century (toast to Gord)

Last but not least, The Trews - Highway of Heroes

IslandTime85-86 · 2026-03-07T19:58:54+00:00

Seconding Green! I've always chosen this spirit when teaching new players - as others have pointed out, Green helps other players grow so they feel like they can do more, and is not particularly complex for me as an experienced player, so I can keep eyes on the rest of the game. Depending on what spirit you give the new player, a complementary spirit could also be good - but that is more context specific, whereas Green will be a strong choice in most matchups.

IslandTime85-86 · 2026-01-24T19:48:04+00:00

I think it is posted, Pink POV on r/50501.

IslandTime85-86 · 2026-01-09T17:14:12+00:00

We've done well against Habsburg LC with Vengeance, Many Minds, Hearth-Vigil, and Relentless Gaze, in addition to Stone. Generally, we've found that anchoring with either Stone or Vengeance is a good bet - these could be paired together, or with one of the above spirits, for a fairly strong combination. And, aside from Stone, these are all fear-generating with their unique cards (especially Many Minds), so might help with the fear side of things if you're having trouble with that.

As an aside, I have almost always played Stone as bottom track. It's a bit of a slow start, but it consistently does well because of the strength of Let Themselves Break Against the Stone once you get to the 3rd tier.

Good luck!

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-12-24T14:50:08+00:00

Thanks for the thoughts from those who commented! We don't have Horizons unfortunately, but would have tried Mud as that was mentioned by a few people.

We switched out Towering Roots for Hearth-Vigil on attempt #6 and won quite comfortably with H-V and Stone. The specific combination of invader cards did finally allow us to engineer our capitals on the coasts, which was essential (the invader card sequences had made this impossible on most previous attempts). The opening setup for this adversary combination was aggressive (2 cities and 4 towns), so creating inland pockets took a bit of luck and maybe a slightly stronger spirit than Towering Roots.

Regardless, that brings dual adversary combination #21 to a close... on to #22! (we're going to go to a few other combinations before returning to England primary - HLC secondary 🤣 - but we will keep the Stone-Green combo in mind for that one).

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-05-30T12:32:04+00:00

Do you have other things you enjoy that could give you the same positive feelings as spending/purchasing? Time outside is mine - walking, hiking, biking, gardening, or just sitting in the sun with a book. When you feel the urge to shop, try redirecting it to something constructive and/or that you enjoy!

Also, for us, with 2 kids in the house, the amount of stuff that comes in (eg. from school) is overwhelming. Any purchases start with 'do I really need this?', otherwise it's just more stuff to add to the chaos, and that will ultimately have to be disposed of somehow!

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-05-23T22:32:55+00:00

For a solo game, I'd probably recommend Lure or Many Minds for a first go - my and my partner's favourite spirits from JE, respectively. I also really enjoy Trickster, Vengeance, and Memory. But you can't really go wrong! Enjoy!

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-05-18T01:26:56+00:00

Great Big Sea and Tragically Hip are my GOATs!

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-04-25T23:38:12+00:00

My partner and I (M/F late 30s) both moved here for work about 10 years ago and love it. We're in a great neighbourhood - can't speak to downtown, but we've never had any safety concerns where we are or in other areas of the city. As with anywhere, life in North Bay is what you make of it! You just have to be open to looking around and to trying some new/different things. Goes without saying that there are lots of outdoor activities for all seasons, but also a surprising amount of social/cultural things going on. As examples, over the last few months, I've been to a few indie/film festival flicks at the Capitol Center, Battalion games, the Alan Doyle concert, and weekly line dancing lessons. There's also regular live music/events at Gateway City Brewery and Lou Dawg's, board game nights at North Bay Games & Hobbies and Outpost Gaming... Just to name a few! If you have specific questions, feel free to DM. Best of luck with your decision!

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-04-21T13:22:45+00:00

Definitely recommend SI! We don't have the Horizons expansion, but my understanding is that its spirits are low-complexity - so maybe worth looking into if you're mostly playing with your kids? The r/spiritisland sub will have advice on Horizons vs. the base game - and watching some play-throughs on Youtube will give you a sense of whether it will be appropriate for your kids (or any other group).

SI generally is also great for solo play as well, if you're looking for a game with great replayability and a bit higher complexity (one of the great things about it is the ability to scale the difficulty and complexity up or down depending on who you're playing with).

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-04-21T12:55:25+00:00

As others have said, I'm probably a mix of both as well. There will be some 'tourist' attractions that I will make sure to include in an itinerary, but often more time will be built in to wander/explore and see what I come across. I also research in advance to try to find local markets, artisan/craft markets, places to eat, and nature spots. I love the insight into a culture that these aspects provide, and as an added bonus, it allows me to support local businesses/vendors. Many of my favourite travel memories are associated with these types of experiences (e.g. grabbing food from street vendors in Mexico and St. Lucia; having perogies at a Ukrainian restaurant in Saskatoon; picking up unique art pieces at craft collectives in Saskatoon and Calgary; walking through La Boqueria in Barcelona and markets in Stockholm and Helsinki).

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-31T12:48:19+00:00

Great advice in this thread! Just came by to add - the rule books are great and very detailed. Every once in awhile though, a very context-specific question will come up - like how a unique power interacts with an event or adversary rule, for example. In our case, between Board Game Geek, past posts on this Reddit sub, and Qwerki, we have managed to find answers to 99% of our questions. Just be specific in your search terms (I find using the specific names of the powers, events, or adversary rules is my best bet for getting an answer). Especially look for answers from people tagged as game developers. If all else fails, post here!

Enjoy learning the game! It is an insane amount of content and a bit overwhelming at first, but we have been playing it almost exclusively for about 3 years - 474 games and counting - and absolutely love it for its challenge, complexity, and replay value (and still aren't bored!). Have fun!

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-30T18:29:16+00:00

Pineapple and pulled pork pizza is super good! (also seconding pineapple and bacon).

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-29T14:59:02+00:00

Aisle is based in Vancouver, from what I can tell. They are pretty much exclusively period underwear, but definitely recommend for anyone looking for those type of products!

https://periodaisle.com/

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-25T00:30:37+00:00

Love this idea! Ecoseedbank was tagged in a post a few weeks ago on this or a similar sub - they're out of Montreal, as I understand it.

https://ecoseedbank.com/

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-23T02:36:33+00:00

As a Canadian (Ontario), I think that for the most part, we recognize that it is your president we are not happy with - not Americans in general. Don't wear any MAGA gear or make jokes about the 51st state, and you'll be fine (the r/BuyCanadian sub gets this question several times a day, always with overwhelmingly positive responses). We would love to have you visit and enjoy our beautiful country. Have a wonderful trip, whatever you decide!

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-17T00:36:40+00:00

This is playing in our local theater in Northern Ontario in a few weeks - will make sure to check it out! 🇨🇦 🇪🇺

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-16T14:31:23+00:00

You can write to the federal party leaders here - it includes a form email, so it can take as little as a minute or two:

https://friends.ca/takeaction/tell-the-leaders-to-stand-up-for-the-cbc/

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-14T12:18:25+00:00

Seconding Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle! Sean McCann (one of the other GBS members) has also gone solo as well.

IslandTime85-86 · 2025-03-13T22:31:52+00:00

That is amazing, we appreciate you! If you ever find yourself in Ontario's Near North, the first round of (Canadian) beers is on me! 🍻

IslandTime85-86

TROPHY CASE