Editor's Notes

The one thing I really didn’t want for my 50th birthday was one of those over-the-hill parties with gag gifts and tacky decorations. Lucky me, in lieu of the cheesy party, my husband, Dean, chose to publish a very unflattering photo of me, along with my birthday announcement, prominently, in North of 50.

That was last December. I promised to forgive him for his inappropriate behaviour if he promised to take me on a Panama Cruise before my next birthday. Needless to say, the cruise is booked.

We got turned on to cruising about four years ago, when friends convinced us to join them on a Mexican Riviera Cruise (see that story on page 32). The year before that first cruise, I’d mustered up the courage to board a plane to England and that was triggered the onset of travel fever. Let’s face it, human beings were meant to travel. That’s why we invented the wheel – to go places. That’s why we invented the sailing vessel – to go places far way. That’s why we invented the airplane – to go places far away, faster. Travel is do-able. So we do it.

This will be my fifth cruise, sailing on the fourth different cruise line. Just for fun, I’m keeping a chronicle of my obsessive thinking for the six weeks leading up to the cruise - the planning, the dieting, the shopping - and the three weeks of the cruise – the exploring, the eating, the shopping. You can read all about it on North of 50°’s Travel Blog (www.northof50travel.blogspot.com), or click here.

But before you sail away to the blog, make sure you don’t miss a single article in this issue of North of 50°. We start off this month with Shannon Linden’s provocative coverage of the legalization of marijuana for medical use in Canada. This controversial topic has been polemic, to say the least. Read the story on page 10, no matter where you stand on the issue.

With Dragon Boat Festivals in Kelowna (September 17 to 19) and Penticton (September 10 to 12) the timing was just right for writer Dawn Renaud to get some firsthand experience paddling with a dragon boat team. That story is on page 20. Beginning on page 28, follow veteran travellers, Jim and Lian Couper, on their road trip up Highway 97, from the Okanagan through the Thompson and Cariboo. Next month they’ll take us even further north, as far as the Yukon border.

Finally, Kamloops writer Amber Yake chats with Al Raines, mayor of Sun Peaks, BC’s newest municipality. The former coach of the Canadian National Ski Team has had a long career in the hospitality and tourism industry and he shares his vision for Sun Peaks on page 38.

OK, now that you’ve read the magazine cover to cover, mosey on over to your computer and join us on our Panama Cruise: www.northof50.

TJ Wallis

Email TJ at editor@northof50.com