Before this year, we’d already spent a ton of time in Canada — almost exclusively in the mountainous west, checking out some of its most famous National Parks or just driving to Alaska. But it finally felt like the right time to give the Canadian “Maritime provinces” a try, so we took a 43-day, 6,800-mile (11,000 km) eastern Canada road trip this past summer.
Like most of our extended vacations, this one was surprisingly affordable. I’ll save all the cost-cutting tricks we used while touring the Canadian Maritime provinces (and the entire budget breakdown) for the end of this blog post. For now, let me show you our Eastern Canada road trip itinerary!
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Getting From Florida to the Canadian Maritime Provinces
The first 1,600 miles (2,600 km) of this trip was spent just getting to Canada’s Maritime provinces, but we didn’t let this leg of the trip go to waste.
Since we were passing by the “Research Triangle” of North Carolina on the way up, we took 2 days to do some in-person marketing work for our new college tutoring business at UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University, and NCSU. This was an East Coast road trip after all, and what could be more “East Coast” than working on vacation? At least it came with some tax deductions. 😅
After that, we spent 4 days exploring Washington, DC, which is a treasure trove of free tours, museums, monuments, and parks. Our favorite thing there was spending time visiting the Smithsonian Institution museums — a task we came nowhere near completing in 4 days.
As we continued north toward Canada’s Maritimes, we stopped in Burlington, Vermont, where we biked the Island Line Trail — a long, skinny strip of land just wide enough for a bike path that cuts through the middle of a big lake. We also caught the city’s Independence Day fireworks show (which was great) and popped over to Waterbury for a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory (which was honestly kinda lame).
New Brunswick: Fundy National Park and Hopewell Rocks
Main article: A Day in Fundy National Park (Walk on the Atlantic at Low Tide)
Quickly making our way to the Eastern provinces of Canada from there, we entered the country in New Brunswick. After spending an unremarkable night in the city of Saint John, we headed straight for Fundy National Park (mostly because its name contains the words “National Park”).
Fundy is a coastal park that’s home to some of the biggest tides in the world. We saw boats sitting on dry land in the morning that were afloat in the exact same spot by afternoon.
It’s a deep green, forested place that feels like a mixture of the North Cascades and the coastline of Maine — complete with waterfalls, rocky beaches, and tons of exotic flowers.
On our way out from Fundy, we stopped by Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park — a nearby spot where you can walk on the ocean floor during low tide and stare up at the coastal cliffsides.
Fundy and Hopewell Rocks were cool, but if I’m being totally honest, they were one of the less memorable parts of this East Coast road trip by the time it was over. The best was still yet to come.
Prince Edward Island: A Taste of the Past
Next up, we crossed the long bridge to Prince Edward Island — Canada’s smallest province. The vibe here reminded us of Hawaii’s Big Island, because while the local economy definitely caters to tourists, the residents seem to live a slow, laid-back lifestyle that’s reminiscent of decades long past.
Crowds are rare, farmland is plentiful, and everything just feels a little less contaminated by modern civilization. We learned 5-pin bowling at the Credit Union Place Rec Centre in Summerside, caught a movie at the Brackley Drive-In (which doubles as a campground!), and cruised miles of empty roads with ocean views. It was a great place to relax and reset.
Nova Scotia: Foggy Shores and the Big City
After taking the bridge back to 2024, Lauren set our sights on the Joggins Fossil Cliffs in Nova Scotia (due to her obsession with dinosaurs). It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring a beach full of ancient, fossilized rocks. It was a nice place to take a long walk and learn a little history.
From there, we spent a couple nights in Halifax — the largest city in all of the Canadian Maritime provinces. It’s fine if you’re into the whole “big city” thing, but for us, it was mostly just a spot to stop and catch up on blogging and photo editing for a minute.
The highlight of Nova Scotia came when we went to Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Driving the Cabot Trail is as close to experiencing the Pacific Coast Highway as you can come on the Atlantic side of North America, and the entire park is filled with stunning views of mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.
This part of Nova Scotia feels especially similar to the Pacific Northwest, particularly because of the unpredictable weather and the ever-looming moodiness of off-and-on fog. While hiking the Skyline Trail, we went from a clear, 360-degree view of the sunset to zero visibility in a matter of minutes as we were swallowed whole by a cloud.
Newfoundland: Gros Morne and the Best of the Maritimes
On this eastern Canada road trip, the absolute best was saved for last. When we drove onto the ferry that took us to Newfoundland, we were transported to another world — truly the most impressive of the Maritime provinces.
Culturally, it’s a little different than the rest of eastern Canada, with a noticeable combination of Irish and French influence. The people are friendly, and the communities are so small that we were actually identified by locals at the coffee shop as “the ones who’ve been driving around town in that little van lately.” 😅
The pinnacle of our experience was Gros Morne National Park, which felt like a cross between Alaska and Yosemite — with rocky beaches as an added bonus. It’s quiet, pristine, and awe-inspiring.
On the opposite side of the island, we checked out Terra Nova National Park — another swath of untouched wilderness with rolling hills and small cliffs offering sweeping views of the landscape. We also visited the city of St. John’s, where we walked a winding staircase trail down to the ocean at Signal Hill National Historic Site and watched fog roll in over cruise ships in the distance. It was one of our best hikes of the trip.
Oh — and there’s also a small town called Dildo (yes, really) on the east side with a lot of interesting gift shop merch. 😳
@tripofalifestyle do you think they know? — #newfoundland #canada #followmeto #funny #travel ♬ Paint The Town Red (Instrumental) – Doja Cat
How We Made Our Eastern Canada Road Trip Cheap
Every year, we take months to see amazing places like the ones mentioned above, and every year, people ask us, ”How can you afford to travel for so long?!” The truth is surprisingly simple: We just don’t spend that much.
Here’s the total cost* of our 43-day trip from Florida to Canada’s Maritime provinces:
By using our tiny camper van as a place to sleep at free campsites most nights, getting our showers at Planet Fitness, and using credit card points to pay for a few other accommodations, we kept the “Hotels” expense category to a bare minimum.
Of course, driving a camper van isn’t free. The “Van” category in the chart above includes depreciation** and maintenance during the trip, which comes along with the obvious “Gas” line item as well.
For food, we went to a lot of restaurants, but we squeezed as much as possible out of every dollar in the “Dining Out” category by making use of menu hacks and choosing fast casual places.
While “Groceries” make up a relatively small amount of the budget, they go a long way because we shop at places like Walmart and eat cheap meals that we can prepare on a small propane stove — or without cooking at all.
The “Other” category is dominated by ferry rides to and from Newfoundland (and the bridge toll to PEI), but also includes things like bicycle rentals, bowling, parking, tours, entrance fees, and a replacement USB-C charger we had to buy along the way.
By spending frugally, we’re able to take extended vacations like this one without breaking the bank — but the benefits of frugality go far beyond just lower prices…
Our net worth has exploded over the past 10 years because we’ve always kept our spending to a minimum (even at home). Building a big savings cushion freed us from the schedules of full-time jobs and allowed us to retire early, meaning we don’t have to ask for “time off” to take these long trips.
If you want to travel more, the first step is to spend less.
— Steven
PS – I’m a little late writing this blog post, because we’ve actually already left for our next big trip. Follow us on Instagram to come along for the ride as we take 3 weeks exploring Iceland — starting NOW (November 2024)!
Interested in how long-term travel fits into a larger financial plan? Taking a big break from full-time work to go on an adventure like this is Step 4 of our Financial Roadmap — check it out!
* The $4,803 cost of our trip was calculated using “vacation-related” expenses only, so it doesn’t include “back home” expenses like our existing health insurance plan, condo association dues, homeowner’s insurance, etc.
** To calculate our vehicle depreciation, we took the Kelley Blue Book “private party” value of our van before the trip, and subtracted its value after the trip (with nearly 7,000 more miles on it).
