Travel tends to sharpen taste. It introduces new ideas, uncovers unforeseen obsessions, and offers the occasional epiphany – nudging your sense of beauty and your grasp of craftsmanship in new directions. For Ryan LeClair, founder of Makoto Watch Company out of London, Ontario, it was travel – and specifically a trip to Japan – that transformed his infatuation with watch collecting into his initiation of a brand built on craft, restraint, and everyday practicality.
Almost nothing we carry defines us more clearly than the books in our bags: tactile objects filled with ideas and stories – testimonies to time well spent. They tag along with us, mark our days, and shape the rhythm of how we move through the world. In Uptown Waterloo, three long-standing independent bookstores – Carry-On Comics & Books (46 years young), Words Worth Books (42 years), and Old Goat Books (25 years) – offer distinct ways to build this bracket of everyday carry: a nostalgia-driven comic haven built for the thrill of discovery, a curated literary hub grounded in conversation, and a densely-packed used bookstore where the search is part of the reward. Together, these enduring fixtures map a reading life – charting not just what we read, but how we come to find it.
In my line of work – as writer, photographer, editor, regional explorer – EDC isn't a trend. It's infrastructure. Most days I'm in motion: tracing backroads toward a brewhouse, mapping my way to an artist's studio, or sliding into the corner of a coffee shop where I turn field notes into final copy and RAW files into photographs that will pop on paper. My office is wherever I set my bag down. My tools make it possible.
RECIPE BY MIIJIDAA CAFÉ & BISTRO BEVERAGE MANAGER JESSICA MORRIS
COTTAGE SEASON HAS ARRIVED. TO CELEBRATE THIS ANNUAL MILESTONE MIIJIDAA MIXOLOGIST JESSICA MORRIS HAS CREATED...
‘It’s a sunny afternoon, sometime in the famously un-wintery month of February, when I find myself at one of the region’s newest – and quite possibly most aesthetically-pleasing – coffeeshops, Disko Coffee, chatting with owner Arman Duggal about the inspiration(s) behind his captivating vision-turned-reality.
AS SOMEONE WHO LOVES TO EXPLORE OUR REGION’S DOWNTOWNS (AND UPTOWNS), PREFERABLY WITH AN ARMLOAD OF PAPER BAGS AND A TURMERIC LATTE IN HAND, I’M ALWAYS ON THE HUNT FOR A BEAUTIFULLY-CURATED BRICKS AND MORTAR SHOP. YES, I KNOW THEY SELL SOAP ONLINE.
‘No two homes are alike’ is a common saying in the world of real estate. The same can be said of home buyers. We’re all unique – and we all come to the house-hunting process with our own needs, desires, challenges, and quirks. That's why realtors need to be able to relate to people coming from all walks of life. Many of us have trusted systems and best practices, but we also must be ready to adapt our regular ways to meet some clients’ needs. A great example? The neurodivergent buyer.
‘People know what it’s like to live in a house that's uncomfortable,’ James tells me, and I nod, maybe a bit too eagerly, ‘but they don’t often make a connection between the absence of comfort and environmental inefficiencies.’ He continues: ‘Our goal is to build sustainable and energy-efficient homes that will also ensure that our clients are comfortable in their everyday lives.’
If you’re one of those special few who have set their sights on purchasing a rural property (a house in the country, a larger farm, or something else outside of town) it’s best to understand the unique opportunities and challenges that accompany these properties – including access to utilities, types of water sources, and allowable agricultural uses.
Travel tends to sharpen taste. It introduces new ideas, uncovers unforeseen obsessions, and offers the occasional epiphany – nudging your sense of beauty and your grasp of craftsmanship in new directions. For Ryan LeClair, founder of Makoto Watch Company out of London, Ontario, it was travel – and specifically a trip to Japan – that transformed his infatuation with watch collecting into his initiation of a brand built on craft, restraint, and everyday practicality.
Almost nothing we carry defines us more clearly than the books in our bags: tactile objects filled with ideas and stories – testimonies to time well spent. They tag along with us, mark our days, and shape the rhythm of how we move through the world. In Uptown Waterloo, three long-standing independent bookstores – Carry-On Comics & Books (46 years young), Words Worth Books (42 years), and Old Goat Books (25 years) – offer distinct ways to build this bracket of everyday carry: a nostalgia-driven comic haven built for the thrill of discovery, a curated literary hub grounded in conversation, and a densely-packed used bookstore where the search is part of the reward. Together, these enduring fixtures map a reading life – charting not just what we read, but how we come to find it.
In my line of work – as writer, photographer, editor, regional explorer – EDC isn't a trend. It's infrastructure. Most days I'm in motion: tracing backroads toward a brewhouse, mapping my way to an artist's studio, or sliding into the corner of a coffee shop where I turn field notes into final copy and RAW files into photographs that will pop on paper. My office is wherever I set my bag down. My tools make it possible.
Stratford – and, by extension, Perth County – lends itself to takeaway. A coffee to carry, a sandwich in hand, something sweet tucked alongside – then out into the streets for window shopping, into the theatres for a performance, or down to the riverbank for a nosh.
