So many of my best memories are from road trips. Whether it was that time three friends and I drove from our university in Texas to Ontario to visit grad schools. Or when I drove across eastern Canada with my mom to make a pilgrimage to Oak Island, Nova Scotia and eat a lot of lobster. Or when a friend and I drove from Toronto to North Battleford, SK to visit his family and chase the Northern Lights. On each trip we got to see some amazing sights, but we also had some great conversations. I really got to know my friends and family a lot better by having conversations in cars.

Apparently, I’m not alone. According to a survey conducted by ZipCar, 76% of the folks they surveyed have had a deep and meaningful conversation in a car. It’s an informal setting that lets us loosen up and speak more freely.

With this in mind, when we wanted to take the pulse of Canada, we set off across the country and connected with real Canadians who were willing to take us for a drive to talk about the seemingly ordinary, yet ultimately extraordinary, things they were doing in their communities – demonstrating how they #LiveByTheLeaf.

Our conversations were facilitated by Darcy Michael and Nicolas Pinson – two fellows who are fun, outgoing and easy to talk to. You can watch all of the episodes of “How’s It Going, Canada?” on livebytheleaf.ca or on the playlist below.

Aside from Darcy and Nicolas, we were supported by an amazing film crew who were responsible for rigging up the cars, keeping an eye on the weather and capturing some fantastic footage. We thought it would be fun to share some pictures from behind the scenes as well as the beautiful places in Canada we got to visit.

Stay tuned to our Instagram and TikTok channels. Some of the Canadians featured in our episodes are going to be launching some fun challenges that you can participate in.