My past few articles have covered some pretty heavy subjects, ranging from eating dog tacos, to an island full of haunted dolls and to the ruins of one of Mesoamerica's greatest cities. To lighten the mood a little, I decided to put together a photo essay of the beautiful city of Puebla.

Puebla is much smaller than Mexico City so it isn't as noisy, it isn't as rushed and it's much more walkable. While there are still 1.4 million people living here, it doesn't feel that way. To be honest, if I was to choose between Mexico City or Pubela to revisit, I would probably choose Puebla.

Puebla is known worldwide for its colourful buildings, narrow streets and hundreds upon hundreds of churches. I was told by one gentlemen that there are 365 churches in the city – one for each day of the year – but when I told another gentlemen that, he looked at me surprised and asked "Is that all?"

Due to the popularity of my Why Traveling Solo Is The Worst blog post, I decided to write a continuation of it. A lot of people prefer to travel solo because it helps them "find themselves", however I am a klutz who makes too many mistakes to be trusted to travel alone. Although an adult, I still require adult supervision, and I am probably not the only one. On my trips to Europe and Japan I used the tour groups Contiki and G Adventures, respectively. But what's the difference between the two, and who would I use again?

(It should be noted that while there are Contiki ads on my site, they are powered through Commission Junction and not actually Contiki. I have applied for G Adventures ads as well; twice actually, but they have yet to be accepted. While neither company sponsors me, it would be cool if they did! :)

I traveled with Contiki in 2011, and went on the "European Discovery" tour. We visited 8 countries (England, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland and France) and 11 cities (London, Amsterdam, St. Goar, Munich, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Florence, Vatican City, Lucerne and Paris) in 13 days. This tour costs $2,303 CAD.

For many of us in Saskatchewan, summer means it's time for an Alberta road trip. Although the endless stretches of prairie have their appeal, there is nothing quite like seeing the mountains rising over the horizon.

One challenge that comes with taking a summer road trip is the heat. Much like on this side of the border, it isn't uncommon for summer temperatures to get to the extreme. I know a few people who have had car problems in the heat, and my family is one of them. Nothing ruins a trip more than an unexpected visit to the mechanic.  

Thankfully, Alberta has a myriad of places to go swimming, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding or fishing. This not only gives your vehicle time to cool off, but also gives you a chance to escape the heat as well.