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Quest Across Canada starts in B.C.

Vicki Pinkerton wife, mother, grandmother, student, life coach and writer, is setting things aside to fulfill a life-long dream to see all of Canada. Pinkerton left her small hometown of Mount Albert, Ont.

Vicki Pinkerton wife, mother, grandmother, student, life coach and writer, is setting things aside to fulfill a life-long dream to see all of Canada.

Pinkerton left her small hometown of Mount Albert, Ont. on May 11 and beetled out to Vancouver to start her minivan sojourn.

"I am travelling with no budget, taking advantage of the kindness of strangers to make this happen. It works," said Pinkerton. "My intent is to see all of Canada from west to east and south to north."

Pinkerton has offered writing workshops and motivational speaking engagements in exchange for accommodation. She has camping equipment, but has also been able to stay with folks along the way as word about her adventure is shared from person to person.

Sechelt resident Angela Letman heard about Pinkerton from a distant relative in southern Ontario who is a friend of Pinkertons. She hosted Pinkerton in June.

"She helped out with the cooking and I had to work late that week so she helped with the dogs. She was a very easy guest to have. She's had a lot of different life experiences," Letman said.

As a teenager, Pinkerton took part in Canada World Youth and was struck by the enormity and diversity of Canada. She wanted to travel more but due to parental pressures to stay home and falling in love with Fred, she took a different path.

Her four children grown and with a new university degree in social sciences under her belt, Pinkerton decided it was time to make good on the dream she'd never forgotten.

"I'm scared a bunch of times," Pinkerton admitted. "I pretty much had to push myself out the door. It would have been the easiest thing in the world not to go, but once I was on the road I was almost giddy."

Pinkerton is not alone on her road trip. Her trusty vehicle is aptly nicknamed Vincent Van-Go while the GPS that calls out directions is named Karma. She has some friends and even husband Fred who have said they might join her for legs of the journey that she expects will take a couple of years to complete.

"I don't know if I'll have to go home and regroup, have a Quest Across Canada 2," she joked.

Pinkerton is interested in the concept of community; how it is constructed and expressed in different parts of Canada. She hopes to write about what she learns on the subject of community when the journey is complete. Pinkerton's own community of Mount Albert embraced her adventure, holding a fundraising party to sponsor part of the trip.

Pinkerton left the Sunshine Coast in late June and is now working her way down Vancouver Island. She has a website www.questacrosscanada.com with a blog to keep people updated on her activities and so people can contact her for trade and barter opportunities in communities she plans to visit.

"I could just keep going," Pinkerton said smiling. "I've got the tunes going, the wind in my hair. I'm doing it all."