The Happy Camper: Dan Rubinstein’s New Book
Author Dan Rubinstein wrote a book in 2015 titled Born to Walk: The Transformative Power of a Pedestrian Act. He went for a walk around Canada, United States and the UK and talked to various people along the way. It was a major hit. It reminded me of when John Muir, the 19th century Scottish writer and naturalist, went for a walk across America’s South in 1867 for the same reason; to connect to the people and the wild landscape they call home.
In Dan’s latest book Water Borne: A 1,200-Mile Paddleboarding Pilgrimage, he does something similar, but this time while standing tall on a stand-up paddle board. He chose a SUP rather than a pair of hiking boots this time simply to be different, and to have a good view upon the “blue space” he was travelling—and it was a lot of blue space. Dan’s extended journey took him from his home in Ottawa, to Montreal, to New York, to the Erie Canal, to Niagara, to Lake Ontario, to the Rideau Canal and then back to his home. Close to 2,000 kilometres in total.
Dan called his trip a “journalist adventure.” That’s a great way to define it. There’s a perfect blend of characters he meets and chats with along the way about how they embrace their “blue space” and how it improves their lives.
I love the author’s writing style. He works full time as an editor and writes magazine articles and books about his travels to break free from his career. It shows. He’s factual but poetic at the same time. He has the style of Canadian writer Roy McGregor, added with a spice flair of American writer/naturalist Robert Perkins. The book points out important environmental issues, remind us how good and genuine people really are, makes us realize how much “blue space” we should cherish out there and gives the readers a few giggles now and then.
Dan spent 10 weeks in 2023 on a floating SUP, with his camp gear lashed on top. That’s cool. But the journey he writes about doesn’t detail on the distance made or the time it took him to complete it. It’s a humble tale of time spent with water and people. Dan explored the healing potential of our “blue space.” It’s an amazing book about an amazing adventure.
Check out The Happy Camper Whisky Fireside Chat with Dan Rubinstein about his latest book Water Borne: A 1,200-Mile Paddleboarding Pilgrimage on my KCHappyCamper YouTube channel.
