Cheap Trip

Tips to trekking the country with little money

Two days after their wedding, Emily Tapper and Sidney Coakley packed their gear into their Jeep and set off on a three-week adventure that saw them camp – often for free – throughout Canada.

“We probably spent between $200 and $250 in accommodations for the month. If we’d had to stay in hotels, we wouldn’t have been able to afford it,” said Tapper.

“By doing it this way, we were able to stretch our budget,” she said.

The 30-somethings made a platform in the back of their four-door Wrangler with spare two-by-fours and a bit of extra plywood left over in the basement of their house in Dartmouth, N.S. They brought a tent, cooler, and camping gear, including a Coleman propane stove.

Then, equipped with a lot of research on free or very cheap camp- sites, they pointed their grey Jeep west and drove away.

Their first stop? An abandoned quarry outside of Edmundston, N.B., just before that province’s border with Quebec.

“It was on a hillside. It had a beautiful view,” said Tapper. “It had no amenities but there was a Tim Hortons nearby.”

Alone on that beautiful hillside, the couple made a campfire, had a few drinks, and relaxed.

At national parks like the everpopular and well-maintained Prince Edward Island National Park, the daily entrance fee for a family during the peak season is $15.70. A campsite with all the services in the park’s Cavendish location is another $35.30 per day.

That’s a total cost just to gain access to the campsite of $51 per day, or $357 per week. That cost might make parents on a tight budget balk at the idea of a week of camping with their children.

But there are ways to cut those costs.

When Tapper and Coakley camped on the hillside in northwestern New Brunswick, they did so for free. There were no campground entrance fees. And no campsite fees either.

It also wasn’t just in New Brunswick that the couple snagged a free campsite. The two also stayed for free in an overflow campsite, a large grassy area with handwashing stations and pit toilets, at Lake Louise in the spectacular Banff National Park in Alberta.

During their cross-canada honeymoon, Tapper and Coakley enjoyed a few amenities and didn’t exactly rough it all the way. They showered in visitor information centres and truck stop showers, stayed with friends a couple of times, and even splurged for a hotel room one night.

Standing 6-ft., 3-in., Coakley says the toughest part of the trip for him was simply being cramped in the car for drives of up to 15 hours at a time.

But at least that came with bragging rights.

“The best part for me was being able to drive across the country, just to say I did it,” he said.

Evenings for him and Tapper consisted of kicking back and enjoying a bonfire and beers.

“I made sure that I was able to get my Alexander Keith’s wherever I went,” said Coakley. “When we were travelling, we got to listen to the last Tragically Hip concert around the bonfire with a beer and a steak.”