JÄGER: A road trip through the heart and soul of Canada

Whenever I told someone I was taking the Greyhound bus, their first reaction was inevitably a mixture of pity and disgust. It is, admittedly, not a first class method of transportation, but those who choose it aren't expecting five-star treatment.Some do it because it's the only service they have access to, some do it because it's all they can afford, and some do it simply because in their minds, nothing compares to rumbling down the highway like vagabonds and beatniks did in the good ol' days.Those motivated by the latter are a dying breed. As flights become more affordable, coach travel has become a victim of natural selection. Unable to maintain that sense of adventurous spirit that traversing the country by bus once bestowed upon its riders, Greyhound cancelled all services west of Ontario in 2018, and axed the rest three years later. While most dismissed the news as an inevitable symptom of progress, saying "It's just a bus," for a select few, the loss was a tough pill to swallow. I've done my fair share of travelling all over the world, but honestly nothing compares to taking the Greyhound bus across Canada. Twice I made the journey from Toronto to Vancouver, once in the summer and once in the winter. Both times proved to me that the best aspects of this country can only be experienced at ground level..To truly understand Canada and those who call it home, one must venture outside the cities, and there was no better way to do that than riding the Greyhound. Stopping in what felt like every small town along Highway One, I was struck by how while there were notable regional differences between those in Ontario and Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, everyone shared a certain, unmistakable Canadianness. The locals I met had a genuine sense of pride, not only in the nation, but their place in it. Some lived on the same property their great, great, great grandparents had claimed before confederation, while others were first-generation Canucks. What they had in common was that their ancestors came to Canada looking for a better life — and found it.I don't smoke, and typically make a point of avoiding smokers like the plague, but for those three days and nights, you could always find me next to those lighting up outside the bus during our stops. It was there that I got to know a man with a limp who'd been waiting ages for surgery on his leg and couldn't drive, and a 70-yea-old woman who was debating coming out of retirement because she couldn't afford to fly to see her grandkids two provinces over. .Nobody was under the impression that the country was perfect, but there was an unspoken understanding that there was nowhere else we'd rather be. There's a certain resilience Canadians have; no matter what happens, you just gotta keep goin'.This trait was put to the test during my winter voyage when the heating on the bus broke down between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg. The driver told us we could stay in the terminal and wait for the next bus in the morning, but that he had a schedule to keep and wouldn't let sub-zero temperatures get in the way.Only a few tourists opted to hang back. The rest of us zipped up our jackets and made the best of a bad situation. Perhaps the only aspect of Canada as spectacular as our people is the scenery. Nothing quite compares to seeing the sun rise in the Rockies, the morning rays casting a warm glow over the mountain peaks. Then there's the lakes of Manitoba, the forests of British Columbia, and even the fields of Saskatchewan — yes, you read that right.My last trans-Canada Greyhound trip took place over a decade ago. Since then, things have changed in ways that I never could've predicted. The cost of everything has skyrocketed, the government tried to turn the country into a "post-nationalist" state, and the Canadian flag that I'd seen proudly affixed to homes from coast to coast became a controversial symbol.It's tempting to look at all that and come to the conclusion that Canada is beyond repair, but while there is much work to be done, the heart of this country is still beating.Every Canadian ought to go experience it for themselves.