Sarah’s Trans Canada Trail: From Soundchecks to Trailheads

Discovering Canada One Step at a Time 

Written by Sarah Shandl

There are very few people who can say they’ve travelled the Trans Canada Trail from coast to coast. I am one of them. Well… sort of. 

My Trans Canada Trail story isn’t your typical tale of a single, continuous trek with a giant backpack and an emotional finish line selfie in the Atlantic. Mine involved tour buses, loading docks, late-night drives, and the occasional sprint to find decent coffee before soundcheck. As the Social Media Manager and Production Coordinator for Sarah McLachlan’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy 30th Anniversary Tour, I found myself in the wildly unique position of travelling across Canada from Victoria, BC to Halifax, NS — and along the way, I made it a personal mission to run sections of the Trans Canada Trail in every province we visited. 

Photo credit: Sarah Shandl

Tour life is not glamorous (but the trails help) 

It all started in Victoria, where I laced up my running shoes and hit the trail along the Pacific Northwest shoreline, immediately humbled by the brisk mid-October wind coming off the water. But that run set the tone for the next month: wherever the tour bus stopped on a day off, I would find a section of the Trans Canada Trail and explore it. 

Tour life is not easy. It is not glamorous. At all. Show days typically start around 8:00 a.m. and end around 1:00 a.m., followed by an overnight drive to the next city that isn’t always smooth sailing. Shows are often back-to-back for days. Sleep, exercise and any form of non-work routine become rare and precious commodities. You learn very quickly that if you don’t intentionally take care of yourself, no one else is going to do it for you. 

So my days off became sacred. After a quality local artisan roast coffee (because, coffee first… always), I would pull running gear from my suitcase and head out on the Trail, solo, to refresh my brain and remind my body that I was, in fact, still a human being and not just a person who travels space and time on a bus with their co-workers and communicates primarily through walkie-talkies. 

It became a bit of a running joke with the tour crew. Every time we arrived in a new city and someone asked what I was doing on the day off, the response was always, “Let me guess… you’re going to find a trail.” Yes. Yes, I was. And it became something I genuinely looked forward to — the idea that no matter where we were in this enormous country, there would be a familiar trail sign waiting. What I didn’t expect was how meaningful that would start to feel. 

Photo credit: Sarah Shandl

Finding home on the Trail 

Somewhere between catching my breath looking out over the Saskatchewan River, and a drizzly, chilly run along the shoreline in Thunder Bay, it hit me: the Trans Canada Trail wasn’t only a convenient place to exercise. It was a ribbon that tied the entire country together. And somehow, by stepping onto it in different provinces, in different time zones, in completely different landscapes, I was always drawn back to this familiar sense of home. 

I started sharing about these outdoor adventures. Friends would reply saying how incredible it was, or how they had always wanted to explore the Trans Canada Trail themselves. And I realized how special this Trail actually is. Canada is vast, and yet there I was, stepping onto the same trail system whether I was in British Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, or the Maritimes. 

Photo credit: Sarah Shandl

By the time we reached Halifax, I had logged kilometres — and memories — all along the way. I may not have walked the Trans Canada Trail in one continuous journey, but I experienced it in a way I never could have planned: in chapters, in snapshots, in stolen hours between soundchecks and bus calls. 

Of all the incredible experiences that came with touring across Canada, those solo explorations on the Trans Canada Trail remain some of my favourite moments. Because no matter how far from home I was, or how tired I felt, or unsure of what city I woke up in that morning, I could step onto that Trail, start running, and feel — even just for a little while  — like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. 

Westcoast based but nomadic at heart, Sarah Shandl has built a career around creating and sharing experiences, a passion and lifestyle that extends beyond just paying the bills. She has played various roles in large-scale projects including the JUNO Awards, Michael Bublé’s LOVE World Tour, TED Talks, Giants of Africa, 2010 Olympic Celebration Site, and multiple large scale municipal events through BC. She currently manages social media for a number of clients, including Sarah McLachlan. 

An avid outdoor enthusiast, Sarah has travelled to 30+ countries and endeavours to pursue a life of adventure, whimsy, and wonder as she explores this planet and what it means to live an extraordinary life. 

Follow her on Instagram @vanweloveyou. 

Photo credit: Sarah Shandl

About the Trans Canada Trail 

The Trans Canada Trail is the longest multi-use trail system in the world and it is always growing. It reaches every province and territory, and connects all three of Canada’s coastlines. Each section of the Trans Canada Trail is managed locally and supports different activities and community needs. 

Trans Canada Trail is the organization that advocates, stewards and champions Canada’s nationwide trail system, providing leadership and guidance, funding and resources, outreach and engagement. 

Explore our interactive map to find trail running spots near you! 

Donate today to support the Trail and help people enjoy connections to nature in their community.

Main photo credit: Sarah Shandl