Today’s stories take you from unforgettable wildlife encounters to some of the wildest paddling routes on the continent.

First, watch a kayaker’s dream come true as he has a breathtaking close encounter with a pod of bottlenose dolphins. Next, we’re diving into one of the most ambitious expeditions you’ve probably never heard of. Adventurer Justin Barbour spent an entire year traveling nearly 4,000 kilometers across the remote wilds of Labrador, Quebec and Newfoundland—by canoe, snowshoe, toboggan and bike.

Plus, escape the constant buzz of notifications in Washington’s San Juan Islands, where paddlers are encouraged to switch their phones to “kayak mode.” And if international paddling is on your bucket list, don’t miss our free webinar on planning a kayaking trip to Portugal, featuring expert guides with decades of experience along Portugal’s stunning coastline. This webinar will be recorded and sent to anyone who has signed up, even if you are unable to attend, so reserve your spot now to guarantee access.

Also, don’t miss your chance to enter to win a Sea Eagle FastTrack 385ft Pro Package, a lightweight inflatable kayak designed for solo or tandem paddling and easy transport to your next adventure.

— Paddling Magazine Newsletter Editors

While kayaking off the coast of western Wales, Rupert Kirkwood had an encounter with a pod of bottlenose dolphins most paddlers can only dream of.

In late September 2018, Justin Barbour was barely 200 kilometers into a canoe expedition across subarctic Labrador and Quebec when winter arrived far earlier than expected. Barbour, a professional adventurer who goes by the handle Newfoundland Explorer on his popular YouTube and social media channels, recalls breaking ice with his paddle and spending “numb days, ill-equipped in the canoe with frost-nipped toes.”

But instead of feeling the sting of defeat when he eventually used his satellite communicator to summon helicopter rescue, Barbour was already planning a more audacious adventure. “I badly wanted to continue with a sled and snowshoes, but I did not have enough winter travel experience,” says Barbour. “Looking over the vast snowy landscape on the chopper ride out, I said to myself, ‘I’ll be back, and when freeze-up strikes, I’ll be ready.’”

Barbour went home to St. John’s, Newfoundland, and studied winter travel by snowshoe, toboggan and canvas tent heated by a woodstove—“the way of the old Labrador trapper,” as he describes it. “The goal was to spend the year traveling in nature like the Indigenous people and earliest settlers, who inspired me and who lived much closer to the land than we do today.”

Five years later, Barbour started Expedition Northeast on the shores of northern Hudson Bay in Puvirnituq, Nunavik. His destination: Cape Pine, the easternmost point in Newfoundland, nearly 4,000 kilometers away. Traveling alone and sometimes with his dog, Saku, Barbour’s four-season journey would include canoeing, hiking, snowshoe and toboggan travel and mountain biking…

The pings arrive before morning coffee: work emails, news headlines, social notifications. Thirty minutes later, you’re thumbing through suggested videos, trying to remember what you were supposed to check in the first place. The glowing screen sapping attention before the day has properly begun.

The modern benefits of being accessible mean our smartphones are interrupting our sleep, our conversations, and even intended quiet moments. Studies link excessive screen time to stress, anxiety, fragmented attention and emotional fatigue. Yet stepping away from our devices isn’t easy with the dependency on them we’ve interwoven into our lives, and it can feel equally stressful, nearly impossible, to disconnect.

Ironically, just a few hours north of the tech capital of Seattle there lies an unexpected reset.

In Washington State’s San Juan Islands, guests launching sea kayaks with Outdoor Odysseys often begin their trip with a radical act: switching their phones to airplane mode (or as the advertising implies, kayak mode), and some even leaving them behind altogether…

Curious about international kayak travel? Check out this free webinar on how to plan a kayaking trip in Portugal. Hosted by Paddling Magazine’s Brenna Kelly, this session features two of Portugal’s most experienced expedition guides from Douro Kayak Expeditions. Together, they bring more than 60 years of experience planning, guiding and paddling sea kayak journeys across Portugal.

Can’t make it? The webinar will be recorded and sent to anyone who has signed up, even if they are unable to attend.