Dad’s Corner

Nicole, Miles and Jon Willing during their first family "glamping" trip at Lac Philippe in 2020. Photo Courtesy Jon Willing

Just around the corner

Jon Willing’s most memorable family getaway? Good ol’ Gatineau Park The quality of family adventures should never be measured by distance travelled. Some of our best summer vacations with our son have been camping about 45 kilometres from our home. […]

Chris Hunt emerges from the fog at the top of Mount Tremblant. Photo Credit Angela Jacques

Staycation nation

After a childhood of holidays close to home, Chris Hunt dreamed of seeing the world, only to come full circle   I didn’t travel much as a boy. Vacations were usually stay-at-home affairs as my family was on a limited […]

Jon Willing, in the Algonquin Times newsroom, reads an edition of the college newspaper produced by his journalism students. Photo credit: S. Gunner

New beginnings

Columnist Jon Willing recently traded a high-profile reporting career for one in academia. The biggest winners? His family A middle-age, late-career job change can be a gamble.   You have built years of seniority and achieved a level of expertise […]

Riley Hunt, right, with his grandparents. Photo Courtesy Chris Hunt

It’s the little things

It doesn’t take much to teach kids how to give back My son Riley was kneeling in a sea of shredded Christmas paper and discarded ribbons.  In front of him, a small mountain of toys loomed.  Nestled around him was […]

Nicole and Miles Willing gather donations at Christmas last year. Photo Credit: Jon Willing

Sharing is caring

  The last page of a Sesame Street book shows Cookie Monster and Elmo splitting a snack and telling us, “Sharing is caring.”   It has become a line often repeated in our home as we teach our three-year-old son, […]

The writer's son, Miles, and his wife, Nicole, at Winterlude earlier this year. Photo Courtesy Jon Willing

Not for the faint of heart

Ottawa winters can be quite brutal – but for the sake of his son, you’ll find columnist Jon Willing outdoors… and loving it   The older I get, the less hardy I’ve become in Ottawa’s cold, damp winters. Winter activities […]