About Project Local Love

Project Local Love is a travel blog for the curious traveler looking to venture off the beaten path and discover unique hidden gems in Canada. We focus on supporting small communities, local makers and producers, Indigenous experiences, and our favourite Canadian adventures.

The beginnings of Project Local Love

Project Local Love was born in 2017 as a way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of confederation in Canada. As part of this milestone year we offered free postcards with postage paid to residents and visitors of Ottawa to send to family and friends, highlighting the beauty of Canada’s capital region. We partnered with small local businesses to help distribute the postcards. At the end of a successful year in 2017, we boxed up the remaining postcards, not knowing what was to come 3 years later.

Connecting people through postcards in 2020

In 2020, as the world came to a sudden stand still, we had an idea to revive Project Local Love, with a new twist. With much of the world under lockdown and people unable to see or connect with loved ones, we decided to help. We printed a whole new series of postcards featuring our favourite Canadian destinations and experiences. From the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa and the Northern Lights in the Northwest Territories, to puffins in Newfoundland and the cobblestones streets of Old Quebec City, we tried to capture the mots beautiful and inspiring places in the country. We created this website where people could select a postcard design online, and submit a postcard sized message to send to friends and family. We then hand wrote each postcard, from inspiring quotes and heartfelt messages, to funny stories about old times and hilarious jokes, and sent the cards off via mail. All for free.

After only a few weeks we started to receive numerous postcards submissions from all over the country; from parents, grandparents, friends, partners separated by the pandemic and coworkers unable to connect over a morning coffee. We even received message from people in international destinations unable to reach their loved ones in Canada.

In June 2020 we were the recipients of an Awesome Ottawa grant for a series of Ottawa hidden gem postcards, highlighting off the beaten track spots around the city, and were featured online by Ottawa Magazine. Over the coming months we received many donations from the public helping to fund the printing of new cards and stamp purchases; while not everyone could afford to contribute, those who did helped those who could not, a value at the core of Project Local Love. Although we reached out to many corporate organizations for funding, our sole source of funds came from the community, something we are extremely grateful for, and proud of.

Given our postcard project used physical postcards, we decided it was necessary to give back to the environment. We made a donation to Tree Canada’s National Greening program to plant 1 tree for every 50 postcards sent.

By summer 2021, just a year after Project Local Love was revived in its new form, we had hand written and sent over 1500 postcards to almost every corner of the country. With travel restrictions easing, and in-person visits once again a reality, we proudly boxed up the remaining postcards, happy at what we had been able to achieve by helping people during one of the hardest years of all of our lives.

The blog: supporting local, small and Canadian

During summer 2020, with travel restrictions in place and local businesses suffering, we decided to start this blog alongside our postcard project with the hopes of helping local businesses survive, and one day again thrive. We went off the beaten path and explored small towns in the region, scenic hiking trails, naturals wonders, quaint shops and local restaurants, working farms, and independent artists. What we discovered was some of the most unique places are hidden in our own backyard.

This is not just an ordinary travel blog, but one that started with an intention to spread kindness and love, and whose goal still is today to encourage people to discover the best of Canada, from it’s people to it’s places, both big and small.

About Sofie Sharom

Sofie Sharom is a freelance photographer, writer and visual artist from Guelph, ON, now based in Ottawa. With a focus on wildlife, travel and documentary photography, she has visited some of the most remote corners of the world in search of spectacular scenery, unique wildlife, engaging people and inspiring stories. Sofie is a proud Canadian and hopes Project Local Love will help people across the country discover the beauty in their own backyard.