Metanoodle: Buy a beach for Canada

Canadians are popular in those sun and beach destinations down south. Make one of them an offer they can't resist. Join our federation as an associate member. It doesn't have to be a tiny island. Think big and go for Cuba. Cubans, given a chance to vote, wouldn't laugh in our face. They'd say, "Tell us more what you mean by 'associate member'". There's a sound currency and a chance to get off the island and new investment. From our end, it'll be nice boarding a beach-bound plane using a driver's licence for i.d. The old question of "who is my neighbour" used to be answered by who lives within walking distance of where I grew up. The internet gives the new answer: Your neighbours are the people you can reach out to easiest.

It's cheaper to fly from Toronto to Cuba than to Innuvik. Innuvik for one is a $2500 round trip and for that money there's not even a hamburger or a bench to sleep on when you get there. The same money gets a two week trip for two with hotel, drinks and food on a Cuban beach. The economics tell you that Cuba is closer to Toronto than Innuvik. The price proves propinquity.

Just back from Los Cabos, Mexico, I've got sunny beaches on my mind. Canadians seem to be the most popular tourists there. As I unpacked Thursday night, the middle clothes were still warm from the perpetually perfect temperatures on the south Baja coast, even though the suitcase had been in an unheated hold on the jet.