Susan Wetmore, 76, has been travelling since the age of 17 and has visited more than 100 countries. Her love for travel – and her passion for unique modes of transportation to visit destinations off the beaten track – knows no bounds. And along the way, she’s found art is one of her favourite ways to honour and remember the places and people she’s visited.
Susan’s keen interest for travel began in the mid-sixties when she was a teenager going to school in Switzerland. Her family travelled often, and of particular curiosity to her younger self was her mother’s aunt – a missionary who travelled and volunteered extensively in India.
“I was fascinated by her work and travels,” Susan told Tweed Magazine. “I think that had a big effect on how interested I became in travelling and volunteerism, and also on the types of places I wanted to visit.”
Susan is not your typical 76-year-old traveller. You won’t find her on group walking tours in downtown Paris or sunning herself on the stern of a commercial cruise ship.
“What I want to see when I travel is as much of the non-urban countryside as I can – you won’t catch me in a big city usually unless I have to travel through it,” she laughs. And Susan’s top mode of travel for getting to the less-travelled areas of the world is also a unique one – small working ships that are often carrying cargo, expedition crews or both.
“It’s not that I don’t fly, but what I have discovered over the years travelling on small working ships – with around 100 to 150 people on board – is that you have a much more in-depth experience,” she explains. “Smaller ships are often used for expeditions, which means the other people on board are scientific teams, cultural teams, and crew. At that point it’s not just a way to travel to a destination – it’s a whole education. And it gets you into places you’d otherwise not be able to go.”
Embedded into her interest in visiting less travelled parts of the world is a longstanding dedication to volunteerism. Susan has been volunteering with Catalyste+ (formerly Canadian Executive Service Organization) for over 15 years, using her hospitality skills to upgrade the operations of small restaurants and hotels all over the world.
“Because of my background with Catalyste+ in the hospitality sector, I’m very mindful of responsible tourism. I feel that by travelling with smaller companies, the impacts are smaller, and the local communities you’re visiting are supported by these smaller companies, whether that’s through moving cargo or connecting rural areas. Many of the small travel or expedition companies are also family-owned, which I love to support,” she explains.
In 2019, while on a two-month trip aboard a container ship from Barcelona to Shanghai, she found out she was awarded the Governor General’s Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers. The medal recognizes the exceptional volunteer achievements of Canadians in a wide range of fields and pays tribute to the dedication and commitment of volunteers.
“What an honour that was,” she smiles.
Alongside her passions for unconventional travel and volunteerism, comes a deep love of art, which has morphed into a way for Susan to commemorate her extensive travels.
“My ex-husband and I started collecting art in 1971. Much to the horror of our families, instead of a house or other traditional investments, we spent our money on art, and well, also a dishwasher if I’m being honest,” Susan laughs.
She attributes her initial passion for art to living in London, Ontario in the early seventies.
“I spent a lot of time poking around in galleries, seeing what they had, chatting with gallerists,” Susan explains. “After that, my passion for art really blossomed and a collection just kind of started to morph.”
Nowadays, art is also a way for her to remember and solidify memories and connections made abroad. Susan says more recently she finds herself leaning towards paintings, particularly those by female artists, and also ceramics, glass and textiles.
“There’s no rhyme or reason to my collection, most of the art just speaks to me somehow. For example, I was in Iceland recently and visited a gallery. I saw a painting in the window of a woman – it was really funky but just spoke to me – and I brought it home,” she explains.
Her extensive collection is impressively displayed in her bright, modern Oak Bay apartment.
“Going from being a long-time homeowner to being a renter again a few years ago was a huge relief for me. The lock-and-leave aspect of an apartment is so freeing, especially for travelling. And I absolutely love living in Oak Bay. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be living here, and I love exploring all the local shops and galleries,” she says, smiling.
With more travel plans on the horizon, Susan encourages others who are interested in travel to just get out there.
“I was hospitalized for six months a few years ago with Guillain–Barré syndrome, and I needed total help,” Susan explains. “I had to learn to walk again, to drive. That experience really opened my eyes to how grateful I am for my health and ability to travel. And it also sharply increased my bucket list of places I want to visit before I can’t anymore.”
For anyone wanting to experience off-the-beaten-track travel like Susan, she recommends starting with basic research on destinations and modes of travel and going from there.
“The biggest thing you need to be is flexible and open-minded,” she says confidently. “But that’s how I live my life too. I’m the kind of person who looks at something like a cargo ship, and I go ‘Can I do that?’ For me, travel should be a magical experience, and I don’t want to do what everyone else does.”
