Throughout the summer, This Magazine is presenting a special blog chronicling the cross-Canada travels of Shayna and Dominique, a pair of wanderers who are setting out to discover what community is all about. Here, in their own words, is an introduction to the project:

We are thinkers, dreamers and poets, continuously questioning our place in this world. We both spend a lot of time watching and listening to the world around us. We love learning and have a deep passion for sharing what we learn with others through our respective arts — Shayna through written word, and Dominique through photography.

We are traveling across Canada exploring the topic of community. Bartering our skills and labour for accommodation, food and transportation costs, we will make our way from coast to coast, community by community.

Specifically, we will be visiting various type of intentional communities (any group of people that has come together with community as a central uniting purpose). Many of these communities are seeking alternatives to the environmental destruction and social decay perpetuated by mainstream society; some seek to provide a community environment of love and support to people of diverse mental and physical abilities; others just want a place to share ideas and resources with people of a similar perspective — religious, political or otherwise.

Along the way, we will record and share our experiences with This readers through a special blog, Alternate Routes.

You’ll find Dom and Shayna’s first road journal here on Blog This; expect the Alternate Routes blog to be launched shortly…