Upon arriving at the place from which we'd been posting breathtaking mountain photos, I had a mental breakdown in our 2×2 metre room with a shared kitchen for 40 people and one mouse. "I want to go home. What was I thinking!" I screamed during our first hours in the staff accommodation in the forest above Banff, where we were supposed to spend 2.5 months.

There are thousands of beautiful places in the world, but it wasn't the postcards that kept pulling me back to Canada — it was the extraordinary Canadian friendliness that makes it a country where people still genuinely enjoy living.

I first went to Canada three years ago. Since then, I've travelled through eight provinces, experienced all four seasons, tasted "summer snow", and completely fallen in love.

I can't stop smiling. We caught this disease the moment we landed. The corners of our mouths shot up and settled there as if it were their natural position. Welcome to St. John's, Newfoundland — a land where happy living isn't just a concept, it's a way of life.