I can hardly believe that it's already time for my end-of-year top five lists. I like to pick my top five 'leaps' of the year because it is a convenient — and somewhat quirky — way of reviewing my London-based and foreign adventures. It's been a hectic year at work but I've travelled to New York, Japan, Canada and Cannes, and there has also been plenty of fun in London, including Secret and Hot Tub Cinemas and many birthdays and gin experiences. None of these London activities involved any good leaps, though, so my top five leaps are all taken overseas.

When I travel to a new place – especially one that isn't especially known for having great coffee — I like to do a little online research before I go, i.e. searching Google for "independent coffee bar in X". This has two benefits: first, of course, it means I don't have to settle for a Starbucks for my morning brew; and second, good coffee bars are often located in areas that have other cafés, shops and things to do that I like. Just follow the Aeropress!

I spent just over three days in Vancouver, Canada, but still managed to sample a fair bit of the city's coffee culture. Here are my four favourite coffee bars.

I had a 12-hour layover in Vancouver on my way back to London, but I didn't mind too much as I could leave my suitcase at the left luggage and take the Sky Train into the city. It takes about 20 minutes and a day pass, which gives you access to most public transport within the city, is under $10. My first destination was the Lululemon Lab, a design hub on West Broadway, where local designers collaborate to produce technical clothing that is a little hipper (i.e. less colourful) than the regular Lulu kit. It's all locally made — very locally, in fact: in the room adjacent to the store.

I'm back in Vancouver now, about to head back to London, but I've been getting a bit behind, so here's what happened in Saskatoon.

Yesterday was our last day in Vancouver — for now, at least — but our flight to Saskatoon wasn't until the afternoon, so we had a little bit of time to spend in the city. I did my usual run along the waterfront, followed by coffee at Revolver (still my favourite Vancouver coffee bar so far).

Yesterday morning, I decided it was time to see a bit of the south-west side of Vancouver's waterfront, so I ran along the jogging path past Sunset Beach and into Stanley Park, where I paused at Third Beach to stretch before running back to my hotel via a caffeine stop at Timbertrain Coffee Roasters on West Cordova for a most excellent pourover made using a gorgeous copper-coloured Kalita dripper.

Jet lag be damned: I woke up at 7.30 yesterday morning and went for a run along the waterfront and into Stanley Park — a huge, green, sprawling nubbin on the northern end of downtown Vancouver, and the largest urban park in North America. Jogging and cycling paths circle the sea wall around there perimeter of the park, and there are plenty of sights along the way, from totem poles to Vancouver's Little Mermaid equivalent, also known as Girl in a Wetsuit.

Yesterday was a long day. The eight-hour time difference between London and Vancouver meant that when we landed at 2 pm Pacific Time, there was still a lot of day to get through in order to beat jet lag. Although I usually try to avoid travelling on national holidays, arriving in Vancouver on Canada Day was actually really fun. It helped that the weather was beautiful, so after we'd checked into our Downtown hotel, we walked down to Canada Place on the waterfront where some of the festivities were in progress.

My little brother is getting married this weekend. Technically, he is already married, but this time they are having a big ceremony and I will be attending in person rather than via Skype. I'm flying to Vancouver with my parents and we will spend a few days there before heading to Saskatoon — the Paris of the Prairies — for the wedding. It's been almost seven years since my last trip to Canada and I'm really looking forward to it. Here's what I've packed.

Yesterday morning, we rose early and drove out to the Mont Tremblant National Park, two hours north of Montreal. We had ordered a subcompact rental car but, as usual, they were out of reasonable-sized cars so we ended up with a mammoth SUV.