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A Sarnia area woman who went on a cycling trip in Austria in May, says she travels regularly, but she’s never encountered the kind of enthusiasm for Canada that she encountered on her recent trip.
Barbara Dobson said she’s received positive feedback during previous travels when people spotted the Canadian flags on her jackets and hats.
But she said the reception on the latest trip was on another level.
“I felt that people were calling out to us,” she said.
“‘We love you.’ ‘We love Canada.’ It was overwhelming. … It gave me a lot of Canadian pride because it showed me how much our flag is known and respected and people admire us everywhere.”
Dobson’s latest trip took her from Passau, Germany, to Vienna over six days, she said.
‘Heartwarming’ response
She and her husband rode cherry-red bicycles and had six-by-ten-inch Canadian flags tucked into the panniers, she said.
She last visited Austria just a year and a half ago and had been in Portugal a year before that, she said.
“At any other time, [with] my flags on my back, you know, somebody might say, ‘Where are you from?’” she said.
“But these were like — quite the response from people.”
Barbara Dobson stands with her bicycle during a cycling trip in Austria in May 2026. (Submitted by Barbara Dobson)
Dobson called the reaction “heartwarming.”
Asked why she thought the response had shifted this time, she said she believed people were showing support for the country in response to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Davos speech in January – though she said nobody specifically mentioned the speech to her.
“I felt like writing a letter to Mark Carney after and saying … ‘Thank you for your efforts here,’” she said.
Canadian travel content creator Kirsten Wendlandt, who last visited Europe in November, said she has not noticed a growth in positive sentiment toward Canadians – though she said she typically doesn’t sport a Canadian flag while travelling.
But she said Canadians already receive a warm welcome in many places because many Canadian tourists are known for being polite, generous and interested in other cultures.
“It’s beautiful to be from a country that people are excited to see you and excited to welcome you when you go to their country,” Wendlandt said.
“It’s kind of cool that … we’re just known as being really nice, and people, you know, want to welcome us.”