by JULIET WATERS

When the National Post recently dubbed Will Ferguson a "Gen X Pierre Berton," Ferguson was thrilled. "I really admire Pierre Berton, so I take that as nothing but a compliment. But I'd have to question the accuracy. Pierre Berton is a much more disciplined writer. He'd never impose himself into his essays like I do," says the author of Why I Hate Canadians and the recently released Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada.

In his latest book, Ferguson travels to some of the farthest outposts in Canada, chronicling our eccentric history and awesome geography. After finishing the eastern stretch of his book tour, Ferguson took some time to chat about the places Canadians should see in their lifetime.

Mirror: If you had to pick a place that would be like the Canadian Mecca where would it be?

Will Ferguson: I'd have to say L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland [where the first evidence of Viking settlements in North America were discovered]. The human race came out of Africa, spread into Asia into Europe and then it reconnected it right there like a circle, when the Vikings met the Inuit. I think every Canadian needs to go there. Now as a travel destination it's just open field, it's not like there are ferris wheels. You go there and there's just this village. It's fascinating, but as a trip, if you're asking where to go as a trip: Churchill, man! Churchill, Manitoba is just amazing! To go there and to see polar bears walking across this landscape is unsettling and exhilarating at the same time. You go to Churchill and you realize just how big this country is, because you're in the tundra and you haven't even crossed the 60th parallel yet. You're on the Hudson Bay and it's just this massive landscape. You realize, my God, what a huge swath of real estate we've laid claim to.

M: What's your favourite place?

WF: Old Quebec. It's just so strikingly attractive. It's like Paris without the dog poop, and not so exhausting to explore. I always imagine it as Europe in the mind of God, like how we imagine how Europe is, but when you get there it isn't. If you spend a lot of time in Quebec City - and I have because I used to live in Lévis - when you get to Europe you're almost disappointed. I love the winding streets, and I know it's heavily touristy, but I just love it. And I love the two layers, the two cities on top of each other, the lower town and the upper town. And the history is just so saturated. My image of Quebec City is this cannon ball embedded in a tree from some battle. The tree has kept growing, but the cannon ball is still wedged in.

M: Have you learned anything new about Canada on your book tour?

WF: When I go to hotels my publisher always asks for a gift basket. It's always kind of the same thing, you know, cashews, a Toblerone, a bottle of wine. But every city it seems they put one weird thing in it. In Toronto it was a rolled up Financial Post, you know, so I could check my stocks (laughs hard). When I got to Montreal there was this little box of condoms discreetly tucked in there. By the time I got to St. John's I was curious what it was going to be. And you know in St. John's there's that salt-ridden wind blasting into your face, so I go up to my hotel room and tucked discreetly into the basket is this little tube of Chapstick. So protection in St. John's has a different meaning than in Montreal. And you know, at my age, the Chapstick, I gotta say, came in more handy.

Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw: Travels In Search of Canada by Will Ferguson, Knopf Canada, hc, 320pp, $34.95