In February, Bollwitt, who is best known for her online events publication Miss604.com, and Lee, a travel writer who publishes the digital Vancouver Christmas Guide, inked a deal with Tidewater Press to produce FREECOUVER: 101 free things to do in and around Vancouver.

In March and April, they visited, photographed and wrote about 50 destinations each, including some in Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities.

By May, the pair went into the editing process and, the next month, their book was out.

It was an intensive journey, they told Freshet News; however, the project had been on their bucket list for years. Through their events and travel writing work, they had accumulated the names of dozens of locales where both the entry and entertainment are free.

They cite SFU’s Gibson Art Museum on Burnaby Mountain and the Burnaby Village Museum as among their favourite free attractions for half-day adventures. Lee especially likes PoCo Heritage and its mural from the old Wild Duck Inn that was painted by a Disney animator, while Bollwitt is enthralled with the arboretum at səmiq̓ʷəʔelə / Riverview Lands in Coquitlam.

Around Metro, they point to the Douglas J. Husband Discovery Centre in Ladner, where visitors can interact with the artefacts; the six gardens and Indigenous art at Vancouver’s Stanley Park; and the music recitals and TRIUMF tours at UBC — the latter to see the world’s largest cyclotron.

Bollwitt said the book is not only a good tourism resource, it’s also a nod to the many unpaid staff who operate the venues and who often go unrecognized for their contributions. “They’re fantastic places to visit … with dedicated volunteers,” she said.