Dear Blogging Community,
It is with great sadness that we share the tragic loss of the Writes of Passage blogger, Caroline Helbig. She passed on Sunday, January 2nd, 2022 with her husband Mike Sharp when a tree fell on their home during a windstorm. Caroline had a great love of adventure and wrote celebratory posts describing her journeys through the many landscapes and countries of our world. Her goal was to inspire others to adventure while giving helpful advice, and she did just that with each informative post followed by her customary thoughtful response to any comment she received. Caroline was a stunning photographer who captured rare moments of beauty in her travels near and far.Her last days were spent at Whyte Lake, a go-to hike just above her home in West Vancouver, where she gathered community to ice-skate and play hockey on the frozen ice—a rare treat! She will always be remembered as an avid explorer of the untrodden trail. Her joy, wit and intelligence is found here, and in our hearts, for we are the lucky readers who travelled with her.
Caroline’s family and friends
Writes of Passage 
My deepest condolences! Hope she’s in a happier place now. 🙏
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Alex, family and friends, Your mom was SO VERY proud of you and your choices in life. Please continue on your path as this they would want for you xo My husband and I had the great pleasure of working with Caroline last fall. We immediately clicked and shared wonderful chats, stories and some very heartfelt life experiences. Like yourselves we still can’t believe they are not here with you all… Be strong, they lived and loved life largely. Giving generously to all around them. Continue for them as they would want this. Enormous Hugs Liz and Maurice
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I am so sorry to hear about this, and so sad to read about Caroline and Mike’s passing. This was such a great blog. Each time Caroline came on here and wrote about her latest adventures, you could tell she lived life with such zest and enthusiasm, and always made time to chat with us who followed her blog. Thank you friends and family for sharing. My condolences. Take care.
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I’m so sad to read this… It’s incredible how much impact people can have in others’ lives with just a few words. I didn’t knew Caroline personally, but through her writings and one e-mail exchange she actually helped me a lot, she made my life better. You could feel her sincerity in everything she wrote, you still can. Please keep this website alive, for it may help others in the future. She will be missed.
Abraham
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I am so, so sorry to hear this – I remember seeing the story in the news but at that time there were no names mentioned in the reports. I really enjoyed her writing, always looking forward to a new post, and her enthusiasm for the outdoors. We shared many good conversations about our favourite places and I will truly miss those. My heartfelt condolences to her family and friends – she was clearly well loved!
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I…. am so shocked. She ran a wonderful blog full of inspiration. She will be missed in some many parts of the globe.
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Ohh my heart breaks. This blog was such a source of inspiration to live life. I pray for their family during this process of grieving.
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Hi Friends & Family, First, thanks so much for letting us all know the sad sad news; without this blog I’d still be cut off completely from any BC news.
I’m a longtime friend of Mike & Caroline’s from early Toronto advertising days and was there at Grey to watch their connection grow into a loving lifetime union. Last night I sent a mass email to friends and colleagues with the news and will post an article in Strategy, the national advertising & marketing magazine so the community will know and have a chance to post condolences and remembrances. Mike had many leadership positions in multinational companies and there is a large community here who know him and Caroline as well.
If you can give me a personal email I’ll forward my mass email to you as I’m keen to connect to family. If possible I’d also like to connect with Alex whom Mike spoke of every call we had; so proud he was of him. I’m a life coach and would like to offer any support I can now. Finally, if possible can you keep this blog alive for as long as possible as it’s called out in my email. It’s a lovely way to know Caroline and her love of writing and photography. Ditto for Mike’s profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook etc which are the only info sources for life timelines. My profound condolences for this tragic devastating loss. Mike and I spoke on New Year’s Day and I am a deer in the headlights now. Warm regards, Howard Karel
cell: 1-647-409-8480email: hk.home@yahoo.com
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I feel terrible about this. My sincere condolences to Caroline and Mike’s family and friends. Neil Scheinin
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Caroline’s love of life was evident in her descriptions and photographs of her travels and hikes. Through the years Caroline started to feel like a friend, even though we never met. My deepest condolences to her and Mike’s son, their families and friends. May her life serves as an inspiration, when the shock and sadness have softened.
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I sit here with tears streaming down my face. Such a shock. Although I never met Caroline I feel I knew her. She wrote so well and the posts about her hikes and travel adventures with her beautiful photos were such a great read. She always commented on her followers posts. Such a terrible loss. My thoughts go out to her family and friends. Louise
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Shocked and heartbroken to read this tragic news.
We had the great pleasure of meeting Caroline and Mike when they stayed with us for four days in Sri Lanka a few years ago. We had such a wonderful time together and both of them were truly special people. Kind, thoughtful, humble and of course very adventurous. They generously invited us to stay with them in Vancouver and we were looking forward to meeting up with them again one day.
Caroline spoke about her son with such love and pride, my heart goes out to him and to all of both the families impacted by this sudden devastating loss.
So very very saddened by this news.
Peta & Ben
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No words can describe such a great loss… Deepest condolences to family and friends.
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My heart aches to hear this news, it is such a huge loss. It has been such a joy in my life to know Caroline as she has been a light in the world and still is. Please accept my deepest condolences
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We are sad beyond words to hear of Caroline and Mike’s tragic passing. Caroline’s stories were always inspiring, filled with a zest for life and a gentle kindness that always made us smile. Our sincerest condolences to family and friends. ~Terri & James
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What utterly terrible news. I am saddened to hear this and wish her loved ones every strength during this most difficult time.
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My thoughts and prayers go out to Caroline and Mike’s family and friends. I’ve enjoyed following along on Caroline’s adventures in BC and around the world for a couple of years now. Her enthusiasm for life and nature shone through her writing and pictures. She will be missed.
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That’s really, really sad news! Caroline was always very kind in her interactions.
My sincere condolences.
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I am both shocked and heartbroken. Such a terrible loss. Caroline was one of the few bloggers that I was lucky enough to meet in person and not just online through our blogs. I’m so sad. I loved her posts, her photos, her enthusiasm, her open heart, her love of the outdoors, and her love of skating. My deepest condolences to Alex, and Caroline and Mike’s families. She will be so missed 🙏😢
Alison
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I loved reading Caroline’s blog posts and to hear she passed so abruptly. My condolences to all her family for the loss of Caroline and her husband.
Fabrizio
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This is such sad news. I loved her photos and enthusiasm with which she wrote her posts. I particularly loved her story telling while visiting our home country, South Africa. My sincere condolences to her and her husband’s families.
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Shocked beyond words to read this! Caroline and Mike will be hugely missed. My deepest condolences to their loved ones.
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I am shocked and saddened to learn of Caroline and Mike’s passing. It appears they were the victims of a freak accident. I will never forget Caroline for supporting and encouraging my own blogging and outdoor pursuits.
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In honor of her I plan to read all her posts.
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What a tragic loss of life. So enjoyed partaking viscerally in her many adventures. The world will not be the same without her visual and written portrayals.
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I connected with Caroline and her blog when she wrote about her cycling trip in Normandy. Since then I have followed with interest her enthusiasm for outdoor activities with always a touch of curiosity for the places visited. I remember one of her last comments when my articles about Luxembourg reminded her of her grandfather who came from there. I am very sad to see her gone and express my sympathy for her son, of whom she was proud, and her family and friends. Thank you for posting the sad news.
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This terrible news is truly shocking – I cannot imagine what Caroline and Mike’s loved ones must be going through right now. Caroline made such an impact on us readers around the world with her inspiring stories, and I always looked forward to seeing updates on her many adventures, whether they were overseas or closer to home. It was obvious that she and Mike shared such a zest for life, a deep compassion for other people, and a love for the great outdoors. My sincerest condolences to Alex and the rest of the Sharp/Helbig family… the world is worse off for losing these two big-hearted individuals.
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I’m utterly devastated by this tragedy. I had never met Caroline and Mike in person, but many of their travel/hiking stories had inspired me so much to do my own. Caroline truly was one of the kindest souls I’ve ever ‘met’ in the blogging community, and she will be greatly missed. My deepest condolences to the family and friends.
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We were so saddened to hear about Caroline and Mike. We had the pleasure of getting to know them over the years through kayaking adventures together. We will miss them greatly and offer our condolences to family and friends.
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Completely devastated. So, so sorry, for family and friends of Caroline and Mike. She was such a wonderful person. I’ll miss her posts and joyful comments. My heart goes out to all.
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I can’t begin to say how sorry I am for your loss of Caroline and Mike. Her writing was poetic and inspiring. She will be deeply missed by both of us. My sincere condolences to their son, their friends and family. Thank you to whoever wrote this difficult post to let her blogging friends know. Maggie and Richard
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I’m so so saddened to hear this. Caroline was one of the first bloggers I connected with when I joined WordPress 6 years ago, and I always enjoyed our virtual interactions and following along on their adventures. My sincere condolences to her family and friends. She will be missed.
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Shocking and tragic news. My deepest condolences to all the loved ones affected by this. Stay strong, and know Caroline’s works were much appreciated by others.
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Oh, my blood just ran cold … I am shocked and overwhelmed by this terrible news. My deepest condolences to the family, including their son.
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I’m so sorry to hear this. Such a tragic loss. Prayers to the family.
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My Sincere condolences, peace to family & friends. Eco / Lori
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My condolences, I am so sorry to hear of this news. I always love to read Caroline’s posts and think of her family and friends following this tragedy!
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My sincere condolences to you all. What a tragedy. Melanie
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I am so terribly sorry to hear this. She wrote lovely posts and took stunning photos. I loved her articles about Vancouver which helped me with my homesickness during times of COVID. My sincerest condolences. Christina
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