The Story So Far

There are times when life is sheer luck.
There are times when the planets align.
And there are times where you let go of things and arrange others to make sure the first two sentences are true...

This tale is a little of each.
My partner has worked long enough in their position that they were due for a Sabbatical. I had not yet started one job, was freelancing my other jobs and was on a contract that I could end early on my fourth job. In other words - I tend to arrange my life in such a way that I do lots of smaller jobs and have more freedom of opportunity.

She said we should go to the Yukon - hundreds of Latitudes above anywhere I had ever been - and I said yes.

First, a drive across the country. 6500km in nine days. It was amazing- truly amazing. Even though I have been in all of the provinces we drove through before, I had been a kid, and I have been on the East Coast so long that my measurement of reality has been defined by physical proximity.

We all do this - we think everyone is like us. We think every place is like ours. We forget that even in one country there are thousands of eco systems, hundreds of countries of origin, and I suppose millions of individual traditions that make up who we are. A person from the North of Saskatchewan is as different from a person from the South of New Brunswick as someone from the other side of the world.

And this country is huge. You can say 6500km and think of it as a small number - until you drive around Lake Superior. Drive from Winnipeg to Edmonton on the Yellowhead. Or drive the Alaskan Highway winding your way through the Rocky Mountains for days.

Then there is the Yukon, and the bustling wilderness city of Whitehorse - named because of the white manes of water rising above the Miles Canyon Rapids before you come into town. An area of the Yukon River that the native people were smart enough to portage, but the sourdoughs who came up here looking for gold used to traverse in their homemade boats... last night I stood at the place where the natives used to pull the bodies out and bury them.

This entire territory has less people in it than the city of Fredericton - where I began my adventures.

It is also situated in a valley between the snow capped northern rockies. It has the coldest water and the clearest air I have ever tasted. It is a mix of exciting newness and historical tradition. It has natives and immigrants from every nation on the planet living in seeming harmony.

And most importantly there is such a thing as Yukon Time! The closest thing I have ever found to Central American Time! When I was in Guatemala things were defined by the heat and the feelings - here it is the same, there is no rush, there is no reason to do things you do not want. There is opportunity for anything.

We really need to let go of some of the stressful things we think in the East. No one cares what you wear, no one cares what your makeup looks like, just be yourself and explore. That is what I have learned so far.