by Budd Stanley
Approach Angle 4WD 167
I've seen a great portion of this country, however the majority of my travels have been to major city centres on brief and overly congested business trips, with only the odd quick jaunt into the countryside. I have skirted the 49th parallel from sea to sea, but there is a large gaping hole in my exploration of my homeland, and that is the North. Often I have heard that to truly experience Canada, you must visit the northern territories. Although ignorant with no experience in the North, I’ve always agreed.
In the reality of this ever shrinking world I have found that visiting cities does very little to calm the urge of exploring new cultures and regions. By their very nature, cities all posses the same traits no mater where in the world you travel. They are a mass concentration of buildings, vehicles and humanity all scrambling and racing about to find their own little bit of space. Each city has its own individual character but is usually shaped by economical, geopolitical and international influences. It's population is segregated from the rest of the country except for the odd weekend jaunt into the “country.”
Now having spent time exploring just a small example of Canada's North I can report that what they say about the rugged and wild land is true. We Canadians have blinded ourselves to the splendors that the North offers. Its people are perseverant and hardened by the realities of living in such a remote area, but one of my biggest observations was how fit they were, but more importantly, how happy everyone was. Even if they don't show it, even if they look as though they are in the North trying to escape a previous life (and many are), they all have a sense of relief and satisfaction hiding behind even the grumpiest faces.
In the North, life is no less hard, but it is a very different kind of hard. People there live life much the same way they did several decades ago, and in some cases, a century ago. Locals walk down the street and say hi to all who pass. They are not tied to a cell phone posting every minute of their lives for all to see, and they have no sense of urgency. We city slickers run around with overflowing schedules, deadlines, hobbies, activities and sports, while in the North, there just isn’t all that much to do, and I for one like the idea. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to do up north, but not everyone tries to cram it all into an already packed schedule.
And that’s just the people; there are still the landscapes, the weather, the seasons and the wildlife I could go on about. And hey, they got some pretty good wheeling up there too. If your planning to see Montreal, Toronto, Calgary or Halifax for the fifth or sixth time, may I suggest trying Dawson City, Inuvik or Iqaluit. So I will leave you with this, if you are proud of the fact you have seen this country from coast to coast, I would say, you haven’t gone far enough. To see the real Canada, you must travel from coast to coast to coast.