Having had a few days to think about what to write here, I'm still not sure if I've got a complete idea of what this whole trip meant to me but I had a bit of a brainstorm this morning so I figure that I would at least start putting it down here.
This trip started as an idea I had for high school. I figured that after twelve years of the Public Educational system I was ready for a treat in the form of this trip. In the idealized plan, we would specifically drive up to the school in a van on report card day, grab our report cards and steal the 25 cent candy machine in the front lobby of the school that our group had collectively spent so much money on over the four years we went to Rothesay High School.
As with the original plan, the original roadtrip was going to have my whole high school close knit group of friends so about five of us (hence the need for the van). However, high school graduation came and went, and suddenly it was University that needed planning for. Out of the blue I realized how underprepared for University I was and everyone else just sort of slinked away into summer jobs or university prep (Myself included) and the plan just fell by the wayside.
So University came and after three years came and went it seemed like University graduation was coming on as quickly as high school did. The plan for this epic roadtrip to celebrate a new sense of completion came up again. However at this point the old group was divided between school, work and just plain life. It appeared that of the original five roadtrippers, the pool had shrunk to four, which isn't that bad as it allowed planning to have a car rather than a van.
Unfortunately, fourth year of University turned out to be soul crushingly difficult, busy and more life cross-roadsy than I imagined. By the end of the academic year I was just happy to have made it out alive and was more concerned with my immediate plans than with this amazing trip that would celebrate a true milestone of my adult life. So University graduation came and went, I got a job and an apartment within Halifax and all of a sudden I was 400km away from this group I had made this vague roadtrip pact with way back in high school. One roadtripper ended up doing his own bike trip that year and was then out of contention. The other roadtripper ended up taking a fifth year to complete his degree so when this roadtrip came around the timing was too early.
Thus the roadtrip ended up being a serious venture between only two people: Myself and Geoff. With no academic pressure to worry about and the freedom of thought that came with following a routine of work and not work, the idea of this country spanning trip started taking shape. I didn't know at the time that I would be going back to school, I just knew that first I was working a summer job, and then after that I ended up on contract at the same place (The Saint Mary's University Patrick Power Library), the contract that would be terminated at the beginning of April 2011. This gave a sense of a framework that this trip could be worked around. I knew that at the very least, I would have at least one month without work stretching to however many months I chose, and as long as I saved enough while I was working, I wouldn't have to worry about the financing of this trip.
And so, through the long winter months I started fleshing out the planning for this trip. Originally going to be three months long, a conference with Geoff over winter break hammered some reality into it and shortened the length of the trip to one solid month of travelling. Although plenty of people warned that one month isn't enough time to cross the country, let me assure you that it is, it just isn't enough time to do it thoroughly.
People have asked me what my favourite part of the whole trip was. I didn't think this was going to be a very difficult question to answer but upon reflection it turns out, it really is. I want to say that each province had it's own charms but even that isn't fair to some provinces that simply have to be visited if you live in Canada and others that don't work very hard advertising themselves. I would have to say that my favourite part of the trip was simply having the opportunity to do so. I know that not everyone has a month free, a few disposable thousand dollars and a friend in the same situation, and while I feel that at some point in their lives everyone should drive, fly, train, canoe, walk, whatever across Canada, I was lucky to be able to accomplish this at my age, when most other people fresh out of school are grappling with debt.
If I had the chance to do it all again the only thing I might change would be to convince more people to go with me, but then again that might change the whole experience so who knows what I would do. I do know for sure that if I had the chance to do it all again with the knowledge I have now I would do it all again, although I think I might figure out a way to do it with less driving! Even though I planned for this trip to be mostly driving across the Trans-Canada Highway, in reality it turns out to be even more driving than I expected it to be.
Also as a note to past self and future travellers, DO NOT plan to camp before Victoria Day, very few campgrounds anywhere will be open, no matter how hard you search. Although this added a bit of cost having to stay in hotel/motels most of the trip, I would advocate that the extra expense is worth it. The one day we did camp we had to get to the campground while there was still light out, set up the tent, get all our stuff inside, and sleep. Then the next day you have to spend time cleaning out the tent, taking all the stuff down and repacking the car. At least with a hotel you can show up at 10pm, go right to sleep and get up at 8 or 9am and be on the road in 30 minutes if you want to.
In conclusion, after reflecting on it I've decided that the best way to sum up the trip is this: Canada is a glorious country. All the verses in our anthem about the true north being strong, free and beautiful are there for a reason. The natural beauty is enshrined in our National, Provincial and local parks, our historic sites and in the very people who populate this great country. However, you don't have to travel across the country to see it, every province we visited had some sort of nice park or neat historical site that the local population can easily access. I know this sounds a bit like this blog was bought out by the heritage ministry but that's really how the trip ended up being. I was hoping to be inspired by all the sights I saw, and while I'm not going to write any great poems or paint any great works, I can at least pay lip service to the sights that I saw, and that by association all you people reading my blog saw.
As a final side note, I'd like to thank everyone who followed my blog. I wasn't sure how popular of an idea it was going to be to have this running dialogue of my trip, but I the response I got surpassed even my expectation. I was hoping it would be a way for family to keep in touch while I was away and a touchstone for when I get back so I didn't have to jump into a two hour lecture on my trip (That is saved for my slide show!). Soon after however, co-workers, friends and others were responding to my posts, I was getting stories from my parents that people they referred to the blog were following it AND enjoying it as well. So that really gave me the motivation to start posting every day, for the benefit of the audience. I want everyone to know that I derived great pleasure summarizing my experiences of the trip every day into post form and even more pleasure from the fact that people were not only reading the blog, but thinking it was funny, or informative or just plain entertaining. It really meant quite much to me.
So now it's back to reality. I had a month and a few days to escape from the normal routine, but after days of take out food, hotels (seedy and nice) and what seemed like endless car trips I'm ready to inject some normality back into my life. I'm settling into Oakville quite nicely, and while I miss people from Halifax, I'm looking forward to starting school again in the fall. As well, a good chunk of people I know from Halifax and Saint John are moving to Ontario anyway, so it seems like a started a bit of a trend.
For anyone coming to this blog months (or years) down the road, it is a blog of excitement, new discoveries and (sometimes) hardship. While the specifics my fade from my mind, the memories will last forever, and the specifics will always be transcribed on this internet site until the end of time or someone finally presses the giant internet off switch we all know they have hidden away somewhere.
