Because We Can - Fulltime RV'ing

 

The Journey North

 

This summer we have been heading to Alaska. Thinking back, we originally thought only in terms of Alaska, but as I write this we have been north of the border, in Canada for six weeks and other than a brief detour to visit Skagway and a quick flight down to Juneau, we have yet to reach Alaska.

While our trip is probably slower than the vast majority of RVers traveling "North to Alaska", it has been most eye opening. Canada is certainly a big country, British Columbia and Yukon seemingly going on forever. Many miles, yet we have yet to have a boring day. The towns are small, few and far between, but after a while your perspective begins to change.

The largest town we have been in during the trip through Canada was Whitehorse, and its population was only 20,000. Being the governmental center for the Territory, it had many of the attractions associated with a state capital, yet somehow it was completely different.

Most travelers pull off to watch the wildlife, but we like to also stop for the many interpretive signs along the highway. It gives us a sense of where we are, what we are seeing, and often, what has taken place in the past.

We've had no real problems with the roads, most likely because we have not hurried. We read in blogs about the people who complain about the roads we have traveled, then look at their itinerary and see they they are solely focused on reaching Alaska as quickly as possible.

Not everyone has the luxury of time like we do, Linda is enjoying reading the blog of a family who are doing the Chicago-Alaska-Chicago round trip in 36 days. To them the experience is just as rewarding as ours is to us, which is exactly as it should be.

Early on when people would ask us where we were headed, we'd answer, Alaska. Then they would want to know where in Alaska. We often received a puzzled look when we said we were just planning to wander around, spending time at the places we enjoyed.

Maybe that is a hold over from last year's wanderings in Europe when we knew the direction we were going, oftentimes the country we were going to visit, usually the city we were headed for, but seldom what we were going to do when we were there.

I guess it goes back to much overused, but absolutely valid saying: It's not the destination, it's the journey that matters. Presently we are on a journey that includes British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska. What we see and do on that journey is what makes life, Life.

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