June 2^nd 2025 (T-Minus 3 Days)

With just a few days to go things are starting to feel very real. I’m not as nervous as I think I should be. Maybe it’ll hit me all at once. Hopefully not like the rock to my windshield recently.

This morning, I took a 3.5KM walk with my hiking pack, a Shimoda Explore 35L V2. On the one hand I expected to be sorer when I returned home, on the other there was a little twinge in my back the whole time. Might just need an adjustment (the bag not my back). Overall, the last couple months of getting more active, while not causing any weight loss, has made a difference in muscle growth. I can see it and more importantly, feel it.

A few things I need to do still.

1. Recheck both bags to make sure I have everything, eliminate what I don’t and weigh the items to give me a better picture of how much I’ll be hauling.
2. Create a backup method for getting in my car if I somehow lose my keys.
3. Finish my other packing lists, including toiletries, and clothing.
4. Take out at least $100 cash for emergencies and campsite payments (some are old school).
5. One last load of laundry.
6. Bring down everything I can and pack it into the car, including tying down the spare tire on my roof rack. This gives me extra storage where the space tire currently is.
7. Spend some time going over my notes on the Kindle Scribe.
8. I should probably scour my home for anything I didn’t think to bring. I have come across a few items as recently as yesterday that I am glad I found.
9. Add my custom map to the home screen of my phone.

I have been planning a trip like this, in my head for ten years. I have been actively working towards it since I got the car last August. I’m worried I won’t be able to escape my comfort zone, and I’ll spend this trip photographing roadside attractions. While other people tend to just get up and go, I freeze. Something I hope to at least partially cure on this trip.

I want to do this because I feel stuck, comfortable and unmotivated. There’s a part of me that feels like I’ve been in a holding pattern since before I was making YouTube videos. I need to see how I react to new situations. I need to see who I am outside my safe space, a comfort zone that I probably haven’t pushed like this since my 20s. Not truly anyway.

June 4^th, 2025 (T-Minus One Day)

Twenty-four hours out and I still don’t know what I want to do for my trip heading east. The logic is that I rush to get all the way to Nova Scotia and crawl back west, but with all this wildfire shit going on, I worry that I’m shooting myself in the foot by only passing some of the cities once. One example would be Thunder Bay. One of my goals was to capture the sunset with the Sleeping Giant in the background. Yesterday I saw a photo of the giant, or rather where it was supposed to be. The city was covered in wildfire smoke.

I know there is no perfect trip, but I keep insisting on trying. Now that my packing is all done, I will spend today making a final decision on where I plan to go, and whatever the conditions are when I get there, so be it.

I asked my buddy Dennis if he had any ideas on what I should bring, and he suggested a Zoleo. Basically, a satellite tracker for hiking. So, there’s another $200 down carved from my budget.

Now is the time for me to remove my expectations on what I will see and accomplish on this journey. What I will learn as I go is that I had no idea what I really wanted or what I actually needed to experience.

June 5^th, 2025: Day One

Distance Travelled: 740.7KM

I have completed my first day of travel and made it to Regina, Saskatchewan. I learned a lot today. Mainly that travel preparations do little to prepare your mind.

Next, I didn’t expect Sarah to cry when I was leaving. I don’t know why.

I’m already rushing. I know I said I’m booking it eastward but somehow it still feels like a race. I was reluctant to stop to relax and had to force myself a couple times to take a minute and stretch. At one rest stop there was a guy sleeping on a bench by his bike and his old dog came and politely asked for pets.

It’s very easy to go over the daily budget which I decided on at $150/day. Well, today, thus far is About $150 on the room, $83.67 on gas and $18.70 on coffee and wiper fluid. Total $252.37. Keep that up and I’ll be out of money in half the time.

I forgot how much I hate to haul all my stuff in. While I was doing it, I reminded myself that if I car camped all I’d have to do was rearrange everything and setup the bed. But I felt like I was entitled to a hotel after the long drive, and to ease myself into this trip with a little extra comfort.

Lastly, I need to stop arriving at my daily destination during rush hour. It was jarring. I don’t know if it’s just my nerves or if people are extra impatient here.

June 6^th, 2025: Day Two

Distance Travelled: 530.7KM

Nights in Hotel’s & Motels: 1

Now here’s something I didn’t expect I would be doing while making travel preparations and that’s writing on my laptop outdoors at sunset…or near sunset anyway.

Today I expected to go a lot further than I did. I only drove 530.7 KM as opposed to yesterday which was 740.7KM. I feel so much better today for several reasons. For one. I think I prefer the process of car camping. I don’t have to lug everything out of it, just rearrange it. After the hotel experience yesterday, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth. Having to put down a $250 deposit then wait in the lobby at checkout for the “all clear” from the maid so I could get it back was something I hadn’t experienced before.

I am just outside Winnipeg, at a KOA campground. They are like a chain of campgrounds. Here I found my first province sticker and postcards. I wrote to Nanni, Dennis and Sarah. I’ll mail them as soon as I get them to a box. I think Dennis will like his. It just says “boobies”.

I am currently eight hours from Thunder Bay; I could make a rush for it tomorrow and spend the next two nights there if the air is clear. Maybe when I climb into the back of the Kryptatron (my name for the Forester) I’ll do a little research. The other thing I have to contend with is wildfire near Kenora. Google maps keeps telling me my route may be affected. Won’t know until I get there and like fuck I am going to detour through the USA…even though I do have my passport. Overall, I feel 100X better than last night. Only partially because I stayed under budget. Staying at a campground in another province helped too and the little things like finding postcards and stickers.

One thing I don’t think people tell you is that you continue to make travel preparations even after you’ve left.

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