Jan 272020
 


This is a blog I’ve been wanting to write for some time, but it’s also something I wanted to do lots of thinking about before I wrote it. How do you distill 196 countries and 30+ years of travel down into 12 trips that were the most memorable for you? What makes a trip memorable? Is it the places? Is it the people? Is it something you did? Or, is it some combination.

Initially, I wanted to keep this to ten most memorable, because everyone likes a Top 10 list. But, I was struggling to get it under 20. I did narrow it down a bit, but in the end, there were really 12 trips that I felt really needed to be told because they’ve formed such an integral part of my travel journey.

That said, it’s obviously not a comprehensive list, and there’s a few honourable mentions that I have to put out there:

  • Traveling to Penticton, British Columbia for my first Ironman race
  • Spending three weeks traveling the South Pacific and visiting small island nations most people haven’t even heard of like Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu
  • Overland from Kinshasa, DRC to Brazzaville, Congo and then to Point Noire, Congo by train and eventually overland to Cabinda, Angola
  • First group of Americans allowed into North Korea in decades back in 2005 (you know it’s a tough choice when a trip like this doesn’t even make the list! A photo regardless:

So, with those said, let’s kick off the Top 12 list….in a bit of an order in that #1 is almost certainly the best travel memory I’ll ever had, but other than that it’s a bit random….so please don’t get offended!

#12 – Zimbabwe Coup – End of Mugabe’s Rule

I’ve been a follower of Zimbabwe for years, going back to grad school when I was studying sanctions. Ever since my first trip to Africa (where the plane actually stopped over in Harare on the way to South Africa) I’ve been fascinated by Zimbabwe and its struggles since Independence.

A few years ago for Thanksgiving I found myself with absolutely no plans when I saw in the news that the military had decided Mugabe’s time as the long-time ruler was coming to an end…and he had “decided” to resign. Except then he went on tv…and did what nobody expected with Generals standing around him: didn’t resign, or even mention it.

Knowing this wouldn’t stand, and I had a five day weekend ahead of me, I booked a last minute trip to Harare, and when I was in the air the military staged a “not coup” and removed him from power. I landed to parties in the streets celebrating hope for the future…which unfortunately has largely proved to be more of the same.

Huge historical moment, and so excited I could be there for it!

#11 First Trip to the Florida Keys

Despite a year filled with health issues, my amazing friend Jen managed to convince me that “running” 100 miles in the Florida Keys would be something I should do. Health issues continued to be a challenge, so I dialed it back to the 50 mile option (which I could easily walk in the time allowed) before finally deciding the week before not to do the race.

It turned out to be the right call, because having never been to the Keys before I way underestimated the sun, heat, and humidity. That said, I totally want to give it another go in 2020 health permitting.

I did still go down there, which gave me a chance to cheer Jen on in her 100 mile quest and spend time with my friend John who had flown down to be my crew for the race when I thought i was going to do it. Great friends, sun, and gorgeous scenery. What’s not to enjoy?!

#10 Abkhazia

What do you do when you’ve been to every country? You start “inventing” new ones of course! Not recognized by the UN, Abkhazia is a country that broke away from Georgia a few years back with the support of Russia, and now lives in relatively autonomous peace. Need proof that these “countries” are “worth” visiting? Where else can you:

  1. Have lunch at a restaurant called Al Capone’s Pizza where they insist you take pics with toy prop guns and gangster hat
  2. See a beautiful lake in the middle of winter where Stalin used to have his datcha
  3. Run into a guy walking his bear on the side of the road, only to have him tell you “have bigger one at home”
  4. In the middle of a delicious Georgian dinner have a rando drunk restaurant patron start going on and on about his love for Omar Bradley to you?!

So, if that doesn’t convince you that a long weekend in Abkhazia with a great friend is worth it, I don’t know what will!

#9 Kosovo and Macedonia

I’ve known my friend Dewon for nearly 20 years now, ever since he moved to Washington, D.C. from South Africa for work. His American adventure has taken him all around the country since then (and currently to New York) but we still manage to connect from time to time for amazing adventures.

A few years back he mentioned he’d be in Frankfurt for work and have some time afterwards, so I should pick a country in Europe I hadn’t been to yet (this was 10+ years ago I think?) and we would go for the weekend.

Well, I couldn’t just leave it at one country, and that’s how we ended up flying into Kosovo and eventually hiring a driver to take us to Macedonia. Both were fascinating in their own way: Kosovo because it was still newly-independent and finding its footing as a country, and Macedonia because…well…there were literally statues and monuments everywhere in the capital. It was totally surreal.

Plus, of course, the chance to spend the weekend with a great friend I don’t get to see enough of! Great friends and great times!

#8 Longyearbyen/Svalbard Marathon

I had always wanted to run the Antarctica Marathon, but it’s a hugely expensive undertaking…with no guarantee the boat will even be able to dock so you can run it. So, what did I do instead? Found the northernmost marathon in the world in Svalbard, Norway way above the Arctic Circle.

On top of being a stunning and scenic locale, it was also by far the smallest marathon I’ve ever run, with less than 30 participants. Unfortunately I got injured about 10 weeks before the race, but recovered enough I was still able to do it at a slow jog and really take in the scenery. Amazing memories!

#7 Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia used to be a really tricky place for “country counters” to check off their list. Unless you got invited there for work, or are Muslim and went on the Hajj, the country was completely closed to tourists. A few people have managed transit visas over the years, but I had to be content with an epic airport story (which I only tell in person over drinks) for my every country visit.

In late 2018, the Saudis announced a limited one-time-only tourist visa for a Formula-E Race that was coming to Riyadh, and country counters descended on Saudi en masse to take advantage of it. Sure, in the meantime the country has opened up even more to the point just about anyone can go at just about any time, but we didn’t know that back then. It was just dozens of country counters taking advantage of what they thought might be a one-time opportunity.

The cool thing about the whole thing was: as cool as Saudi itself was, the people were even more amazing. It was like finding a whole world full of people that “get” you, and understand why you do what you do, and why you travel to the places you do. I made many good friends out of the trip – people I still talk to frequently today.

I’d go to the “Edge of the World” with these people…and quite literally did!

#6 First Round-the-World – 40 Days for 40th Birthday

Believe it or not, back when I was at just under 100 countries visited I still hadn’t done a true round-the-world trip, where you cross both oceans basically continuing in one direction. So, I decided for my 40th birthday I would book a 40 day round-the-world trip that would be epic in its scale! What was the rough itinerary, well, something like:

  1. Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire
  2. Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama
  3. Hawaii, Micronesia, the Marshall islands, and Guam
  4. quick stops in Japan and Thailand en route to:
  5. South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland
  6. Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana: Victoria Falls!

Tired yet? It was an exhausting and amazing trip, and an unforgettable way to celebrate four decades on this planet!

#5 Johannesburg for U2 PopMart Concert

For me, this is where it all really started.

Sure, I’d been to the Soviet Union and a few trips to Europe. Less than ten countries total, but then came the opportunity to see U2 in Johannesburg for the final concert of the PopMart Tour, and when my friend Matt (as anyone who knows me knows – it’s ALWAYS a Matt) said he was game for it…a plan was hatched.

My first time in Africa, first time outside Europe and North America, and I was absolutely addicted to travel. If I could pull this off, I could do anything! It would take a few more years until I had the time and money to really start ramping up the travel, but once I did there was no stopping me.

I have U2 to thank for my love of music (I was at the original Red Rocks concert – the best thing about divorced parents who hear about these “cool new bands kids are into” and take you to a random concert) and have seen them all over the world now.

I can still pretty much see the entire concert in Johannesburg as vivid as if it was yesterday (despite being more than twenty years ago) and to this day when I go back to Johannesburg I always stay in the same hotel that I stayed in 20 years ago on that first trip. For me, it really was the trip that started it all.

#4 Dominican Republic

They say that true friends show it when you need them most. After ending a ten-year relationship I was more than a little bit of an emotional mess, and really needed something to get my mind in a better place and start moving forward again.

As luck would have it, my close friend John was headed to the Dominican Republic the next week (a country which at that time I still hadn’t been to!) with a group of 20+ friends, and pretty much insisted I join them. Anyone who knows me knows I’m very anti group trip, anti resort, anti cruise, blah blah blah, but I’m very glad I went on this trip!

I made some absolutely amazing friends, it was exactly what I needed at that point in my life, and despite just meeting all these new people they were really there for me over the coming years as I moved on and figured out my next steps in life!

Shout out to my Ottawa family for being there – and being amazing people!

#3 Easter Island

Continuing the theme of things to do when you’ve been to every country, I found a great fare to Chile a couple years ago, booked it for a week, and figured I could decide what I would do later. I had only spent a couple days in Chile my first trip, so really wanted to explore more.

Well, my friend Phil who recently moved from DC to California was up for joining, and together we hatched a plan to visit Easter Island…where we actually spent several nights sleeping in a geodesic dome! I’m normally the type to opt for posh hotels, but yes, I pretty much roughed it for several days there…and loved every minute out in nature!

Everyone knows Easter Island for the Moai statues, but what you probably don’t know is it’s also home to amazing food and some of the freshest fish I’ve ever had. I would love to go back and spend a week again – this time maybe doing more hiking all over the island!

#2 Soviet Union

When I was 17 I left North America for the first time for a four week study trip…to the Soviet Union. Yes, my first time out of North America was to the USSR! Probably proof I was destined for off the beaten path from a very young age!

My school didn’t have a ton of language options, and I had pretty much outgrown them by 11th grade so I had started spending summers at a Russian language camp to get more of a challenge. When they offered a trip over Christmas and New Years to the Soviet Union I begged and pleaded with the parents who were surprisingly ok with the idea, and off I went.

I went into the unknown with absolutely no idea what to expect, and although I dialed it back for the next few years (since I still had to learn how to travel independently and not in a school trip) I think this is what convinced me that I wanted to see more of the world.

“Weird” foods (I still remember the aspic for dinner on the first night and the joy my host family took me in serving pomegranates and coke in the middle of winter), strange customs, and not to mention “communism” (psst. mister, you have jeans? Buy rabbit skin hat?) it was all strange and so very foreign to me…and I loved it!

We spent four weeks in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, and Novosibirsk, and I wanted more! Strangely, it would be nearly 25 years until I would return to an independent Russia, but all the memories came flooding back. I can’t find the pictures from 1988 (hopefully I’ll find them in a box somewhere eventually) so I’ve included some of my Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk pictures above.

#1 Iceland – 196th (Every!) Country Visited

So, this one is probably pretty obvious! What better way to celebrate visiting every country than to hit your final country with more than 30 friends and family for four days in a gorgeous place like Iceland! It was truly a special and wonderful time and meant a lot to me that all these people I had spent so much time away from as I ran around the world were all willing to come to Iceland to celebrate with me.

From our guided walk around Reykjavik to a silly afternoon at the Blue Lagoon, to a day with SuperJeeps around the Golden Circle I think I pretty much spent the entire trip with a giant smile on my face…well, except maybe the hour I spent getting the unplanned “Iceland 196” tattoo to celebrate the achievement!

Is it terrible I’m secretly hoping someone else declares themselves independent in the next year so we can have a #Jason197 party somewhere for my 50th birthday?

Jan 032020
 


Woke up the next morning feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. Not just any old truck, but a big-ass semi that had run me over, backed over me again, and then proceeded to run me over at high speed. Turns out lots of travel, craft beer, burgers, and poutine leaves you feeling not so great when you’re not 21 anymore…nor two times 21 even.

That said, a bit of Starbucks and I rallied by a champ to chair an important two hour meeting via videoconference from my hotel room before getting ready to check out and head to the airport.

I was mildly nervous because this had started overnight, and it was coming down harder and harder as the morning went on. But this is Canada, right? What could go wrong? Even a regional jet operated by a US airline will be fine because it’s Canada…right?

Uber had no trouble, and there wasn’t even a surcharge compared with the night before, so everything was great, right? I was expecting my usual grilling when traveling between the US and Canada from immigration, but nope, even that was a piece of the gate.

The view from my gate, however, really made me worry. It was coming down heavier than ever, and was really starting to pile up. At least my inbound flight was still showing on time. Would this be the trip when I finally had back-to-back flights cancel?

But no, thanks to the superpowers of Canada my inbound landed right on time, we boarded right on time to “try and get out early in case there are delays” and away we went.

United Express flight 5877 operated by SkyWest
Calgary, Alberta (YYC) to Chicago, O’Hare (ORD)
Depart 12:15, Arrive: 16:51, flight time: 3:36, flight distance: 1,385 miles
Embraer ERJ-175, Registration N150SY, Manufactured 2015, Seat 2A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 203,595
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,895,897

Gin and tonic for a PDB. I needed it after the night before, and I have no idea why I ordered it. I never drink gin and tonics, but it sounded refreshing. In the middle of winter. Go figure. There’s probably something wrong in my head.

Bit of a delay for de-icing at the gate, but we got the green slush AND the orange/pink slush today – Canada doesn’t mess around!

We were about 45 minutes behind schedule due to the de-icing delay, meaning my connection in Chicago would be about 20 minutes. That’s no bueno. So let’s have another gin and tonic in flight before lunch to try and forget about that…ok?

Lunch was next, and there was a reasonably good fruit bowl, a salad with cold beef on the side, and a cookie. Overall, considering it was a regional jet, I was more than happy with this. That said, this was my longest regional jet flight ever, at nearly 3.5 hours! That said, I’ll take an ERJ-175 to a 737-800 any day! Nobody to climb over me.

About halfway through the flight I started feeling bad, really bad. Not in a way that was likely related to my beverages and burgers, but really strange muscle spasms that had me majorly concerned…to the point I starting timing the intervals between them. After about 15 minutes they started getting longer and longer, and for the last hour of the flight they were gone. Nothing is quite as terrifying as thinking you might have to page the flight attendant and be that guy that forces them to ask if there’s a doctor on board.

At least we had absolutely gorgeous sunsets to distract me the last hour of the flight:

Landed in Chicago feeling reasonable, and with no problems the final hour the desire to get home won out over the consideration to see if there was a clinic at O’Hare, so I decided to run for my gate. Because running is exactly what you need when just a couple hours prior you wear feeling horrid, right?

Well, I got to the gate for my connection exactly 12 minutes before departure and…we hadn’t even started boarding. The reason? No pilots. They were “delayed getting to the gate” and when they showed up 10 minutes later with their fresh McDonalds takeout for once I was very happy they’d decided to stop.

United flight 624
Chicago, O’Hare (ORD) to Washington DC, National (DCA)
Depart 18:00, Arrive: 20:52, flight time: 1:52, flight distance: 612 miles
Boeing 737-800, Registration N14242, Manufactured 1999, Seat 2E
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 204,207
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,896,509

Nothing to say here – flight went quickly, snack basket and a good crew, and kept feeling better and better as the flight went on. The epilogue to the story is: stop acting like you’re 21. Eat some salads. Drink a whole lot less craft beer and wine. Hamburgers are not one of the major food groups, oh, and stop flying 250,000 miles and year and stressing yourself out prepping for meeting after meeting. 2020 is going to bring some big changes!

So, would I do the trip again? Was I’m glad what started as “join me for four days in Asia” turned into a 2.5 week trip that took me from Tunisia to Oman, Indonesia to Thailand, Toronto to the extreme Arctic? You bet. It was an amazing trip. It didn’t pair well with all the work travel that bookended it, and next year when I take a vacation somewhere I’m going to make sure it’s at a time where it’s not going to be a series of constant trips.

Best lesson from the trip? The Canadian Arctic is absolutely gorgeous, and I picked the perfect time of year to go with the short days and the pink, orange, and purple skies. I wouldn’t change a thing!!

Jan 022020
 


Nobody likes an 05:30 flight. I definitely don’t like an 05:30 flight. It was, however, really the only way to get out of Whitehorse and still have at least a tiny bit of time in Calgary. I could also have flown straight through to DC in the same day, but the way fares worked breaking it in Calgary saved a ton of money.

Given my disdain for hours before the sun comes up, I did everything possible to maximize sleep. Yes, the flight was sold out, but I was checked-in online, and that means 90 people max to get through the single security line in Whitehorse. I set everything out the night before, set my alarm for 04:00, and went to bed after verifying that the plane had taken off from Vancouver, so it would be overnighting in Whitehorse as planned.

04:00, jump out of bed, dash through the shower, and I was out the door on the way to the airport in my cab by 04:15. Just before reaching the airport I turned on my phone (oops, such a rush I’d forgotten, and was greeted with this gem from the previous evening’s flight:

Yes, it had taken off from Vancouver, but apparently had a mechanical and returned to Vancouver where they spent 2+ hours on a rolling delay before finally canceling after midnight, ensuring the crew timed out.

The airport was quiet when I arrived, confirming that everyone else had probably checked online and decided to sleep in. Total amateur mistake on my part to not double-check before leaving for the airport.

On the “good news side” the agents confirmed an extra section had been added and that we would leave around noon. Well, I’d have much less time in Calgary than planned, but nothing at all that I could do about it.

Grabbed a cab back to the hotel where they were happy to give me my room back, and by 05:30 I was back in bed where I slept for another three hours giving me a solid 8+ hour night when added up.

It also gave me a chance to explore Canada’s northernmost Starbucks…for research and science purposes of course!

Back to the airport around 10:30 for the 11:55 retimed flight, where I headed through security. I love the signs that are everywhere in Canada now warning that crossing the border with pot is illegal. Sadly, in Whitehorse they were accompanied by signs warning about the dangers of fentanyl.

No wait at all for security, and I was probably curb to gate in 5-6 minutes total, meaning I could have easily waited another 30 minutes. Just be warned, there’s only two security lines (and I’m totally usually one is only open) so plan ahead, because I’ve heard lines have the possibility of being much longer than I faced.

On the other side of security, the very small waiting area for security-required flights. (Like Yellowknife, flights headed north don’t have to go through security.)

Our plane landed at 11:10, giving them 45 minutes to turn it around, so no drama at all and we were all ready to go for our rescheduled 11:55 flight.

Air Canada flight 8771 operated by Jazz Aviation
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada (YXY) to Vancouver, BC (YVR)
Depart 11:55, Arrive: 14:15, flight time: 1:50, flight distance: 923 miles
Canadair CRJ-900, Registration C-GJZS, Manufactured 2017, Seat 2A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 201,782
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,894,084

Gorgeous views of the Yukon on takeoff:

Fortunately, the flight had been re-provisioned with lunch instead of breakfast and started with a nuts and drink service. Can’t break my tradition of a glass of red.

Main course offerings were exactly the same as my Vancouver to Yellowknife the previous week, so instead of the odd General Tso’s Chicken I decided to go with the vegetarian pasta this time, which was surprisingly flavourful and quite taste. The blondie for dessert was actually excellent!

Had 90 minutes in Vancouver (I was offered a 35 minute connection, but was really not in the mood to run for it) and shockingly was able to find a seat in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, where I decided that a mid-afternoon snack of cookies and a Ceasar was in order. Mmmmm clams…

Boarding to Calgary was right on time with a lot of people that looked exhausted and disoriented. Turns out lots of connections from Asia on this flight, so no matter how tiring my day had been there were definitely people who had it much worse!

Air Canada flight 218
Vancouver, BC (YVR) to Calgary, Alberta (YYC)
Depart 16:10, Arrive: 18:34, flight time: 1:24, flight distance: 428 miles
Airbus A321, Registration C-GIUB, Manufactured 2001, Seat 1C
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 202,210
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,894,512

Due to the short flight time the nuts and snack were served together on this flight. It was a sort of deconstructed salad niçoise today, which was at least reasonably healthy. Could have used more protein though…

Arrived in Calgary approximately six hours later than I wanted so rushed to catch an Uber and get to my downtown hotel as soon as possible so I could at least enjoy a dinner out.

The room was rather odd – it was an upgrade according to the staff, but the only thing it seemed to have is a ton of empty space. I’m not used to hotel rooms that feel cavernous! The hotel was ok, but since it was also the host hotel for the upcoming Grey Cup in a few days the hotel was swarming with media and corporate sponsors, so I imagine they had taken the “better” upgrades long before I was in the queue.

It was already nearly 8pm, so after a little research headed out on a short walk to get some dinner. The Calgary Tower was nicely illuminated at night:

Ended up at Bottlescrew Bill’s Pub due to it’s relatively promising-looking craft beer list…and proximity to my hotel of course.

You really can’t go wrong with a burger and poutine…at least until you wake up the next day and that combined with several beers reminds you you’re not 21 years old any more and can’t get away with that. At least it was delicious.

Terrifying statue on the walk back to the hotel. Nobody needs a 20 foot tall hockey mascot in a ten gallon hat mocking them.

With that, my all too short day in Calgary was over. I’d really hoped to have the whole afternoon to explore the city, but sometimes things conspire against you. I guess it just gives me an excuse to do a trip I’ve been thinking of: fly into Fort McMurray in northern Alberta and then drive to Calgary via Edmonton – trying to understand Alberta on the way. Maybe that’s something for 2020.

Off to bed….and time for the last segment: HOME!

Jan 012020
 


My flight out of Inuvik wasn’t until nearly 2pm, and I only really needed to leave for the airport a bit after 12 so I decided not to set alarm since I really didn’t have anything I needed or wanted to see left in Inuvik.

I woke up around 10am, just in time to catch the tail end of breakfast, but not with enough time to do too much more before heading to the airport. Decided on a short walk in town before packing up and heading out, and then it was off to find gas before heading to the airport.

The price of gas was a crazy C$1.99 per liter, and the Suburban took nearly 50 liters to fill up. The trip up to Tuktoyaktuk hadn’t been cheap, but was certainly worth it.

The drive to the airport was only about 30 minutes, returning the car took less than five minutes, and I was on my way to check-in with Air North. It looked online like the flight might be pretty empty, and I was hopeful it would be.

Check-in agent confirmed that indeed there would only be about 25 people on the flight today, meaning each passenger could have an empty seat next to them if they wanted – score! Our flight was doing a loop today from Whitehorse – Old Crow – Inuvik – Whitehorse, and while waiting for the plane to come in from Old Crow I spotted today’s Canadian North flight being operated by a 737-200 with a forward cargo door – COOL!

Our flight touched down right on time, and soon it was time for the 15 or so passengers joining in Inuvik to join the 10 who had come from Old Crow to board our ATR for a nearly two hour flight!

Air North flight 362
Inuvik, NWT (YEV) to Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada (YXY)
Depart 13:55, Arrive: 14:50, flight time: 1:55, flight distance: 528 miles
ATR 42-300, Registration C-FVGP, Manufactured 1989, Seat 4A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 200,859
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,893,161

The seats were interesting, and I’ve never seen any like this before. The two seats we really made of one piece meaning it was really one big seat with a divider. Legroom wasn’t great, but with nobody next to me it was more than adequate.

Takeoff!

Despite being a propeller plane a choice of sandwiches was served – cheese or turkey were on offer and I went with the turkey…which came with a raisin cookie. Plenty nice snack for a tiny regional flight. Well done Air North!

Flight went pretty quickly, very little turbulence, and we descended into Whitehorse right at the golden hour. Gorgeous orange skies:

Great mountain views below:

A view of our ATR after landing in Whitehorse – there’s something about this orange, white, and blue livery that I really find appealing.

There was a free shuttle to most of the downtown hotels, and I had chosen the Best Western Gold Rush Inn for the night. Best Westerns definitely aren’t my chain of choice, but given the location in the middle of town I decided it would be “good enough” for one night.

Funny enough my room came with a jacuzzi in the corner (not in the washroom!) and the window was held together with duct tape. That said, the bed was plenty comfy for a good night’s sleep!

I had about an hour before sunset, so I decided to head out for a long walk clear across town about 2km or so to Yukon Brewing to sample their products. After all, it was advertised as “Beer Worth Freezin’ For” so I had to try!

Sampler tray was quite nice, and reasonable at less than C$10. Unfortunately, I didn’t find very many of their beers very good. They were rather bland and unremarkable. I really wanted a hoodie with their logo, but just couldn’t bring myself to spend $70 when their beers were not something I wanted to advertise – despite the super cool logo.

Back to the Best Western, where I had to snap some photos of the kitsch in the lobby. You could “mine for gold” in the lobby with some sifting trays….or use the non-functional old-time telephone to make a call. But beware, the Mounties are always watching you!

Walked to find some dinner, and ran into hometown hero Jack London. Who knew!

Unfortunately, the place I had hoped to go (The Dirty Northern) turned out to be closed for a private event, and being Sunday night there wasn’t too much going on in general so I ended up at the Best Western’s restaurant – which was shockingly completely packed!

I settled in at the bar for a beer, and ended up having a super tasty bison burger and some chocolate ice cream cake – definitely decadent, but still delicious!

I wish I had had a bit more time to explore Whitehorse, including the hot springs, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the little bit that I saw. What was striking to me was a huge number of Mexican tourists (who come for northern lights tours) and how much the town felt like Alaska to me.

Inuvik and Yellowknife had felt like something totally unique, but Whitehorse really struck me as if I had just hopped over the border from Alaska – lots of similarity in how it felt.

I’ll definitely be back one day for a longer visit, but for now, it was time to end this wonderful two week trip and begin the trek back home…