A Guardian Angel and Paradise

I started my trip yesterday with three bags and a stomach full of butterflies.
Two flights and about 10 hours later I was in Whitehorse and while the butterflies were gone so was one of my bags, a common occurrence by all accounts.

Surprisingly though, my suitcase’s decision to stay a little longer in Vancouver to see the sights didn’t bother me too much. I did after all have a pretty good portion of my clothes and necessities in the other bag and I still had my trusty backpack with the real essentials – departures. seasons one and two ;)

Another reason for my relaxed position on the suitcase debacle was that I’d met amazing people during my trip and I had actually made the journey I’d been planning for months.

But even though the end of the story was happy, the beginning was far from it.

The night before and the morning of my departure I was really nervous. The reality of what I was about to do was settling in and to be honest it was scary. Just to review, I was about to fly across the country and then up to the Yukon…in January... And to boot, this would be the furthest I’d ever travelled by myself and the longest I’d been on my own.

On top of all this, I hate saying goodbye to family and friends. When it comes to me and saying goodbye to people I care about, tears always ensue.

So I was working against a perfect storm of anxiety as I got on my plane to Vancouver.

“I just have to get moving and then it’ll be all good from there on out,” I told myself. I knew I was excited about the adventure I was going on, I just needed to start it to take my mind off the other things.

And sure enough that’s exactly what happened.

There were actually a bunch of little things that helped to put me at ease including being on the same flight as fellow J-Schooler Geoff Turner. It was really nice to be able to chat with him during the flight to Vancouver and have a bit of London with me on the first part of the trip. It also gave me the opportunity to hear about his internship and talk about his upcoming month.

But on the next leg of the journey I’d be flying solo – or at least that’s what I thought.

Turns out I met a guardian angel.

Shortly after finding my seat on the northbound plane, a woman came and sat in the seat next to me.

Having the name of an angel, Gabriele was flying home to Whitehorse after a Christmas vacation with her family and I was lucky enough to be her seatmate.

She told me some really useful information about the city and places I should make a point of visiting. Gabriele also shared a delicious lemon cranberry scone with me and made sure I had some water during the flight too. “You’ve been travelling all day, you need to make sure you don’t dehydrate!” she said.

Gabriele even gave me a bottle of contact solution so I could cure my seriously dry eyes!

We talked about all sorts of things including our families, my internship and her former career as a flight attendant for the whole two hour flight. It was really neat to hear her stories and learn a little bit about her life in the Yukon.

It felt like I was flying with family and it was just what I needed – a little bit of the Yukon kindness I’ve heard so much about and experienced first-hand.

By the time we landed in Whitehorse my nerves settled and the butterflies were history. Instead I had a grin plastered on my face and I couldn’t wait to get settled in.

And the scenery only added to my excitement. Flying in I got a bird’s eye view of the Whitehorse area and let me tell you it’s gorgeous! There are rolling mountains covered in snow with frosted trees as far as the eye can see and downtown Whitehorse is nestled in a valley between two really picturesque peaks. It looks like a little slice of paradise…albeit a cold one lol.

I was so taken with everything I saw that I really didn’t care about my MIA suitcase. I was just so excited I was here!

Gabriele continued her extreme generosity and she and her family drove me to my home for the next month. I really didn’t know how to say thank-you enough to her! I got her contact information though so we can hopefully meet up again soon.

I’m staying with a couple named Annie-Claude and Alain in their HUGE downtown apartment. They’re so nice and welcoming and I really feel very much at home already.
They also have a really cute cat named Nikki. She’s not quite sure of me yet, but hopefully she gets to like me.

Anyway, I think Annie-Claude and I are going to go for a drive around the city in a bit so I can get acquainted with the area. We’ll also be passing by the CBC which I’m super excited for! I can’t believe I’m starting there tomorrow – it’s pretty unreal :)
Well I better bounce. I’ll write again to let you all know how my first day goes!

Best of luck to all the other J-Schoolers out there on their first days too!

Jess