Awe-Inspiring Canada

23 Sept

First up, this post is rather long and self-indulgent. I wanted to document our trip in summer 2023 and this felt like a good place to do it. There are details of our travels as well as how I coped as an HSP and how we’ve been inspired by our trip. I enjoyed writing it and frankly that’s the main reason I write blog posts, as I enjoy it. I hope you find it interesting and useful too

I want to acknowledge the privileged position I am in to be able to take a trip like this and then write about it. I appreciate that not everyone who wants to is able to.

A family adventure

This summer, 2023, my family and I embarked on an amazing trip of our family lifetime (so far) to Canada. It was the culmination of many months of planning that started with a conversation in January about finally having the BIG trip we’d been talking about for a few years but the pandemic put on hold. We decided back in January, sitting round our kitchen table, that 2023 was the year we were going to do it.

My family is me, my husband of 18 years and our teenage boys (MITM - Men In The Making) aged 15 and 16 at the time we travelled. We talked about Australia, the USA, the Far East and lots of other options and finally all agreed on Canada. We wanted big nature, adventure and somewhere new to us all. Canada had all that and more.

Feelings

A week into the school summer holidays, we left our home in Bristol for our 22 day trip. Excited and with some feelings of trepidation. My main feeling was how was I going to cope with these three men, 24/7 for 22 days. As an HSP I need my alone time to recharge and process. I work from home part of the week which gives me plenty of time I need. Also I value my time with my female friends as I need time away from all the masculine energy at home. Sure, we all have masculine and feminine energy but as the only girl growing up with 3 brothers and a largely absent mother, it has taken me a long time to revel in being with women and now it’s one of my most treasured things.

This was going to be interesting!

Highlights

Falls

We flew into Toronto, where it was hot and sticky. Luckily I had used my HSP intuition to give us a few days out of the city touring the great lakes and Niagara, by car, before we went into the city. It was a wonderful few days where we quietly covered a lot of miles and rested. Swimming in Lake Superior with my family was special. Niagara Falls were awesome; to witness the force of nature like that felt like a real privilege. Not so much the heaving crowds!! Niagara-on-the-Lake was very busy too but a lovely place to stop on our way back to Toronto. We’re not a big city family so we managed the CN Tower and that was it in Toronto. The reason for us being there was to catch a cross-country sleeper train.

Choo-choo

The train was one of our highlights. It was one of the reasons we decided on Canada and it did not disappoint. It was expensive but worth it to watch our MITMs witness the ambience on board, the clever ways the cabins converted to bedrooms, the amazing food served as though it was a restaurant as the scenery flew by outside the window. The train took two days just to cross Ontario, it’s a big province! After the lakes and trees of Ontario, we crossed Manitoba and the plains of Saskatechewan. We were mainly sleeping as the line crossed part of Manitoba but the sunsets over Manitoba were something else. The flatness of the land meant the light just went on as far as the eye could see.

The hills are alive…

We left the train in Edmonton (I know, slightly weird choice but I won’t bore you with the reasons why) and after an overnight stay we caught a bus to Calgary. In Calgary we picked up another car and headed out to the Rockies. The beautiful, wondrous Rocky Mountains. Big nature in all its glory.

We visited in the summer and it was busy. Even busier because we had unwittingly landed in the Rockies on a public holiday weekend! Our first stop in Banff was an eye-opener and it took us all day to navigate our way around, up the gondola for the awesome views and then back to our car. There were people everywhere! I am ok in crowds but I don’t love them and find myself desperate to get away from them after a couple of hours. That said, if I sense my companions getting overloaded I can concentrate on helping them which takes me out of my sense of overwhelm. It seemed to work and we all found our way to cope that day.

The next day Lake Louise was heaving too. It is a beautiful lake, it is very blue and I so wanted to swim in it but I didn’t because of all the people. I’m afraid we arrived, looked, took a few pictures and left. Sad but true.

The next 2 days were spent driving through the Rockies, winding our way through the majestic mountains. Stopping to take scenic photos (like the one above), to walk to waterfalls and a glacier, and to eat at yet another Tim Hortons (the MITMs feel in love with Tim Hortons!!). It was incredible to see the glacier up close and also horrifying to look at the marker posts showing how much it has melted over the years. A stark reminder of how the planet is changing.

Wheeeee

We got to Jasper and then headed east through more of the Rockies (we saw a bear!) and down to Whistler. Our oldest MITM had requested a day mountain biking in Whistler and I didn’t expect to like it there but I did. I think that because everyone is there to eat, drink, shop and bike (or ski/board in the winter), there is such a vibe of play. Sheer fun. It was infectious.

Having said that about fun, I did have a mini meltdown whilst we were there. The only thing that surprised me about it was it hadn’t happened sooner!! I’d had my own space on the train which was wonderful but since then it had been 10 days or so of us all being together and I needed some time on my own. Also I was a little concerned about the mountain biking as he has had a couple of nasty falls in the past and I didn’t want to find out what Canadian hospitals are like! I wandered around Whistler and people watched for a few hours and as the oldest MITM returned safe and sound, so did my usual easy-going self.

Ferries

From Whistler we went to Vancouver, just for one night (remember me saying we’re not a big city family) then we took the ferry to Vancouver Island. The harbour in Victoria reminded us a little of home (we live on the harbour in Bristol) and the feel of the city was chilled and exciting without being overwhelming. I really liked Victoria.

Another highlight was whale-watching from Victoria where we saw 2 humpbacks, one came right up to the boat. It was a real magical moment. From Victoria we caught the ferry to Seattle for 3 nights with my friend (and podcast co-host) and her family. Then home.

22 days after we left, after travelling 12,500 miles around Canada, we arrived back in Bristol; everything had gone according to plan and it had been truly wonderful.

I have really enjoyed this process of writing about it. There is much more to tell but this enough for now.

What did I learn?

The trip made me remember how much I love to travel and experience new things. I am a high sensation seeker. I’d planned the whole thing and I was nervous about it working out. I’d told everyone I was happy to plan it and their job was to stay calm if things went wrong and not moan. They were all great, didn’t moan and the MITMs called a temporary unspoken truce from the usual teenage bickering. What a relief!

Owning what I needed really help me enjoy it. I set out what I needed from them (mainly no moaning!) and I made sure we had some quiet time. I also took time away in Whistler when I needed it.

I realised I am resilient. Not because I pushed through, which is what I used to think resilience was. Making sure my needs were met helped me stay present with everyone and enjoy myself rather than worrying. I can’t tell you how many holidays and trips I haven’t enjoyed because of worrying about everything. Resilience now means that I take care of my needs, rest when I need to and take time for myself.

We’d all had one special thing that we chose on the holiday (mine was the whale watching) and we decided day to day what to do. I’d planned the route and where we’d stay but how we passed each day was usually a joint decision. We packed a lot in, too much really, but we wanted to do as much as we could as we are unlikely to go back as a family. We all got a say, including me, which is a big change from when I used to put my needs aside in favour of everyone else. HSPs are really good at putting everyone else first and most of us need to learn to put ourselves at least level pegging with everyone else and first some of the time.

Our oldest MITM has been learning French since we got back as he was so impressed by the bilingual staff on the train. This is the boy who bombed in his Spanish at school and said he hated languages! He was inspired by seeing language in action.

The youngest MITM turned to me on the whale-watching boat and said he might try harder in science if it meant he could be a marine biologist on a whale-watching boat (they were brilliant on our boat). Time will tell if that impression lasts.

My husband was surprised by how much he enjoyed it despite all the driving! He has been much calmer and open to new things since we got home. We all have.

My conclusion is that we had an awesome trip, I’m so glad we did it and I feel we are still processing everything we saw and did. One thing I am sure of is that the benefits, the things we learned and the wonderful memories will stay with us forever.

And you?

If you’re still reading, thank you for sticking with me as I recall the trip and I hope it inspires you to be open to new experiences, no matter how big or small.

Philippa Robinson