19 years ago I moved solo from Québec to the Coast Mountains. Growing older in a place with limitless scenery and vast landscape has been nothing less than a humbling experience.
To be able to hike up to mountain peak and dip in a glacier-fed lake, dive into clear ocean waters, roam with my dog in quiet, open spaces, breathe in the fresh, crisp aroma of the rainforest, and look out at the impressive layers of rolling snowy ridges as far as the eye can see, is when I know I am home.
Whistler is home to untouched powdery terrain, high alpine bowls and extensive natural playgrounds that we get to enjoy during our beautiful winters. To celebrate another wonderful season, here are a few snowboarding clips taken earlier this year.
𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘭’𝘸𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘓̓𝘪𝘭̓𝘸𝘢𝘵7ú𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘚ḵ𝘸𝘹̱𝘸ú7𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘩.
Riders: JF Fortin, Mathieu Beaudry, David Jacques and Vincent Fortin.
Music: ‘I’m a Wanted Man’ by Royal Deluxe.
That time we hiked to a mountain hut in Whistler, BC, and felt like we had the whole world to ourselves.
Photos taken during our hiking trip to Mt Gardner.
𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐭
Distance: 17km
Elevation Gain: 595 m
Highest Point: 728 m
Photos taken during our hiking trip to Brandywine Meadows.
𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬
Distance: 7 km
Elevation Gain: 538 m
Highest Point: 1,460 m
Photos taken during our hiking trip to Mt Brunswick.
𝐌𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤
Distance: 14 km
Elevation Gain: 1,543 m
Highest Point: 1,788 m
Photos taken during our hiking trip to Cirque Lake.
Cirque Lake
Distance: 13 km
Elevation Gain: 1,045 m
Highest Point: 1,686 m
I came across this quote not a long time ago. It really stuck to my mind. “If I rest I rust. ” words from Helen Hayes, an accomplished American actress who won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award as well as receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom and awarded the National Medal of Arts. Wow.
“If I rest I rust.” Well surely Hayes didn’t rest nor did rust.
Since I left the comfort of my mother’s nest and moved out west, I’ve constantly been craving for more. I’ve tasted what it was like to live freely, adventurously, passionately… I was always planning the next adventure, and always had a destination country next on the list to visit. My bucket list evolves each year and my biggest dreams never fade to exist. I got to travel around the world, live and work abroad, volunteer overseas and even start my own business. And I get to adventure outdoors with my dogs and play in the immense backyard that is my home, the PNW. I live a spontaneous and rather adventurous lifestyle with amazing people by my side. And I am beyond grateful for that. But yet, I need more. Is this too selfish to admit?
Getting older makes me slow down. Having senior dogs also keeps me closer to home. Having to stay in one place, I try my best to change the familiar sights and diverse my days: hike a new trail, explore a new town, camp at a new spot, cook a new meal, try a new craft… I even started to play the Ukulele backwards and am re-learning my Spanish. But the region where I live is getting insanely busier by day, and after a while, I feel that the places I enjoy become a little too crowded for my wandering soul (I guess that’s the price to pay when you live where people vacation).
Surely, my heart constantly pangs for a new thing to get excited about.
Strangely, I’m the first person to hope to inspire people to live the moment. I’ve always believed that we need to learn to slow down time, and be in the moment if we want to live well. Inevitably, when I do things, I’m there 100%. Or so I try.
So why is there is a constant yearning in the deepest part of me to be in a place I’ve never been? Why am I constantly distracted by my dreams? Why is my mind always wandering, longing to where I’ve been, and homesick for a place I’ve never been?
I’ve read once that the evolved human brain constantly needs something to keep him occupied. As such, we are always on the search for purpose, meaning, adventure, happiness… Some of us have created bucket lists, others have a goal ladder they wish to climb and some are content just the way things are.
I wish I could be content in one place. I try. But my desire never ceases to end. I long for more and am never fully satisfied with what I have. The truth is that this fiery desire holds me close to my dreams…
Sorting through my boundless wanderlust, I find myself longing for a life spent at sea. Diving everyday with sea life, eating the fruits of nature, volunteering in communities, away from the mainstream, waking up and going to sleep with the sun, living with the pulse of the ocean, one wave at a time… To me it calls for freedom, peace, simplicity, a dream lived awake. Careful what you dream for, right?
I recently took a wonderful trip to Japan, with an incredible layover in China. It’s been a while since I stepped out of my country and explored a different part of the world. Far away from home I felt at home… in the uncertainty, in the unknown, in the newness. I came back refreshed, revitalized, rebooted. It was extraordinary. And it leaves me with exceptional memories. But coming back to my beautiful home the travel blues hits. Instantly. Back to ordinary. Two weeks was way too short. And I’m back on a severe case of wanderlust.
In the past years, I’ve been stuck in a routine, living a predictable life, filled with small pleasures and frolic adventures. But I’m afraid to get a stable job and be locked in one place. I’m afraid to upgrade my living situation, afraid to jump into the mortgage world, have payments, have commitments. I’m afraid of settling down.
The slightest bit of idleness affects me. I’m afraid to rest for too long. I fear stagnation. I fear to see the years blend into one another and forget to move forward and progress.
Maybe I just need that one big adventure. To get it out of my system, before I slow down again and put my feet on the ground. Or maybe not. Maybe I’ll always be restless. Maybe I’ll always chase this extraordinary life. And maybe that’s okay.
I’ve been trying to find good enough reasons to be satisfied in the present moment. I try to do the things that make me happy on a daily basis. But I can’t ignore that ache for more. It exists for a reason.
If living the journey is the goal, if pursuing a life well lived is the path we are on, it will not be restful. It will not be comfortable. Nor will it be easy. But it will be exciting. It will be valuable. It will be worth it.
So I’ll keep pursuing the most important things that my heart aches for, even as crazy as they are. Because as long as I can feel, I am living – and as long as I am living, I’ll keep moving.
Footloose Diary