Tips for Travelers 2
The Premise:
Find out what northerners and north-lovers recommend for your travels way up there.
The Question:
You meet someone who is traveling to the north for the first time. What advice do you have for them?
Each installment will introduce you to special people, and you’ll learn from their experience.
Katherine Breen and Eric McNair-Landry
Community: Eric grew up in Iqaluit, Nunavut as part of an adventurous family, and he learned about kayaking, dog-sledding and kite-skiing at a young age. He met his partner, Katherine, when she arrived in town to practice medicine.
These two have been part of some big expeditions and have received many honours. They now live in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Occupation: Katherine is a physician, and Eric is an adventurer, but they both have all kinds of projects on the go.
Advice from Eric:
* Spend as much time as you can. The more you invest in a place, the more you will learn and understand.
* Work more than you observe. “You have to give a bit for people to bring you in to their circles.”
* Go far. The smaller and more remote the community you visit, the more friendly people are likely to be.
* “Spend time on land with the mosquitoes. They are the true ambassadors of the north.”
“The culture is one of the greatest things about the north,” says Eric.
Advice from Katherine:
Katherine’s advice is simple and shared with the founder of Students on Ice, Geoff Green:
“Flexibility is key. Always keep that in mind.”
Katherine reflected on how central hunting is to the culture of the north. At every school they visited after a big expedition on Baffin Island, “The number one question was about hunting. Every kid wanted to know what we caught and what we ate.”
About: Check out Pittarak to learn more about these two. And don’t forget Eric’s sister.
