My parents are going on vacation soon, and part of their vacation includes 6 days in Nova Scotia. They’ve asked about the trip I took out to Nova Scotia back in 2009. In one week I went to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, as well as Maine and New Hampshire in the US, but I only spent a day or two in each province or state. I went there. I covered ground (and ocean), but I certainly didn’t get to see or any one province or state.
I made the mistake of looking at a map, and comparing a place I haven’t been to, with a place I lived on my life. I assumed the roads would be the same straight, flat stretches of road I’m used to at home. I assumed I’d be able to drive 110km/h everywhere I went. I assumed there’d be no traffic, no wrong turns, no problems. I didn’t anticipate there’d be factors that could slow down my road trip. There were mountains and hills. There were speed limits below 100km/hour. There were wrong turns (like when accidentally we started driving back to Canada, instead of going south to New Hampshire). There was traffic. These provinces and states looked so small on a map, and so easy to travel through, but maps can be deceiving.
My father seems to think that he and my mom can see Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland in 6 days. I think he’s crazy. I talked to a friend, who has family in Nova Scotia, about my father’s ambitions. She thinks he’s crazy too. Sure they probably could get to each of those provinces in 6 days, but will they really get to see any of these places? Is it worth driving for hours and hours, just to get some place and turn around and drive somewhere else? You get to check off another place on your “Where I’ve been” list, but did you actually get to see anything?
Pier 21 in Halifax. I went to Halifax, but this was the only place I really got to see
I’ve crossed the border to Manitoba, but I don’t count driving 15 minutes there and then going back to Saskatchewan as having seen Manitoba. I’ve been to Calgary at least 20 times. I still haven’t seen the entire city. I’ve spent my whole life in the province of Alberta, around the same city where I was born. I still haven’t seen all of Edmonton, or all of Alberta.
My father, after we got back from Cancun, said he’s done Mexico. One week in Cancun, with a quick visit to Chichen Itza, and my father sees no reason to go back to Mexico, because he’s done it. That’s not who I am. When it comes to travel I’ll never be satisfied. No matter where I go. No matter how long I’m there for I’ll always want more.
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