Probably?

When Jeff was fishing with his brother in northwestern Ontario last month, he wasn’t there for even 24 hours when he sent me a real estate listing. That’s when I knew.

We love (almost) everything about living in the Yukon. The remoteness, the adventure, the rarity of everything. And particularly Dawson City. I can’t think of a better small town! The welcoming people. The events. The volunteerism. The history. Knowing people everywhere you go. Having your server already know what you’re going to order. It’s really more of a family than a community!

But when Jeff retires in a year and 9 months, he needs something to do that fills his needs. He *loves* fishing and always has. But we just don’t have the lakes or the fishing here. He has a great boat and just one mighty river to boat up against the current, really slowly, or go swiftly downstream and then fight the current slowly back to town. And that’s only for a small portion of the year when the river isn’t frozen.

He came home from that fishing trip in Ontario with a compromise in mind. Let’s move to Thunder Bay. I lived there for 5 years to attend University (about 30 years ago now!). I still have friends there. His brother lives there now. Knowing people and being familiar with the area would give me a head start in regaining the sense of community I thrive on, with urban amenities. And he could take the truck camper and boat and head out fishing to the northwest, or even the northeast. Or hunting. He’s got a friend about 5 hours to the west that he hunts and fishes with too, but the compromise he had in mind was moving to Thunder Bay and not to the shore of a remote unpopulated lake. I could keep working (my retirement is much further away) (ie. I’m way way way younger) (ok so like just 8 years). We could take the truck camper in any direction for adventures and vacations. Thunder Bay is on Lake Superior and surrounded by nature. It’s like a bigger Whitehorse, but in Ontario, and on a Great Lake.

The proposal is not bad. We’d be an 18-hour drive from our families, instead of an 8-day drive (or a few flights).

But there are so many people there (~130k in Thunder Bay area). With traffic lights. And paved streets. And curbs. And probably even white lines you have to park between.

Life up here in Dawson City has been so utopian for me, for 11 years now!

I don’t know if I thought we’d live here forever, though. Sometimes it is just time for another adventure. We’ve done just about everything we wanted to do up here.

But a move?

That means moving.

Like packing up everything we don’t sell and figuring out how to get it halfway across the country again.

That means selling our house and leaving all our really beloved friends behind.

But I know that people and places come in and out of your life and it is easier than ever to keep your friends close, even from afar. I already keep in touch with friends across the country and visit them too, so it certainly wouldn’t be a goodbye.

Will Thunder Bay be our next adventure, in 2028?

Or do we sell our house next summer when there is more demand and be homeless for a while Jeff finishes his career out?

Or will it happen even sooner?

So much to figure out. Isn’t that one of the best parts of life, when so much is unknown and you’re eager to see what happens next? I like that. I think we both do. Better than staying the course when you can just keep doing the same ol’ same ol’ for years to come. And I mean I could… and I would… but I think we have another adventure in us!

I can admit that there are a few things that are incredibly inconvenient about living up here (only a few, but they are kinda big!). Sometimes I really want to buy something and not only can I not buy it here, but I also can’t find anyone to ship it here, or I have to pay a not-so-small fortune to do so. It is also becoming more annoying to drive over 6 hours (more like 7 in my truck) on a really terrible road to get to a dentist. (We have so many friends losing their teeth that it’s getting worrisome!) And if I ever need another colonoscopy, after doing the prep in a camper twice, I’m so envious of people who do it in their own home! Imagine that!!

When we think about what retirement would look like up here, there are concerns about leaving a house during the winter to travel. Or driving the Alaskan highway every time we want to leave on a road trip and come back, which adds DAYS to a round trip.

And I want Jeff to be able to fish. As often as he wants, wherever he wants.

Is Thunder Bay our next adventure?