#132 - Living a Courageous Life as a Kayaking Nomad with Wendy Killoran

WEBVTT

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Welcome to Paddling the Blue. With each episode, we talk with guests from the

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Great Lakes and around the globe who are doing cool things related to sea kayaking.

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I'm your host, my name is John Chase, and let's get started paddling the blue.

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Welcome to today's episode of Paddling the Blue.

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Wendy Killoran is living life as a paddling nomad. While she has a soft spot

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for the Great Lakes, you might find her anywhere in the world experiencing life

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on her own terms from the seat of a kayak.

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And today we'll talk about how being on the water, circling large lakes like

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Superior, and islands like Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island help her feel fully alive.

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Before we get to today's conversation with Wendy, our good friends at OnlineSeaKyaking.com

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continue to produce great content to help you evolve as a paddler and as a coach.

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Enjoy today's episode with Wendy Killoran. Hello, Wendy. Welcome to Paddling the Blue.

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Hello, John. It's a pleasure to be here today with you. Thank you for inviting me.

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Thank you. So we've been talking for a little while about having you join the show.

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And I think when we first talked, you were in Morocco, and then you were in somewhere in Canada,

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I think Vancouver or something to that somewhere along that line so where are

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you now I'm presently back in Canada I'm in my home province of Ontario visiting

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family all right so tell us about you.

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Okay, I guess I'm a middle-aged lady who has done major transitions in life,

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and a lot of that occurred because I discovered sea kayaking midlife in my late 20s.

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I was a former schoolteacher, and now I'm a retired schoolteacher and an adventurer.

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I've been traveling the world, and I do a lot of long-distance solo sea kayak

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journeys all around the world.

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That's very cool. So what inspired you to start paddling?

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I had two pivotal moments in my life.

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I believe when I was 28, I was walking the Southwest Way in Southern England

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along the Devon and Cornwall shore.

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And I was standing on a cliff and I looked down upon the ocean.

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And it looked like a pencil case of coloring pencil crayons had been strewn over the sea.

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And I realized those are sea kayaks. And I'd never seen that before.

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And it absolutely, yeah, it really caught my attention.

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It captivated me. And then about half a year later, I was sitting five months

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pregnant in the Florida Everglades, watching a sunset.

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And there were silhouetted palm trees and diving pelicans.

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And into that sunset was a solo kayaker that paddled right towards the setting sun.

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And I knew in that moment that I wanted to make kayaking part of my life,

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but I was in a different phase right now in my life because I was five months

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pregnant and I was an expectant mother.

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And so kayaking waited for about two years, but I found it in my memory and

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it just became something that really sat with me.

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It never left me. I knew it was like a soul calling.

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As it is for many of us. Yes.

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So you said you waited about two years and then how did you get your start?

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So, because I'd never sea kayaked, although I had had lots of experience in a canoe,

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because during my university years, I studied geology, and I was lucky enough

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that during my summer months when I was in university studying geology,

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I worked for the Ontario Geological Survey.

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So I did a lot of shoreline geology in a canoe and spent, you know,

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entire summers up in the wilderness mapping bedrock.

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But I got my start in kayaking when I decided I would go for a week-long paddle with a tour company.

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So Blackfeather Wilderness Adventures in Ontario offered a paddle up on the

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Georgian Bay. So it wasn't far from where I lived.

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And the Georgian Bay is renowned worldwide as a very beautiful paddling destination.

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So I did about a 125-kilometer trip on the Georgian Bay from Bing Inlet to Killarney,

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and I realized when I arrived from Bing Inlet on Georgian Bay,

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it was pouring rain, but the bay was absolutely mirror calm,

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and the water droplets were bouncing off the surface of the water like popcorn.

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And I saw these ripple effects and then just these beautiful droplets being sucked into the water.

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And I realized in that state of presence that this was something that I wanted

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to do, really integrated into my life.

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So was that really the first primary experience?

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That was my first experience in a kayak. I did a week-long trip on the Georgian Bay.

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I didn't do any short day paddles or anything. because I had my family.

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My father was a high school teacher and we did a lot of camping.

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So I was basically integrating a lot of things that I already knew.

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I mean, I did a lot of canoeing already. I did a lot of camping.

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I loved water. You know, I was well qualified to be like a lifeguard and so

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forth. So I love being in the water.

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And I was just sort of integrating things so that it could become a part of

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my life where I could expand upon really exploring planet Earth from a different perspective.

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I love it. I love it. So you jumped right in, did that first full week with

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Blackfeather up in the Georgian Bay, which is an absolutely beautiful area.

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And then how long was it before the first big solo?

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The first solo, yeah, that took a while because I actually did go with other

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companies. Like, you know, I paddled in Belize and I paddled in the Bahamas.

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And I paddled sometimes with just groups of people and so forth.

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But my first solo was in actually 2005, where I decided I would paddle around an entire province.

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And so my first experience on the water was 1992.

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But in 2005, I decided to paddle around Prince Edward Island,

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and I paddled around the outside edge of all rocks and little pinnacles and

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so forth, so that I could say I actually circumnavigated entire province. Yeah.

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So that was about 650 kilometers, but I felt I was still married,

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and I felt very compelled that I needed to get back home.

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So I did that in 12 paddling days. I was actually averaging over 50 kilometers

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a day to get around Prince Edward Island.

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Yeah, that's moving for your first big solo. Yes, it was.

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So tell us about Prince Edward Island. What's the experience like?

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Well, I feel that the universe blesses me.

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I feel that when you are doing what you love, that the universe conspires to make it happen.

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And so I was very blessed because I was paddling in basically late May.

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I had taken a leave of absence from teaching, so I was able to accomplish that.

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And I had, for the most part, very calm conditions.

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And any time when I came to a pivotal point where I was a confluence of like

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a cape or a head, where water conditions could be quite rough,

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it was, I was just blessed with always quite calm conditions,

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and I could just easily shoot around.

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And I was just very blessed to meet kind-hearted people and helpful people and,

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yeah, you know, and even some comedy on the ocean where, you know.

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A fisherman offered me a lobster, and he was holding the lobster up,

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you know, basically hanging from his groin.

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And I said, no, he's too big for my pot, so he gave me a smaller one.

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And so, that was before my vegan days, because now I'm a plant-based kayaker.

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And so, I actually, for the first time in my life, I boiled up a lobster on the beach.

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So, yeah, I had some interesting experiences on my first ever solo.

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But in Prince Edward Island, the gradient of the shore is very, very minimal.

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And so, tides are quite something. You could have a difference of almost a kilometer

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from high tide to low tide to get to the water's edge. Yeah.

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Yeah. And so, how did you manage that?

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Yeah, you know, it was a learning experience. So, that was, I didn't have wheels

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or anything at that time for the kayak. So, I was basically dragging my kayak

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over sand, which, you know, is not something I would recommend.

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But it was a learning experience. And luckily for me, I didn't always launch at low tide. Okay.

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Yeah. Now, was that your first real experience with managing tide in a trip?

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I know you had mentioned you've paddled other places around the world.

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Yeah, that was the first time where I really had to manage tide that was very,

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very noticeable. Because most of my paddling before that had been done on the

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Great Lakes, and that's very, very minimal.

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Yeah. You really don't notice tide. Yeah.

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So now, Great Lakes paddling. So tell us a little bit about some of your Great Lakes paddling.

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So I had acquired a use kayak where I started paddling at a park in southern

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Ontario called the Pinery.

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And so that's on the southeastern shore of Lake Huron.

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And there's about, I'd say, 12 kilometers of park shoreline where it's just

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sandy dunes and beach that touch, that meet with Lake Huron.

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And so I've paddled the Lake Huron there in all seasons and in all conditions.

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I've paddled on near calm water.

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I've paddled on very lively, challenging, you know, bigger waves.

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And the waves would never be too huge because there are always sandbars.

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So the waves diminish as they get closer to shore.

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And I've even paddled, you know, after snowmelt, and there's still some beautiful

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ice features on the lake.

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And so I've paddled in all seasons on the lake.

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And just by, you know, paddling in all seasons and paddling in all different kinds of conditions,

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I was able to build up my confidence

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to start doing more adventuresome

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trips away from what I would call my home base because it

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was about an hour's drive always for me to get to my playground but

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it literally is my playground I grew up camping there as a little child and

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I basically as a teacher for my sanity would go there once a week whether it

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was summer spring autumn or

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winter okay now so tell us about some of your favorite Great Lakes paddles.

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Yeah, I would say I've had, it's hard to say because, I mean,

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they're all so different and they're all so epically beautiful, right?

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Yeah, we're blessed to live in this area where we could paddle a different week

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for years and never have to duplicate the same trip. I agree.

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I mean, you know, the Great Lakes alone can offer a lifetime of sea kayaking. Absolutely.

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But, you know, if I had to pick, I would say I paddled around Manitoulin Island,

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and paddling around Manitoulin, and it's known as the world's largest freshwater island.

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And I do like geographical extremes, so that really appealed to me.

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And I had seen Manitoulin Island from the sky when I was a university student,

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and it was absolutely beguiling. It was just calling to me.

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It was like this white-rimmed island in this azure-blue water,

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and I filed it in my memory that I needed to come back and explore it.

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And I didn't realize at the time, because, you know, this was then literally

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at least 30 years later, that I would return and explore it by paddling around it in a sea kayak.

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And so I had a very mystical experience where I had thought to myself,

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never in my life have I seen a great white egret in the Canadian wilderness ever.

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And literally 30 seconds to a minute later, a great white egret flew by me.

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Landed in Burnt Island Harbor.

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And as that happened, my entire body prickled.

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And I realized in that moment that this was a pivotal moment,

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that this was like a divine, sacred gift. and I landed on shore.

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I set up camp and for at least an hour, this great white egret was about 100

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meters away from me fishing at the shoreline.

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And that was basically my introduction to becoming more spiritual and understanding

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what that is and knowing that there is a force on the planet that is an unseen

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mystical force that we tap into.

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And so that was, and I had one more experience with just inexplicable miracles,

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because the first time that I ever paddled around Manitoulin Island,

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and I've circumnavigated it twice,

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and it's about, I believe, just over 300 kilometers to paddle around Manitoulin Island.

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The first time I came there, I realized that the limestone was way too abrasive

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for my kayak, but I had no protection for the hull.

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And I thought, oh, I wish I had a pool noodle for my kayak so I could protect the hull.

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And literally the next day when I was kayaking, there was floating in the North

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Channel a lime green pool noodle, which I retrieved from the water and I used

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for the remainder of the trip to, you know,

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save the haul of my kayak because there are alvars on the south shore of Manitoulin Island.

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So the north shore of Manitoulin Island is the Niagara Escarpment,

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steep cliff areas, but the south shore...

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It's this very low incline of limestone that goes into Lake Huron.

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And so these alvars are like pavements. It's quite beautiful with a lot of karst topography.

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So alvar. So I'm not familiar with that term. Yeah, A-L-V-A-R.

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So they're just limestone pavements.

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Interesting. Okay. Yeah. So for those who aren't familiar, Manitoulin Island is in Georgian Bay.

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And it's at the north end of the Tobermory Peninsula, I guess you might say.

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Yeah. And so I've actually done that crossing. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

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So now how long is that crossing?

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Yeah, you know, it's a beautiful, if you take the Chichiman,

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which is the ferry that goes from Tobermory to South Baymouth on the southern

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tip of Manitoulin Island.

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I would say it's just over 50 kilometers, but there's a string of islands that

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you can follow. And so, I've been able to make the crossing and,

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yeah, you know, I call it stealth camping.

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I know that I'm sometimes camped on areas where I'm not supposed to be, but I leave no trace.

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And I'm always very, very grateful for, you know, having a safe landing because

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I know a lot of the land in the area is also Indigenous territory.

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And so, I leave no trace and I'm just very, very thankful.

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And I'm moving in a very sustainable, earth-friendly way.

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I've never had a problem I guess I've had one problem once because I actually

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paddled on Lake Superior and I only once in my entire paddling career had a

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person tell me I couldn't camp where I was camped,

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so that was on Lake Superior so in 2018 I gave myself five months to explore the Great Lakes.

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So I paddled a good part of Lake Huron, but I solo circumnavigated Lake Superior

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in a clockwise fashion, paddling the American shore and then the South Shore,

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and then paddling into Canada and paddling the North Shore. So where did you start that journey?

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That's an interesting question, because I had wanted to start the journey from

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the Pinery, which was my home base for kayaking for many, many years.

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But I discovered when I called up customs that if I entered the Great Lakes

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waters by kayak crossing a border, that I could only stay 72 hours, and thereafter,

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every 72 hours, I would have to contact customs.

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However, if I came across the border like a regular tourist in a car,

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I could stay in the States for six months and not have to make any contact.

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So it was a no-brainer that I asked my twin sister and her husband to drive

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me to Port Huron so I could launch in the States.

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And I started following the west coast of Lake Huron.

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Cut across Saginaw Bay, so that was a bit of a crossing, but I was blessed the

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day that I made the crossing.

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And, you know, I get up really early on paddling days. I usually get up at about

00:17:27.360 --> 00:17:32.680
4.30 so that I have usually the quietest moment of the day where,

00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:35.000
you know, especially if I'm making a crossing.

00:17:35.280 --> 00:17:40.620
And so I paddled up to, I didn't go right up to Sault Ste. Marie.

00:17:40.820 --> 00:17:46.320
I actually had someone drive me up to Sault Ste. Marie from the very,

00:17:46.540 --> 00:17:48.340
I didn't want to have to paddle up the St. Mary's River.

00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.680
And so then I launched from Sault Ste.

00:17:52.760 --> 00:17:58.420
Marie on the American side, paddled the South Shore, and then came around the

00:17:58.420 --> 00:18:00.460
North Shore of Lake Superior.

00:18:00.900 --> 00:18:06.480
And I spent, I would say, about a month and a half doing that.

00:18:06.600 --> 00:18:11.160
And then I still went through a lock on the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie.

00:18:11.760 --> 00:18:15.480
There's a phone number, and I called them up, and I paddled my kayak into the

00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:19.700
lock, and they dropped me seven meters down. So I could now, you know, enter the St.

00:18:19.840 --> 00:18:23.260
Mary's River and paddle into Lake Huron. And then I still paddled for another

00:18:23.260 --> 00:18:26.320
month and a half, I would say, on Lake Huron.

00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:30.380
But by then it was becoming mid-September and I was, you know,

00:18:30.500 --> 00:18:32.060
meeting a lot of inclement weather.

00:18:32.600 --> 00:18:36.280
So at some point you just say, I think the journey has run its course.

00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:39.960
Okay. Yeah. So how long were you on Superior proper?

00:18:40.600 --> 00:18:45.920
Yeah. So I would say again about, I think just over a month and a half that I was on Lake Superior.

00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.600
And I was it was 2018 and I

00:18:49.600 --> 00:18:57.020
was just blessed with 99% of the time having almost near calm water yeah that's

00:18:57.020 --> 00:19:02.660
that's a short time yeah it was incredible how much calm water I had but the

00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:05.960
one day when I was paddling into Marquette there was a,

00:19:06.450 --> 00:19:11.150
a thunderstorm, and I sat it out, and it was very, very calm water.

00:19:11.250 --> 00:19:16.870
So when the thunderstorm passed, I did a short crossing, I'd say of about three

00:19:16.870 --> 00:19:19.910
or four kilometers to get towards Marquette.

00:19:20.170 --> 00:19:26.270
And as I was approaching Marquette, all of a sudden, an unscheduled wind showed

00:19:26.270 --> 00:19:28.570
up, because I always check weather.

00:19:29.070 --> 00:19:34.950
And I was like on very, the lake changed within minutes.

00:19:35.190 --> 00:19:38.170
And it was, I was like a bucking bronco and i

00:19:38.170 --> 00:19:41.510
was i would say i had to make about a 500 meter

00:19:41.510 --> 00:19:44.650
sprint to get to shore where it

00:19:44.650 --> 00:19:47.330
was quite challenging but you know

00:19:47.330 --> 00:19:50.330
i'm always very humbled and grateful when

00:19:50.330 --> 00:19:53.530
i do make it to shore and i was very grateful

00:19:53.530 --> 00:19:56.930
too that i practiced safe paddling because

00:19:56.930 --> 00:19:59.790
even though most of the time it was very

00:19:59.790 --> 00:20:03.270
very warm and and you know beautiful paddling conditions

00:20:03.270 --> 00:20:06.590
i dressed for immersion good because lake

00:20:06.590 --> 00:20:09.590
superior can be very unforgiving and i

00:20:09.590 --> 00:20:12.790
was given a little taste of that when i was approaching marquette

00:20:12.790 --> 00:20:15.830
yes yeah even uh you're you're

00:20:15.830 --> 00:20:18.370
nearing the end of the journey at that i'm sorry no that was beginning right

00:20:18.370 --> 00:20:23.730
that was early around that was sort of the the beginning because i went clockwise

00:20:23.730 --> 00:20:27.790
you know and then of course about halfway through was duluth and again did some

00:20:27.790 --> 00:20:33.990
great stealth camping outside of duluth um i actually did a radio interview and then so,

00:20:35.470 --> 00:20:37.490
I guess it was a TV interview, sorry.

00:20:37.650 --> 00:20:43.330
It was a TV interview, and people had seen me then on a little feel-good news clip.

00:20:44.130 --> 00:20:48.490
And when I walked into a restaurant, I was offered a beer because people recognized

00:20:48.490 --> 00:20:50.810
me. Oh, she's the kayaker.

00:20:52.850 --> 00:20:57.390
That's cool. It's funny, when you're doing what you love and loving what you do—

00:20:57.736 --> 00:21:02.816
you become radiant. You are in the zone. You are living life on your terms.

00:21:03.016 --> 00:21:08.256
And I simplify my life so my life has just this quality of being very deeply

00:21:08.256 --> 00:21:10.776
connected to nature and all that is and beauty.

00:21:11.176 --> 00:21:15.856
And when I was walking through Duluth, just wearing the same clothes that I

00:21:15.856 --> 00:21:18.716
always wear, I'd been wearing them for about a month at least.

00:21:19.696 --> 00:21:24.896
A gentleman just looked at me and he said, natural becomes you.

00:21:25.096 --> 00:21:29.316
Because, I mean, I was just, you know, I had my, you know, wild woman looking

00:21:29.316 --> 00:21:34.336
hair and just wearing the same clothes, but I had this globe to me that you get when you kayak.

00:21:34.696 --> 00:21:40.476
When you're doing something that you truly resonate with, you're just living

00:21:40.476 --> 00:21:45.876
life on your terms and you're living life courageously, the universe flows with

00:21:45.876 --> 00:21:49.576
you and you just feel this joy for life. You feel so alive.

00:21:50.016 --> 00:21:52.796
Kayaking will certainly make that happen. Yeah, and you know,

00:21:53.036 --> 00:21:56.336
when you feel alive, it's like, you know, a lot of us don't get to have that

00:21:56.336 --> 00:22:00.936
feeling because a lot of us just, we think about, oh, what if this goes wrong?

00:22:01.036 --> 00:22:02.016
Or what if that goes wrong?

00:22:02.136 --> 00:22:05.556
Instead of, oh, what if I'm gifted this, you know, beautiful reward or whatever?

00:22:05.556 --> 00:22:13.536
And so it's like, it was an important step for me to start to face my fears,

00:22:13.536 --> 00:22:19.436
because my greatest fear was not about what could potentially happen to me on the water.

00:22:19.576 --> 00:22:24.456
My greatest fear was what could potentially happen to me when I was camped alone

00:22:24.456 --> 00:22:29.076
as a woman, hidden on beaches and in dunes and so forth. And I overcame that fear.

00:22:29.236 --> 00:22:30.916
I decided I'd rather live my

00:22:30.916 --> 00:22:35.836
life and do what I'm loving than live life in fear and live with regret.

00:22:36.116 --> 00:22:38.336
I chose not to live with regret.

00:22:38.916 --> 00:22:43.796
Was it simply that mental change that helped you manage that,

00:22:43.836 --> 00:22:44.676
or was there something else?

00:22:46.316 --> 00:22:51.896
I have been on a journey where I started to question everything.

00:22:52.216 --> 00:22:57.816
I started to question whether my beliefs were serving me, whether my lifestyle

00:22:57.816 --> 00:22:59.336
choices were serving me.

00:22:59.516 --> 00:23:02.556
And so I started to make quantum change.

00:23:02.856 --> 00:23:08.476
And I recognized even though I had taught elementary school for almost 30 years,

00:23:08.656 --> 00:23:11.636
at the age of 51, I changed my life.

00:23:11.776 --> 00:23:18.716
I retired early from school teaching and I decided to pursue life on my terms.

00:23:19.056 --> 00:23:26.336
And so I call myself a frugal adventurer because I live from my reduced teaching

00:23:26.336 --> 00:23:31.656
pension, but I'm a minimalist and I live a very simple life.

00:23:31.796 --> 00:23:34.016
You know, and when you're camped in the wilderness,

00:23:35.213 --> 00:23:39.593
it doesn't cost anything. It just costs you, you know, you have to decide,

00:23:39.793 --> 00:23:45.933
I want to prioritize this because I feel that there's no such thing as excuses.

00:23:46.553 --> 00:23:51.753
The only thing that we have is we can prioritize what's important to us,

00:23:51.893 --> 00:23:54.873
what matters, because we're all born with 24 hours a day.

00:23:55.013 --> 00:23:58.873
So I decided I needed to prioritize what was important to me.

00:23:58.953 --> 00:24:02.333
And what's important to me is connecting deeply with nature,

00:24:03.013 --> 00:24:08.753
being active, staying healthy, and kayaking affords all of that for me.

00:24:09.073 --> 00:24:12.413
So all this paddling hasn't come without some hardship, though.

00:24:12.613 --> 00:24:14.073
So how have you managed the personal impacts?

00:24:15.113 --> 00:24:21.373
So this is true. So there are, you know, there's also hardship in the journeys themselves.

00:24:21.613 --> 00:24:24.773
Because I mean, there are definitely, you know, challenging paddling days.

00:24:25.633 --> 00:24:29.213
Sometimes rather than paddling into a headwind, I'll sit still or,

00:24:29.293 --> 00:24:31.793
you know, I think I'll be, oh, I can do it, I can do it.

00:24:31.853 --> 00:24:36.773
And I realize it's quite demanding and, you know, I'm giving so much energy

00:24:36.773 --> 00:24:38.413
and making very little progress.

00:24:38.773 --> 00:24:46.073
Then I've decided that I'd rather sit still and go with the flow of what's being offered to me.

00:24:46.233 --> 00:24:51.073
So, just enjoy a land day instead of fighting nature. And so, I've learned to do that.

00:24:51.173 --> 00:24:55.433
But it's also come out of, you know, there's been hardship in my personal life.

00:24:55.553 --> 00:24:59.873
Because in 2006, when I told my husband at the time that I wanted to paddle

00:24:59.873 --> 00:25:02.953
around Newfoundland, he basically said, that's a big one.

00:25:02.973 --> 00:25:05.553
I said, yeah, that's big. And there was a moment of pause.

00:25:05.713 --> 00:25:09.793
And he just said, basically, when you come home, you can come home to a divorce.

00:25:10.013 --> 00:25:12.513
And I thought, you know what? I'm going to paddle around Newfoundland.

00:25:12.513 --> 00:25:21.753
And I think this is an opportunity then to align my life with what I truly want to have in life,

00:25:21.893 --> 00:25:29.513
which was a life of adventure and a life where I felt that I was doing what I love to do.

00:25:29.833 --> 00:25:34.513
How did you manage that going forward? So one of the lessons that I learned

00:25:34.513 --> 00:25:36.593
when I paddled around Newfoundland.

00:25:37.410 --> 00:25:40.990
Because I was the first woman in the world to paddle around Newfoundland.

00:25:41.170 --> 00:25:45.570
And I started that journey for two weeks with a woman named Freya Hofmeister, and then she departed.

00:25:45.830 --> 00:25:51.670
And I paddled solo, and it was 68 kayaking days, but it took 104 days to get around Newfoundland.

00:25:51.870 --> 00:25:55.690
It was about 3,000 kilometers of paddling. And so, all in all,

00:25:55.770 --> 00:25:59.950
it was about 40 kilometers per day that I paddled, which is close to a marathon.

00:25:59.950 --> 00:26:07.050
So, I basically did 68 marathons in 104 days. And that taught me that I was

00:26:07.050 --> 00:26:12.290
stronger than I was ever taught to believe that I am, stronger mentally and stronger physically.

00:26:12.570 --> 00:26:18.710
And when I realized how strong I was, because I faced so many incredible challenges,

00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:24.370
like a near lightning strike and a rogue wave on the last day and very,

00:26:24.510 --> 00:26:30.490
very thick fog, and then also like some big challenging headwinds and huge waves

00:26:30.490 --> 00:26:33.270
that came all the way down from Antarctica at Cape Race.

00:26:33.750 --> 00:26:37.930
And when I realized how strong I am and how resilient and, you know,

00:26:38.030 --> 00:26:45.090
and also mentally how strong, I realized that I had greater potential than I ever thought I had.

00:26:45.250 --> 00:26:50.650
And I decided that if I had the courage to paddle around Newfoundland,

00:26:50.870 --> 00:26:53.850
I could also have the courage to change my life,

00:26:54.070 --> 00:26:58.690
to make it more aligned with the values that deeply resonated with my soul,

00:26:58.850 --> 00:27:05.090
which was this feeling of liberation, this feeling of living life unleashed,

00:27:05.230 --> 00:27:09.230
to experience life on the edge.

00:27:09.490 --> 00:27:13.690
Like, you know, when you're in very powerful water and there's no room for error,

00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:21.230
you realize how alive you feel in that moment because your life is so exhilarating

00:27:21.230 --> 00:27:24.730
and one moment of error and your life could be snuffed.

00:27:24.970 --> 00:27:32.250
And so I've had these experiences and to feel fully alive deeply resonates with my soul.

00:27:32.530 --> 00:27:36.270
It seems like you knew you had that strength long before 2006, though.

00:27:37.338 --> 00:27:41.998
Yeah, I was working up to that. And in fact, you know, before I even paddled

00:27:41.998 --> 00:27:46.018
solo around Newfoundland, I've had some interesting experiences where I paddled

00:27:46.018 --> 00:27:48.518
up in Iceland with a group of six Viking men.

00:27:49.058 --> 00:27:55.338
And it was up in Iceland where I really started to recognize that I had courage

00:27:55.338 --> 00:27:57.658
and strength because I was a minority.

00:27:57.658 --> 00:28:04.458
I was the only foreigner in a group of six Viking men. and I was the only woman.

00:28:04.718 --> 00:28:07.858
And so I got to experience what it felt like to be a minority,

00:28:07.858 --> 00:28:15.398
but I also got to experience what it felt like to paddle up on the Arctic Ocean in very powerful water.

00:28:15.678 --> 00:28:21.438
But I felt quite safe because I was with very experienced, competent kayakers.

00:28:21.918 --> 00:28:26.738
And it was up in Iceland where I got to learn, you know, I was in my mid-40s

00:28:26.738 --> 00:28:29.718
at the time, where I learned how to roll a kayak.

00:28:29.978 --> 00:28:35.898
And I realized, you know, we're never too old to try new things and to learn new things.

00:28:35.918 --> 00:28:40.998
So, I was blessed that in a geothermally heated swimming pool coached by six

00:28:40.998 --> 00:28:44.038
Viking men, I learned very, very quickly how to roll a kayak.

00:28:45.598 --> 00:28:50.758
So, we got to talk a little bit about this trip. So, how did this Iceland trip happen to come about?

00:28:50.898 --> 00:28:54.298
That's a unique one. That was a very unique trip.

00:28:54.898 --> 00:29:01.238
My father and I had decided that we were going to travel with my daughter to Iceland together.

00:29:02.038 --> 00:29:05.898
And I had said to my father, you know, we would rent a vehicle,

00:29:05.998 --> 00:29:09.858
but I said, we probably have to do a little bit of camping because I said it's an expensive country.

00:29:10.558 --> 00:29:14.558
And at that point, I lived very close to my parents, only about three, four houses away.

00:29:14.778 --> 00:29:17.698
And the next day when I visited my parents, my father said, oh,

00:29:17.758 --> 00:29:21.898
I've booked a trip to Holland, which was his home country. and I thought,

00:29:22.198 --> 00:29:23.798
oh, I thought I was going to Iceland.

00:29:24.098 --> 00:29:28.838
And ironically, like when you're in the flow with life and when you really live

00:29:28.838 --> 00:29:33.818
a life with pure intention, I had gone on to a website called paddling.net and

00:29:33.818 --> 00:29:35.298
they always have photo of the week.

00:29:35.598 --> 00:29:43.318
And unbelievably, very miraculously, the photo of the week was a photo of people

00:29:43.318 --> 00:29:48.778
paddling an icy fjord up in Izafjadur, which is the west fjords of Iceland.

00:29:48.778 --> 00:29:53.358
And the caption beneath the photo said, Come and visit us next summer.

00:29:54.010 --> 00:29:59.810
So as a Canadian petite woman, I was communicating with a man named Haldur Svambjørnsson,

00:29:59.930 --> 00:30:02.950
and I said, I want to visit you next summer.

00:30:03.310 --> 00:30:08.110
And basically was told that my friends are a bit worried because they hadn't paddled with women.

00:30:08.370 --> 00:30:12.770
And kayaking was quite new in Iceland. And it was actually thanks to Haldur

00:30:12.770 --> 00:30:18.730
that kayaking became a sport in Iceland because he had decided to import some

00:30:18.730 --> 00:30:23.290
kayaks once he had made a trip to Italy, and he brought some kayaks up to Iceland.

00:30:23.290 --> 00:30:26.590
And then started having them imported into Iceland.

00:30:27.430 --> 00:30:34.230
And so paddling with these Icelandic men was quite a journey because we paddled

00:30:34.230 --> 00:30:39.570
up in the west fjords where it's quite remote, went up to Hornbjörg,

00:30:40.130 --> 00:30:46.390
paddled very, very remote, steep, clifed area, and then paddled back to Ísja Fjöður.

00:30:46.390 --> 00:30:53.370
But because it was the start of July, it was basically 24 hours of daylight

00:30:53.370 --> 00:30:56.270
because we were up at 66 degrees north.

00:30:57.350 --> 00:31:03.690
And so we would even paddle at, you know, at 11 o'clock, Helder would just say, we shall depart.

00:31:04.010 --> 00:31:08.730
And all of a sudden at 11 o'clock, we're breaking down camp and we're paddling

00:31:08.730 --> 00:31:14.590
under the midnight sun. And it's just quite a phenomenal experience to be paddling

00:31:14.590 --> 00:31:18.170
under this glow of light during the middle of the night.

00:31:18.570 --> 00:31:21.770
I had some epic experiences there. Yeah.

00:31:22.470 --> 00:31:23.970
Well, tell us more. It's memorable.

00:31:24.870 --> 00:31:31.530
Oh, yeah. You know, I paddled with, you know, thousands and thousands of seabirds, especially puffins.

00:31:31.670 --> 00:31:36.170
Puffins are just such beautiful seabirds. And even then, early 2000s,

00:31:36.230 --> 00:31:38.210
I was not a plant-based paddler yet.

00:31:38.210 --> 00:31:47.210
But we were grilling lamb on top of rocks, and they would be eating like primitive

00:31:47.210 --> 00:31:50.910
cavemen with their Leathermans, and I'd whip out my little Leatherman,

00:31:51.070 --> 00:31:54.630
and everybody'd have a big laugh because, oh, it's the Lady Leatherman.

00:31:56.450 --> 00:31:59.230
Oh yeah yeah yeah so we

00:31:59.230 --> 00:32:02.090
had a lot of fun we had a lot of fun because you know the very

00:32:02.090 --> 00:32:05.150
first day i actually got off to a slight rough start

00:32:05.150 --> 00:32:08.030
because helder had said oh it would be a quiet trip and

00:32:08.030 --> 00:32:12.050
no no radios and stuff like that and one of the gentlemen on the trip had a

00:32:12.050 --> 00:32:16.230
radio playing while we were setting up camp up near horn bjarg and i sort of

00:32:16.230 --> 00:32:19.770
opened my mouth and said i thought there wouldn't be radios here and he looked

00:32:19.770 --> 00:32:25.490
at me and he said and no women and i was taken aback because they had never paddled with a woman,

00:32:25.490 --> 00:32:28.010
and they didn't know if a woman could, you know,

00:32:28.370 --> 00:32:31.110
handle the conditions of paddling on the Arctic Ocean.

00:32:31.390 --> 00:32:37.090
And I proved that, you know, I'm a competent paddler. And I basically was lucky

00:32:37.090 --> 00:32:41.290
enough to be witty in the moment and said, and I think we should have only one

00:32:41.290 --> 00:32:44.170
rule for the trip, and that is to enjoy ourselves and have fun.

00:32:44.801 --> 00:32:49.341
And so, and that's what we did. We became a very fun team that just,

00:32:49.501 --> 00:32:53.681
you know, we were able to exchange a lot of cultural stories and so forth.

00:32:53.681 --> 00:32:58.881
So, it was a great experience where I got to learn a lot about the Icelandic

00:32:58.881 --> 00:33:01.961
people, and they got to learn about Canadian culture and Canadian people.

00:33:02.361 --> 00:33:05.721
Good. Well, it sounds like a great experience. Yeah, it was a wonderful experience.

00:33:05.961 --> 00:33:07.101
Are you still connected with them today?

00:33:07.801 --> 00:33:13.321
Not so much, but, you know, if I wanted to, I'd be more than welcome to come visit.

00:33:13.541 --> 00:33:16.441
That's great. Yeah, yeah. That's great. So I'm going to step back for a minute.

00:33:16.541 --> 00:33:18.601
We were talking Newfoundland for a minute.

00:33:18.741 --> 00:33:23.201
You mentioned the first woman to solo circumnavigate, or mostly solo circumnavigate,

00:33:23.281 --> 00:33:26.101
with the exception of that little South Shore part with Freya.

00:33:26.461 --> 00:33:29.981
So first, let's talk about that piece of it. How was Paddling with Freya?

00:33:30.761 --> 00:33:33.901
You know what? I really enjoyed paddling with Freya. It was,

00:33:34.041 --> 00:33:38.141
we had met through, at that point, there was Sea Kayaker magazine.

00:33:38.561 --> 00:33:45.281
And at the back of the magazine was always a photo of each issue.

00:33:46.441 --> 00:33:51.561
And so in that photo was a black kayak with a woman dressed in black,

00:33:51.841 --> 00:33:53.441
with black hair, black paddle.

00:33:53.961 --> 00:33:58.321
She was doing a floating brace, but the photo had been rotated so that it was

00:33:58.321 --> 00:34:00.481
upside down, so it looked completely ethereal.

00:34:00.741 --> 00:34:05.921
And I was very, very drawn to the photo because it was just so unique, so beautiful.

00:34:06.481 --> 00:34:11.821
And there was contact information, so I contacted her, and we started communicating through email.

00:34:11.821 --> 00:34:16.241
Then we started communicating through telephone, and then I shared with her

00:34:16.241 --> 00:34:19.941
that I had this dream that I wanted to paddle around Newfoundland.

00:34:19.941 --> 00:34:24.781
And she and I decided that we would paddle part of it together.

00:34:24.781 --> 00:34:30.961
She didn't want to invest the amount of time it would take to completely paddle around Newfoundland.

00:34:31.361 --> 00:34:35.381
She was really a very inexperienced expedition paddler at that time.

00:34:35.541 --> 00:34:41.081
She had only done a one-week paddle in Japan solo, and so her second paddle

00:34:41.081 --> 00:34:44.361
that was like an expedition paddle was with me for two weeks in Newfoundland.

00:34:44.641 --> 00:34:48.061
And at the end of that, she decided, yeah, you know, I really like this,

00:34:48.061 --> 00:34:51.881
And I think I'm going to really continue doing some expedition paddling.

00:34:51.961 --> 00:34:55.901
And as we know, she's become a legend in the kayaking world.

00:34:56.001 --> 00:34:57.081
Yeah, she's done a little paddling.

00:34:58.656 --> 00:35:04.276
A few continents. Yeah. So how about the rest of the trip? Tell us a little

00:35:04.276 --> 00:35:05.556
bit about Newfoundland specifically.

00:35:06.336 --> 00:35:10.416
Well, Newfoundland, the moniker is The Rock.

00:35:10.876 --> 00:35:16.936
So it's a very rugged shoreline. And I had visited Newfoundland many times previously

00:35:16.936 --> 00:35:21.836
in my life as a child traveling with the family and also as an adult taking

00:35:21.836 --> 00:35:25.876
my daughter to camp there and once walking the East Coast Trail with my mother.

00:35:25.876 --> 00:35:31.116
So, I'd made numerous trips to Newfoundland, and I knew that Newfoundland is a very unique place.

00:35:31.976 --> 00:35:36.616
People are very down-to-earth. It's not like a huge population.

00:35:36.836 --> 00:35:38.316
Cities are fairly small.

00:35:39.916 --> 00:35:45.456
A lot of people who still live in these seaside villages, some of them are not

00:35:45.456 --> 00:35:47.156
even connected by roads.

00:35:47.276 --> 00:35:52.216
They're connected by just boat traffic. Like, it's a different way of life.

00:35:52.356 --> 00:35:58.596
And I knew that if I paddled around Newfoundland, it would be a safe place to be.

00:35:58.816 --> 00:36:04.236
And people could relate to me because most people in Newfoundland have a strong

00:36:04.236 --> 00:36:06.416
affinity to life on the sea.

00:36:06.596 --> 00:36:11.036
And so I would often come ashore in small little fishing villages,

00:36:11.036 --> 00:36:16.256
would be setting up camp, you know, along dry docked boats and so forth.

00:36:16.356 --> 00:36:20.636
And fishermen would be curious. And before you know it, you have an invitation to dinner.

00:36:20.896 --> 00:36:25.156
And because most of Newfoundland, the youngsters have left and they've gone

00:36:25.156 --> 00:36:30.336
up to Fort McMurray to make money because the collapse of the cod fishery has,

00:36:30.396 --> 00:36:33.496
you know, made the economic times in Newfoundland more challenging.

00:36:33.496 --> 00:36:39.016
And so youth were up in the northwestern part of Canada making a living.

00:36:39.216 --> 00:36:45.896
And so there was basically an older generation living in Newfoundland where

00:36:45.896 --> 00:36:49.676
the young people had departed and so a lot of spare rooms.

00:36:49.816 --> 00:36:56.896
So usually a dinner would always result in an invitation to stay overnight in a bedroom.

00:36:58.096 --> 00:37:04.916
And I was one of the first people who started to do a blog while I was actually

00:37:04.916 --> 00:37:07.036
traveling. So I had a blog.

00:37:07.596 --> 00:37:12.216
I'd use dial-up internet from the people who invited me to stay up in their

00:37:12.216 --> 00:37:17.476
homes and I would sort of update my progress of my kayaking.

00:37:17.736 --> 00:37:23.316
And so people would be able to say, oh, she's in such and such an area of Newfoundland.

00:37:23.436 --> 00:37:27.496
And this way, people who had been very kind and helpful and supportive for me.

00:37:27.616 --> 00:37:30.936
They would know where I was on the journey and.

00:37:31.614 --> 00:37:36.254
Yeah, it can also have a negative effect because, you know, people know where you are.

00:37:36.414 --> 00:37:40.474
And so if someone has unsavory intentions, you know, that wouldn't be a good thing.

00:37:40.614 --> 00:37:46.174
Because one time I was just camped at a place. I was very surprised when a man

00:37:46.174 --> 00:37:49.634
showed up with two neoprene booties and two beers.

00:37:49.994 --> 00:37:53.914
His name was Bernie Howgate. And he had been following, he had found out about

00:37:53.914 --> 00:37:59.034
my journey when he was selling books door-to-door in Stephenville,

00:37:59.074 --> 00:38:02.434
and he came to a house where the people said, oh,

00:38:02.674 --> 00:38:05.894
there's a woman paddling presently around Newfoundland, and she's got a blog.

00:38:06.034 --> 00:38:07.334
He can figure out where she is.

00:38:07.534 --> 00:38:11.654
And Bernie Howgate, who was, you know, selling books door-to-door,

00:38:11.974 --> 00:38:17.154
he had also actually paddled solo around Newfoundland many years before.

00:38:17.394 --> 00:38:21.134
So it was quite a serendipitous meeting, and it was a great meeting.

00:38:21.134 --> 00:38:25.974
But, you know, I realized when you post live on a blog, people can figure out where you are.

00:38:26.154 --> 00:38:29.534
So I'm a little bit more careful about that now when I paddle.

00:38:29.954 --> 00:38:33.594
Okay. You mentioned earlier a couple of other things about that paddle.

00:38:33.714 --> 00:38:36.174
You said a near lightning strike and some rogue waves.

00:38:36.314 --> 00:38:39.294
So tell us about those more challenging parts of their trip. Yeah.

00:38:40.534 --> 00:38:47.274
Also, when I was paddled just before rounding Cape Race, there had been a storm,

00:38:47.274 --> 00:38:49.114
so I'd stayed put for the day.

00:38:49.374 --> 00:38:52.894
There'd been a lot of wind and rain. And then, you know, you look out to sea

00:38:52.894 --> 00:38:58.474
and you think, oh, it's not that bad because, you know, it's always worse out

00:38:58.474 --> 00:39:01.874
there than it actually looks from when you're standing on shore.

00:39:02.014 --> 00:39:08.594
So, by the time I got out onto the ocean, it was a very exposed part of Newfoundland

00:39:08.594 --> 00:39:11.594
because Cape Race is the southeastern tip of Newfoundland.

00:39:11.774 --> 00:39:14.834
And next stop literally could be Antarctica.

00:39:15.414 --> 00:39:19.834
It was like the, you know, the fetch of the ocean there was extreme.

00:39:19.834 --> 00:39:28.634
And I realized when I got out there that I had two opposing directions of waves.

00:39:28.834 --> 00:39:34.554
And they're rebounding off the cliffs of Newfoundland. And I'm in such an exposed

00:39:34.554 --> 00:39:39.834
area that it was quite a lumpy piece of water that I was paddling.

00:39:40.254 --> 00:39:45.434
And so I stayed about two kilometers away from shore. I didn't want to be close

00:39:45.434 --> 00:39:48.194
to all the rebounding waves.

00:39:48.808 --> 00:39:54.168
And like I say, it was quite lumpy because, you know, I had residual waves from

00:39:54.168 --> 00:39:59.028
the wind, but I was now having new waves from what was happening during the day.

00:39:59.588 --> 00:40:04.368
And I made it around. I said, you know, some days were quite long in the kayak.

00:40:04.708 --> 00:40:08.268
For example, with Freya, our longest day was 17 and a half hours.

00:40:08.408 --> 00:40:12.088
And I've never done anything after that. And we paddled over 70 kilometers that day.

00:40:12.328 --> 00:40:14.408
I've never done that before or since.

00:40:14.948 --> 00:40:21.968
But that day, rounding Cape Race, I made it through very challenging water, big, big waves.

00:40:22.148 --> 00:40:26.328
And I always have a mantra where I talk to myself, where I say, I can do it.

00:40:26.508 --> 00:40:30.808
I can do it. And I don't let any kind of self-doubt creep into my mind.

00:40:30.808 --> 00:40:34.828
Because when you let self-doubt creep into your mind, then you're giving the

00:40:34.828 --> 00:40:37.668
window of opportunity for something to occur.

00:40:37.868 --> 00:40:43.128
So I'm always saying, yeah, I can do it. I can do it. And I found a sheltered

00:40:43.128 --> 00:40:45.428
bay. It was just becoming dusk.

00:40:45.548 --> 00:40:49.628
I found a little stream that I saw on my map.

00:40:49.828 --> 00:40:54.728
I was using one to 50,000 topple maps, so I had very detailed information of the shoreline.

00:40:55.048 --> 00:41:02.728
And I shot into this tiny little creek, and I startled about four or five fishermen

00:41:02.728 --> 00:41:07.228
and one fisherwoman who were there because it was just getting dark,

00:41:07.368 --> 00:41:11.768
and they're in the middle of nowhere, and this kayak lady shoots into their creek.

00:41:12.428 --> 00:41:16.508
And, you know, people are so friendly. The lady walked over to my campsite,

00:41:16.528 --> 00:41:20.088
and she offered me a billy can of chicken gumbo stoop.

00:41:20.740 --> 00:41:26.400
Yeah, and so, but, you know, other challenges that I've had, I had when I was camped.

00:41:27.160 --> 00:41:30.800
I had paddled most of Newfoundland by that point, probably around 80%,

00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:35.460
and I was camped on the west coast of Newfoundland, because I started in Isle

00:41:35.460 --> 00:41:42.060
of Moor at the southwest corner, and all of a sudden, I just, there was lightning,

00:41:42.360 --> 00:41:48.060
and I just felt like this electrical charge, and the lightning strike was not

00:41:48.060 --> 00:41:50.720
that far away, and it really frazzled me.

00:41:50.720 --> 00:41:54.780
Because I was walking to go to a house to see if I could request fresh water,

00:41:54.940 --> 00:41:58.180
because sometimes that's what I would do for obtaining fresh water.

00:41:58.280 --> 00:42:00.320
I would just walk to a house and request it.

00:42:00.800 --> 00:42:04.700
And a rope wave, that was interesting too. I was on my very,

00:42:04.860 --> 00:42:06.200
very last day of paddling.

00:42:06.360 --> 00:42:11.640
I knew I would arrive back where I had started the journey 104 days earlier.

00:42:12.340 --> 00:42:17.660
And probably about two kilometers before I arrived, I looked over my right shoulder

00:42:17.660 --> 00:42:20.560
and I saw about a four-meter wave coming at me.

00:42:20.560 --> 00:42:26.540
The water was quite calm where I was, and I realized, turn the kayak and start

00:42:26.540 --> 00:42:27.820
paddling into this wave.

00:42:27.980 --> 00:42:32.140
And so I just crested the wave, and I thought, whoa, that was very unexpected.

00:42:32.680 --> 00:42:37.240
And so then, you know, about an hour or so later, when I arrived where I could

00:42:37.240 --> 00:42:40.700
see the launch, where I had launched 104 days earlier,

00:42:41.120 --> 00:42:47.620
I sat and ate an apple, and I looked at the launch, and I thought,

00:42:48.220 --> 00:42:49.620
yeah, you know, I did this.

00:42:49.620 --> 00:42:55.340
I did this, and it was very emotional for me because I somehow had imagined

00:42:55.340 --> 00:42:59.000
that, you know, maybe my family would surprise me and be standing there,

00:42:59.120 --> 00:43:03.200
but there were three fishermen standing there, and they looked at my kayak,

00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:07.600
and they were up on this, you know, high-pillared dock looking down upon me,

00:43:07.620 --> 00:43:11.120
and one of them asked, where'd you come from?

00:43:11.380 --> 00:43:15.800
And I said, Isle of Mort, which was, you know, where I was at the moment,

00:43:15.900 --> 00:43:20.060
and there was a pause, and they said, you didn't go all the way around,

00:43:20.240 --> 00:43:21.760
did you? And I said, I did.

00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:27.080
And then when I landed, they were very helpful. They helped me get the kayak away from Water's Edge.

00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:30.620
And so that was really nice. People were always helpful.

00:43:31.200 --> 00:43:38.220
Yeah. So I remember reading a story about Ed Gillette and his trip across the Pacific to Hawaii.

00:43:38.920 --> 00:43:43.120
And you just kind of reminded me of that, that when he ended, there was nobody there.

00:43:43.440 --> 00:43:47.660
And he pulled ashore and pulled his kayak up and went and bought an ice cream

00:43:47.660 --> 00:43:51.280
and sat next to a tree and it was just kind of, it just ended.

00:43:51.720 --> 00:43:56.200
It just ended. Yeah, and you know what? But, you know, not a lot of people talk

00:43:56.200 --> 00:43:57.920
about that, but there is sort of

00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:02.760
this experience where now you have to reintegrate into society. Oh, yeah.

00:44:03.340 --> 00:44:07.040
And so, and that's challenging because you've truly lived a...

00:44:07.641 --> 00:44:13.601
Free as a bird, life on your terms, and now you have to, you know,

00:44:14.261 --> 00:44:16.161
regulate your life more to fit in.

00:44:16.421 --> 00:44:22.721
Yeah, if you're 104 days of your own experience, then suddenly you have to join the rest of the world.

00:44:22.881 --> 00:44:26.721
So, what advice do you have for others looking to live life on their own terms?

00:44:27.861 --> 00:44:34.821
You know, I always say it's very important to question everything.

00:44:35.661 --> 00:44:41.341
To question your beliefs, to question your lifestyle, to question what brings

00:44:41.341 --> 00:44:46.301
you joy, you know, because we're meant to live happy, fulfilling lives.

00:44:46.581 --> 00:44:50.501
And often that's, you know, what you loved as a child, you know,

00:44:50.641 --> 00:44:52.521
it will bring you to what you loved.

00:44:52.641 --> 00:44:56.741
Because I remember as a child, I always just loved being active in nature,

00:44:56.921 --> 00:44:58.541
and so connecting with nature.

00:44:58.741 --> 00:45:00.861
So I would say, question everything.

00:45:01.261 --> 00:45:04.721
And I would say, face your fear.

00:45:04.941 --> 00:45:08.481
It takes courage to go through your fear.

00:45:08.681 --> 00:45:17.321
But once you face your fear, the life on the other side of fear is unimaginable.

00:45:17.581 --> 00:45:24.961
There's so much richness and experiences, and it opens your life.

00:45:25.141 --> 00:45:26.981
You just become so expansive.

00:45:27.361 --> 00:45:32.421
And so I would give two recommendations. Face your fear to live life courageously,

00:45:32.601 --> 00:45:36.721
and question everything. What do you value?

00:45:37.381 --> 00:45:40.961
All right. And now you're writing a book about your journey through life.

00:45:41.361 --> 00:45:44.361
I am, because I lived a very conventional life.

00:45:44.521 --> 00:45:48.581
I did everything that was expected of me. I came from the generation where women

00:45:48.581 --> 00:45:53.341
were, I guess, programmed to be people pleasers.

00:45:53.861 --> 00:46:00.101
And I started to question things. And so, I basically went from living a very conventional life,

00:46:00.241 --> 00:46:06.441
being a housewife and being a mother and being a teacher, to changing my life

00:46:06.441 --> 00:46:10.141
so that I have greater freedom.

00:46:10.501 --> 00:46:14.361
I'm like a minimalist. I have changed my values.

00:46:14.661 --> 00:46:21.501
I am plant-based, and it's enhanced my vitality, and just I feel I'm contributing

00:46:21.501 --> 00:46:25.181
to life by living by example.

00:46:25.361 --> 00:46:30.881
And so also living a more compassionate life because I love all life. I love all creatures.

00:46:31.261 --> 00:46:37.061
So yeah, I just questioned everything. And I recommend people to really sit

00:46:37.061 --> 00:46:41.021
down and start to look at life because, you know, we have one life to live.

00:46:41.541 --> 00:46:45.681
And it's like, how are you going to thrive? And how are you going to but make

00:46:45.681 --> 00:46:49.141
it the best life that you want so that you feel fully alive.

00:46:49.501 --> 00:46:52.181
And you've certainly made that your best life.

00:46:52.842 --> 00:46:56.642
You know, kayaking is a big part of my life. For two years now,

00:46:56.762 --> 00:46:59.722
I've been a global nomad, haven't really been much in a kayak,

00:46:59.882 --> 00:47:03.142
although I did use my track kayak in Thailand and Malaysia and Spain.

00:47:03.602 --> 00:47:08.662
I'm going to be returning very shortly to Vancouver Island, working with track

00:47:08.662 --> 00:47:12.402
kayaks, and thereafter, I'm going to launch another expedition.

00:47:12.742 --> 00:47:15.982
And right now, I'm in the planning stages of, where do I want to kayak?

00:47:16.302 --> 00:47:19.542
Ah, so you don't know where that is yet? Yeah, the world is my playground,

00:47:19.562 --> 00:47:21.342
and I've got a folding kayak.

00:47:21.562 --> 00:47:24.402
I can paddle up in Greenland. I can go paddle on Lake Titicaca.

00:47:24.522 --> 00:47:27.182
I could paddle wherever I want. What's on the top of the list?

00:47:27.482 --> 00:47:31.782
You know, I actually like the idea of paddling up to Alaska,

00:47:31.942 --> 00:47:38.542
because in 2020, during COVID, I was not—I guess it was 2021.

00:47:38.702 --> 00:47:41.802
Sorry, 2020, I paddled the north shore of the St. Lawrence. In 2021,

00:47:41.942 --> 00:47:47.342
I wanted to paddle from Victoria on Vancouver Island up into Alaska.

00:47:47.342 --> 00:47:50.942
And the Alaska border was closed to recreational Canadian boaters.

00:47:51.102 --> 00:47:55.822
So I did a U-turn and I paddled back. So I paddled the length of BC twice in 2021.

00:47:56.302 --> 00:47:59.542
And now instead of doing a U-turn and paddling back and asking,

00:47:59.702 --> 00:48:00.802
why am I still doing this?

00:48:01.022 --> 00:48:05.982
Even though I paddled, I decided to dedicate every paddle stroke to the power

00:48:05.982 --> 00:48:08.682
of love. And so then after that, the magic happened.

00:48:09.182 --> 00:48:12.702
I would love to do that trip again, but go up into Alaska. Okay.

00:48:13.262 --> 00:48:17.282
Yeah. What's been your favorite place to paddle? I know they're all different.

00:48:17.422 --> 00:48:18.522
Everyone has their own experience.

00:48:18.702 --> 00:48:24.222
But if you could only paddle one place again, which one would it have been? Yeah, you know what?

00:48:24.842 --> 00:48:28.182
That's almost impossible to say. I love water. But, you know,

00:48:28.362 --> 00:48:31.562
I think Newfoundland really, really is a unique place to be.

00:48:31.662 --> 00:48:36.182
But it's not a place that I would recommend for beginner kayakers because it is the rock.

00:48:36.182 --> 00:48:41.122
And a lot of the shoreline is cliff and big boulder beaches and stuff like that.

00:48:41.122 --> 00:48:47.002
But Newfoundland, just the people there are so altruistic and so kind-hearted,

00:48:47.002 --> 00:48:50.262
and the beauty is so incredible.

00:48:50.442 --> 00:48:54.062
And there's also lots of places where you've got some archipelagos where you

00:48:54.062 --> 00:48:57.862
can paddle in more sheltered water. I definitely love Newfoundland.

00:48:58.082 --> 00:49:01.062
Okay. What is your country count up to for paddling?

00:49:01.462 --> 00:49:04.482
You know, I've never actually counted that. I've paddled in many,

00:49:04.562 --> 00:49:07.002
many different countries. I've paddled up in Greenland.

00:49:07.122 --> 00:49:11.202
I've paddled in Mexico. I've paddled in Sweden. I've paddled around Sardinia

00:49:11.202 --> 00:49:13.302
90% of the way, but caught by wind.

00:49:13.682 --> 00:49:17.802
I've paddled in Greece. I've paddled the States and paddled in Canada.

00:49:17.802 --> 00:49:21.322
I've paddled in Spain and Malaysia and Thailand. I've never really counted.

00:49:21.542 --> 00:49:25.682
The statistics are not important to me. I don't know. I'd say I've probably

00:49:25.682 --> 00:49:27.762
paddled at least 20 different countries.

00:49:28.082 --> 00:49:29.882
That's fantastic. Yeah. Yeah.

00:49:30.582 --> 00:49:32.842
Wendy, how can people connect with you if they've got questions?

00:49:33.497 --> 00:49:38.337
I would say for social media, I have an account called Kayak Wendy,

00:49:38.677 --> 00:49:41.177
all lowercase letters and all one word.

00:49:41.777 --> 00:49:44.837
And so just message me through Kayak Wendy.

00:49:45.377 --> 00:49:48.257
That would be the best place to connect with me. All right.

00:49:48.337 --> 00:49:51.737
Well, we'll make sure we put a link in the show notes for people to be able

00:49:51.737 --> 00:49:54.337
to make that connection for you. Yeah, that was Instagram. Good.

00:49:54.777 --> 00:49:58.577
Well, thank you, Wendy. This has been fantastic. I do have one last question for you.

00:49:58.697 --> 00:50:01.517
It's a question that we ask of all of our guests. Dinesh, who else would you

00:50:01.517 --> 00:50:04.037
like to hear as a future guest in Paddling the Blue?

00:50:04.617 --> 00:50:06.577
Oh, that's a great question.

00:50:07.297 --> 00:50:11.717
Yeah, you know what? Helder Svambjørnsson in Iceland really,

00:50:11.937 --> 00:50:14.197
really was a great mentor.

00:50:14.557 --> 00:50:19.077
He really helped me advance my paddling skills, so I'd recommend him.

00:50:19.237 --> 00:50:23.437
And another paddler who is a paddler that I work with when I'm at track kayaks

00:50:23.437 --> 00:50:26.537
is a man named Rodolfo Vivanco.

00:50:26.897 --> 00:50:33.197
And he's big time into kayaking. He loves teaching kayaking and exploring by kayak.

00:50:33.397 --> 00:50:36.977
So they'd both be great people to interview. Okay.

00:50:37.497 --> 00:50:40.297
All right. Now, have you taken your track kayak on a lot of those trips?

00:50:41.057 --> 00:50:44.457
I've only taken my track kayak. I've only had it for about two years.

00:50:44.717 --> 00:50:50.177
And I've only had my track kayak out in Canada and Spain and Thailand and Malaysia.

00:50:50.397 --> 00:50:54.917
So this summer, the track kayak is going to see some mileage.

00:50:55.377 --> 00:50:59.917
And I did a retreat when I was in Spain,

00:51:00.237 --> 00:51:04.657
a 10-day sonnet retreat, and I had this idea of seven continents in seven years,

00:51:04.857 --> 00:51:08.437
and I thought self-propelled adventures, and I thought the track kayak is going

00:51:08.437 --> 00:51:10.697
to be coming with me on a lot of these adventures.

00:51:10.977 --> 00:51:14.137
All right. Well, when you can fold it into a bag and take it with you anywhere,

00:51:14.497 --> 00:51:15.777
you've got portability.

00:51:16.397 --> 00:51:21.277
We'll be looking for seven continents, seven years. All right.

00:51:21.377 --> 00:51:22.317
We'll be looking for that.

00:51:22.477 --> 00:51:25.537
Wendy, thank you very much for the opportunity. This has been wonderful having

00:51:25.537 --> 00:51:29.977
a chance to talk to you and learn about the life changes and your advice for

00:51:29.977 --> 00:51:32.657
others to face their fear and question everything.

00:51:33.577 --> 00:51:39.997
Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for allowing me to share my story of my life

00:51:39.997 --> 00:51:43.237
journey, including kayaking, and have a great day.

00:51:43.517 --> 00:51:45.557
Thank you, you too. Okay, thanks. Bye-bye.

00:51:46.865 --> 00:51:50.445
If you want to be a stronger and more efficient paddler, Power to the Paddle

00:51:50.445 --> 00:51:54.105
is packed with fitness guidance and complete descriptions, along with photos

00:51:54.105 --> 00:51:58.525
of more than 50 exercises to improve your abilities and enjoy your time on the water.

00:51:58.685 --> 00:52:02.525
The concept and exercises in this book have helped me become a better paddler,

00:52:02.605 --> 00:52:04.165
and they can make a difference for you too.

00:52:04.445 --> 00:52:08.125
The exercises in the book can help you reduce tension in your shoulders and

00:52:08.125 --> 00:52:12.005
low back, use the power of your torso to create leverage and use less energy

00:52:12.005 --> 00:52:15.885
with each stroke, use force generated from your lower body to make your paddling

00:52:15.885 --> 00:52:16.785
strokes more efficient,

00:52:17.185 --> 00:52:20.685
have the endurance to handle long days in the boat, drive through the toughest

00:52:20.685 --> 00:52:24.105
waves or white water, protect your body against common paddling injuries,

00:52:24.265 --> 00:52:26.545
and while you're at it, you might even lose a few pounds.

00:52:26.745 --> 00:52:31.865
And who wouldn't mind that? So visit paddlingexercises.com to get the book and companion DVD.

00:52:32.505 --> 00:52:36.325
Pursuing life on her own terms, facing her fears head-on, and questioning whether

00:52:36.325 --> 00:52:39.705
what she's doing at every moment is important to her in her life.

00:52:39.985 --> 00:52:43.505
Congratulations to Wendy on discovering what truly makes her happy.

00:52:43.725 --> 00:52:46.745
We'll look forward to hearing about her future adventures as well.

00:52:46.945 --> 00:52:50.805
Thanks again to our partners at Online Sea Kayaking and now Online Whitewater

00:52:50.805 --> 00:52:52.325
for extending a special offer to you.

00:52:52.565 --> 00:52:58.045
Visit OnlineSeaKayaking.com or OnlineWhitewater.com or both and enter the code

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PTBPODCAST to check out and get 10% off just for being a member of the Paddling the Blue community.

00:53:03.425 --> 00:53:06.665
Until next time, thanks again for listening and I look forward to bringing you

00:53:06.665 --> 00:53:08.925
the next episode of Paddling the Blue.

00:53:09.645 --> 00:53:13.185
Thank you for listening to Paddling the Blue. You can subscribe to Paddling

00:53:13.185 --> 00:53:18.485
the Blue on Apple Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

00:53:18.665 --> 00:53:21.625
Please take the time to leave us a five-star review on Apple Music.

00:53:21.625 --> 00:53:23.485
We truly appreciate the support.

00:53:23.685 --> 00:53:26.925
And you can find the show notes for this episode and other episodes,

00:53:27.125 --> 00:53:32.705
along with replays of past episodes, contact information, and more at paddlingtheblue.com.

00:53:32.845 --> 00:53:33.825
Until next time.

00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:42.163
Music.