I made it! It's cold!
I made it to the Arctic Ocean!
Since there is no road access to the ocean in the summer, I had to fly the last 60 miles to Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, a tiny Inuvialuit community right on the ocean.
Rain delayed my flight, so I camped in the parking lot of the tour operator that was booking my trip.
After two days of hanging around, blue skies finally break through and I get a knock on my door, “If you want to go, we have to go right now!”
We make our way to the airport and I see the tiny Cessna that will be flying me to Tuk.
I’m not afraid of flying. But I am anxious about riding in an old single engine plane piloted by an unknown boy who looks like he hasn’t graduated high school — especially when I seem to be designated the emergency co-pilot.
This is my seat?
I also know that flying is all about checklists and details, so, looking down, I’m hoping that the guy making the plane safety signs is not the same guy in charge of plane safety.
laning, failue, and safefty
*
The flight to Tuktoyaktuk is extraordinary, and from the sky you can see why there is no road access in the summer. In winter, there is, as they just drive over all of these bodies of water on the winter ice road.
Upon arrival, I meet my tour guide, a local Inuvialuit woman from the community.
She actually pronounced the long version for me. It means, "Resembling a caribou"
Tuktoyaktuk, or Tuk, is a community that still depends heavily on fishing and whaling for food, so the tiny town is surrounded by seaside smokehouses where families cure fish and beluga whale meat:
A smoke house and pingo in background (a natural land and ice formation found only in the arctic)
Happy Inuvialuit boys going fishing
I was also given a tour of the community ice house. A catacomb-like series of hallways and rooms, the underground storage facility is used by the entire community to store their catches of fish, caribou, and beluga whale meat. (And, presumably, anything you’d like to keep frozen.)
A tour of the ice house also lets you see what the permafrost (permanently frozen ground) actually looks like.
This tour is not for the timid. You have to descend down an icy, and sometimes bloody, ladder into the frozen earth:
Jennifer, come on!
I'm as scared as I look
After the tour of the ice house, we headed to the ocean.
I collected rocks, dipped my feet into the icy water, took photos, and got kind of emotional.
It has been such a long journey. I emerged from my deep depression almost a year and a half ago. Getting healthier and developing a clearer mind, I realized I needed to simplify my life – to shed all of the excessive materialistic ’stuff’ that I’d surrounded myself with (and gone broke collecting).
At some early point, as you know, I started to blog about it. I started to connect with others online who had simplified and gone nomadic, were in the process of doing it, or, like me, were just hoping to.
As I was walking along the ocean, I couldn’t believe that I’d made it to this point. That I actually had gotten healthier, that I had simplified my materialistic life, and that I’d taken a journey I was terrified of taking.
I also felt a little sad that this trip was over. I recognize that I still have to drive back down the Dempster and Alaska Highway, but it is different. I don’t feel so frightened by it, but I guess that is the whole point.
I’ve met many women along the road who’ve said to me, “Wow, I’d be too afraid to do that,” and I always reply, “Oh, I am very afraid!”
People have also suggested that I was trying to ‘conquer’ something in my quest to cross the continent, but I don’t feel like I’m trying to conquer anything either.
I feel like I have become more aware of myself as someone who is more connected to a larger world around me. It is not just my extended visits to beautiful natural environments that has cultivated that sense of connection. This blog that I meant to use as a mere record of my journey evolved into an unexpected instrument for it.
But I’m headed to Alaska for a long visit with my husband, so the blog might be quiet for just a little while.
I don’t know where I’ll head from there. I will continue to post updates, but they might be less frequent.
In the meantime, I hope those of you who are in this process will take the time to blog and share your journey with the rest of us.
Thank you for sharing this journey with me!
Take care,
Jennifer
46 Comments
Congrats! What an amazing trip!
After this, your everday journey may not be quite as intense, but it’s still a wonderful journey.
Never stop the Journey!
Again again, do it again!
Wonderful! How fascinating to read about your visit to Tuk. Let us know how your trip back down the Dempster goes so we know you made it safely! What an accomplishment! As you have shared your process of working to be healthy, you have become an inspiration to many people. Good work, Jennifer! Most impressive in so many ways.
Congratulations!!!
Thank you for sharing your amazing story with us!
Hugs, sweet friend. Thank you for taking us with you.
Jennifer, you are so awesome, I don’t even know if you realize how incredible you are. Right on sista! I’m so proud of you.
P.S. Best post yet, love the local flavor pics & descriptions.
i can see an end of a chapter here, as it sounds like you do as well.
hopefully while you begin to write the next series of text in your life, you will find other things you’ll get satisfaction from sharing in the electric world.
though a destination has just been reached, a new and healthy leg of the ultimate journey has just begun.
safe travels!
You are awesome!! Congrats on making it to the top of the world! You have done something even the most seasoned nomads just dream of.
Wishing you a safe return, and happy travels wherever that may be. Whoo hoo!!
–kev
Congratulations! I found out about your blog through Rene A. What an amazing journey!
You go girl! Fantastic job. Now I HAVE to make the trip to Alaska. We are hoping for this coming summer. Have a safe return.
Love the pictures Jennifer……great post. Thanks for sharing your emotions, and perspectives.
Fantastic! Truly, in all senses of the word. Congratulations, Jennifer. (I know someone at Sony. Want me to pass your story along? It’d make a great movie.)
Congratulations Jennifer!!!!!!!!!
I’ve been following your blog for a while from my desk at work. It’s a few minutes of daydreaming for me. Thank you and I look forward to reading the rest of your journey.
Jennifer, I’m very impressed. Congratulations Brave One.
That was the best post yet I think. I felt a lot of pride for you, just as would a proud parent. Love the picture of you standing in the water. Just another one of those accomplisments of yours that few others can attest to. A great Christmas card photo! At least make a print of it to hang in the Mini. Then when you have guests in and they ask about it, “Oh that’s just me standing in the Artic Ocean”.
Wonderful post! Enjoy the rest of your journey where ever it may take you. I’m looking forward to reading more of your adventures.
Wow, I must admit. I am a little emotional to read that you have completed your journey. Way to go Jennifer. Way to go. I’ve never been prouder of someone I have never actually met. :0)
Such beautiful adventure, thank you for sharing, congrats on getting there… the pictures are breath taking. You are a true inspiration.
Jennifer you are amazing. You not only made an incredible journey but you took me as well. I think it is wonderful that you made your dream come true. I will be looking forward to your many new adventures as well.
Haven’t commented in quite some time, but have jumped in from time to time to check on you. My how time passes both as documented by the calendar, and as evidenced by your accomplishment.
Count me as very impressed with you. Congratulations Jennifer.
Congratulations on completing your incredible journey. You should be very pround indeed. Thankyou for sharing your adventure with us.
Congratulations, Jennifer, for this amazing accomplishment! Please keep us posted as to your future travels. Thanks so much for sharing.
Congrats! I’m so happy you made it!
Wow. It was very emotional reading your post. I am so proud of you Jennifer! I know your readers have followed you for so long and some probably thought you wouldn’t do it. And I can certainly understand their doubts. Your blog covered many of the challenges, fears, tears, adventures and surprises along the way… however!!!!… there are so many stories left for you to share. Sooooo…. enjoy your blog rest, but I will be waiting for the book that fills in the blogs caps and makes for the truly INCREDIBLE JOURNEY COMEBACK BREAK OUT story that this is. I love you and am in awe of your accomplishments.
Joey
Jennifer –
WOW!! You did it!! Isn’t it wild that all this preparing, worrying, dreaming, anticipating, planning, predicting, projecting and insert anything else I missed and you’re there. In Tuk. Just remember, this is all about the journey and not the destination. You will have a whole other journey coming all the way back. Albeit a whole heckuva lot less anxiety because you kind of know what to expect now.
I am amazed with all that you accomplished!! You are truly an inspiration to others…especially women!
Kari
Wow! Just a couple months ago you showed up to the NuRVer’s rally not even confident to back your rig into a spot.. and you fricken made it to the Arctic Circle!!!!
You are absolutely amazing, and I am so incredibly proud of you.
You are truly awesome…. unbelievable what you have accomplished … I’ve enjoyed reading about your journey. I have traveled by myself all over the US and have had some wonderful, hairy experiences but nothing compared to yours. I enjoyed going with you to the Arctic Ocean! … absolutely amazing.
What a great accomplishment. You have certainly come a long way, and not all of it is real estate.
Take care, drive safe and give your husband a huge hug.
You deserve it!
Cheers!
Jennifer, can you believe how many people you’ve touched without even intending to? For every person who posts a reply here, there are probably 20 that read your blog, and don’t post. While helping yourself, you’ve helped so many others as well.
Please try not to be sad or depressed. Nothing is over. Quite the contrary. This is just the beginning of living your life in a new way that will continue to make you happy. You don’t have to have every detail planned. Half the fun is leaving the future open to “serendipity.” That’s a word that nomadic types use often, because it’s such a powerful force in their lives. Try to let it guide you, as hard as that may be for someone who likes to plan things out. Continue to share your adventures so others can learn from your experiences. Be happy, always (or at least almost always – nobody is happy ALWAYS). Remember to keep stepping outside of your “comfort zone” now and then. I know you will continue to make the most of this one life that you have been blessed with. I’ve learned so much from reading this blog. Thank you for that. I look forward to reading what you will write in the future, even if it is less often.
You are a unique and awe-inspiring person, and I mean that sincerely.
I am one of those 20 Dan, I have worked 50 years in my job very scared to retire and yes, Jennifer has helped me have the guts to retire. But! working 50 years in a job is like making it to the Arctic Ocean.”
HA HA HA Cherie.. such a great description of Jennifer.
What an incredible journey! Thank you for sharing it with us, and I’m looking forward to you adventures in Alaska.
Good on you!!!!
You should be very proud of your self. I have followed your entire trip and almost felt like I was there.
Thanks for taking the time to blog all of this.
Wow, I’m one those that have following your Blog almost since the beginning and had my doubts if you’d make it. Now I’m very impressed. Please keep the Blog going, you’re an interesting read.
uh, what they said … and more! thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing. and guess what? I’m booked on a cruise to Alaska 8/7, then renting my first RV after the cruise to go inland. you have inspired us all. NOW WHAT? LOL
Congratulations, I’m looking forward to your next adventure. Life is adventure and we must embrace it all, good and bad. We help each other through our trials, I have gained from yours!!!
Congratulations! Your adventures are inspiring.
After having read and dreamed of many nomadic adventures, I have to say yours stands above the rest! What an inspiration you are!
Thank you for sharing your amazing journey with us.
Like Wade I feel so incredibly proud of you! And also so happy that you finished this part of your journey and are preparing for the next, whatever that may be.
Fascinating blog about Tuk and the lifestyle of the Inuvialuit people. I’m envious of your tour of the ice house and I am looking forward to dipping my own toes in the Arctic Ocean come August.
Safe travels, Jennifer.
Yay!!! Congrats to you. You’re amazing.
HEARTFELT CONGRATULATIONS, Jennifer – you made it, and I don’t just mean the road trip of a lifetime. You have re-crafted yourself in ways most of us can only imagine doing.
We have been full-timing with a small, molded fiberglass trailer for nearly 5 years and have no regrets. Have followed your blogs since about the time you were re-habbing your home. I am so proud of you! Please, please continue to “take us along” as a previus poster stated, as you travel back to the “lower 48″. Thanx – safe journeys and continued discoveries! LdB
**Big hugs** from all of us.
We are so happy for you. You are on a beautiful spiritual journey. Live, laugh and learn. Life is good!
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To thine own self be true.”
Congratulations on the realization of a dream. While you must continue on to return home (also an important journey), you have found within a strength, previously unrealized. Trust that you can deal with whatever life throws at you. Yes, there will be days when it is best to just sleep it all away. But then there’s others…
I hope your reunion with your hubby is all you’ve hoped it would be. Like you, he’s an amazing man to be there for you when you need him, but strong enough to get out of your way when you don’t. My best to you both… I look forward to the next chapter in your life if you choose to share it.
WOW!
What a great group of folks following you along. Can you believe it? A few months ago a really shy, introverted lady and now just look at what you have done?
How are you ever going to get the jenie back in the bottle?
We all enjoyed your trip!
We all love your writing!
We all wish we could be as brave as you!
Thanks for sharing
James
Jennifer……….great to see you standing in the Artic Ocean!! Hope to hear from you after you husband heads back to Texas. I miss your posts. Belva