Whitehorse, Yukon – Where Everyone Thinks I’m From

December 15, 2014January 14, 2015 / brittanyherriot / Leave a comment

Whenever I tell someone where I’m from (Yellowknife!) when traveling in Canada, for some reason, they think I’m from the Yukon. Later in our conversation I correct them as I hear them telling others that I’m from Whitehorse. Ask anyone from Yellowknife- we all encounter this problem when we tell people where we are from. I’m sure it has something to do with the colours in both names of the cities- and perhaps that the Yukon and Whitehorse are a little more well known than Yellowknife. The funny thing is, while everyone else thinks I am from the Yukon, until last month, I’d never even been there! Continue reading →

We Are the Wanderers

December 9, 2014December 12, 2014 / brittanyherriot / Leave a comment

Now that my departure date is looming near, I’ve become more and more vocal with friends, family, co-workers and even strangers about my upcoming adventure. I eagerly tell people about my plans when they ask because I’m beyond excited about the fact that I’m actually following my dreams. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Them- “Oh, you’re leaving Yellowknife? Where are you going?”

Me- “I’m going traveling!”

Them- “Oh how exciting, where?”

Me- “The world!”

The conversation then goes either one of two ways:

Continue reading →

Endure my heart…

November 19, 2014December 12, 2014 / brittanyherriot / 4 Comments

He didn’t come home last night. I walked in and expected to see him on the couch, his bed for the last year or so. But he wasn’t. His blanket was gone. I peeked into the bedroom thinking maybe he snuck into the bed for comfort. It was empty. He wasn’t coming home tonight. I felt angry at him. Not even a text to say he wouldn’t be home. I try to shrug it off and go to sleep. It takes me a long time to fall asleep and I don’t sleep well through the night. When I wake up in the morning he is home. I give him an appallingly dirty look and don’t say a word. Continue reading →

The Cabin

September 3, 2014December 12, 2014 / brittanyherriot / Leave a comment

Saturday August 2^nd, 2014

Paradise. I’m in absolute paradise. I sit on an old sagging dock, dipping into a crystal clear fresh water lake. The only sounds around me are the steady hum of a motley crew of bugs buzzing through the bush; the occasional splash of water as a hungry loon dives deep in search of breakfast; and the soft whisper of the wind as she blows her secrets through the trees. I watch water beetles beside me as their long legs skitter through the water like oars, relishing the shade of the dock. The water gently laps against the dilapidated boards that hold me above the cool water. Continue reading →

Home….

July 25, 2014December 12, 2014 / brittanyherriot / 1 Comment

My home is a wondrous place. It is a land of snow and ice, lakes and rivers; and endless expanse of ancient rock, littered with stunted trees that look like asparagus stalks, or something out of a Dr. Seuss story. We struggle through long, dark winters where the sun sets at 3pm and doesn’t rise again until 10am. We drive cars over frozen lakes, drill holes to fish through 4 feet of ice, and walk to work in -56 degrees Celsius. In summer we thrive on 3am sunrises and midnight sunsets. We tend our gardens until midnight, carry bug spray at all times, and forget to go to bed because the sun refuses to remind us it is bedtime. Continue reading →

Dreams

July 15, 2014December 12, 2014 / brittanyherriot / 1 Comment

I have dreams. Big dreams. Dreams to see the whole world and all its bright splendors, all its dark crevices. I want to leave this tiny little town surrounded by a moat of a million lakes, these waters an isolating border from the rest of the world. This confinement has become too much. I feel like I’ve become a prisoner in my own home, my creature comforts my shackles. I covet the loons that take wing off the lakes and soar into freedom. I too, yearn to fly away into the unknown, away from this place that, while suffocating, always was and always will be home.

I know that the world has so much beauty to offer. She has divine truths, and shadowy secrets. She will share with me her healing powers and deal me painful blows. I could not ask for only her good, I ask for all of it. I want to experience her in all her glory, in all her veracity. The world is terrible and beautiful and I want to see it all.