Cross-Canada Road Trip: Week 3
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
It’d been nearly three weeks. Certainly not the longest I’d ever gone without, although I’m hesitant to admit what my record is. It’s quite shameful, really. The me of a decade ago would’ve denied it was possible.
After disembarking from the ferry in Nova Scotia, which sailed overnight from Newfoundland, I made a beeline to where I knew I’d get exactly what I wanted. An Irving 24. It had the very thing I needed most. A shower.
First, I had to put in an honest day’s work. As a digital nomad I can work from almost anywhere as long as I have internet access. Even better, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are in the Atlantic time zone, an hour ahead of my east coast U.S. employer. It was 8:30 AM for me when I backed into a shady parking spot at the truck stop, but 7:30 AM for my colleagues. I had plenty of time to get organized before signing on at 8:00 AM EDT to start my day.
Samus the taskmaster
Yet, it wasn’t until the following day that I finally had the opportunity to bathe.
A private washroom with a commode, sink, and a shower big enough for a party all to myself. It was larger than the bathrooms in any apartments I’d had, even bigger than those in most of the houses I’d lived in. Getting clean felt so unbelievably good that it was almost novel. It was such a treat to stand in the rain of hot water for as long as I wanted, simply because I could. There was no time limit. I’d purposely chosen early morning when I knew the truckers would be headed out on the road and there’d be no wait or the pressure of demand. And this place provided the most surprisingly soft, fluffy, hotel-quality towels. Not at all the rough, bleach-stained towels truck stops typically offer. Reasonably priced at $15.53 CAD ($12.04 USD). Showers had been such a chore when I lived in a conventional home. Now they’re an event. A luxury that elicits a genuine feeling of gratitude. And metamorphosis.
Fundamentally, showering was the highlight of week three for me.
Refreshed, I could plan the next leg of travel. Even though I knew I’d be crossing the entirety of Canada, I hadn’t thought about any province other than Newfoundland and Labrador. I’d spent more time there than I’d originally planned; part of the beauty of van life is the ability to pivot on a whim. Totally worth feeling a bit pressed for time afterward. I had six weeks until I had to be on the west coast of the United States for a family commitment.
I made a loose itinerary and was looking forward to getting out with my camera to work on my photography. Despite my excitment, I was so very tired. When I broke it down, I had reason to be exhausted. In addition to my full-time job, I was writing every day, traveling every day, editing photos every day, creating content for social media, and working on the podcast. I estimated that it’s a 200-hour investment to write, record, and produce an episode. I must’ve been in a fugue state when I decided to start a blog, too.
My paid job and my creative endeavors consume most days, but as the daylight hours lengthened, I used the hours after work until dark to explore. You’ve seen those Newfoundland sunset photos, haven’t you? If not, stop reading immediately and check out the previous blog post or my Instagram. How could I give up bearing witness to such spectacle?
I’d been burning the candle at both ends for months, since January, when I finally fully committed to my creative needs. There aren’t enough hours in the day. I want to be everywhere, see all the things, and create everything I can, for the love of all of it. It’s been rather manic. Full speed ahead only to collapse, requiring days to recover.
It occurred to me while I was again prostrate and camped out at a different truck stop that I ought to better manage my time. I really must build in some breaks. It seemed so crucial that I carve out time to slow down, I made a video declaring I would do nothing at all for a weekend. That didn’t happen. Minutes after posting the video, I was behind the wheel on my way to rolling more than 280 miles (455 km) to find the perfect place to actually do nothing.
Giant Lobster, Shediac, New Brunswick
Instead, those miles took me from Auld’s Cove, Nova Scotia through the harbor town of Pictou, over a portion of New Brunswick’s Acadian Coastal Drive along the Northumberland Strait to Shediac. The lobster capital of the world. My mouth was watering, I’d been thinking about a lobster dinner since I’d been to Maine the previous month. If I was going to have lobster anywhere it had to be Shediac. Then I remembered how fresh lobster is prepared and I couldn’t do it. Nope. Could not reconcile the cruel torturous death of a crustacean for my dining pleasure. No lobster dinner for me. Instead, I made photos of the town’s Giant Lobster statue then headed to a grocery store for a salad.
Still compelled to the road, the next day I continued along the Acadian coast, a delightful route along the north shore of New Brunswick through charming towns and idyllic countrysides. A beach-lover’s dream with sandy shores and stunning views. My final destination for the day took me north to Miramichi, New Brunswick. The town sits at the mouth of the famous salmon river for which it’s named. After a brief recon to scout out an overnight spot, I spent the evening roaming the riverfront trail and the very quiet Historic Chatham Business District until dark.
Passing a water tower that I didn’t photograph, it pronounced Miramichi Canada’s Irish Capital. The status as a result of the Irish Potato Famine of the mid-1800s that triggered the largest immigration of the Irish to Canada.
Historic Chatham Business District, Miramichi, New Brunswick
Middle Island Historical Park was originally a quarantine station for Irish immigrants in the 19th century, and is now a heritage site only minutes from Chatham. It looked lovely from the shore.
I stayed in the area overnight specifically to visit the island. Unfortunately, it rained without stop for almost two days. I haunted yet another Tim Hortons waiting for the rain to clear, only to have to move on without exploring any further. No FoMO. I’ll be back.
Next stop, Québec!
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Featured title image: Full moon rising over Kingsburg Pond on 18 May 2019, in the community of Kingsburg. Photographed during my first visit to Nova Scotia.
