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Jenn's Yukon Adventure Trip Report · Travel Mug Podcast

• 0:00
  Hey everyone and welcome back to the Travel Mug podcast.
• 0:03
  We are so happy that you have joined us this week.
• 0:06
  Now we are here this week because one of us has traveled.
• 0:09
  It wasn't me, sadly.
• 0:11
  , But Jenn is going to share with us all about her big adventure to somewhere that I personally really don't know anyone else who has traveled there.
• 0:19
  So exclusive.
• 0:22
  That is the Yukon in Canada's true north.
• 0:25
  So I am so excited to hear about this far away place and learn about all you were able to see and do there.
• 0:32
  And as always, with a trip review, I'd love for you to sort of talk to us about one of the most important parts of your journey, and that is how you actually got there.
• 0:41
  So what was that like for you?
• 0:42
  Besides, of course, what I can imagine was a really long day.
• 0:46
  It was a very long day.
• 0:48
  , So I flew Halifax, uh, directly to Vancouver, which was about six hours.
• 0:56
  And then, , Vancouver to Whitehorse, which is another like two and a half hours.
• 1:01
  I had like a two-ish hour, uh, layover in Vancouver.
• 1:06
  So it was a super long day and I think Halifax in Vancouver is the longest, or one of the longest flights that I've been on personally, so I made sure to get up and walk halfway through because we had just recorded travel tip Tuesday about blood clots Now, did you have to pee or were you doing it just for your own health and safety?
• 1:28
  was just doing it for my own health and safety.
• 1:30
  Yeah.
• 1:31
  I always booked the window seat as we've talked about.
• 1:33
  And um, my two people that were sitting beside me, my seatmates were a couple and they were getting up to go to the bathroom and I was like, I might as well just go right now too.
• 1:42
  'cause like everybody's moving around so.
• 1:45
  So it wasn't too awkward then'cause they were going anyway.
• 1:48
  Yeah, Nice.
• 1:50
  Nice.
• 1:50
  yeah, for sure.
• 1:51
  So like the flight was honestly pretty uneventful.
• 1:54
  I actually found that, uh, the Halifax to Vancouver flight, even though it was six hours, I found that it went by pretty fast.
• 2:02
  I got a lot of work done on the flight.
• 2:05
  Um, the wifi was working really well on that flight.
• 2:07
  It wasn't working so well on the Vancouver to Whitehorse portion, but that one was only two and a half hours, so not a huge deal.
• 2:15
  Well, really, when it comes to air travel, you are looking for uneventful.
• 2:19
  Yeah.
• 2:20
  Hundo.
• 2:21
  P. Yeah.
• 2:23
  Now, which airline did you travel with?
• 2:25
  And my second part of the question, which is honestly the one I'm most interested about, did you encounter any of the don'ts, quote unquote, that we had covered in our most recent episode about air travel?
• 2:36
  Yeah, so I flew with Air Canada, which my usual go-to airline these days.
• 2:42
  Um, I did notice I'm not so much on the first fight or the, the flight there, but actually on the way home I noticed that the person sitting with beside me was doing a lot of the pulling themselves up by grabbing the seat in front of them.
• 2:55
  Uh, so that was kind of funny'cause I probably wouldn't have paid attention to that.
• 2:59
  This.
• 3:00
  You shoulda said, use your core and your arm rests Yeah, it excellent.
• 3:06
  it was pretty funny.
• 3:07
  So as for getting there, like I was visiting friends, so like they picked me up at the airport, I would say, for getting around the city.
• 3:16
  If you're going yourself, you really do need a car.
• 3:21
  There is public transit.
• 3:22
  The downtowns like.
• 3:25
  area is pretty walkable and like pretty bike friendly.
• 3:28
  There's a lot of people biking, but like the real magic is outside of the city.
• 3:33
  And so if you're going all the way to to Whitehorse, like you're gonna want a rental car in order to do some like day trips.
• 3:41
  So, I ask you about the airport?
• 3:43
  I, I meant to actually, uh, mention that.
• 3:45
  Is it close to the downtown core?
• 3:48
  Did your friends live in the downtown core?
• 3:50
  Like what did that look like?
• 3:51
  , So the airport is like, it's pretty, pretty close to downtown, like a couple minutes drive.
• 3:58
  Um, really, really close.
• 3:59
  My friends live in a subdivision, like 15 to 20 minutes out of downtown and the airport.
• 4:09
  Um, so not too, too far, but far enough.
• 4:12
  Gotcha.
• 4:14
  Yeah.
• 4:14
  Yeah.
• 4:15
  And I actually, uh, drove my friend's car on one of the days, which was like, pretty far outside of my comfort zone Yeah.
• 4:22
  to be completely honest.
• 4:24
  I like, I literally know that this sounds silly to some people, but like for me, driving an unfamiliar car in an unfamiliar city is like pretty scary.
• 4:35
  And I'm actually like pretty proud that I did it because I had to talk myself out of backing out of it.
• 4:41
  Well, you, uh, there was a point since we've met that really driving a car was not comfortable for you, so this is a huge deal.
• 4:48
  Yeah, for sure.
• 4:49
  Yeah.
• 4:49
  Yeah.
• 4:50
  And I would say like getting around downtown was like pretty easy.
• 4:55
  I did have one situation where my Google Maps was, uh, not up to date on the actual road situation.
• 5:02
  It was like turn left, and I was like, I can't.
• 5:06
  I can, there's nothing to turn left into, so I had to figure that out.
• 5:10
  But, um, the downtown area does have a lot of paid parking, so be prepared for that.
• 5:15
  And it's paid parking with a limit of like an hour or two hours.
• 5:20
  I don't know what's stopping you from, like going out and paying again.
• 5:24
  But anyway, And was it paid parking with money or with like one of those sort of central boxes you have to go to?
• 5:32
  yeah, it was, it was a meter, so you could put change in the meter or you could download an app and top it up that way.
• 5:39
  I just put change in 'cause I had it.
• 5:41
  Um, but yeah, either one of those option works.
• 5:44
  Excellent.
• 5:45
  So talk to us about what you did.
• 5:48
  What'd you get up to?
• 5:49
  Yeah.
• 5:50
  Yeah.
• 5:50
  So the first day I arrived was a total write off, and I mean, I had like a 12 plus hour travel day, and the time change was like kicking my butt a little bit.
• 6:01
  I got there at like 4: 30 PM and I was like, oh, that's perfect.
• 6:05
  I got there at like 4: I'll just like.
• 6:06
  I got there at like 4: myself up and like, we'll go out for dinner.
• 6:09
  I got there at like 4: It was a Friday night and I got to her house and I was like, I, I cannot, I simply mustn't.
• 6:15
  I got there at like 4: I, and I love going out for dinner, so that was, I could not rally.
• 6:20
  I got there at like 4: So we just ordered pizza and hung out, which was quite lovely.
• 6:23
  I got there at like 4: And I forced myself to stay awake until like 9:00 PM so I could go to bed at like a regular time and get myself kind of, you know, right.
• 6:32
  I got there at like 4: No, that makes a lot of sense.
• 6:33
  I got there at like 4: And what is the time difference between Halifax and Whitehorse?
• 6:36
  I got there at like 4: So right now the time difference is four hours.
• 6:40
  I got there at like 4: So the Yukon doesn't do time change.
• 6:43
  I got there at like 4: Uh, so from November to March, it's a three hour time difference with us, but right now it is four.
• 6:49
  I got there at like 4: Excellent.
• 6:50
  I got there at like 4: So you get a good night's sleep.
• 6:51
  I got there at like 4: I'm hoping What happens on day two?
• 6:54
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, so the next day was Saturday.
• 6:56
  I got there at like 4: My friends were off, um, work.
• 6:58
  I got there at like 4: So we got out to explore.
• 7:00
  I got there at like 4: So my friend had booked us a glass blowing class at a local studio.
• 7:05
  I got there at like 4: It's called Lumel Studios, and we each got to make something.
• 7:09
  I got there at like 4: So they had a kind of, um, couple of different options of like super beginner stuff that you can do.
• 7:15
  I got there at like 4: So my friend and I, each chose to make these jellyfish paper weights.
• 7:20
  I got there at like 4: I'll make sure to, uh, put a photo on our social media so people can see them.
• 7:25
  I got there at like 4: And uh, my friend's partner made a vase, which was super cool.
• 7:29
  I got there at like 4: The staff really guide you through the entire experience and it's really fun and it's.
• 7:34
  I got there at like 4: They, they do like a lot of it.
• 7:37
  I got there at like 4: They're really heavily coaching you.
• 7:40
  I got there at like 4: It's not like they're leaving you alone with like molten glass and like no.
• 7:46
  I got there at like 4: They're, you're very heavily, uh, coached through it so that you get something that actually looks like, uh, what you want it to.
• 7:54
  I got there at like 4: Nice.
• 7:55
  I got there at like 4: really cool.
• 7:56
  I got there at like 4: It was actually, uh, snowing that morning, so that Oh.
• 8:00
  I got there at like 4: Yeah.
• 8:00
  I got there at like 4: Yeah.
• 8:01
  I got there at like 4: It didn't, it didn't stick around too much.
• 8:03
  I got there at like 4: We walked around downtown after we were done.
• 8:06
  I got there at like 4: The glass blowing took about 45 minutes, so it's not like a super long thing.
• 8:12
  I got there at like 4: You do have to leave it there for, uh, at least 24 hours to like cool down in there like special cool down chamber thing.
• 8:21
  I got there at like 4: molten and all.
• 8:22
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:23
  I got there at like 4: So just so that it, you know, if you ever do that, like you need to do it on at a time that you can pick it up before you leave town, right?
• 8:31
  I got there at like 4: Like you can't do it on your last day in town or else the place is just gonna have your thing forever.
• 8:37
  I got there at like 4: Correct.
• 8:39
  I got there at like 4: So we, we went to downtown.
• 8:40
  I got there at like 4: After that, we walked around, uh, we got lunch at a local restaurant called La Cara.
• 8:45
  I got there at like 4: So that was Mexican, tacos were super delicious.
• 8:49
  I got there at like 4: Excellent.
• 8:50
  I got there at like 4: Now, I know this is just one restaurant.
• 8:52
  I got there at like 4: You may mention others, but did you notice at all that restaurant food prices were comparable to Halifax or Nova Scotia or like what were the prices like?
• 9:01
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, I think they were comparable.
• 9:02
  I got there at like 4: Like I honestly didn't notice.
• 9:05
  I got there at like 4: Um, so I guess it wasn't crazy.
• 9:07
  I got there at like 4: We also didn't eat out that much.
• 9:10
  I got there at like 4: Um, we ended up cooking at home quite a bit, but yeah, I don't think it was wild or anything.
• 9:17
  I got there at like 4: Of course there's always, you know, like super expensive restaurants and then, right.
• 9:22
  I got there at like 4: , So after that, like it cleared off, it stopped snowing, so we went out to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, which is like 30 minutes-ish outside of town.
• 9:31
  I got there at like 4: We stopped for coffee and treats.
• 9:32
  I got there at like 4: I have to mention this.
• 9:33
  I got there at like 4: Spot called Bean North.
• 9:36
  I got there at like 4: I loved it.
• 9:37
  I got there at like 4: It was super cute.
• 9:37
  I got there at like 4: It had one of those little free libraries out front too, so you can go and look for a little book.
• 9:43
  I got there at like 4: And it was a very cute little spot and the treats were quite delicious.
• 9:48
  I got there at like 4: Uh, so at the Yukon Wildlife Park, we saw bison like really quite close.
• 9:53
  I got there at like 4: Lots of mountain goats.
• 9:55
  I got there at like 4: There was like deer and caribou.
• 9:57
  I got there at like 4: It's really, really lovely spot to walk through.
• 10:00
  I got there at like 4: Uh, my friends that live there actually have like a season pass and it's like a five kilometer, kind of like a figure eight shaped trail.
• 10:09
  I got there at like 4: Uh, we sadly didn't see any moose, so that was very sad.
• 10:13
  I got there at like 4: But, uh, yeah, they go like all the time just to like go for a walk and like see the animals So would I For sure.
• 10:20
  I got there at like 4: I can't remember how much it cost.
• 10:23
  I got there at like 4: I wanna say like less than $20 for me to visit.
• 10:27
  I got there at like 4: I'm pretty sure like, I think it was regularly 18, but because I was with them, um, I got like a discount 'cause I was with people who had a, a membership.
• 10:37
  I got there at like 4: So that was very cool.
• 10:39
  I got there at like 4: Definitely.
• 10:39
  I got there at like 4: Now I love of course, animals.
• 10:43
  I got there at like 4: So what was your favorite animal that you saw?
• 10:46
  I got there at like 4: Okay.
• 10:46
  I got there at like 4: So I think like the bison was the first thing that we saw and they were super close, um, to where like we were.
• 10:53
  I got there at like 4: So that was really cool.
• 10:55
  I got there at like 4: I don't think I had ever seen a bison before.
• 10:58
  I got there at like 4: Uh, 'cause you know, we don't have those, uh, the mountain goats were also very close to the fence.
• 11:04
  I got there at like 4: Um, and like looking at you.
• 11:06
  I got there at like 4: And then have ground squirrels.
• 11:09
  I got there at like 4: Um, so they're squirrels that like, they kind of look.
• 11:14
  I got there at like 4: similar to like a prairie dog Oh, And they like live in the ground and they're like, you know, not really part of the wildlife preserve, but they're all, they live there 'cause like there's food around, you know?
• 11:26
  I got there at like 4: Um, and super cute.
• 11:28
  I got there at like 4: adorable.
• 11:29
  I got there at like 4: I, I wanna see a ground squirrel now.
• 11:32
  I got there at like 4: Mm-hmm.
• 11:33
  I got there at like 4: Yeah.
• 11:33
  I got there at like 4: Alright, continue on to the next day.
• 11:35
  I got there at like 4: Seems like, uh, so this would be Sunday, I guess.
• 11:39
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, so the next day is Sunday.
• 11:41
  I got there at like 4: We headed, headed out to Kluane National Park and Haines Junction.
• 11:47
  I got there at like 4: So our, first stop was the visitor center.
• 11:51
  I got there at like 4: It wasn't, I was there in early May.
• 11:55
  I got there at like 4: Things are not quite open for the season, yet they're just kind of starting to open.
• 12:01
  I got there at like 4: Um, so not all of the visitor center stuff was open, but you can get a free sticker if you ask.
• 12:08
  I got there at like 4: And that's one thing to know about all of the, like visitors centers, I think, is they each have their own like sticker, uh, and they're free.
• 12:16
  I got there at like 4: And I also got a luggage tag and a postcard, so like.
• 12:20
  I got there at like 4: We love.
• 12:21
  I got there at like 4: Okay.
• 12:22
  I got there at like 4: I love free stuff, but I love stickers.
• 12:23
  I got there at like 4: I, I was a kid with a sticker book.
• 12:25
  I got there at like 4: I loved stickers.
• 12:27
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, so that was very fun.
• 12:30
  I got there at like 4: So our next stop was a short walk.
• 12:33
  I got there at like 4: I'm not gonna call it a hike 'cause it was not a hike, but it was a walk in the Dezadeash river area.
• 12:40
  I got there at like 4: Um, we got some really great mountain views, although there's really great mountain views, like literally everywhere.
• 12:46
  I got there at like 4: , We drove then to Kathleen Lake where we had brought our picnic lunch because our friends knew that the restaurants were not gonna be open for the season yet.
• 12:56
  I got there at like 4: So that was very good to know.
• 12:59
  I got there at like 4: and then we walked along the beach and found, of course the Parks Canada red chairs to take some photos and like, honestly, this was a really fun day trip to do.
• 13:11
  I got there at like 4: , It's about an hour and 40 minutes outside of town.
• 13:15
  I got there at like 4: It was a lot of driving.
• 13:17
  I got there at like 4: but really fun to see.
• 13:18
  I got there at like 4: There's a ton of hikes in the area, like.
• 13:21
  I got there at like 4: Short ones really long, like full day and overnighter type ones that you can do.
• 13:27
  I got there at like 4: So it depends on what you wanna do.
• 13:29
  I got there at like 4: , But yeah, it was absolutely beautiful and probably one of the highlights of my trip.
• 13:33
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, like if you had thrown in the coffee shop at the cafe on this day, to me that would've been perfect.
• 13:39
  I got there at like 4: But this honestly sounds exactly like would be up my alley.
• 13:43
  I got there at like 4: And an hour and 40 minutes is far, but it's not like exhaustingly far either.
• 13:48
  I got there at like 4: So I think that, honestly, that sounds like it would've been a highlight for me too.
• 13:53
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, we did stop for ice cream on our way back to town, so you know, it's a pretty great, You can't cope.
• 14:00
  I got there at like 4: day.
• 14:01
  I got there at like 4: the next day is Monday and I was working while I was there and I mean, so were my friends, they have, , jobs that they work, Monday to Friday.
• 14:10
  I got there at like 4: So I just brought some work stuff and worked from their house and, uh, that was the first time I was really doing that while I was traveling.
• 14:21
  I got there at like 4: And I think it like worked out pretty well overall.
• 14:25
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, so I'd love to talk a little bit more about working on holiday.
• 14:29
  I got there at like 4: Obviously it's sort of work slash holiday.
• 14:31
  I got there at like 4: Did it feel like you expected, were you itching the whole time to like be outside since you were somewhere new?
• 14:38
  I got there at like 4: Like, walk us through how that overall experience felt.
• 14:41
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, like it was different, but it was good.
• 14:44
  I got there at like 4: Like it didn't bother me too much because my friends were also at work, I found I really missed my, like, home work setup.
• 14:53
  I got there at like 4: Um, I did buy like a travel second monitor that like plugs into my laptop so that I still had two screens'cause that's what I usually did.
• 15:03
  I got there at like 4: Um, but like I would a hundred percent do this.
• 15:06
  I got there at like 4: Again, it still felt like a vacation, even though I really, I used one vacation day to fly up there on the Friday.
• 15:13
  I got there at like 4: So if you work from home or if you have like a remote work option, I think this could be like a good way to extend vacation time.
• 15:19
  I got there at like 4: I would definitely, I. Do it again and like I just went out for a walk at lunch, like in their neighborhood and you know, I'm still in like a new place.
• 15:28
  I got there at like 4: So I think that it worked really well and we were able to do some really fun things after work too, which was really nice.
• 15:36
  I got there at like 4: It's like a bit of a little travel hack right there.
• 15:39
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, I mean, it works If you can.
• 15:42
  I got there at like 4: if, if you can, it works really well.
• 15:44
  I got there at like 4: So after work we, we did something e every day after work.
• 15:50
  I got there at like 4: So one of the days we went to Miles Canyon to go for a walk, it's about 10 to 15 minutes from town.
• 15:58
  I got there at like 4: Uh, the views are really great and like the walk is pretty easy in terms of like, there's not a lot of like climbing, you know, mountain climbing that you're doing, but it's also like not super, super accessible.
• 16:13
  I got there at like 4: Like we saw a couple trying to navigate it with a stroller, which I would definitely not recommend.
• 16:18
  I got there at like 4: Like you are on like a narrow ish path and there is a cliff, so eh, not ideal with a stroller.
• 16:25
  I got there at like 4: So you do need to be a little bit sure-footed, Right.
• 16:29
  I got there at like 4: but not like, you know, you don't have to be crazy in shape.
• 16:32
  I got there at like 4: There are a lot of trails here.
• 16:34
  I got there at like 4: You could spend hours exploring them all.
• 16:37
  I got there at like 4: I think we were there like about an hour, and then there's also like a nearby look off point where you get good views.
• 16:45
  I got there at like 4: If the walk isn't feasible for you, you just drive up to it.
• 16:49
  I got there at like 4: Excellent.
• 16:50
  I got there at like 4: Now, was this free to go to, and obviously you're doing some driving while you're there, your friends are, what was the price of gas like?
• 16:57
  I got there at like 4: Did you notice?
• 16:58
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, miles Canyon is free.
• 17:02
  I got there at like 4: gas was around a $1.69 per litre, which$4.66 per gallon for our American pals.
• 17:13
  I got there at like 4: So more expensive than here, Nova Scotia, but not like wild.
• 17:17
  I got there at like 4: My friend did say that it was hovering around a $1.89 per litre before the carbon tax came off.
• 17:23
  I got there at like 4: Of course, right, right.
• 17:25
  I got there at like 4: And ours was that with the carbon tax.
• 17:27
  I got there at like 4: So we were paying pretty much that until recently.
• 17:29
  I got there at like 4: So that's not, it's not great, but it's not crazy.
• 17:33
  I got there at like 4: Yeah.
• 17:34
  I got there at like 4: Yeah.
• 17:34
  I got there at like 4: So another day after work, we drove about 30 minutes to the Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs, and it was the most relaxing day of the trip.
• 17:44
  I got there at like 4: It's a really nice, like hot springs, they have multiple outdoor pools including cold plunges, plenty of chairs outside to relax in if it's warm enough.
• 17:54
  I got there at like 4: It wasn't when we were there.
• 17:56
  I got there at like 4: Um, but they do have inside relaxation spaces, which is really, uh, quite lovely.
• 18:03
  I got there at like 4: And then multiple, saunas and steam rooms.
• 18:06
  I got there at like 4: We all brought our little e-readers and, uh, we had met up with some of our friends, uh, friend, friends of our friends.
• 18:14
  I got there at like 4: So it was just like a really relaxing day thing I found really strange is the pools are only like two feet deep.
• 18:23
  I got there at like 4: So you really like, you like walk out and then like sit down in that.
• 18:27
  I got there at like 4: Okay.
• 18:27
  I got there at like 4: Okay.
• 18:29
  I got there at like 4: It was different than other Nordic spa type experiences.
• 18:33
  I got there at like 4: that would be like midcalf for me.
• 18:36
  I got there at like 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 18:37
  I got there at like 4: They, they sit down and, I mean, maybe they were deeper than two feet, but they're not very deep.
• 18:42
  I got there at like 4: Like it's, it was definitely like, I don't think it was over my knee.
• 18:45
  I got there at like 4: Yeah.
• 18:46
  I got there at like 4: It wasn't that, uh, deep, but, uh, very relaxing.
• 18:50
  I got there at like 4: And like they're open right now, or when I was there, they're open until midnight.
• 18:55
  I got there at like 4: So we were there until I think 10 30.
• 19:00
  I got there at like 4: And my friend was like, I think we should go home.
• 19:02
  I got there at like 4: Like we do all have to work tomorrow.
• 19:04
  I got there at like 4: Hate to break this up, but Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 19:07
  I got there at like 4: We, I think we all had the best night of sleep.
• 19:09
  I got there at like 4: Um, Oh, I bet.
• 19:13
  I got there at like 4: Yeah.
• 19:14
  I got there at like 4: Uh, so another thing I wanna mention is on Thursdays there is a large farmer's market called the Fireweed Community Market from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM there's a ton of food trucks and vendors.
• 19:27
  I got there at like 4: So we went there and, , had supper.
• 19:30
  I got there at like 4: I had a super yummy veggie, crepe.
• 19:33
  I got there at like 4: There were so many food trucks.
• 19:35
  I got there at like 4: It was very hard to decide what to get to eat.
• 19:41
  I got there at like 4: Uh, but there's so many options and like local, , veggies and local crafts, if that's, , what you're looking for.
• 19:50
  I got there at like 4: And, uh, then because I am, you know, there with some, I.
• 19:54
  I got there at like 4: Locals of the insider scoop.
• 19:55
  I got there at like 4: We went to the local trivia night at the Yukon Inn, which happens
• 20:00
  every Thursday from seven to 9: 30 PM and it was, uh, really fun.
• 20:07
  every Thursday from seven to 9: It was, uh, harder than I expected.
• 20:10
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Uh.
• 20:10
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Did you win?
• 20:12
  every Thursday from seven to 9: We did not Oh, Um, but that's okay.
• 20:14
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Yeah, it's, my friends go like every week apparently, and they have a really fun time.
• 20:19
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So, yeah, I, uh, you know, not something you would usually do when you're on vacation somewhere, but why not?
• 20:26
  every Thursday from seven to 9: like, I mean, why not?
• 20:28
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Yeah, Exactly.
• 20:30
  every Thursday from seven to 9: bad.
• 20:31
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Now, did you, I know you did said you didn't eat out a lot, so this may not be the case, but we love to talk food on the podcast.
• 20:37
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Was there a favorite food item you had while you were there or just sort of It was regular, fare Yeah, I would say regular ish.
• 20:46
  every Thursday from seven to 9: fare.
• 20:47
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Um, yeah, I didn't have anything too crazy.
• 20:51
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I think that the two things that stand out were like earlier in the week was actually like the, the, , bean North Cafe, uh, that we went to by the.
• 21:00
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Wildlife preserve, it's just like a little bit past the wildlife preserve.
• 21:04
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So drive there and then you can like take your drink and go walk around the wildlife preserve, which is lovely.
• 21:09
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Nice.
• 21:09
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Um, the coffee was, , really great and the baked goods are good.
• 21:13
  every Thursday from seven to 9: And I mean, the tacos that we had at La Cara were super delicious.
• 21:17
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Yeah, so Friday.
• 21:19
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Friday was the day I did more exploring by myself.
• 21:22
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So I actually worked from Baked Cafe, which is like right in downtown, which was um, really lovely.
• 21:31
  every Thursday from seven to 9: And then after work I went to the Bergingia Interpretive Centre where I learned about the Ice Age and First Nations culture.
• 21:38
  every Thursday from seven to 9: And I got to see some fossils.
• 21:39
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So do you, have you ever heard of Beringia Meggan?
• 21:43
  every Thursday from seven to 9: No, I No.
• 21:44
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Either, I had no idea.
• 21:46
  every Thursday from seven to 9: It is the landmass that used to connect Russia to Alaska and into the Yukon.
• 21:51
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So when that was all there, so it talks about like the animals that were around, like kind of during the ice age.
• 21:58
  every Thursday from seven to 9: , It's, it's a really small museum.
• 22:00
  every Thursday from seven to 9: It does have like, it's two rooms and uh, like 20, 15 to 20 minute movie that like talks to you about Beringia.
• 22:08
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Um, when I got there, I was the only person there.
• 22:11
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So I got like a private showing of the movie, which was, you know, very exciting.
• 22:16
  every Thursday from seven to 9: , And two of the people that were working there were from Nova Scotia.
• 22:21
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So.
• 22:22
  every Thursday from seven to 9: That is so random.
• 22:24
  every Thursday from seven to 9: No matter where you go.
• 22:25
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Here we are like.
• 22:26
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I like it was the most.
• 22:28
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So I, you know, I go and they asked where I'm from and I'm like, oh, I'm from Nova Scotia.
• 22:32
  every Thursday from seven to 9: And you just like, don't really expect people to know, um, like Nova Scotia and geography, I guess.
• 22:37
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So they're like, oh, what part?
• 22:39
  every Thursday from seven to 9: And I said, oh, like outside Halifax, because that's like, no one's gonna know where Liverpool is, you know?
• 22:46
  every Thursday from seven to 9: And what the guy that was working there, he's like, oh, I was born in Antigonish and lived there until I was in high school.
• 22:52
  every Thursday from seven to 9: And the woman that I talked to before I left was born in Meat Cove, which is like Wow.
• 22:58
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I know tippity top of Cape Breton.
• 22:59
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Like, no, no one knows where Meat Cove is.
• 23:02
  every Thursday from seven to 9: You know, like it was just so wild.
• 23:04
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So yeah, it's a truly a small world.
• 23:08
  every Thursday from seven to 9: it is indeed.
• 23:10
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Yeah, so after that I did some like shopping, um, alone.
• 23:14
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I walked along the Trans Canada Trail.
• 23:16
  every Thursday from seven to 9: It was a really nice day.
• 23:17
  every Thursday from seven to 9: That day.
• 23:18
  every Thursday from seven to 9: It was like 15 degrees and sunny, so that was lovely.
• 23:22
  every Thursday from seven to 9: If you like to read, I definitely recommend checking out the Yukon Literacy Coalition in shipyards park.
• 23:29
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Shipyards Park is also where the, um, market is, the, uh, farmer's market.
• 23:35
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Um, so the Literacy Coalition has like free books.
• 23:39
  every Thursday from seven to 9: It's just like a giant free library Nice.
• 23:43
  every Thursday from seven to 9: through the books, so that was quite lovely.
• 23:46
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Excellent.
• 23:46
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Now, I guess that was Friday, so Saturday, is this your travel day?
• 23:51
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Like what happened that day?
• 23:53
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Yeah, so my, my flight wasn't until 5:30 PM so we had like a lot of time to explore.
• 24:02
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So we headed out of town to Carcross, which is about 45 minutes from Whitehorse.
• 24:07
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So on the way we stopped at a viewing point for Emerald Lake, which is a lake, as you can imagine, that the water is like this blue green color.
• 24:16
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Emerald.
• 24:17
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I almost like that.
• 24:19
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Yeah, so quite beautiful.
• 24:21
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Uh, and then we stopped at Carcross Desert, which was really cool.
• 24:26
  every Thursday from seven to 9: It is often called the world's smallest desert 'cause it is one square mile, Oh, it is not a real desert.
• 24:33
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Uh, 'cause it gets like too much moisture.
• 24:36
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So it can't technically be called a desert.
• 24:39
  every Thursday from seven to 9: so they just called it that for for fun or, I okay.
• 24:44
  every Thursday from seven to 9: sand.
• 24:44
  every Thursday from seven to 9: It's like all of a sudden it's this giant one square mile of sand.
• 24:49
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Adorable little desert Right.
• 24:51
  every Thursday from seven to 9: There's a sign that says like, Carcross Desert.
• 24:54
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Apparently people go sand boarding here on the dunes.
• 24:58
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Um, there are hikes nearby that we did not do.
• 25:02
  every Thursday from seven to 9: and then the community of Carcross, which used to be called Caribou Crossing, and then they just like shorten that together.
• 25:11
  every Thursday from seven to 9: again.
• 25:12
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Adorable.
• 25:12
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Uh, so adorable has lots of little shops.
• 25:15
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Um, it's really, and it also has a, a different lake, really great place to explore.
• 25:20
  every Thursday from seven to 9: There's only about 300 people who live there, but like tour buses come, including cruise ship passengers, from nearby Skagway, Alaska.
• 25:30
  every Thursday from seven to 9: And then you can get a train from Skagway to Carcross, which looks really cool.
• 25:35
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I'm sad that I didn't have time to do that.
• 25:38
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Or your passport maybe.
• 25:40
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Or I did have it, Oh you did?
• 25:44
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I always travel.
• 25:44
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Do you not No, with your passport even within can?
• 25:47
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Oh, I always travel with my passport.
• 25:49
  every Thursday from seven to 9: not losing that sucker if I don't need to.
• 25:52
  every Thursday from seven to 9: No way.
• 25:52
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I'm just like, but like, what if something happens and I want to, to do, I don't know.
• 25:58
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I just always have it.
• 25:59
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I don't wanna get caught without I rarely fly in Canada though, so that's another I, we're always driving, so I haven't really thought of it, but I probably.
• 26:07
  every Thursday from seven to 9: I mean, I guess the last couple of times, no, I didn't.
• 26:10
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Look at you.
• 26:11
  every Thursday from seven to 9: That's so funny.
• 26:12
  every Thursday from seven to 9: Um, so then it was time to go home.
• 26:15
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So the, the airport in, in Whitehorse, as you can probably imagine, is quite small.
• 26:22
  every Thursday from seven to 9: So you do not need to show up too, too early to uh The rush isn't gonna happen.
• 26:28
  every Thursday from seven to 9: well, I know my friends, I was like.
• 26:31
  Oh, my flight was at 5: 30.
• 26:33
  Oh, my flight was at 5: I was like, oh, well I think I should probably get there, um, by like 3:30.
• 26:39
  Oh, my flight was at 5: And they were like, mm, no, Yeah.
• 26:43
  Oh, my flight was at 5: you could probably get there at 4:30 and be completely fine.
• 26:46
  Oh, my flight was at 5: And I was like, okay, I will compromise and get there at 4:00.
• 26:50
  Oh, my flight was at 5: Um, and it took me, I think, like two minutes to drop off.
• 26:54
  Oh, my flight was at 5: I did ha I did check a bag, so it took me two minutes to drop off the bag and like.
• 26:58
  Oh, my flight was at 5: 30, 45 seconds to go through security and, They weren't lying.
• 27:04
  Oh, my flight was at 5: no, they literally weren't lying.
• 27:05
  Oh, my flight was at 5: I was like, okay.
• 27:07
  Oh, my flight was at 5: They dropped me off and then I think I, I don't know what the timing was.
• 27:11
  Oh, my flight was at 5: I'd have to look at the text message just when I was like, oh, I'm already through.
• 27:14
  Oh, my flight was at 5: Okay.
• 27:14
  Oh, my flight was at 5: That wasn't very smart.
• 27:16
  Oh, my flight was at 5: Um, uh, but yeah, so I flew to Vancouver and then Vancouver to Halifax.
• 27:23
  Oh, my flight was at 5: So I left Saturday at.
• 27:25
  You know, 5: 30, um, got home Sunday morning, exhausted.
• 27:32
  You know, 5: I never sleep on planes.
• 27:33
  You know, 5: I slept for like an hour.
• 27:35
  You know, 5: And, um, we tried to land in Halifax.
• 27:39
  You know, 5: Um, we circled Halifax three times before we actually landed, and it was so foggy.
• 27:46
  You know, 5: That like you basically didn't see the ground until you were on it.
• 27:50
  You know, 5: And uh, so that was very stressful.
• 27:52
  You know, 5: I was, I was terrified they were gonna divert us, like to Moncton or Oh, was like, if I, if I don't get home today, I'm going to have a mental breakdown.
• 28:01
  You know, 5: I know exactly what you mean.
• 28:04
  You know, 5: You've been on that plane overnight for so long and just like this cannot be happening.
• 28:07
  You know, 5: Yeah.
• 28:08
  You know, 5: Yeah.
• 28:08
  You know, 5: Thankfully we landed, everything was fine, but yeah, by the, the second, um, like abandoned landing attempt, I was like, oh my God, I'm never gonna get home.
• 28:17
  You know, 5: Aw.
• 28:18
  You know, 5: Well, I'm glad you did.
• 28:19
  You know, 5: I did, I did.
• 28:21
  You know, 5: Yeah.
• 28:21
  You know, 5: Yeah.
• 28:22
  You know, 5: overall thoughts about Whitehorse, the Yukon?
• 28:26
  You know, 5: Talk to us about that.
• 28:27
  You know, 5: Yeah, like overall, I loved it.
• 28:31
  You know, 5: I absolutely loved Whitehorse and the Yukon and it was really funny when I was, you know, meeting people there, my friend was like, yo, you know, this is my friend Jenn.
• 28:39
  You know, 5: She's visiting from Nova Scotia.
• 28:41
  You know, 5: And they, most of them would ask, oh, so when are you gonna move here?
• 28:45
  You know, 5: And I like, totally get that because so many people visit, um, you know, they go there for school or they go up there for work, which is what my friend did, and they fall in love and I completely see why like, it's a really special place and there's a university there.
• 29:02
  You know, 5: So there's a lot of people from like all walks of life, all ages, um, around, and my friend said that it was actually like pretty easy for them to find their, you know, like community of, of people and friends there, which is really awesome and not always easy to do when you move somewhere new.
• 29:19
  You know, 5: Um, so I, I can't see myself ever moving there, especially my husband would never, um, and I would, I I would not enjoy it so much in the winter No.
• 29:30
  You know, 5: think.
• 29:31
  You know, 5: But, uh, it, it is a really special place.
• 29:34
  You know, 5: Wonderful.
• 29:35
  You know, 5: Now talk to us like you mentioned Snow briefly, and obviously it is, it was still early-ish, may, so what was that like in terms of temperatures?
• 29:45
  You know, 5: Good time for people to go?
• 29:46
  You know, 5: No.
• 29:46
  You know, 5: Yes, Yeah.
• 29:48
  You know, 5: Yeah.
• 29:48
  You know, 5: So yeah, it was early to mid May.
• 29:51
  You know, 5: I think it was a good time to go in terms of temperature.
• 29:55
  You know, 5: So most days it was like got up to like 10 or 15 Celsius, so like 50 or 60 Fahrenheit, which is like completely tolerable, right?
• 30:05
  You know, 5: Um, yeah, it did snow of course that first day.
• 30:07
  You know, 5: But, um, it, it was getting close to the summer solstice, obviously.
• 30:12
  You know, 5: So I did not see darkness almost the entire time I was there, except
• 30:18
  for one night I got up at 1: 30, I woke up at 1:30 and I was like, I'm gonna look outside just to like.
• 30:23
  for one night I got up at 1: Look at the darkness 'cause I haven't seen it in a few days and it wasn't even all the way dark Yeah.
• 30:29
  for one night I got up at 1: Yeah, Right.
• 30:30
  for one night I got up at 1: So that was my first time experiencing that.
• 30:32
  for one night I got up at 1: I know that you've been in Iceland around summer solstice and it, it is strange.
• 30:38
  for one night I got up at 1: Yeah.
• 30:39
  for one night I got up at 1: Yeah.
• 30:39
  for one night I got up at 1: The downside to that, of course, it, it is too light outside to see the northern light, so that's not something you can do.
• 30:46
  for one night I got up at 1: So if that is something that's important to you, you really need to visit between like late August and mid April.
• 30:55
  for one night I got up at 1: , I definitely wanna go back.
• 30:56
  for one night I got up at 1: I actually do want to go back more in the winter to A, see the Northern lights and b do like more of like the dog sledding type of thing.
• 31:06
  for one night I got up at 1: Looks really cool.
• 31:08
  for one night I got up at 1: Um, but then on the other hand, like there's so many hikes that I want, like spots that I wanna explore too.
• 31:13
  for one night I got up at 1: I hope that my husband will get to come with me someday.
• 31:16
  for one night I got up at 1: yeah, it really highlighted for me, I think, how amazing.
• 31:20
  for one night I got up at 1: It can be to get away from like typical Canadian destinations.
• 31:26
  for one night I got up at 1: I get that for sure.
• 31:27
  for one night I got up at 1: And honestly, to me it sounds amazing.
• 31:29
  for one night I got up at 1: Obviously very nature oriented, which I love.
• 31:32
  for one night I got up at 1: So can you tell me, if you can narrow it down, what did you love most about your trip Is something that you saw or did or learned that was completely unexpected?
• 31:44
  for one night I got up at 1: I think that it was really nice to like dip my toe in, like working from other places and having it go well and being like, okay, that is an option of something that I can do in the future., I think that I was really like, It was like a, also a dipping my toe in like solo traveling a little bit.
• 32:04
  for one night I got up at 1: You know, my one day that I took the car and like did things by myself.
• 32:08
  for one night I got up at 1: 'cause that's not something that I normally do at all.
• 32:13
  for one night I got up at 1: I mean, I, you know, in my own town I'll go out by myself, but like in general, I don't travel alone.
• 32:19
  for one night I got up at 1: So that was really interesting.
• 32:21
  for one night I got up at 1: Um, and yeah, the mountains there.
• 32:24
  for one night I got up at 1: This landscape is so, so beautiful.
• 32:28
  for one night I got up at 1: Um, I, I texted my friend at one point and was like, I don't know how anybody here gets any work done.
• 32:33
  for one night I got up at 1: 'cause I just wanna stare at the mountains all day.
• 32:36
  for one night I got up at 1: Right.
• 32:36
  for one night I got up at 1: I can see that.
• 32:38
  for one night I got up at 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:39
  for one night I got up at 1: So, yeah, overall just like super beautiful, super lovely, and I hope that I get to go back someday soon.
• 32:46
  for one night I got up at 1: No.
• 32:46
  for one night I got up at 1: Excellent.
• 32:47
  for one night I got up at 1: Well, thank you so much for sharing your trip with us.
• 32:49
  for one night I got up at 1: I am sure that you've inspired people to consider the Yukon, maybe even if they've never thought of it before.
• 32:55
  for one night I got up at 1: 'cause it does sound wonderful.
• 32:57
  for one night I got up at 1: For our listeners, stay tuned to our social media.
• 32:59
  for one night I got up at 1: You could probably tune in right now as you're listening to this first episode and check out some of Jenn's pictures.
• 33:05
  for one night I got up at 1: She'll be sharing with us for a few weeks on our socials, and I can't personally wait to see them as well.
• 33:11
  for one night I got up at 1: Um, as always, you can find us at our website, travel mug podcast.com, on social media at Travel Mug Podcast, and support the show if you would like by buying us a coffee with the link in our show notes.
• 33:22
  for one night I got up at 1: Or leave us a review on Apple or Spotify.
• 33:25
  for one night I got up at 1: That helps us as well, if you like what we are doing here.
• 33:28
  for one night I got up at 1: Uh, until next time, save travels and bye.
• 33:32
  for one night I got up at 1: Bye.