The snow felt like a blank page. The temperature, which should have been biting, at minus 25 degrees, instead provided clarity. Its crisp sharpness made me feel as if I was breathing properly: how we should breathe. Instead of back home, where I took short, sharp gulps of polluted, greyness while dashing around, often lost, unsure of where to turn to next, both literally, on the winding streets of London but also figuratively: I had no idea what I wanted from my life, and no idea how to figure that out.
In The Yukon, a remote territory in Northwest Canada, everything had slowed down. There was something about the place that offered a fresh perspective. It was a place people came to escape, one local told me. “We don’t ask about your past here,” he said. “We take people as they are, give them a chance to start all over again.”
I could take that freedom and run with it even if I was only there for four days. The last stop on a road trip, through British Columbia and The Yukon, in Canada, that changed my entire outlook. A trip that saw me return home, changed, different, happier. A once-in-a-lifetime trip that you can do too. As, while bucket-list holidays tend to involve sunshine, safari and sea, I’m making a case for instead going colder and stormier. Finding yourself in the unexpected. Here’s how.
Go tree hugging (and suspend yourself within a towering forest) in Vancouver
Surrounded by forest and mountains, Vancouver offers the ideal blend of urban and rural. An ideal start for easing this city girl’s frantic pace into a much slower one. Having landed late at night, the next morning I made use of our hotel, The Wedgewood Hotel, Vancouver (which, with its luxe furnishings and central location felt very Gossip Girl) and its complimentary morning yoga sessions. The flight from London to Canada is just under ten hours, so some downward dogs and gentle stretching was exactly what my body was crying out for.
Afterwards, my anxious mind, which was still craving peace, found it at Dr Sun Yat-Sen’s Classical Chinese Gardens, the first full scale classical Chinese garden built outside of China. A magical, hidden gem, tucked away in a central street, you might not recognise that behind the walls, are gardens with jade-green waterways, naturally sculpted rocks and greenery. It’s a surreal experience to meander through the pathways and then look up and see skyscrapers and mountains framing the sky.
After discovering the meditative power of a traditional tea ceremony, of course, the best place to go next was Mott 32, the award-winning Chinese restaurant which has branches in Canton, Shanghai, Beijing and now Vancouver. With private dining rooms, and an expansive main dining room, the interior is inspired by the brand’s Hong Kong flagship. Dining there feels historic, luxurious and with dim lighting, it’s also pretty sexy. And while cocktails aren’t the healthiest answer to a whirring brain, the Forbidden Rose: vanilla, passionfruit and Lychee topped with edible pansies was just what the doctor ordered.
Speaking of doctors. If I ever got my qualification, I’d be prescribing my patients a healthy-dose of tree hugging. Spending just fifteen minutes in trees boosts the immune system and stabilises blood pressure. Unfortunately, it’s not always so easy to access back home. But Vancouver is home to 250 city parks, and when they say park, they don’t mean a patch of grass with some swings on it. Stanley Park is an urban rainforest, with trails a-plenty across its 1000 acres.
Nearby, for full forest immersion, is Capilano Suspension Bridge, a wobbly (but entirely safe, it is strong enough to hold an entire plane) suspension bridge, 70 metres above the Capilano River, a fast-flowing river with crashing waterfalls. The bridge itself stretches 137 metres, and takes you right into the heart of a forest. We spent the afternoon of the second day there, and surrounded by towering cedar trees and Douglas Firs, I also felt incredibly tiny – and in awe at the mysteries of nature, as I fully immersed myself within the trees. Every now and then looking up to see birds of prey swoop across the blue sky, or I’d shut my eyes and listen to their cries. The air smelled medicinal, so fresh and everywhere I looked was green. And! It turns out the human eye can see more shades of green than any other colour. I left feeling awash with calm.
After feeling so zen in nature, the perfect food pairing was, of course: a zero-waste, vegetarian and vegan meal, from the Michelin recommend restaurant The Acorn. We had the multi-course chef’s tasting menu, using local and seasonal ingredients and – even as a lifelong vegetarian – I have never seen so many inventive (and delicious) uses of a carrot. Unsurprisingly, I slept incredibly well that evening (and not just because the tasting menu came with wine)
Go storm (and surfer) chasing on Vancouver Island
Every once-in-a-lifetime trip should involve a trip on a helicopter. Luckily, that’s just a mode of transport for business people needing to get from Vancouver, to Vancouver Island. Yep, instead of catching a ferry you can instead board a small helicopter (I got to sit up front, close to the pilot) in 18 minutes. Life ambition ticked in the time it usually takes me to shower.
You’ll then need to drive through more towering forest, and (depending on the time of year) snow storms, to reach Wickaninnish Inn, AKA the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at (and I don’t say that lightly). It’s perched between forest, and a mile-long beach, with every room overlooking the sea. My room, which was all cosy wood panelling and butter-leather chairs had a huge window, and balcony, right above the crashing sea. I felt like I was at the edge of the world, with nothing to see but rugged coastline and a sky that turned from stormy grey, to midnight blue.
There were binoculars for spotting wildlife, and bright orange raincoats and welly boots in the wardrobes, which you could pull on and run out into the beach, right in the eye of the storm, knowing a warm bath was minutes away. I’m telling you, if you’re ever holding onto any pent-up anger or heartbreak or grief, then you really need some storm therapy: which is simply screaming into the howling wind, waves crashing all around you, on a beach far, far from home and the source of any pain.
The Wickanninish Inn, with a library full of books and Scrabble boards (also, yes, of course, overlooking the ocean) and a chic restaurant is hard to leave. So hard to leave that I genuinely Googled “do squatters rights apply to hotels?” when it was time to check-out, but I wasn’t too bereft for too long.
As nearby Tofino has opportunity to for more bucket-list experiences, including a whale watching trip to natural hot springs. Our trip was with Ahous Adventure, Eco-Cultural Adventure Tours, which is owned and operated by the Ahousaht Nation. This meant that, alongside keeping our beady eyes peeled for wildlife, we also learned from our friendly, funny and incredibly trustworthy guide all about Ahousaht’s Indigenous culture, language and penchant for storytelling.
We were on a trip to the Tofino Hot Springs, which have been used for centuries by the Ahousaht Nation for their medicinal and spiritual benefits. Unfortunately, they can only be accessed when the ocean is behaving and it very much wasn’t the day we went: at times the boat felt like a rollercoaster. But, any disappointment was soon whisked away by what I deem to be one of the most spiritual experiences of all: whale-watching. I’ve gone on multiple whale watching trips, all across the world, and mostly been unsuccessful and, because of this, I think if a whale treats you to its presence, you’re incredibly lucky. They’re magical, peaceful beasts and deserve respect (our guide reassured us that they stayed far enough away so as not to disturb them) and, so, seeing the back of a humpback whale break through the water, spurt, and then dive down again was one of the most special moments of my life. I was holding my breath the whole time! We also saw a bald eagles, otters and a gentleman of a sealion, languishing on a rock.
Vancouver Island is the largest island on the west coast of North America, with lots to explore. Tofino is on the West Coast and a short car ride away from Ucluelet, a remote district, situated on the edge of the Wild Pacific Ocean. Ucluelet (pronounced you-clue-let) is a Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation words that means ‘people of the harbour.’ And the fishing village is indeed home to friendly locals, cute, arty shops and, with secluded beaches, even cuter surfers (for anyone single: a swipe on Tinder is worth it). But while exploring the village is definitely worth a day out, there’s also, sometimes (whisper it) nothing nicer than just replenishing in your hotel resort. On a bucket-list trip it’s so tempting to just be tick, tick, ticking things off your list but you also need time to recharge so you can truly appreciate the magical moments when they come. Blackrock Ocean Front Resort is the ideal place for this, they have a range of suites that feel more like mini apartments (some even complete with kitchenettes) so you can curl up on the sofa, get your journal out and reflect on your trip so far while looking out at the view. And, what a view: overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the waves crash dramatically, with the sound of them soothing you to sleep at night. The resort is also complete with an ocean front restaurant, for sunset dining and the Drift Spa for dreamy, body reviving treatments.
Head to wilderness city (and learn from the locals)
You’re now fully adapted to the wild, and ready to go even deeper. From Vancouver airport, it’s time to fly North to The Yukon. A two-hour flight from Vancouver takes you into Whitehorse, the capital city of The Yukon. But, before you go picturing skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle of more well-known capital cities, there’s a few things you need to know. This is a territory, in North West Canada, that is almost the same size of Spain but is home to around 45,000 people. To put that into perspective, that’s just under half of the number of people who attended Taylor Swift’s Eras tour each night. That’s why Whitehorse is known as Wilderness City, it truly is a place where the mysteries of the mountains, and the wildlife, take charge over people. Or, as one local told me: “there’s more Moose than men, in the Yukon.”
The Yukon has a rich history and the locals are more than happy to acquaint you with it, despite its rugged beauty and proximity to all sorts of adventure, there’s not that many tourists here so most of the people you meet are native to the territory. The land is home to the First Nation people, and eight First Nation languages are spoken, each using multiple dialects. Unfortunately, some of the indigenous languages and traditions are being lost, with the internet playing a huge role in the Westernisation of the culture. With this in mind, it’s vital that as a visitor to the lands, we learned as much as we could about its people’s history. We visited Kwaday Dan Kenj – A Long Ago People’s Place, a cultural site that is an authentic recreation of a First Nation village. It was here that we sat around the fire and heard stories from our guides Meta and Harold, who told us of their family history before Meta guided us through a plant medicine workshop, showing how they made the use of the ingredients of the forest to heal. The pair are Southern Tutchone, which has two clans – Khanjet (the crow clan) and Ägunda (wolf clan). What clan you are from is vital to your identity, and the clan you are in is determined by your mother’s lineage – and whoever is in your clan is considered your kin. I was touched by how important family is to the Nation, and how they all took care of each other. Recently, I’ve found that community is dwindling and we’re all more disconnected than ever, so there was something incredibly moving hearing these traditions and stories. It made me want to dig into my own lineage and try and learn more about my grandparents’ lives and stories.
The Southern Tutchone language is what’s known as an endangered language, with now an estimated 500 people or less being able to speak it. A Long Ago People’s Place, as a living museum, is a valuable resource to schools in the area, to keep young people invested in ensuring the language, and the traditions are not lost. This is also something Joella, founder of The Yukon Soaps Company, aims to help with her products and soap-making workshops where she teaches participants about the land and language of The Yukon.
Being crafty has never been high on my bucket-list but, I often think, we can’t just try the things we know we’ll like but that we should enrich our lives by giving things a go that we never thought we’d enjoy. Soap-making for me was one of those things, as was glass-blowing at Lumel Studios, in Whitehorse. While tourists like myself, of course, head to the studio for glass blowing workshops, what makes the place so special is that it’s a studio hub. They have people of all ages, creating pieces on their benches, from aged five to one hundred, and have a café and bar where people gather afterwards. To create a piece, the team guide you through taking the molten, melted glass and gently (and carefully) watching it turn into something solid under a very, very hot flame. It’s a meditative practice that I thought I wouldn’t enjoy, but taking the time to slow down, and create something (I chose to make a paperweight) sparked something in me. Lumel’s philosophy is that they take something weak and make it strong, and I certainly felt that that day. My paperweight (you get to keep whatever you make) is a lasting reminder that I can, and should, try the things I think I’ll be bad at. There’s always strength and lessons to be found in doing so.
Get face-to-face with a Lynx and snow mobile on a frozen lake in the wilderness
As for the wildlife, the best place to get up close and personal is the Yukon Wildlife Nature Preserve, where, in their natural habitat we witnessed mountain goats, moose and muskox, a creature known as the ‘ugly moose’ but I thought looked more like a huge, grumpy Guinea pig and are shaggy survivors of the Ice Age. Kinda obsessed with them, to be honest. Wild cats more your thing? We also witnessed the Canada Lynx who we were lucky enough to watch pounce on its prey (during feeding time and safely.)
Or, if you’re more the scream-if-you-wanna-go-faster type Up North Adventures provide snow mobiles (and very patient guides) so you can journey over a frozen lake, before trekking through the surrounding forest (where we even saw moose prints!) It was the closest I have ever felt to being on the moon. Now, there’s a bucket-list experience that’s pretty hard to actually achieve… unless you happen to be good friends with Elon Musk (and no one wants that.)
Another common bucket-list experience is to see the Northern Lights. And I have spent many a freezing cold night with my head craned to the sky praying, for my fingers sake, that they show soon. With Up North tours you are gathered around a fire, with plenty of warm drinks to keep you entertained while you wait for the elusive aurora to show her face. For us, she absolutely did… but we could only really spot her through our camera-phones, not through our bare eyes. So, if you’re ever feeling jealous of others Northern Lights spotting, be wary, they might only have just got the photo. It was still such a special evening though, with stars like I’ve never seen before.
Sleep in the forest (almost)
Pulling up, after in the dark, to Black Spruce Cabins, in the middle of the night felt adventurous. There are four cabins, reached by taxi from Whitehorse, that are self-serving and you let yourself in with a code. It was deathly quiet, and snow-covered trees loomed over me. But, stepping inside, I realised they were just what my always-on, city-girl brain needed. Sometimes I feel like noise dominates my existence, and that I have no idea what silence is. In Black Spruce cabins, I found it. I opted to sleep with the curtains open, with each cabin having a floor to ceiling window, overlooking the forest, it felt as close to camping as you could in this cold.
Later, craving a similar level of peace but more of a family-vibe, we moved to the family-run Yukon Ski Lodge, which has cosy rooms and a huge shared living room, overlooking the hills. It’s a word-of-mouth spot for wild skiiers, as there’s brilliant trails all around, and I am now desperate to return with a group of friends who love to ski (so I can stay home and cook and drink wine in the beautiful kitchen). The place is so family orientated, one morning we even went outside and threw boiling hot water in the air with the owner’s children, to watch in amazement as it turned to ice.
By the time our trip was over I had fully acclimatised to the quiet, but, more than that, I felt like I’d learned so much, from all the experiences I’d done but also the people that I met. Throughout the trip, at each and every turn, I felt I’d discovered the magic in living, in both everyday experiences and the extraordinary. It’s a trip I truly will be thankful for, for the rest of my life.
Catriona travelled as a guest of My Canada Trips (www.mycanadatrips.co.uk), Destination Canada (www.explore-canada.co.uk), Destination British Columbia (www.hellobc.com) and Travel Yukon (www.travelyukon.com).
My Canada Trips has launched a Canadian Wellness Getaway itinerary - 14-nights from £5179 per person including international and internal flights, 14-nights hotel accommodation, car rental on Vancouver Island and in the Yukon, return ferries from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay (Vancouver to Tofino), admission to Capilano Suspension Bridge, a Hot Springs Cove Eco-Cultural Tour in Tofino, entrance to the Yukon Wildlife Reserve & Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs, and a Dawson City & Gold Fields Tour.
To book visit www.mycanadatrips.co.uk or call 0808 223 4124
Follow Catriona Innes, Cosmopolitan's Commissioning Director, on Instagram and Substack.
Catriona Innes is Cosmopolitan UK’s multiple award-winning Commissioning Editor, who has won BSME awards both for her longform investigative journalism as well as for leading the Cosmopolitan features department. Alongside commissioning and editing the features section, both online and in print, Catriona regularly writes her own hard-hitting investigations spending months researching some of the most pressing issues affecting young women today.
She has spent time undercover with specialist police forces, domestic abuse social workers and even Playboy Bunnies to create articles that take readers to the heart of the story. Catriona is also a published author, poet and volunteers with a number of organisations that directly help the homeless community of London. She’s often found challenging her weak ankles in towering heels through the streets of Soho. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
