by Ginny Michaux, Guest Blogger
There is something freeing about traveling alone.
You find yourself noticing other people and your surroundings more. You are likely to speak to people much more often. There is always a little bit of wariness when you are anyone traveling alone. But, given ordinary care, a woman especially can scope out safe new acquaintances, make new friends, and extend herself to try new experiences, all the while staying safe.
Traveling alone is not the same as FEELING alone.
I always have people back home who know generally where I am at all times. I love to check in and chat. Cell phones and texting make this so easy! I hope more women will give traveling alone a try. What do you think?
My first foray by myself outside of the USA was to Churchill, Canada in October of 1998. I had six-days to see wild polar bears in their natural habitat. Already our human future with climate change and the novel were becoming fixtures in my mind, even though merely a concept.
The week before I flew to Churchill, there was a blizzard with sixty-five knot winds and three-foot snow drifts. Landing sounded iffy.
You may have noticed that ‘New Churchill’ features prominently as one locale in A Tree for Antarctica? By 2295 in the story, the original town of Churchill has been forced to move upland from the flooding shores of Hudson Bay, but remains a unique place.
The first thing I did on arrival in Churchill was to go for a walk on the big stones that line the water there. It looked a perfect place for a nice long walk. Then I saw a sign like this, and left quickly! Someone later told me that bears can smell you 20 miles away and like to surprise humans walking there by suddenly emerging from the water!
In 1998, tramping along with a brave and daredevil helicopter pilot over frozen tundra and mostly frozen rivers was the height of excitement. We had to keep a look out for both polar bears and wolves. He had a gun, but it only made noise.
I had told the pilot when we met on the phone that I was collecting information for a novel, and I think that was why he was willing to take me with him on that long work day, even up to the Arctic Circle. This was on a day spent checking river flows for future hydropower. This young man flew for all sorts of work. Some of it was for rescue or looking for missing people. That day he seemed glad to have company.
When I wrote the book, his daredevil tales of flying (including one crash and other near misses) burnished Dal Riley’s experiences for the story. Indeed, at end of each day, we had to hurry back to base when ice threatened to form on the windshield and blades of the heli, which would have forced us down on the wild tundra. I hope he is safe and sound now, wherever he is.
On other days, I did see polar bears up close, and watched many of these majestic creatures for hours. Some even tried to climb up on our tundra buggy! Others were seen in town. If a bear came into town, though, it might be captured and taken to the ‘polar bear jail’ for a couple of days before being tagged with spray paint and released.
On the night when I saw the glorious northern lights, a wolf loped along beside the truck I had borrowed to drive away from town for a better view.
Also seen were many white arctic foxes, snowy owls, and a few caribou when we were close to the Arctic Circle.
Because it got out that I was a woman traveling alone, the fire department invited me to come to the annual town dance in the rec center. I think they invited some other people visiting too. All ages played hockey nonstop in this modern rec center. Children were always there, until the 9 PM warning siren blared for them to get home and inside, safe from polar bears and wolves.
This was a real community. I am so glad I was there for all that. And, I never once felt alone.
VJ (Ginny) Michaux
V.J. Michaux, known to friends and family as ‘Ginny,’ is an author, speaker, explorer, and expert on climate change. She is a member of the Explorers Club. Ginny, was a member of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project since its early years, and has given talks to thousands of adults and school children in the USA and Mexico about climate and about her own expeditions related to climate. You can find more about Ginny on her website at www.vjmichaux.com
If you are interested in reading more from “Ginny” she has recently published a compelling novel about climate change.
For another blog post about an encounter with a bear, check out Spotting Polar Bears in the Arctic Circle.
