The Happy Camper: My New Experience at the Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show
What a contrast, to have a handler escort me away for a pee break from the crowds of paddlers wanting their books signed and hands shook during the Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto to just an old high school friend and a couple of past college students come visit me at the Outdoor Adventure Show in Vancouver. The majority of West Coast outdoor enthusiasts had no clue who I was—and that was great.
In life, you need a moment of diversity to remind you why you do what you do. I never went into protecting wilderness for fame and fortune. Thank goodness. There is no such thing in that line of work. I did it to make a small difference before my ashes are spread across the forest floor or in some secluded lake…knowing that I at least tried during my time on this planet.
Just over a year ago, I left my college part-time teaching job that I had for some 30 plus years. It was then that I promised myself to spread the gospel of wilderness protection beyond the regular choir. That’s why you’ve noticed me taking speaking gigs at RV and motorboat shows, and just recently flying across the country to the city of Vancouver to present in front of strangers who spend most of their outdoor time kayaking on the ocean or climbing up some mountain peak rather than portage through a boreal forest in northern Ontario.
I’ve been mocked by some friends and colleagues for going beyond the regular crowd. But I learned long ago that if you just spend your time preaching to the converted, you’ll just stroke your own ego and get nowhere with your true cause.
As per normal, there were a few hiccups on my way out West to present at the Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show. An approaching snowstorm had me book a motel the night before my flight, outside of Ottawa. It was the cheapest place I could afford and came complete with a shag carpet dotted with old cigarette burns and a yellow-stained bathtub ring. But no bed bugs, so I was content until my early flight the next day.
The misadventures continued. The kid sitting beside me threw up two hours into the five-hour flight. And when I finally arrived at the hotel in Vancouver, the front desk manager said there was a slight mistake in my booking and that they didn’t have a room for me until the next day.
Keeping to the theme on my Explore x The Happy Camper merch hoodie that I was wearing at the time—“No Problems, Just Solutions”—it all worked out at the end of the day. I got a spare room but with renovations going on above me. Rather than listen to the thump of a jack hammer and buzz of a power drill bellowing out overhead, I went for a long walk along the harbourfront, then sat and watched the float planes land and take off, taking tourists over the mountain peaks. It gave me a moment of calm, reminding me so much of past northern canoe trips.
By the time I got back to my room, the contractors had gone home for the day and I was left to slip into the hotel’s fancy bath robe, pour myself a nice scotch, gaze out the window at the saltwater harbour backed by snowcapped mountains and look forward to the next day of presenting in front of strangers.
The Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show is half the size of the Toronto show. But I have to say, it’s more meaty. There’s less dried sausage and low-priced sock venues and way more booths promoting local places to venture in the province of British Columbia itself. Hello Ontario Tourism, and Ontario Parks! Where have you gone from the Ontario Outdoor Adventure Show? Asking for a friend.
To be quite honest, I loved both shows. I like the familiarity of the Ontario crowd; a time to rekindle memories with paddling friends and to chat about a wild landscape I know and love. But it’s also so refreshing to meet an unknown group of wilderness lovers and share their joy of another amazing wild place in this incredible country.
A big thanks goes out to the show organizers for inviting me to present in Vancouver (and Toronto). And thanks to Explore Magazine for also helping make it all happen. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
The Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show was amazing, and I’m truly honoured to have been part of it. Looking forward to next year’s speaking tour and, once again, expanding my horizons across this great country of ours.
You sure do learn from travelling outside of your familiar.
