On vacation, we all tend to go where everyone else goes. It’s so much easier to find those online reactions for good food and good service. The more people go somewhere, the more they talk about it. The more people will be attracted to that place. It seems to be a natural process for everything.

Yet, here I am, thinking (again) that there must be more than this. What if I go left where everyone wants us to go right?

New surroundings bring new challenges and new discoveries. So what is the best way to go about that? Some people will dive in head first and will run or drive around and within days they know everything about everything.

Until you ask them a specific question, that is. Usually that is where the knowledge ends. I am trying to do as a cat does in a new home. The first thing to do is walk around and fall asleep in the best place of the house. After that, exploration goes in a spiral outwards from the sleeping spot.

Cooped up for the sake of a possible infection. Once arrived in Nova Scotia, it was time for a period of self-isolation.  Our apartment is big enough to avoid cabin fever, so at least that risk was avoided. It was empty for the whole 14 days, echoes and reverb in every room.

The chair I had designated as my interim office chair had decided to break mere hours before being packed in the car before departure. As a result, I had to work with my computer on a folding picnic table, sitting on a plastic cooler that was not appreciating my weight.

The trip was fairly short and uneventful. The only one not enjoying it -at-all- was Mia. Not used to car trips, short or long, she retreated into her own space. We started off on a Sunday morning. Warnings of bad bad weather were out.

We had no choice but to move ahead of the storm system. When we left, Winnipeg was still sunny, devoid of snow and ice and I intended to keep it that way for all of the trip.