Departure: December 2nd. Weather and flights permitting — which I’m already learning is the standard caveat for everything north of 60.
I’ve been talking to people who’ve done this before, and they’ve been genuinely helpful. The consensus: bring more than you think you need, and don’t assume you can pick things up when you run low. What you bring is what you have until the sealift arrives next summer — ten months away.
So we’ve been shopping like people preparing for something between a long camping trip and a small apocalypse.
I should mention: if you give an ADHD brain a reason to make a list and stock up on things, stand back. I have been in full hyperfocus mode for the better part of two weeks. The non-perishables are organized. The medications are sorted for three months. I have enough hand lotion to hydrate a small province. The humidifiers are packed. I’ve researched every item three times and questioned each decision approximately twice that.
The list also includes a freezer (yes, I know the jokes about the doorstep — no, I don’t want to test whether polar bears can open one), and we’re still debating a snowmobile. There are fewer than ten kilometres of roads in the community, so it’s not really a question of whether you need one — it’s timing.
We sold most of our furniture. No point storing what’s already provided up there. What we’re keeping is what matters: the animals, the essentials, and enough pasta to last until August.
It’s starting to feel real.