The water around me was silent, slowly slapping against the side of my kayak. The stillness was eerie considering the massive burst of water and air that had just broken the water’s surface near my kayak mere seconds before. I was acutely aware of my breathing—quick, shallow breaths—and the rising feeling of thrill mixed with fear as I scanned the now smooth surface of the water for the 79,000 pound humpback whale swimming beneath my kayak.
My family and I had flown to the San Juan Islands in British Colombia for a multi-day kayaking trip to explore the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. Since little, I had been raised to appreciate the spontaneity of ‘off the beaten path’ vacations and to scoff at all-inclusive resorts. My family had always opted to ‘live like a local,’ whether that meant renting an apartment in Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg, Russia or camping in the woods of British Colombia. When I was a teenager I used to lament the lack of internet on these family vacations but in retrospect I find myself struck with wanderlust and looking to book trips with the same spirit of adventure as those from my childhood.
Our kayaking trip in the Pacific Northwest proved breathtaking as we let the beauty of the surrounding wilderness unveil itself to us each day. Kayaking around the San Juan Islands offered an intimate introduction with the local wildlife and scenery that hour boat excursions miss out on.
When the humpback whale disappeared beneath the British Colombia waters, it left a mixture of awe, fear and excitement in its wake. I’ll always remember that moment for the sheer lack of control I had in the situation, floating there in my comically small kayak by comparison. Whether the whale had decided to pop up and say hello, rush to the surface in a gulp to capture plankton or swat it’s massive fluke, I would have been powerless to it’s actions. It was as though mother nature herself had told me to sit down and let life take its course—-something I should perhaps do more often.
My ‘whale’ of an encounter gave me something that all of us let fall to the sidelines of our daily routines, which is perspective. Perspective of who we are and what really matters in life. All too often perspective is lost to quarrels with friends that feel like “the end of the world,” work projects that take over our lives or minor stresses we blow out of proportion. Sitting there in my kayak in British, Colombia surrounded by statuesque trees and ocean I was reminded of how crucial it is to remind ourselves of the important things in life.
To book a kayaking trip in British Colombia visithttp://kayakbc.com/, which offers highly rated tours throughout the Pacific Northwest.
*I do not own the rights to the photo in this post.
