How the hell did we end up in the Yukon wilderness?

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I'd been doing dogsledding trips in Alaska for over a decade before I convinced my husband to join me. Despite his idea of a good time involving a packet of crisps and a pub, he almost enjoyed himself.
Another relaxing holiday on the North Slope, Alaska

 A guy we met in the bush invited us to move on to his remote off road homestead to help with running his sled dogs and subsistence lifestyle. 
It didn’t occur to us that he must be crazy to ask two middle-aged urban professionals with no relevant skills to move in and help out. 

 (To see just how unsuitable we were go to Our story.)
Arrival in the wilderness

 It certainly occurred to us further down the line when things went pear shaped and we ended up homeless in the subarctic wilderness in mid winter. 
From there began a journey that made us homeless on two continents for two years, campers at 40 below, unwelcome squatters in an empty cabin and guests (both welcome and unwelcome) in homes belonging to some very kind and mildly crazy friends. 


Over the past 5 years, we’ve got a little more skilled, a lot tougher, and finally moved across the border into Canada where we managed to buy our own property in 2015. 

 We now intend to go fully crazy ourselves, and there is no one to stop us.

Comments

  1. Unknown19 October 2017 at 10:20

    Hi,

    Having seen the Escape to the wild show and reading this blog it's amazing to see what you guys have done out there! I would love to do the same and wondered how you navigated the visa routes with Canada. How does one go about living there if not on a working visa?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Louise Dumayne20 October 2017 at 10:24

    Hi Jason, thanks for your nice comment. We came out initially for 6 months as tourists. no visa necessary for Brits. Then for 4/5 years we would go home in the summer to make as much money as we could, then would rent our place in London out and spend the winters here. We applied for residency under the self employed visa scheme, which i think may have changed now. It took a long time, was expensive and a lot of work, but we did it, without lawyers and were very grateful to be accepted. We have 5 years leave to stay and then have to reapply and very much hope we'll be accepted again. Hope that helps. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mayur30 September 2020 at 20:20

      You are mistaken. Permanent Residence is permanent. You need NOT apply for it again. You simply renew your PR cards every 5 years unless you become a Citizen. So you are good forever !

      Delete

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