As I share with you all my latest blog post, I have a friend visiting from Ottawa. She and I have been friends for most of our lives (I think we were 7 or 8 when we met), and she is officially only the second person to have come visit me in the entire time I have lived in the NWT

I get a lot of people who tell me they would really love to come visit me, but when they cost out the price of a plane ticket (it’s at least $1,000 from Edmonton on a good day if a seat sale is on) and they realize they can go somewhere else – anywhere else – for considerably less, I think they think twice about coming all the way up here.

Which is fine with me. I don’t want people to spend money they don’t have to come visit, because that will only impact upon the overall experience of coming up to the NWT. Even a trip to Yellowknife can be an expensive undertaking – and not necessarily everybody’s cup of tea.

Sometimes, I wish they would reconsider, throw caution to the wind and come up. Yes it is expensive. Yes it will cost you a lot of money. Yes you will get bit by the mosquitoes (if you come in the warmer months). Yes the 24-hour daylight may drive you a little bananas. All of this is true.

For all the reasons that people can think of not to come visit, there are a million and one reasons to come visit.  If for no other reason than to come see a part of the world – of Canada – that few people get the opportunity to come see for themselves.

In the NWT, we’re only 44,000 people spread out across 33 communities. The populations of these communities range anywhere from as many as ~18,000 in Yellowknife to double digits in some places (I’ve heard tell there is one place with 11 regular residents). But each one of us has a story, either about what our lives have always been like, how they used to be, and how they are now, or how it is we ended up in these parts in the first place.

You will run into more than one person who says they came up for a short period – and stayed. Of people who came up for a summer and just never left. Of people who came up as part of a couple and stayed behind when their partner decided to leave. Of people who simply wanted a change and took advantage of an opportunity.

Visitors are always more than welcome in these parts. We’re always willing to share our stories and our events and everything there is to enjoy about life in the NWT. And if you’re adventurous enough, come up to Inuvik via the Dempster Highway – 700+ kilometres of gravel.

And she’s seen just how welcome people are – in ways I never even expected her to see. She had a list of must-dos before she arrived – and had crossed just about everything off her list in the first two days. Then everything else (like her goose-plucking experience) were added bonuses.

I’m hoping my friend gets the experience she hoped for – and that she leaves with an understanding of why it is I have chosen to stay here.

I am pretty sure that part of my job here is done…