Cloudy with a Chance of Landing

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It’s easy to forget what your own country has to offer. As the end of 2018 was approaching, you start to look back at your year and you start to think about what you have accomplished. How many of those so-called “New Year Goals” have you realized in the last few months? The approach of a new year always gives you that extra push to accomplish even more of that 2018 list. Plus, how exciting is it to tick off a list and start a new one? At the beginning of 2018, I had given myself the goal to explore all of Canada’s provinces and territories. I want to see more of my own country. There are no deadlines, no starting point really. But how about the Northern Territories?

Whitehorse, Yukon

It was early November and while all of our friends were going to Mexico to celebrate fall, I booked two last minute tickets to Whitehorse, Yukon. Yes that’s right, the Great White North. I was on a mission, I wanted to see the fabulous northern lights, and it was a great time of the year for that.



As we embark on our flight to Whitehorse, we couldn’t be more excited. Our carry-ons were packed with the warmest clothes we own.

What is there to expect when some towns in the Yukon were as cold as minus 33 degrees Celsius in early November! The beach in Mexico doesn’t sound too bad right now..

We are at Vancouver airport waiting to board the short 2 hours flight to Whitehorse. And then there is an announcement for our flight: “due to the low cloud coverage over Whitehorse, we might not be able to land, but we will try.”

“If we can’t land in Whitehorse, we will just come back to Vancouver.”

Ok wait what? They will try to land, it might work but it might not, are we going to crash? What does this mean?

The Flight Attendant Advice

I decide to call my best friend who is a flight attendant. Her boyfriend just so happens to be a pilot. It’s probably the realistic opinion I can get right now. They both explain to me that it is procedure, it happens often that the clouds clear up before they arrive to destination. Out of all my travels, it was certainly the first time I had ever heard such an announcement.

As we board on the plane, I feel anxious as to if we are going to make it to Whitehorse or not. Should I have taken travel insurance in case our flight got turned around back to Vancouver?

Questions, questions in my overly creative mind.



The window seat is a fantastic experience. We fly over the Coastal Mountain Range and the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia for most of our flight. The snowy mountain are peaking through the clouds as we fly over this never ending view.

As we get closer to Whitehorse, we can see the sunset and almost no mountains. They are more like hills, the cloud coverage is looking like a layer of whipped cream on a birthday cake.

We seem to be circling around the Yukon capital.

Finally, we land in Whitehorse, among the thick layer of clouds. It was all a little scary for nothing. We slowly approach the small Whitehorse Airport, curious to see how cold it really is outside. We are told to walk on the tarmac to get to the airport entrance.

Next stop – pick up the rental car. As we finish signing the rental contract, keys in our hands, we walk out towards the parking lot and the whole room goes dark. There you go, Whitehorse Airport is now out of power.

What’s next for this trip? Make sure to look back here for the rest of our Yukon adventure

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