My Most Challenging Trip Yet: Volunteering in a First Nations Community

Plus highlights from year three of nomad life

My solo mission to northern Manitoba is complete and what an exciting and exhausting experience it was. I joined a team of volunteers to run a spay and neuter clinic in the Chemawawin Cree Nation community, located a good five hours north of Winnipeg. 

The entire operation was managed very professionally by Manitoba Underdogs Rescue, which has been building a relationship with this community for over a decade. We took over the local schoolhouse, which meant bunking in the classrooms, eating our meals in the home economics room, and the rest of the action happening in the gymnasium. This included the surgeries taking place in full view, which was a lot for me to digest considering that I don’t even like to see my dogs get their annual rabies jab. 

The intake photo was one of the few tasks that didn’t involve dog poo

My role as a newbie volunteer was to pitch in anywhere and everywhere. For the most part, that meant I spent a lot of time cleaning up after very anxious dogs. But I also had an opportunity to go on an outreach drive through the community and help with rounding up dogs due for surgery. This was an eye-opening experience; the school house may have been an impressive, modern building but I was saddened to see how many homes were in need of repair.

That said, the trip was considered a success with 59 dogs being spayed or neutered and another 24 dogs surrendered into care. These pups joined the convoy for the return trip to Winnipeg where they were distributed to fosters and will eventually find their forever homes. It was also a personal success for me as I’ve never volunteered in such a hands-on capacity before. And once I’ve fully recovered, I’ll certainly consider signing up for another one in the future.  

For photos and videos, check out my Instagram Stories.

Nothing ever goes to plan

The recap of our nomad years continues on the blog. While the world was hit with wave after wave of COVID in 2022, we somehow managed to carry on with our travels —although we were often left scrambling as travel restrictions came and went.

Case in point, Morocco and Portugal were two meticulously planned destinations—flights and Airbnbs included—that we didn’t actually visit that year. Instead, we found ourselves rushing to book Türkiye once again (that’s the third trip in as many years, for those of you keeping track). 

Here what you can expect in this month’s instalment:

• Why we never once had dinner out in Spain (and what we did instead)

• Where to go in Turkiye once you’ve already been to Istanbul

• What happened when we foolishly booked a non-air conditioned, open-air apartment in Puerto Escondido

• Our honest take on the expat enclave of San Miguel de Allende

The Mexican city we fell in love with (and it wasn’t San Miguel de Allende)

Thailand is calling

After a four year absence from Southeast Asia, we’re finally heading back there in September. It’s going to be a month of revisiting our favourite haunts and exploring new places; during our expat stint in Singapore, we’d travelled to Thailand at least a dozen times (sometimes for business but mostly for pleasure). 

Our previous trips had typically been two or three days but, this time round, we’re heading there for a full, glorious month. We’re starting with a couple weeks on Koh Phangnan, a gorgeous island in the Gulf of Thailand—fingers crossed that monsoon season is slow to arrive this year 😂. From there, it’s a week in Chiang Mai to explore Thailand’s cooler north, then we’ll close out with a romp through Bangkok.

Naturally, we’ll be sharing the highlights on Instagram as we go. And let us know if you want an in-depth blog post on all the trip details, including how much an action-packed adventure in Thailand costs in 2024. 

See you on the road,

Stephanie & Gillian