The Life of a Digital Nomad: Off-grid in the Yukon
- Jess Nadeau
- Oct 22, 2022
- 4 min read
Being a digital nomad and location independent allows me to explore all sorts of lifestyles, and one of my latest has been to live off-grid in a forest almost one hour outside of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.
I gave some of my free time to care for 30 adorable sled dogs in exchange for accommodation and a small food allocation. The deal was pretty sweet!
Every day, it only took me about an hour to check on the dogs, clean their space, and give them food, water and lots of love and affection (although on most days I would end up spending way more than an hour hanging out with them). This means I still had plenty of time to attend to my online work.
My accommodation was a simple camper with my own generator hooked up to a battery for charging the basics: my phone, my computer and a set of fairy lights I used once the days got short enough again to reveal some darkness.
There was no water hookup but there were plenty of blue jugs that I would go fill at the nearby water station about once a week. And I had to keep an eye on my grey water as to not overfill my bucket (possibly my least favourite task).
I had my own private outhouse and used my solar camping shower whenever I felt the need to freshen up a bit (mostly pretty short showers due to the insane amount of mosquitoes for most of June-July-August).
Having said that, I did allow myself the luxury of going to Eclipse Hot Springs every 10 days or so. This is where I had my "proper" showers and washed my hair thoroughly!
I also had access to a huge amount of firewood which I got to practice my chopping skills with. This became very handy as September rolled in and brought its northern chill from evening to late morning. I like to think I got pretty good at chopping wood and starting fires... but I did use the help of fire starters, and the provided wood stove was very efficient, making the task reasonably easy.
The camper needed some love and a bit of "Jess touch" when I arrived. But after a week of tweaking it to my liking, I became quite comfortable. I made it as pretty as I thought it should be and scattered some of my favourite household items around (blankets, candles, kitchenware, decorations, etc.), which I had carried along with me. This might sound frivolous but it truly made all the difference in making me feel at home!
Working remotely from my little camper in the forest was quite stressful at first. I was worried about my connection, the small space, my own motivation... but I quickly realized there was nothing to worry about. Hooked up to the battery was one part of a booster, with the other part perched high in a nearby tree. This allowed me to bring the 1 bar of LTE connection on my phone up to 3 bars, and then create a hotspot for my laptop. Believe it or not, it was more than enough to do all my work and even have long Zoom meetings.
Of course, working with no wifi means using a lot of data. And anyone who lives in or has been to Canada knows that our cellphone plans are not the most generous or affordable when it comes to data. Luckily, as soon as I accepted the work exchange and knew I'd be spending a few months off-grid, I contacted my previous service provider who had an incredible deal to get me to switch back to them: 30G of high speed Internet, then unlimited data, for the same price I was already paying. This proved a game changer for my time up North! And living off-grid would not have been possible without some network coverage...
As a backup to ensure I wouldn't run out of the high speed data, and to keep my motivation and ergonomics in check, I also purchased a punch card at the co-working space in the closest city: Whitehorse. This is where I had to drive to for groceries, gas, mail, etc. Seeing other humans at least once a week also made my transformation into a wild-wood-wolf-woman more manageable!
The experience was incredible. I learned so much about my own resilience, developed new life skills and connected with my environment in a whole new way. I had already been to the Yukon once before, but staying a whole season allowed me to see so much more of the territory. I only had to check on the dogs every 12 hours (at the minimum), so squeezed in a few hikes, paddles and adventures throughout the never-ending summer days.
Before leaving the area, I also made sure to take some time off and go spend about 10 days further North, where I fell in love with Dawson City and Tombstone Territorial Park.
As the land of the midnight sun slowly prepared itself to transform into the "land of no sun", the frosty mornings confirmed it was time for me to move on to the next adventure.
In mid-September, I emptied my little camper and said goodbye to the dogs. I must admit it was one of my hardest goodbyes ever.
I had given them so much love and had received even more in return.
Sled dogs / kennel dogs don't always have the best reputation (I had been warned about crazies), but every single husky at Beyond Expeditions was the most loving, charming and endearing dog I had the chance to care for.
It was impossible to pick a favourite, yet I couldn't help but keep the smallest one - Laurelle - in the camper with me for months. I still think about her every day, although I know she is happiest in her boreal forest. 💜
I have so many takeaways from experiencing off-grid living in the North. But I think the most important ones are:
I want to use my digital nomad lifestyle to continue to learn important life skills (I never thought I would enjoy chopping my own wood so much!)
There is no better sleep than when there are no electronics around
I cannot get enough of beautiful huskies howling to the moon (or midnight sun!)
I can do so much more on my own than I give myself credit for
I can be completely happy without all the conveniences of modern life, which we take for granted
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