MONTREAL- A New Zealand man said his solo paddling adventure through Canada’s wilderness taught him about the Great White North’s majestic landscapes and the beauty of human nature. Tom Hudson boarded a canoe in the Rockies and, over the course of 216 days, discovered Canadians keen to help him navigate rough waters along the way. “When I started out it was a selfish adventure, you know, I was going to do this because this is going to be fun and cool,” Hudson said. “I thought my journey was going to showcase nature and the landscape. But what it really showcased was how incredible the Canadian people are.” Hudson launched his adventure at Saskatchewan River Crossing, Alta., on May 23, 2024. He arrived in Montreal this week after a pause over winter months, despite having never paddled before. “I chose Canada because of the sheer size of the country and the nature and the beauty,” he said. “I had never paddled before in my life. I wanted to do something I had never done and then I wanted to do it in a big way. I didn’t want to train, I didn’t want to research. This was about learning from my mistakes.” And he did. On the fourth day of his adventure, he capsized. “There was a rolling wave. I capsized and my whole canoe went down the river,” Hudson said. “There was nothing I could do about it, and it was just me standing on the bank, with nothing but wet clothes.” He found a bush track and started jogging through the area. About 25 minutes later, a man named Josh stepped out onto the trail. He was camping nearby and was walking with his children. Hudson ran up to him and said he had lost everything. “The first words he said to me were: ‘Don’t worry, we are not going to leave you out here.’ And just those simple words made me know that I was OK,” Hudson said. “He could have dropped me down the road at some accommodation and I would have appreciated that. But he didn’t. He invited me to stay at his house, and he bought me dinner and gave me dry clothes. I stayed with them for a week.” Hudson chronicled his entire journey on his YouTube channel and on Instagram under the handle @whatintheworld_tom. In several video excerpts, he praises the kindness of Canadians. “Canadians I tell you what, I frickin’ love you guys,” he says in one video posted online. Hudson’s journey to Canada’s waterways began 12 years ago in New Zealand. He said he had a regular life, worked in construction and had a house with a mortgage. But was unhappy. “On the outside, I looked successful,” Hudson said. “Until one day, I woke up with my alarm to go to work, and at that moment, it just hit me very hard: you are not following your heart, you are not following your journey.” He sold his house, gave away all his possessions and decided that he would make decisions based on joy. He banked on journeys that he says would allow him to grow, where he would begin as one version of himself and finish as another. Hudson financed his travels through his YouTube channel, though that proved difficult in the early days. He was running out of money as he navigated through Manitoba, and considered pausing his journey. Then he came across Ivy, a 14-year-old lost dog stuck in the mud. “I heard whimpering,” he said. “I ended up getting out of the canoe and trudging through the mud, up to my knees, and got to her.” He found Ivy’s owner a few hundred metres away, who was relieved to be reunited with his lost pet after looking for her for a few days. The moment captured the hearts of Canadians and people around the world, and brought more followers to his online posts. “That video put my journey in front of a lot of people,” Hudson said. “So yeah, as much as I helped, I received very much help, as well.” There were countless other moments and other people who crossed his path as he faced both mental and physical challenges. “I learned that nature is humbling. It can absolutely destroy you, and you have to respect it. You have to adapt to it, because you can’t beat it,” he said. “And so, it is scary and loud, but when it wants to be beautiful, it leaves you speechless.” On the 216th day of paddling, Hudson navigated into the Port of Montreal. Some of his followers had gathered, putting up both a Canadian and a New Zealand flag. Some of the people he had met along the way also travelled to greet him at his destination. Hudson said it was a special moment. “I wanted to thank them, and I wanted to thank the whole of Canada,” he said. “They have been incredible to me.” Now he is planning his next adventure, hoping to travel through Mongolia on horseback.
