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LITTLE CURRENT—What in the world would possess someone who had never picked up a canoe paddle before to canoe across Canada? New Zealander Tom Hudson could give you his simple answer or his deeper, more reflective answer, depending on how much time you had to listen.

While he waited out a few thunderstorms in Little Current, The Expositor got to learn a good deal about Mr. Hudson. The short answer is “because I have a desire to feel alive,” he said. The longer answer came through further conversation. “I’m a full-time traveller,” he explained. “I’ve been travelling now for maybe 13, 14 years. I sold my house, I broke up with a girlfriend, I did all that, and sort of just woke up one day and realized that my life wasn’t doing anything for my soul, and so I just made a pretty drastic change that day,” he said.

“I backpacked around the world for four years, but it wasn’t until I walked across Spain, I did the Camino de Santiago, and after I finished that, that was 33 days of walking from France to Santiago, Spain and I realized that I wanted to do more of that sort of thing, more life changing experiences, where I start off as one person and finish as another. That was in 2016.”