Dubai to Tuktoyaktuk

The winter is shaping up to be very interesting for me.

A few weeks ago, I received a call from a colleague asking if I could assist with a driving contract for Porsche in Dubai.

As I sit here in another airport lounge on my way to Bermuda, I am wondering why I said yes. It would certainly be better if my wife could come with me.

For the rest of the year, with my travel schedule, I barely have a continuous week at home in Kelowna.

But let’s face it, who could say no to a contract to drive Porsches in Dubai? Not me.

As I was soaking up the ether and hoping that the contract firms up, I received another call from a friend who had been planning a special truck-testing project.

We had been talking for a while about a gruelling journey in winter up to the Arctic. Now, it seems like it will come together and some big announcements will be happening over the next few months.

It will be a short duration adventure for us, but the thermometer will plunge from plus 40 degrees in Dubai to minus 40 degrees in a few months in Canada’s hinterlands.

I recently met a critical care nurse from the Canadian Armed Forces who is based out of Inuvik when she is in Canada, so I had the opportunity to do some research on life in the far north.

It sounds challenging for sure, but one of the focuses for me will be to see what the real water issues are in Canada’s north. 

People there live with the cruel juxtaposition of having clean, frozen water all around them and yet what comes out of the tap is often not potable.

With a little work, we hope to be able to initiate some Canadian safe water projects with our charity, Rally4Life.

Watch for announcements on their website as we spool up for a chilling trip to Canada’s north and put some trucks through tough tests in the harshest environment Canada can throw at them

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.