Burlington, Vermont—> Quebec—>New Brunswick—>Nova Scotia—>Maine—>New York—>Raleigh, North Carolina

To this day, this is my favorite solo trip I have ever gone on. I ended up planning it a week or so before I had to leave and the pace I had to set was brutal–driving 6+ hours everyday. I got to see some of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen and if I could go back the only thing I would change is spending more time in each place(especially Nova Scotia!!!).

8/8 

This was my last day of work at my internship and I had packed up and moved completely out of my room. After many tearful goodbyes, I wiped my eyes, took my absolutely jam packed car(literally all of my stuff from the past three months), and started driving. I had a 4 hour drive ahead of me across the Canadian border to this little town in Quebec, CA called Saint-Georges. This is my first time crossing the border by myself for more than a day trip so to say I was a little nervous was an understatement. I hit the border about 40 minutes into my drive and encountered not much out of the ordinary—except that I had to declare weapons which I had pepper spray on me(I didn’t even think about it being an issue). Now, when he was listing off weapons/contraband and I heard pepper spray, my heart dropped to my stomach. Obviously, I’m going to declare that I have it but I had no clue what was going to happen after that. I had to go from the drive through to this little building where I then signed some papers and handed over my pepper spray. I was now a 20 year old girl traveling by herself, in a different country, without any form of protection—to say I was nervous was an understatement, but I believe that you shouldn’t let being scared stop you—I think in many situations if you are scared that means you should do it.

After that slight road bump I made it into Canada. I had a little more than 3 hours ahead of me and the entire drive was along a national park while the sun was setting. It was absolutely beautiful and the best way to start off this trip—it felt like a good omen. I arrived at Saint-Georges around 10pm and went straight to sleep at an Airbnb. 

8/9

In the morning, I went into town and practiced French ordering coffee and meandered aimlessly around. The town is so beautiful as it’s nested in a small river valley—spanning both sides of the river. The weather was perfect and I absolutely adored walking along the river. Once I had my fill, I walked back to my car and started driving once again. With my designation being about an 8 hour drive to Moncton, NB, I had two options regarding my driving routes: I could drive East through Maine, crossing the US-CA border, into New Brunswick, crossing the border again, or I could drive around Maine to avoid the border but it would add an extra hour. Honestly(please learn from my mistakes), I wish I drove around Maine instead of through it. It would have saved me a vehicle search, a lot of stress, and time spent at the border. Anyway, after I pass the border the first time(with zero issues) I had one of the most stunning drives. Every few minutes I was stopping on the side of the road to take a picture or explore. A majority of my drive through Maine, I was genuinely one of the only people on the road. There was one moment that hit me where I fully realized, “Wow I am completely and utterly alone” and that felt simultaneously absolutely terrifying and thrilling. I could do anything I wanted and no one would care—true freedom if you will. 

Now the fun part comes when I try to cross the border again. The officer looks at me weird and says I passed the border 4 hours earlier, after I explained the situation, he didn’t seem to understand that google maps took me through the border again instead of driving around it. He then tells me to pull off. At this point I am starting to freak out because I genuinely do not know what else to tell this officer as I have already explained my situation. Another officer joins him and they begin to go through every single item in my car—keep in mind I have everything I have used from the past two months in there so it is PACKED full. Ten minutes later, after they have opened every single bag, I am back on the road into New Brunswick for the remaining 3 hours of my journey. 

I had planned to stop a little bit out of the way and visit Hopewell rocks. These beautiful rock formations about an hour out of the way from Moncton in the Bay of Fundy. The bay has some of the fastest changing tide in the word so any visit I made had to be well timed as I wanted to walk on the bed of it. One thing I forgot to consider in my journey would be any kind of time changes. Turns out, going from Maine into New Brunswick an hour is added on, so my original plan no longer worked and I had to pivot.

New Brunswick, I found, is mostly farm land and the remaining 3 hours of my journey was fairly demure. I arrived in Moncton and I was absolutely exhausted. Looking back I wish I would’ve rallied and explored the a little bit of the town that evening but I couldn’t fathom the energy.

8/10

My original plan this day was to drive the 6 hours from Moncton to the tip of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, but with my plans with Hopewell Rocks dashed the evening before I decided I would go there in the morning and then start my journey to Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, the Rocks were about an hour directly in the opposite direction, but I had gotten tickets days before so I was going extra two hours or not!!

The drive was beautiful and right along the Bay of Fundy. The Bay is one of the most interesting places I have ever been. With the extreme-changing tides it leaves quite an impact on its surroundings and carves through the rocks. Hopewell Rocks was a short “hike” down from the parking lot and it was beautiful. It felt almost alien to walk along the waterbed with huge rock formations sprouting all around you.

One thing I will say that took away the beauty, was how many people there were. I came at around 9am and it was flooded with people and more arriving by the second. I can not imagine how many people there would’ve been had I shown up in the afternoon. With that being said, I did not stick around for very long as you were practically being stuck in a crowd. I stopped by the gift shop before continuing on my way.

About 20 or so minutes away from the rocks is the most amazing cinnamon roll coffee shop ever. I absolutely devoured a cinnamon roll and a latte before continuing on. With about 7 hours of driving ahead of me, I braced myself for the extremely long travel day.

Driving through the rest of New Brunswick was not very eventful–full of farm land and as I got closer to Nova Scotia, windmills. My destination was Neils Harbor, Cape Breton, so I continued on through NS with not much change. About an hour from Cape Breton the landscape transformed. It began almost looking like Maine again, filled with lakes and dark evergreens. The bridge into Cape Breton(it’s an island) was one of the most stunning passages I have ever driven. The ocean was beautiful and there were shear craggy cliffs as you pass over. Absolutely jaw dropping, and I truly did not know what I was in for, as that was just the start of the beauty I was about to see.

There are two different routes I could’ve taken through Cape Breton to get to Neils Harbor(near the tip), the longer one would’ve taken me NorthWest and up and around the tip, the shorter East. With my extra excursion in the morning, I was running out of daylight and did not want to drive in the dark to find my Airbnb, so I chose the shorter. And wow I am so glad I did.

I took the Cabot Trail, the main road through the Cape, and after about another hour of driving I reached the point in the road that started following the coast. When I tell you I was probably stopping every 5-10 minutes to take in the view and take photos I am not exaggerating. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The sun was setting behind the mountains, gave off a beautiful golden haze, and there were hardly any cars on the road so it felt like it was only you and nature. I truly cannot even begin to describe this place and the beauty of it in words, so maybe photos will depict what I can’t.

I barely made it to my Airbnb before the sun fully set but I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

8/11

I woke up in a random trailer Airbnb in the middle of Nova Scotia, scouted my stops for the day, and started driving. I drove up around the tip and made my way back down, of course stopping and taking a million pictures as I went. The landscape shifted dramatically on the Western side as opposed to the Eastern, the rocky outcrops and craggy cliffs became lush rolling mountains and pebbly beaches. The water was deceiving, looking almost tropical, while being utterly frigid.

I stopped into the cutest cafe about an hour or two into my drive and it was incredibly fascinating because the people in it were either speaking French or had a Scottish(kinda) accent. This seemly odd combination of cultures was one of the most fascinating things I found during my trip.

Nova Scotia was settled by Scotland so many towns have a lot of Gaelic influence, and though Quebec is a New Brunswick length away, there is still a large French influence present, anddd there is also a large indigenous tribe present in Nova Scotia. All of that being said, most signs are quite large because they are written in some combination of English, French, Gaelic, or the local indigenous language. The people I met were so nice and had a really interesting combination of a Scottish and Canadian accent–many speaking French as well. I have never encountered such a respectful combining of cultures and I’m genuinely in awe of how beautiful it was.

After my coffee shop stop, I continued driving until my legs were aching with the need to move. So I took a walk, and more pictures(obviously) and I can’t stress enough how often I still think about this trip.

I drove out of Nova Scotia back into New Brunswick, this time driving through the lower middle as opposed to the North. My Airbnb was about an hour outside of Saint John so I made a stop around dinner time.

Driving into Saint John, there was a huge cloud of haze that honestly looked like smoke to me surrounding the entire city. One second you’re driving and can see, the next there is a huge cloud and everything is permanently misty. The city is located right on the edge of a bay, so the views were gorgeous. I ended up parking a little north, up the hill from the main streets, and I felt a little uncomfortable since there were a few men down the street looking at me. It wasn’t enough or weird enough to deter me but I was definitely aware of them.

I made my way down the hill, purse and camera in hand, and I it was such a cute little town. I can’t quite find the words to describe the vibe or any cities that would be comparable, but I enjoyed my walk through and took probably some of my favorite pictures there, as the sun was setting.

As soon as it started to get dark, I raced back to my car and continued driving. With hours of driving under my belt, I made it to my Blacks Harbor, New Brunswick Airbnb and absolutely passed out.

8/12

This was my last and shortest full solo roadtrip day. With the political upset happening in the US, I was anxious to get back in the country as soon as I could, otherwise I would have loved to explore Blacks Harbor. My next destination was Randolph, Maine so I woke up and hit the road as soon as I could. About 45 minutes later I arrived at the border and thankfully made it through without a hitch.

My drive was less than 4 hours so a few days prior I messaged one of my friends that lives in Maine for suggestions. Unfortunately he was out of town, but he gave me several little towns and activities to check out. I visited Camden and Rockland, Maine walking through the little towns, exploring cute local shops, and grabbing a bite to eat before heading to Randolph and going to sleep.

8/13

My original goal when planning this day, was to spend the morning in Portland and then drive down to New York City to meet my mom and sister. I, unfortunately, did not take traffic into account so I only got a couple hours in Portland before I had to drive to New York.

I walked around downtown Portland, checked out a local shop, and grabbed brunch at the cutest restaurant before making the seven hour drive.

I reached New York around 8pm, barely found the parking I booked(got confused there was a valet lol), and dropped my stuff off at the hotel. Unfortunately, my mom and sister’s flight in was delayed so I met up with a few friends in the city until they arrived.

We spent the rest of the weekend running around NYC together! I met up with a few friends, did tarot in Times Square, ate so much food, saw a broadway show, and shopped til I dropped.

Come Sunday, I barely squeezed us all into my car(I truly don’t know how I fit them, their luggage, and everything I owned from the summer into my little Corolla). Without much of a hitch I drove us the 8 hour drive back to Raleigh, moved back into my apartment, and started a semester at college the next day.

Thoughts

This was such a dream of a trip to places I probably never would have seen otherwise. I am truly so grateful I was able to do something like this on such a whim and it was so validating in proving I am able to do things alone, no matter how scary they seem. Leading up to this trip, I had never traveled internationally overnight, let alone practically lived out of my car for a week. My parents, I could tell, were incredibly nervous for me to do this, which did not help my nerves one bit but I am so so happy I pushed through. I was able to experience the wildest feelings of joy, peace, solitude, and a deep appreciation for nature. I now have several more destinations to spend more time in(Nova Scotia and Maine) and even more motivation to someday(perhaps!) convert a van and travel around for a summer, as there are a million more places in Eastern and Western Canada I am dying to visit!