Trust Your Intuition

trust-your-instincts
KUNAMOKST Coastal Inspirations – mural project

Trust your intuition. It’s advice that I’ve learned to follow. Because even though it hasn’t always been the easy road, I have never regretted following the deep knowing of my inner voice. Sometimes the rewards can be better than anticipated.

Shortly after moving to Vancouver Island, I was clicking tv channels and came across a show about people seeing killer whales when kayaking near Telegraph Cove.

Well that was about as much of an ideal West Coast lifestyle as I could imagine (and we had already bought a kayak) so of course I immediately knew I had to go.

Trust your intuition.

It was a gorgeous, calm morning and the ocean was smooth like glass. Our yellow Tofino double was gliding effortlessly along the coastline as we left the marina to paddle toward Robson Bight. That’s where the ‘rubbing beach’ is; hopefully where some orcas would be heading.

With no real destination in mind, we (hubby and me) just paddled, enjoying the rhythm of the stroke and the gentle sounds of nature around us. Relatively new to kayaking, we didn’t really know how far we could get before we felt too tired to continue.

It wasn’t long before I got excited. I saw motion off in the distance.

As we got closer, we realized it was a group of paddlers coming back from an overnight trip. “See any whales?”, we asked. “Not this time.”

Continuing in our direction, paddler after paddler passed us heading the opposite way. We laughed, wondering if we should just head back and follow the crowd.

But I knew we had to follow our own path.

Trust your intuition.

And wouldn’t you know it. I’d say within half an hour, I heard it. The blow. And then another.

My eyes tracked the sound until I saw them. It was “my” pod of orcas that I had been dreaming of seeing in their natural environment. I was so excited. Like a little kid.

Then, I got nervous. Because the whales were coming closer to us.

At our closest reach, we were about three kayak lengths away from the pod. I don’t really know how to describe the feeling. Sometimes I question whether it really happened at all.

After floating for a while to simply watch these amazing creatures continue on their way, the sheer magnitude of the experience hit me. Tears of joy took over. It was magical. I felt deeply humbled and absolutely grateful.

Trust your intuition.

Had I not followed my intuition – to move across the country to the Island, to trust that we should go on the kayaking adventure despite our inexperience, and then to keep going when everyone else was paddling in the opposite direction – I would have missed out on one of the ultimate memories of my lifetime.

Nothing is worth that kind of missing out.

So tell me, what is your intuition telling you? And are you prepared to muster the courage to listen to it?

Resources:

For more about Telegraph Cove, Robson Bight and whale watching, check out these links:

Kayak with Killer Whales: Youtube video (not mine, but gives a feeling of what we experienced)

Hello BC: Telegraph Cove

PBS documentary: Realm of the Killer Whales

Ready to travel solo and looking for the best gear? Come take a look at my Pinterest board: travel essentials.