Mountain Town Life: A Travel Story
I had a wilderness hangover after arriving in Canmore, Alberta, but I settled into the new job and staff accommodation after a week. For one thing, the rooms were much nicer and cozier with a full kitchen and TV room per unit. There were also less employees at this hotel, so the team was more closely connected.
While I hung out with both of my roommates sometimes, my main goal was to keep writing and blogging at the cafes in town. Sometimes people would ask where I was going, and I’d tell them I was off to write. I wanted to maintain balance. I couldn’t get any writing done if I hung out with people every night.
I did want to go dancing, though. Now that I was in a place that had some pubs and bars, I wanted to let loose for a night. The first night I went out with my work group it wasn’t to dance but to play pool. One of the guys I worked with was a cute German guy, Daniel, and we seemed to hit it off as we had a few drinks before taking a cab into town. The tipsier I became, the more I hoped that he would be my first kiss in Alberta. He was the first guy I had an interest in since moving away from Ontario, so this was significant for me.
I was in four long term relationships back in Ontario — I never experienced a summer fling before. I wanted that to happen with him. After a few rounds of pool, we all rushed across the street to a club. There was pounding dance music and people were dancing inside. I was so excited to go in until I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked.
As much as I wanted to dance, I thought, “This is it. I’ll finally get to kiss him.”
I nodded and we sneaked out before we paid for our entry into the place. There would be other nights to dance.
“This is going to be an amazing summer now that you’re here!” he said happily.
I wasn’t looking for anything serious at that point being new to Alberta and not knowing how long I would stay in Canmore. After that night he seemed to assume that I wanted something more serious, so he distanced himself for a few days. He claimed to want to read my stories, but when the time came for us to talk, he’d only talk about silly things. He’d go back and forth between ignoring me and being friendly. I thought I’d gained a new friend, but he was quickly turning out to be a dud.
I’d listen to broody music on my nature walks, annoyed with his mind games, but the roller coaster of emotions didn’t hinder my writing. I was there to have a good time in any way I chose and a guy who was way younger than me wasn’t going to steal my joy. I ended up writing him off. Summer flings aren’t for me.
A few weeks later, we all went to a club in Banff, which was about twenty minutes away from Canmore, and danced the night away. You might not think a resort town would have great nightclubs, but Hoo Doo was something else. Finally, I was going to have my amazing night out dancing with a group of people I liked. It had the house music I was craving and there was no drama — just fun and feeling the music.
We were all on the same wavelength — even Daniel. Maybe because I don’t hold grudges, me and Daniel were able to keep a healthy distance while still being friendly to each other. Everyone wanted to know what was going on between us, but neither of us told them any details.
With that aside, I went on some amazing nature walks both by myself and with other people. In Canmore, everywhere you look there are mountains, but certain trails give you more amazing views than others. Grassi Lakes was an amazing hike and the scenery was breathtaking. I did that hike with my roommates and it was amazingly scenic. We also drove out to do the Bow Falls walk in Banff.
As one could imagine, spending time with new people, going on road trips, and being in nature did wonders for my story inspiration and personal growth. I was living the life I used to dream about. Even though my stories have never focused directly on my life, your experiences as a writer can influence your work. You don’t want to become so involved in your craft that you forget to live outside of it, too. The things you do outside of writing matter just as much as the writing itself, because you deserve to have fun and make good connections.
As amazing as Canmore was, a friend of mine I knew from Ontario convinced me to join her up in Fort MacMurray, Alberta. I put in my two weeks’ notice and was getting ready to take a new adventure. Daniel seemed sad I was leaving. Later he messaged me saying he hoped I wasn’t leaving because of him. I told him that wasn’t the reason — I just had other places I wanted to see.
My second last day happened to be Canada Day. We picked up our favourite drinks in town then went to watch the fireworks. Sitting with everyone, I was grateful to have met such a cool group of people. When the fireworks were over, we went back to the staff house and had a party. I remember talking about Bob Dylan and 60’s rock to a group of random guys who joined us and they were amazed that I knew so much about music. Come to think of it, I still don’t know how they got there, but we accepted them as friends. It was Daniel who suggested that we all go out since I’d be leaving in a couple of days — he wanted it to be my going away party.
We went to the usual pub to play pool and suddenly Tim, Daniel’s friend, put his arm around me. Even though I had a few drinks, I was shocked. There was tension between us sometimes, so his unusually friendly behaviour felt out of place, but I liked him as a friend so I put my arm around him as well as we watched the game of pool. At closing time, we walked beneath the stars back to the staff house. Being high on happiness and drunk on alcohol, I rushed across the empty street, flapping my arms like a child. Tim’s laugh filled the night air. We were happy and free. The night was ours.
At first, we all sat together on the couches and talked, but slowly everyone cleared the room to go to bed, except for Tim and I. I leaned against him as we talked about life, religion, losing religion, and love. Suddenly, he turned to me.
“I love you so much. I really want you to travel with me, but I haven’t asked you yet because I’m not sure if there will be room in the car … you’re so cute and I just want to take you home and marry you. You wouldn’t have to work, you could just write. We’d live with my parents for a time. Would you like that? I’ll do what I can to make sure you can travel with me.”
I looked at him in awe. All that time, he was falling in love with me? It was the plot twist of the year — Daniel’s friend was the one who really liked me after all those months. Is that why there was so much tension between us sometimes? I was close to passing out, but I remember everything Tim said.
“That sounds perfect,” I said sleepily, snuggling against him.
We fell asleep on the couch together. He was such a gentleman the entire night. At one point I woke up to him playing “Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith and he was singing along with the words while I slept. I looked at him and started laughing. As a teenager, I used to find that song to be funny and I would literally sing it to people I knew as a goofy joke and there he was singing it to me in all seriousness. After that he turned off the music and cuddled with me again.
A few hours later, we awoke hungover and fully clothed at 5 AM. The sky was already intensely bright when I got up and opened the door. I laughed about the fact that only in Alberta would it be that bright at 5 AM. I rushed back upstairs to shower and get ready for my final day of work at the hotel. It was rough, but I was happy that the previous evening was so much fun.
As my hangover wore off, the conversation with Tim occupied my thoughts. I knew I wasn’t ready to move to another country with a guy — let alone one I barely new. My adventure just started and as tempting as his offer was, it didn’t feel right.
“He should have appreciated you more while you were here,” said one of my friends when I told her about it. “Now that you’re leaving, he says all this.”
“That’s true,” I agreed.
Sometimes people aren’t aware of their true feelings until they realize the one they love is about to go. I wasn’t the easiest person to connect with either. It takes time to get to know a creative introvert and unfortunately, a lot of people mistook my need for balance as being closed off. I couldn’t let myself fall in love with a guy when I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t spent enough time with him to know for sure.
I approached Tim after work and his blue eyes bore into mine. “Sara, we had quite the talk last night … do you have an answer for me? Will you stay a little longer?”
His commitment was flattering, but I knew I’d regret it if I settled down too soon. I’d only just spread my wings. I couldn’t give up my dream of going to Vancouver.
“It was an amazing conversation, Tim. It’s just that I promised my friend that I’d go to Fort McMurray and help her with a new business she’s started.”
He went up to his room. There was nothing more to be said on the matter.
I left for Fort McMurray early the next morning. I looked over my shoulder back at the staff house one last time. Everyone was asleep. It was time to catch the bus.
“And you always knew that you would go.”
— Rachel Zeffira, Here On In