Conference calls from the road

On September 11th of 2020, the second of what would in total become three- two-hour long conference- calls between three principle investigators, me and several respresenttaives of the Gjoa Haven HTO, took place. I was, in the week of those conference calls, self-isolating in my campervan “Butter”, and taking these calls “on the road”.

Two months prior, I had returned to my apartment in Kingston, Ontario- from my stay in the Netherlands, where I had sheltered during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The reality of returning to Canada as an international student, during the Covid-19 pandemic, was rough for me. Not so much physically- I recognize my immense privilege to have had the possibility to return to my home country and be in proximity of my family and loved-ones during the first months of the pandemic while remaining healthy and safe. Instead, my struggle was social. Having a high-risk parent, I did not take shelter in my family home in the Netherlands, and as a result had to pay rent for apartments both in Kingston and the Netherlands. My commitment to be present, and make a new home in Canada, combined with the financial stresses of double rent- eventually drew me back to Ontario at the first seemingly reasonable opportunity. Once back in Ontario, I was stuck in my tiny apartment by myself, without a university campus to go to.

To be somewhat more independent and self-reliant I had bought a campervan, and had taken it out in September to gain a better understanding of the country I was living in. Making sure to still take covid-precautions into account, I had done stocked up on groceries in my local Kingston-based food basic and continued isolating myself. I however did so, while exploring more of the province.

Butter on driveway

View from inside Butter, taking evening conference calls

Butter

"Butter", my campervan, became an important companion to my research. As times remained ongoingly uncertain, and several waves of Covid-19 variants kept reappearing, I had not managed to return to the North for fieldwork- after cutting my initial trip to Coral Harbour short in 2020. With the campus, and most of Kingston’s public life shut down, I had decided to give up my apartment in Kingston, and chose to base myself closer to "home", in the Netherlands- awaiting my moment of return to the North.

Having bought Butter, it remained possible for me, however after Covid restrictions were lifted, to spend extended months of time in Canada without an apartment. She provided transport, and a comfortable place to sleep. Butter also provided me a way of staying connected to my friends in Kingston, and allowed for my journey as a guest to the country to continue. In fact, arguably, Butter provided a completely different perspective to the country, that remaining in my apartment in Kingston would likely not have had to offer. Butter mobilized me, and its limited interior space would push me outside. I went on walks, wrote in my diary and read books I had borrowed from the Queen’s libraries across the region.

Screenshot of googlemaps showing my location history in Ontario 2019-2024

Writing and reading in flux

Practices of reading and writing are impacted by the material conditions and possibilities around them.