🎙️ Canoes, Connection & 24,000km of Wild: A Conversation with Dianne Whelan 🌲

What happens when you step away from the pace of modern life and surrender to the rhythms of nature?

In this episode of the podcast, we sit down with filmmaker, author, and adventurer Dianne Whelan, whose deeply moving and award-winning film 500 Days in the Wild chronicles her six-year journey along the entire 24,000 km Trans Canada Trail — from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up to the Arctic Ocean.

But this isn’t your average endurance story.

Yes, she paddled vast stretches of water by canoe, hiked thousands of kilometers, and endured some of the most remote and wild landscapes on Earth. But the real story is about listening. Listening to the land. To Indigenous elders. To her own shifting sense of purpose. It’s a story of reconnection — with the Earth, with others, and with herself.

In our conversation, Dianne shares:

• How she discovered canoeing — and how it became central to her connection with nature

• Her shift from seeing the journey as an athletic expedition to a spiritual one

• The importance of Indigenous teachings and relationships formed along the way

• Her thoughts on solitude, slowness, and the role of storytelling in healing the planet

• And why, even after 24,000 kilometers, the journey is far from over

If you’ve ever felt the call to step off the beaten path and into something deeper, more sacred, and more real — this conversation is for you.