I came to Prince Rupert to visit Cathy who moved here 5 years ago. Cathy is a close friend whom I met during my high school 31 years ago. I remember asking her why she would want to move to a small town of only 13,000 people. She told me as long as she was with her guy then it didn’t matter where she would be. I was so touched hearing that line that I decided to add Prince Rupert to my “to go” list to see what her life is like there.
Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Located on Kaien Island, Prince Rupert is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia’s North Coast. Getting here means a 2-hour flight on a small plane. That flight is followed by a bus ride and a ferry ride before arriving in the city. That’s because the airport is located on an island.
People live on fishing. By and large, husbands go out on sea to fish for 3-5 days each trip for 8 months a year. Most of the inhabitants travel during the winter season.
Everyone I met during my entire 4 day visit has been extremely friendly. I guess that’s easy since life here is very slow paced and people seem to be stress-free. There does not seem much reason to make them less than friendly. Oh! And no traffic congestion at all. There’s only 1 small shopping mall and it has fewer than 10 stores and there’s only one coffee place where people hang out daily – that’s Tim Hortons, a coffee shop. They do have a cinema, a few banks and a pool hall. I was surprised when locals told me that there are 53 small restaurants in this town.
Now that I have painted a clear picture of Prince Rupert, it’s easy to understand why I needed to ask Cathy that question. Knowing her, I simply didn’t think that she could live here. I stayed with Cathy all through my 4 day visit, witnessing how peaceful and simple life can be yet everyone seem so happy. My old self could never imagine living in a small town but after my visit this time, I know that as long as I am with my man then I can live anywhere, a big town or small town. I hear Cathy now 🙂