The story of my journey from the capital of England to the capital of the Yukon
On Aug. 1, 2025, my partner and I began a road trip from Calgary to Whitehorse. But before we left, we had some setbacks. That morning we got up, skipped breakfast and waited to be picked up by the gentleman who would be selling us a car.
He drove us to a strange, secluded area outside the city with some old barns and a bunch of scrap vehicles. Several mechanics worked out of this area, and the gentleman selling us the car seemed to be friends with all of them. We were told there was a problem with the car, which needed to be fixed before we could take it away. We also discovered that the vehicle was missing the oil dipstick (along with a discrepancy in the paperwork, as to who the vehicle belonged to, so we started asking questions).
It turns out the car had been written off after an accident. The seller had a business where he would buy cars that were deemed a total loss, work on them with his mechanic friends until they were roadworthy again and then sell them for a profit. This meant that he wasn’t fully aware of any nuances or issues with the car, outside of those from the accident, as he had rarely driven the car himself. I started asking about the service history of the vehicle and was confused to find out that Canada doesn’t have their own version of a MOT.
Culture Shock 1 — No such thing as a MOT
In the U.K., it is mandatory that any vehicle over three years old must pass an annual Ministry of Transport test (a MOT). Basically, your car gets marked on various criteria, such as wheels, brakes, emissions, lights; and if not up to the legal standard, the car has to be brought up to code to be driven legally. For example, if your windshield has a crack that is bigger than a dime, it’s an automatic failure. Suffice it to say, most Yukon vehicles would not pass a MOT.
Now concerned about other potential problems the vehicle may have, we started to discuss the price and whether we still wanted to buy it. We needed a vehicle to get home so we went ahead with the sale but agreed to a discount. The seller also agreed to pay for the missing parts, for the minor repair that was still unfinished and for the vehicle to be serviced and checked over once we got back to Whitehorse. We somewhat reluctantly shook hands and completed the sale so that our road trip could finally begin after this four-hour delay.
The first order of business after the sale was having something to eat. My partner and I were hungry and irritable at this point so we found a place close by and ordered some food. I once again found myself confused.
Culture Shock 2 — Orange cheddar
Cheddar cheese is originally from the West Country in England. It is yellow, with the shade varying depending on the aging process. We even sell Canadian cheddar in the U.K., which is also yellow and often has crystalized salt in it.
In Canada, however, cheddar is typically orange. We do have varieties of cheese that are orange in the U.K., such as Red Leicester and Double Gloucester, but cheddar is sacred and dying it orange is something we would expect from our star-spangled neighbours to the south, but not from our favourite North Americans.
We finished our meal and went shopping for food and camping supplies. I got a backpack, some trail running shoes, a camping pillow, a fire knife and a water bottle with a built-in filter. We then went to Canadian Tire for water, camp-stove gas, a travel first-aid kit, and straps to tether our sleeping mats together.
We have similar shops to Canadian Tire in the U.K., but not with as diverse a range of products, so it became one of my favourite stores in Canada. Lastly, we stopped to get some food and snacks from the grocery store, for the road and for our first night of camping.
Culture Shock 3 — Hidden costs
Having spent some time in Canada already, I was aware of the differences when it came to tax and tipping. For example, tax is already included in U.K. prices. So if you pick up an item displayed at $2, that is what you pay. What I didn’t know, however, is that different provinces and territories pay a different amount of tax and that Alberta was higher than what I was used to.
As for tips, I wasn’t aware that it is expected that you tip—even at fast-food restaurants. In the U.K., not only are tips usually less (10 percent is standard and anything higher is considered generous), but tipping is more about being polite than about it being an expectation. Generally, you tip at restaurants, unless your service is bad; at bars and pubs, you often let the server keep any loose change; and coffee shops sometimes have a tip jar but it isn’t expected that you tip.
Any other instance is uncommon. In fact, fast-food places don’t have a tipping option, and giving a cash tip to your server is likely to get them in trouble.
Once we were done shopping, we said goodbye to Calgary and hit the road to Banff where I would be camping for the very first time in my life!
