“Through our travels, we redefined the meaning of wealth. It is not about acquiring possessions. It is about collecting experiences.”

Meet Kathleen Moran and Chris Cairns.

Kathleen grew up in Judique, the youngest of three siblings. She loved small town life and became a devotee of Highland dancing. Chris was raised in Charlottetown along with his older brother. He loved the fact that P.E.I.’s capital had all the amenities of a bigger centre, but was safe enough to play outside unattended and build forts as a child.

Kathleen decided to begin her academic journey at Acadia where she knew no one. “I wanted to push myself and extend my boundaries.” She then transferred to Dalhousie to pursue her studies in pharmacy. In her third year, she travelled to Tanzania as part of a multi-disciplinary team of medical people working with AIDS/HIV. She officially contracted the “travel bug.”

According to Chris, his family consisted of a “herd of pharmacists” so it was no surprise that his dad ferried him to Dalhousie in his freshmen year. He took some sage advice from his father who urged him to get 50% of his learning inside the walls of academe and 50% outside. Chris did two educational trips during his university career including a stint in El Salvador, helping a team build an extension on a school for children with special needs.

Even though Kathleen was a year ahead in the pharmacy program, they ended up going on a class trip together to the Dominican in 2011 where they struck up a relationship.

After graduation, Kathleen took a one year contract in Pictou. During this time, the urge to travel bubbled to the surface. She decided that when the contract was completed, she was going to hit the road for a while… destination unknown.  She issued an ultimatum to Chris who was about to graduate: “You can come with me or stay at home.” The challenge came with a sweetener. “You can pick anywhere in the world to travel.”

And so, in early September of 2013, they headed to Bogota, Columbia with a pair of one way tickets. They had been so busy leading up to the trip that they had done almost no planning. Upon arrival, they suffered immediate culture shock and wondered how they would find their hostel with a dearth of English speaking people.

On the second day of their adventure, they returned to the hostel to find the place surrounded with sirens blaring and police wielding AK 47’s. Their place had been ransacked and robbed. Virtually everyone in the hostel had their passports and other valuables stolen, items that were secured in padlocked lockers. Kathleen and Chris were two of the lucky ones and only lost one of two cellphones. A few weeks later, that number was reduced to zero, much to the chagrin of their parents who wouldn’t be getting regular updates (to make sure they were safe!).

They learned a valuable lesson from the experience. “We realized that nothing was insurmountable. It was the best thing that could have happened. We learned to roll with the punches and take things as they come.”

They returned to Halifax and suffered a dose of reverse culture shock.  It took them a couple of months and a ten minute conversation to decide on a year-long trip to Europe, Africa and Asia. Towards the end of the epic journey, they started to look for work and chose Antigonish as their headquarters for the next while.

And what are the future travel plans for these young adventure seekers? “We want to explore our own province and the rest of Canada. Other travellers we met at hostels raved about Canada and we realized that we hadn’t spent much time exploring our own country

And what were the major lessons learned? “Acquiring possessions can be a burden. Travel taught us to be minimalists.”

“And I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.”  

The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost

“ I am a man who loves fun. Have fun in life and if it isn’t fun, make it fun.”

Meet John Graham-Pole

He was born in his parents bed in Devonshire, England in 1942, the youngest of four siblings. After their parents divorce when John was three, he moved to Weston near his maternal grandmother who played an important role in the family’s upbringing. His mother had a Masters Degree in Fine Arts but bowing to the custom of the day, stayed home to raise her children.

He was sent to a private boy’s school at twelve. In the first semester he was summoned home on a pass and taken to the hospital to find his mother in poor health. He found it odd she should give him his birthday present two months ahead of the actual date. The next time he was called home, he learned of his mother’s death. The trauma of his father leaving home and the premature loss of his mother left an indelible mark on the young boy.

Against the odds,  John ended up studying sciences at London University having been schooled in the classics in his high school years. His rugby coach asked him what he wanted to do with his life. “ I want to cure cancer,” was the reply.

He did a stint in medical oncology but the trauma of watching most of his patients die was too much to bear, evoking the memories of his mother’s death from cancer with each one he lost.

Someone suggested pediatrics. John was terrified of sick children but fell for them at first sight. At the age of 34, he became Britain’s first fulltime pediatric oncologist . He and his first wife adopted two children during his five year stint in Glasgow.

But before John could help others heal, he had to do his own healing, to resolve those emotional scars. He says psychologists and social workers were his salvation.

A trip to a conference in the United States changed the trajectory of his life. He ended up spending thirty years of his working career at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He led the establishment of the first pediatric stem cell transplant consortium in the United States.

Spending long hours with sick and dying children, he quickly saw how children sang, danced and made art, even in their darkest hours. He became the driving force behind the University’s Arts in Medicine, which has in the past twenty-five years brought artists of every imaginable stripe into Shand`s hospital to offer comfort, joy and healing. He began clowning as his own art form and can still produce a bag of tricks when called upon.

At one of the many conferences John planned and spoke at, a lady from Antigonish was in attendance. His future wife, Dorothy Lander,  had just gone through the death of her own husband and was interested in the whole idea of healing through art. They were married in 2006 and have since called Antigonish home.

It didn’t take him long to make his presence felt in his new home town. As one of the co-founders of Arts Health Antigonish ( AHA !) and a board member of the Antigonish Heritage Association, he is involved in a myriad of activities, lending his creativity and energy to countless causes.

He includes writing and cooking among his passions.

“ I want to die young at an advanced age,” says John.

Both seem laudable and achievable goals for this amazingly talented “young old” man!

“ I am a man who loves fun. Have fun in life and if it isn’t fun, make it fun.”

Meet John Graham-Pole

He was born in his parents bed in Devonshire, England in 1942, the youngest of four siblings. After their parents divorce when John was three, he moved to Weston near his maternal grandmother who played an important role in the family’s upbringing. His mother had a Masters Degree in Fine Arts but bowing to the custom of the day, stayed home to raise her children.

He was sent to a private boy’s school at twelve. In the first semester he was summoned home on a pass and taken to the hospital to find his mother in poor health. He found it odd she should give him his birthday present two months ahead of the actual date. The next time he was called home, he learned of his mother’s death. The trauma of his father leaving home and the premature loss of his mother left an indelible mark on the young boy.

Against the odds,  John ended up studying sciences at London University having been schooled in the classics in his high school years. His rugby coach asked him what he wanted to do with his life. “ I want to cure cancer,” was the reply.

He did a stint in medical oncology but the trauma of watching most of his patients die was too much to bear, evoking the memories of his mother’s death from cancer with each one he lost.

Someone suggested pediatrics. John was terrified of sick children but fell for them at first sight. At the age of 34, he became Britain’s first fulltime pediatric oncologist . He and his first wife adopted two children during his five year stint in Glasgow.

But before John could help others heal, he had to do his own healing, to resolve those emotional scars. He says psychologists and social workers were his salvation.

A trip to a conference in the United States changed the trajectory of his life. He ended up spending thirty years of his working career at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He led the establishment of the first pediatric stem cell transplant consortium in the United States.

Spending long hours with sick and dying children, he quickly saw how children sang, danced and made art, even in their darkest hours. He became the driving force behind the University’s Arts in Medicine, which has in the past twenty-five years brought artists of every imaginable stripe into Shand`s hospital to offer comfort, joy and healing. He began clowning as his own art form and can still produce a bag of tricks when called upon.

At one of the many conferences John planned and spoke at, a lady from Antigonish was in attendance. His future wife, Dorothy Lander,  had just gone through the death of her own husband and was interested in the whole idea of healing through art. They were married in 2006 and have since called Antigonish home.

It didn’t take him long to make his presence felt in his new home town. As one of the co-founders of Arts Health Antigonish ( AHA !) and a board member of the Antigonish Heritage Association, he is involved in a myriad of activities, lending his creativity and energy to countless causes.

He includes writing and cooking among his passions.

“ I want to die young at an advanced age,” says John.

Both seem laudable and achievable goals for this amazingly talented “young old” man!