Hey! I’m Mac, and for the last 3+ years I’ve been living nomadically in my van, the best of those years I shared with my beloved adventure partner, Nova. Together her and I traveled thousands of kilometres around Canada and shared an incredibly unique and precious bond like no other. She was my shadow, by my side every where I went, every job I worked, and on every single adventure we were stuck at the hip, there was no me without her. Our adventures were cut too short when Nova tragically passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on January 16th 2024 at 6 years of age. I’m starting this fundraiser to honour her life, give to pet owners facing a similar situation, and to add a deeper purpose to my next adventure: thru hiking all 3000km of Te Araroa across Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Te Araroa trail starts at the northern most point of the north island, and stretches to the southern most point of the south island. I’ll walk across sandy beaches, lush forests, notorious mountain ranges, volcanic regions and picturesque farm land. This is my biggest adventure yet and I wouldn’t be able to take it on if it weren’t for the dog who gave me the bravery to explore the world on my own. Come January on trail, it will mark two years without Nova so I’m asking for your help to raise money for the Stryker Fund in Nova’s honour.

The Stryker Fund was created by Coast Mountain Veterinary in Whistler BC to pay for one-off surgeries with expected good outcomes. It supports the cases where families cannot afford to pay for a surprise expense and would otherwise see their pet euthanized or surrendered.

Although Nova was not a candidate for this because of her ill fated prognosis, this fund is special to me because I know first hand how jarring and heart wrenching it is to be in such situation and it would mean everything to me to help save someone else’s beloved best friend. I’ll share the link to their website below where you can find more info on the Stryker Fund, the story behind it and the success stories of local families and pets.

Thank you for reading, and supporting this fundraiser whether it be a donation or a share on social media. Every dollar adds up to save a life and I truly can’t express how much this means to me. Many of you likely already know Nova’s story from following along with our life on instagram, but for those that don’t, I will share the day of January 16th 2024 below. Thank you again and wish me luck as I go on a longgggg walk!

“I love you. You’re the best girl in the world. You’re so fucking cute and you’re the best part of my day every day” I say to Nova, her squishy face cupped in my hands, she hears these words every day as I leave for work in the morning. When I get home that evening, she’s laying on the floor and doesn’t get up to greet me at the door and I know somethings wrong. First thing the next morning I call the vet explaining that she’s extremely lethargic, but I’m assuming she just ate something funny and has a stomach ache. We drive to her vet where they begin a routine evaluation, but when they check her gums, shes quickly whisked out of the room and the vet tells me he needs to scan her for internal bleeding. I’m shocked and confused, surely he’s wrong. When they come back into the room, he leans his back against the wall and slides down to the ground to be on our level, with watery eyes he explains she has a mass on her spleen that has burst, the bleeding is too extensive and our options are slim to none. I’m in complete shock, up until last night she was her happy healthy normal self, not a sign that anything was wrong. In an attempt to exhaust all options, I drive Nova to a clinic in North Vancouver in hopes of having a surgery preformed, but I soon learn that the odds are not in her favour with a 20% chance she would even survive the surgery, and a 20% chance she would survive a mere three weeks following the surgery and then be on a roller coaster with an abysmal quality of life for months following. I knew I couldn’t put her through that prolonged pain and suffering. I made the most harrowing decision to put her to rest that evening and walked out of the clinic without my best friend. Nova died on a random Tuesday and among the countless things she taught me, the impermanence of life hit me like a train and made every single moment we shared together all the more tender, profoundly memorable and exceptionally special. She showed me bravery, independence, unconditional love and how to enjoy any day no matter the weather, which turned into a good metaphor for life. It’s because of Nova that I found my desire to travel and experience all the things the world has to offer, I owe it all to her. Cherish each day you have with those you love, because you never truly know when that random Tuesday will come.

With love,

Mac (& Nova)

Coast Mountain Veterinary’s Stryker Fund

If you’d like to follow along my journey though Aotearoa, I’ll be sharing as much as I can on my instagram mac.onthemove