Windshields, wilderness, and Walmart

I pulled into the Walmart parking lot in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada and parked behind a large motor home one warm July Evening. Walmart offers free camping in the parking lots of many of their stores. Every night of every summer, dozens of RV travellers passing through Whitehorse take them up on this offer (Figure 2.1). Early evening was a good time to visit the parking lot, as campers were often out and about and, having finished dinner, were willing to chat with me. ¹ My interest in RV traveller experiences of their trips North to Yukon and Alaska were not limited to this parking lot. I was interested more broadly in how ideas of North figure in Canadian national-cultural imaginaries, and how the imaginative capacities of these imaginaries drew people North – through the layers of meaning, history, politics, and power that come together in both the material and discursive production of actualized places called North. I have spent countless hours travelling the highways of Yukon, tagging along on tours, and chatting with people along the way.