Suffering from burnout after years of working a high-pressure job in Toronto, Danielle d’Entremont decided to turn her life around and move north, ending up in a cabin in the Yukon with no running water.
d’Entremont first moved from Toronto, Ontario. to Yellowknife, NWT in February 2020.
“I was working all hours of the day […] in a high-pressure job and I was completely exhausted,” he told CTV News Toronto in an interview on Thursday.
The move, in part, was inspired by a 2019 trip to BC West Coast Trail. The time she spent away from the “busy culture” of city life led her to realize that she had “not heard her own thoughts in a long time,” she said.
“It hit me, I thought, ‘I need to make a change. I need to be closer to nature. I need to hear myself think more,’” she recalled. “Because I wasn’t happy in the life I was living.”
At first, he said he only intended to stay a year, but when offered the chance to move into a dry cabin in the Yukon in August 2021, he decided to extend his time up north.
“I felt very lucky to be up north where there were so many options to get out and be in nature,” d’Entremont said. “My perspective [on Toronto] had begun to change […] places were closing, the things I loved about the city weren’t as active anymore: the art scene, the music scene.”
“At that point, I really started to ask, ‘Is this something I want to come back to?'”
Moving into the cabin radically changed her life, d’Entremont said.
“Suddenly I had to wake up every morning and build a fire, fill my blue jugs, figure out where I was going to shower, do laundry and do the dishes,” she said. But the changes haven’t deterred her: “There are some big challenges there,” she said. “But overall, I really fell in love.”
d’Entremont stressed that she should not be considered unique for her lifestyle in the Yukon.
“It is very common to live in cabins and dry cabins here,” he said. “It’s a lifestyle that a lot of people are living.”
He says he considers himself a “grateful guest” in the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Council of Ta’an Kwäch’än.
“People have lived in the Yukon for thousands and thousands of years. I love sharing the lifestyle I’ve been living, but I’m not the only one living in the Yukon.”
Since embracing his new lifestyle, d’Entremont works remotely and has been sharing your story on TikTok. Her account bio describes her as a “former city rat who shares [her] journey learning to survive in a Yukon cabin.” A video, titled ‘How I decided to change my life’ it has amassed nearly a million views at the time of publication.
“I really love it,” he said. “But the most important thing that I want to emphasize to the people who follow my account is that they don’t need to move to a cabin to get back in touch with themselves; it really is that journey.” of inner healing.”
Ultimately, he said he wants his audience to know that there are tangible steps available to achieve a healthier mindset, “no matter where you live.”
“That can include going for a walk once a day, finding ways to be in nature, meditating or journaling,” she said. “It feels like such a simple thing, but it’s been so big.”