Charlottetown is a very pretty city! I stayed at the Charlottetown Inn & Conference Centre as it was within walking distance of the waterfront. I loved walking through the neighbourhoods to see the pretty homes and massive churches. The waterfront, the lively streets, the weather – everything was beautiful! I walked and walked for hours.

When I came across the red 2025, I too stopped for a photo. Selfies just don’t cut it sometimes, so I happily handed my phone to another lone traveller for a proper photo.

After the photo, and a brief chat with my photographer, we kinda stood there awkwardly. Traveling alone has so many wonderful aspects, but sometimes it’s nice to just have a conversation. I wondered if he was going through the same thought process, “I could hang with this person for a little while, but what if I decide ten minutes into a conversation that I want to carry on again? What will I miss out on if I stop exploring on my own? What might I gain by talking with a stranger? Is it worth the hassle?” It was kind of like that time on the ferry from Levis.

We said goodbye and set off on our separate ways. Except we were headed the same way; to look at the display of padlocks above. Awkward…Then we both set out to walk the boardwalk. Awkward again. Not loving the stalkery feeling that was settling on my shoulders, I veered off so I felt less like I was following him. Eventually I chose a waterfront restaurant for a bite to eat. When I saw my photographer walk by and we made eye contact, I called him over to visit. Enough with the weirdness. I decided that if he didn’t want to have a visit with a stranger, no harm, no foul.

We swapped stories about our travels and the joys of solo adventures for about an hour. It was nice to have more than just a passing chat with a fellow traveller. Soon I’d had my fill of my mussels and was ready to move on. Brian had texted to let me know about a memorial erected to honour Irish settlers of PEI and I was eager to check it out. We bade farewell and carried on with our own exploring. This time our paths truly did diverge.

With Brian’s info and Google Maps, I was able to find the memorial. I was so grateful to have him send me these things! I never would have known it was there. I was especially interested in this memorial after my solo motorcycle adventure in Ireland nine years ago. Brian knows me so well!

The memorial was modest, but had such a powerful impact on my heart. A celtic cross stood tall, looking out to sea, over a circular display of flagstones. Each stone was engraved with the name of the county from where the settlers hailed and was imported from that county for this memorial. I was thrilled to see County Mayo was amongh the stones! I wondered if any of the settlers represented by this stone were related to my own family from Mayo. Had any of my relatives sailed into the harbour over which I now looked?

I stayed a good long while reflecting on my Irish adventure and my current one. I thought about my quest for a sense of belonging. I thought about Maslow. I thought about how far I’d come. I thought about how I’d completed what I set out to do. I thought about how that feeling of lonliness no longer weighed on my shoulders. It was not lost on me that for years I had this pull to go to Prince Edward Island and that I found myself sitting at a spot where perhaps my own distant relatives landed in their own journey to PEI.

As I sat there enjoying the view of the harbour and the setting sun, a couple approached. They asked what the monument was so I shared what I knew. I felt this strange sense of belonging with that exchange. The lady eagerly looked for a stone that connected her to the monument too. The exchange was only fleeting, really, but it felt like I was part of something bigger than my adventure.