Cameron Penney
Joshua Henry appears to have earned himself a spot to compete for the title of “Canada’s Greatest Explorer.”
As of this morning, Henry had collected 3,055 votes, which was good enough for ninth place among the field of 25 contestants.
People can continue to vote on www.woodsexplorer.ca, with voting closing at 5:59 p.m. (CDT) today.
Once voting closes, the top 12 finalists will be announced.
They then will compete in outdoor challenges across Canada from May 17-June 24 for $25,000 and the title of “Woods Canada’s Greatest Explorer.”
While Henry appears on track to be a finalist, this isn’t the first time he’s entered the competition.
“I applied last year but they had over 4,000 applicants,” he recalled.
“I was living on Peru at the time and my video was not that great,” Henry admitted.
“I didn’t get in but I saw they had it again this year . . . it would be perfect to come home and try that, so I applied and then I got into it from there.”
In his video application, Henry highlighted some of his outdoor skills in three head-to-head challenge against a friend—building a tent, starting a fire, and archery.
“I picked up [the skills] when I was growing up here [in Fort Frances] and at the cottage in southern Ontario, too,” he noted.
“I’ve been out in Western Canada doing tours, camping tours, being an adventure guide,” he added.
“So I was like what are some really clichéd, stereotypical Canadian things that I can say that I’m doing.”
While in Thailand, Henry picked up some tents to use. He had intended to do a canoe challenge but couldn’t find any available nearby.
After his video was chosen, Henry immediately watched the other 24 videos chosen to get a sense of his competition.
“I watched everybody’s videos, and I was really blown away by some people because I’m a weekend warrior I would say,” he explained.
“I go out and do camping, but I’m always back within two days,” he noted.
“I’m not a multi-day, multi-week go-getter,” he remarked, adding some competitors often spend over a week at a time in the wilderness.
In the summer months, Henry spends most of his time in the Canadian Rockies working as a tour guide. Last winter, he was in Thailand doing contract work as a tour guide.
He has visited 52 countries so far, and estimates having lived in five cities in the past three years, but still considers Fort Frances his home.
“I make the majority of my money by working and getting paid an hourly or daily rate for running these tours,” Henry said.
“I’m not paying for anything while I’m doing that, my accommodations, my food, my activities are all paid for”
“And then when I do go travelling, I have a blog and some things are compensated from blogging,” he added, noting he occasionally gets a free tour or hotel room.
“If you aren’t concerned about making huge money, you can live quite a cool life and live from anywhere in the world.”
While Henry has plenty of travel experience across the globe, he also has travelled extensively around Canada.
He has been “everywhere from Quebec to British Columbia,” although he’s yet to visit the Maritimes.
“I think having a well-rounded set of skills [will benefit in the competition],” Henry reasoned.
“I’m not just good at just kayaking or just rock climbing, but I can camp, I can canoe, swim, and climb.
“I’m really well-rounded, not an expert at anything but I can do a lot,” he said.
