3 MUST KNOWS Before CROSSING the CANADIAN BORDER in Your RV

After years of dreaming and months of planning, it's finally happening. Today, we're crossing the border into Canada in our 45-foot motorhome and officially beginning our journey to Alaska. We've got the documents, the rig is packed, and the nerves are real. But there's something about stepping into the unknown that makes this lifestyle so unforgettable. Will everything go smoothly? What will they ask us for at the border? Are we even ready for this? Buckle up because this isn't just a travel day. It's the first step of the biggest adventure our family's ever taken. But first, if we haven't met before, we're the Shinpaws. We're a family of four who travels full-time so we can make memories now. Why in the world would we leave this beautiful place? Look behind me. It's Glacier National Park. But there's good reason. There's Canada, there's Alaska, and there's so many new cool adventures on the horizon. So let's get started. So today is the day. It's the last day for us in the United States. And we are excited and nervous and anxious. The border is only about 15 miles from where we're sitting right now. We stayed a couple of days here just to get our last things in order. I was actually going to say it'll be the first time that our bus has been to Canada, but that's not true because it was built in Canada. So it's kind of like a going home for her. And we're working on putting away some of the final stuff this morning. For the last few weeks, we have just been buying stuff. So we know we have the food that we typically eat, extra tools, extra parts. So let me show you how we've chosen to organize our bays. All right. This bay is stuff that we may not use that often. Tools, extra parts. They're all back here in these bays. This is our hiking bin because we'll be getting to that. And then we just have some lamps, anything electrical, extension cords, things like that. This was something that we splurged for was to get... It's raining. How crazy is that? Actually splurged and brought this freezer. And we bought meat ahead because we eat a ton of meat. So we wanted to have the type of meat that we know we're comfortable eating. So we have this freezer and it is going to be a game changer for us. And then we bought extra food. You can see here is one of the bins that we're packing up right now. Just some things that, like I said, familiar. Last time we were in Canada, which would have been our first year on the road. One of the things that we ran into was the food was unfamiliar to the kids. And just different tastes, different stuff, not bad, just different. And so we're taking some of our favorite stuff that we can have and eat along the way because we plan to boondock a significant amount. While we're up there. And this bay is more of our extra rations, if you will. And here's one of the things that we did with our dog food. We got a waterproof bag because it won't have any smell or anything like that. If you remember last year, we got mice when we were in the Tetons. And I think the dog food played a role in that. So in here we have, you know, just extra things that we may need. Paper towels, toilet paper, that kind of stuff. As we plan to spend a significant amount of time off grid. I need to pack the rest of this stuff up. I need to put away our sewer lines and we got to make pancakes. But these aren't just any pancakes. These are sourdough discard pancakes. We were at a friend's house recently and she made these. So this is my first time trying it with my sourdough starter discard. I'm super excited. I actually had to make the batter last night. So it would sit up and we'd have fluffy pancakes. I'm praying that these are going to be good. For breakfast, we're having pancakes and. Fruit. Bunch of fruit. Oh, we just dropped an orange. OK, well, we have now a really soft orange. As far as we understand, produce going into Canada is a little questionable. We believe that if it's in its original packaging, it's OK to cross. But we're not 100% sure. So we're eating all of our stuff. The best we can and anything that we have left, we're going to put it in a little cooler or a little bag. And when they ask us if we have anything that we need to declare, I guess we're gonna be like we have this bag of stuff that we're not sure can cross. So we'll let them look in it. They'll tell us yes or no, and we'll go from there. That's great. Well, I did it. Fourth time's the charm, baby. It may look like a normal morning, but it's not. Today we crossed the border, as you know, and we woke up to no water. Thank goodness we have a full tank so we can do these dishes and get cleaned up for the day. But there is no water in the campground. And in fact, just beside us with a huge backhoe, they're digging a ginormous hole to try to find out where the pipe has burst so they can fix it. So I really hope this isn't an omen of what it's going to be like today. We really need smooth sailing and want to cross the border today without any issues. The first time making these. I feel nice and fluffy. Drumroll please. Yeah, those are really good. Scale one to ten. I would do like a 9.75. Well, you know, we've known we've been going to Canada for a while now, but we haven't printed out some of the documents that we needed. Mostly because my printer wouldn't cooperate the last two weeks. I didn't think I had ink. And then even if I had had ink, the cartridges weren't coming out. So we're going to hope and pray, like a lot right now, that this silly thing will print. And if it doesn't, we're still next to some friends who do have a printer that works. So as you can tell, the kids are having their breakfast. So we're just going to like scoot down a little over there. Oh, please let this work. Okay, let's see what we need to print, shall we? All right, so we need to print Norman's rabies certificate. Here, Norman's rabies certificate right here in my email from the vet. Willis, what am I going to do? When you open this, the cartridge is supposed to come out. Replace ink. Oh, yes, yes. Jeez, that's not the right one. What are you doing? Stop. I was trying to jack you up like we did it. Oh, you know what? There's so much pressure right now. I hate last minute stuff. Okay, see, it should... Oh, there we go. Okay. Holy smokes. And we're good. Okay, I want to do this one. Please, please, please. You know what? This printer is really sassy. She's bossy and kind of works at her own pace. So she's telling me I have to wait. It says it's charging. Okay, the moment of truth. Says it's printing. We really haven't had any problem with it printing. It's just the ink on the paper. Like, it goes through the actions. Please, please, please, please, please. Oh, we have a blank page. That's awesome. That's no good. It just shouldn't be this hard. You should change the cartridge out and then it goes. I mean, like, it should not be this hard. I'm just going to go to the neighbors and print. Hopefully, I'll have a handful of documents when I get back. Yay! Woo! We got it. Thank you, Mr. Tom. Hey, do you have the registration tucked somewhere in that folder? Okay, so we got Norman's rabies, vaccination, Norman's chip information, and then the state farm cards for our insurance for the truck and the bus. And then I was just reminding Dad that we keep the title to everything tucked here. So, I'm just going to make sure everything's current and then I think we're good. We have all of our passwords out, ready to go. We're going to make sure we have everything in one place. So, it's not like when we get to the border, it's like, oh my gosh, where is everything? So, passwords are out. Got all of our paperwork. I'm looking for the title. And it's almost time for the slide to come in. Found the title. Woo! We have everything. Thank you, Sarah. It was actually Dad. So, Dad got them out. Teamwork makes the dream work. Oh, yeah. Who's excited? Woo! We're going to Canada! Mostly excited, a bit nervous because I like to be. Should you hide something? Is that why you're nervous? Yeah, my secret stash of strawberries. Where are we? Oh, I'm gonna... We might have some fun with this printer later and chuck it. If we do it... Too bad we have to leave guns behind because you could have shot like BB guns at it. That's kind of how I'm feeling about it right now. Quick timeout. People ask us all the time how we're able to live this lifestyle as a family. Well, Jason and I still work full-time. He's a real estate agent and I'm a loan officer. And we're licensed in almost all of the states. What we'd like you to know is that if you need help with buying or selling a piece of real estate or financing or refinancing a piece of property, we'd love to help you in that way. You can grab some time on our calendar. The link's in the description. Let's get back to the video. We just left our campground which was on Indian Reservation and it was the Blackfeet... Is it called Blackfeet Reservoir? Blackfeet Reservation. Okay, the Blackfeet Reservation. And we've stayed here before. We've stayed here a couple times actually. So it was very easy for us. Very familiar. But on top of all of that, it's about 15 minutes from where we're going to cross. So I like that because it doesn't matter whether you're going on a flight or you're in your car. When you're crossing a border like this, you just get a little bit nervous. So I'm glad we don't have hours to like agonize over this. Right, babe? And what are you nervous about? You know what? We've crossed the Canadian border before. And the guards are very intimidating. It's just their demeanor. We have nothing to hide. I mean, we know what we have. We put the produce. From everything we can read, taking produce across is fine. But we still took the open produce and put it in a bag. And it's right here in the aisle behind us in case there's a problem. But I don't know. It's just that authority figure, right? Looking down on you with the quiet, silent treatment. That serious look. So anyhow, it's more of the interaction than anything. Because like I said, we got nothing to hide. You'd be a bad criminal. I could never be a criminal. And probably not a good poker player. So where are we crossing? It's the Pegan border crossing. It's just on the east side of Glacier. I can't imagine it being too crowded since we've probably only seen about nine cars since we've been here for the last couple of days. And that was by design. We're going to head into Waterton National Park on the Canadian side. And so we chose this route because we wanted to come here last time we were here. But the border was closed because of COVID. It was COVID, yeah. I'm really excited about that. We could have stayed here for a few more days based upon our plans next week. But I definitely just want to say that I've been on the Canadian side of Glacier National Park. So we're really looking forward to enjoying that the next couple of days. But we're crossing on a Thursday and we're hoping it won't be as busy than maybe a weekend, right? Yeah, for sure it won't be. And once we get on the other side, we only have 30 or 40 minutes to go. So super short travel day, but just a little more intense travel day. But I think we've got it. We've got all the documents printed out finally. Gosh, what a fiasco, right? Don't you hate that when you just need one thing and it just breaks on you for no reason? And that's how I feel about my printer right now. It's probably going to get released from its job when we get there. It's going to go right in the trash. But anyhow, all's well that ends well. We've got a few more minutes. Enjoy the ride with us because it is stunningly beautiful. And I think they're going to be nice to us. Of course they are. All right, babe, this is what it says. Oh, oh, there's the buffalo. Oh, yeah. Oh, the white buffalo on the right. Yay, those are the buffalo. Oh, that's cool. Okay, so, all right, babe. So here's what it says. As you approach the border, there will usually be a stop sign about 20 feet from the agent's window. You need to stop there and wait until the agent signals you to approach. Is that what we're getting close to? Those barrier cones? Okay, all right. When you reach the agent's window, you need to turn off the engine, take off your sunglasses, present the agent with your documents, and answer truthfully any questions they ask. Leaving the United States. There is nobody here. There is no waiting. So I think that's good. One person pulling out right now, so no waiting. What a beautiful day. It's funny, there's barriers there, but gotta still look. Big bump. So, can you read the French? Tout personne doit se présenter au contrôle frontalier. Oui. Yes, I can read it. Bonjour, Canada. Bonjour. Okay, here's the stop sign. Now, it is a green light, so I think that means it's okay to go. Okay, let's watch the air conditioner over here. Okay, you did good. Hello, sir. Good, how are you? Do you need me to turn my motor off? Sure. Probably be a little easier to hear. How are you today? Good, is it just you? It's my wife and kids. Wife and kids, how many do you have? Four. Do you have passports for everyone? Yes, sir. All right, I'll let you have a look at those. Can everybody just poke their head up? Yep. Hello, guys, come up here and say hello. Hello. Watch out, I'm coming down the stairs. All right, where does everybody live? We're from Florida. Florida, okay, so you made the drive. What brings you to Canada? We're just going for some holiday. We're on our way to Banff. We've never been able to go, and we're super pumped, so we're going to Banff and Jasper. All right, that'll be fun. Be real nice this time here. How long do you plan to be in Canada for? Probably about three weeks. Are you bringing any gifts or anything that's going to be sold while you're here? No, sir. Do you have any alcohol or tobacco? Yes, sir. How much are you bringing? We have four bottles of wine and one bottle of bourbon. Okay. Do you have any firearms or weapons? No, sir. Firearms, ammunition, anything like that? No, sir. Any watercraft with you? Nope. Do you have any firewood, I guess? Yeah, no, nope. Are you Florida Panthers fans? No. I'm through here already. What's that? A few of those came from here before you. Oh, yeah. This is a really nice... I like this. This is peaceful. We went through Niagara Falls several years ago. So this is where... Yeah, you got a little more open road out here. It's easier to relax. Yeah, we stayed over in the Blackfeet. It was peaceful and we got our stuff together. So anyway, thank you. Welcome to Canada. Thank you. Appreciate you. Have a nice day. Thank you. That was a nice guide. That was such a better experience than the last other two. Yeah, you're good. Totally free. Let's go get a picture. You know, that makes you feel like really welcomed and not like on edge coming into Canada. So thank you guys here at the border crossing. That was amazing. Look, they got a beer barn. All right. Yep, yep. You can restock. Welcome to Canada. Cheese. We're here. We did it. Let's do the Jessica. Jessica. Lady just drove by and said one of our hydraulic lines on our truck wasn't connected. We have no idea what that means. It was the safety in case everything else breaks. That thing's still working. Very important. Normie's first time to Canada. Yes, Normie. It's your first time, Norman. Let's go, Norman. Yay, Normie, it's your first time. On the Canadian site, it didn't really alarm me to take any produce over, but we've heard all kinds of conflicting stories. So we did put all of this produce that was open in these bags just in case they asked about it. They didn't. So I'm going to go ahead and get it in the fridge. So anyhow, that was our experience was very, very good and very, very smooth. Hey, it's me again. If you'd like to see more behind-the-scenes footage and communicate with us on a regular basis, we started a Patreon account. Inside Patreon and our private Facebook page that comes along with some of those subscriptions, you can interact with us on a daily basis. We release behind-the-scenes footage that just doesn't make it to these videos. And we just have a lot of fun over there. So we would really love you to join us there. There's a link in the description. You can check it out. Sitting here eating the cherries. They didn't confiscate. I tried saying that fast. But Jason, are we staying inside the park or where are we staying tonight campground wise? No, there's a, I just found a little local park. It's called Crooked Creek. It's not far from the park. This place has hookups and it'll be simple enough. Yeah, and we're only going to be here for a few nights. We're actually going to go to Prevo in Calgary on Monday. We have two windows that have just never closed well. And I don't want to go through Alaska all summer long with them slightly cracked here and there because it's going to be dusty and dirty as it is. And it's just going to compound all of that inside. So we're going to go here for a few days and then we're going to go to Prevo, spend a night or two in their parking lot while they check out the windows. And then we'll get on to Banff, right? Yeah, we might have a little exploring in Calgary. What do you think? I'm hoping Sunday afternoon we're going to go do something cool. We got to find something really, really good to do. Well, if I'm there, it'll be cool. Look at those. That's a big eared deer. Big eared deer. I'm trying to figure out if I'm going kilometers or miles per hour or what I'm exactly doing. Says miles per hour. Limit 62. I'm over that. We're just going down the hill. Here's a couple tips for you if you're going to cross the Canadian border. Number one, read the website. It's laid out pretty well. Have your documents printed out and ready to go. As you know, we were having printer issues. And I think one of the other things that's important is just have nothing to hide. We really had nothing to hide going across there, right? We truly followed the rules. So and answered their questions, whatever they asked. We told them what the real answer was. And so you'll be fine. They were super friendly, especially if you come across here. I don't even think it took five minutes. Yeah, it was quick. Yeah, and I honestly, that guy was awesome. Nice. Hey, Dad, can I throw a thing of popcorn in the microwave? Yeah, absolutely. Oh, you got to turn on the generator first. Hang on. Actually, we don't have to do that anymore because of our solar and our lithium batteries. That's right. I forgot. We just left big beer batteries a couple weeks ago, and I am not in the habit yet. That's really cool to go down the road and just move. I totally, totally forgot. It's going to be amazing while we're in Canada and Alaska, the amount of things that that's going to allow us to do and be off grid. Right, especially because we're going to boondock and try not to go into very many campgrounds. So cool. I love the solar. Holy cow, that popcorn smells delicious. I just did that whole thing, and now it's telling me I lost. It's so good. Sarah, it's delicious. Thank you, baby. Welcome. We really enjoyed having you along for the ride today. We hope we have encouraged you to go grab someone you love and make a memory now. Be sure to like and subscribe, and we'll see you on the next adventure.