Monday, September 22, 2014

The journey continues!

So let's see...a year ago, I was starting a Master's in Social Work program.  In October, I had a three week break and delivered a Eurovan for friends to Colorado and then spent almost a week in Iceland.  By November is was snowing, I started skiing, and couldn't stop.  A trip into Baxter State Park in February sealed my fate.  I dropped out of school, got a job bartending, and started putting away money for a new adventure.  I wasn't sure what it would look like, but I knew that I wanted to pursue my passion of being in the mountains with my friends (ideally on skis, bikes, crampons, or rock shoes).

After sneaking out of my cancer diagnosis with a little scar, getting divorced, selling the house, losing many of my belongings in a house fire and quitting my teaching job at Portland High School, I really started to re-prioritize my life.  Fun first, everything else second.  I've sold everything down to the point that the essentials fit in my little Nissan Versa hatchback with my roofrack.  Skis, climbing gear, camping gear, clothes, laptop and camera.  What else do I need?

I've learned that life is just too precious to talk about the things I want to do and now is the time to just make them happen! After deciding to move west for the winter (and potentially longer, I really have no idea), I decided to look into a trip overseas before I started driving west.  A quick search of the interwebs found really cheap tickets to Ecuador!  After a little hemming and hawing, I pulled the trigger and bought a ticket!  Soon after two of my friends decided to join me and now we take off tomorrow!

Let the adventure continue!