The current State of Affairs

I want to make up for lost time and write about all the things that have happened in my life since the Asia trip. I want to elaborate on those few notes I took about the contemplations of mortality and adventure but I fear the notes are not present and I do not have the energy to think back and remember the details from long ago. Instead I am going to be in the moment and reflect upon the current state of affairs.

I am some 12,000 feet above the Rockies flying back to Denver after a 5 day visit to Seattle. Since college people have told me of the amazing emerald city of the north and when two of my best friends in the entire world moved there after college and the flight tickets dropped down to 150 round trip I had no more excuses. Seattle is a great mix of the relaxed Nor Cal lifestyle without the pretentiousness along with the lush green beauty of Oregon (atleast in the summer). My timing was unfortunate and although there is a reputation for general grey weather apparently the summers are much more pleasant than January. Other than the dull winter blanket that surrounds the city it remained vibrant and full of life. It helped to have an adventurous crowd to show me the ropes. My friends from college showed me the lively Seattle hotspots and bar scenes and when my best friends were busy with work the state of the economy freed others to show me the inside sights like the gum wall, fish market, views from Queen Anne, and the first starbucks ever. The actual focus of the trip though was for the birthday of another dear friend which happened to coincide with the groups annual “Around the world party”. This is something I absolutely love in the American culture, theme parties; which reminded me of my favorite joke…but that will have to remain for another time. The party consisted of 4 houses and one car. Each location had a theme with decorations, activities, and drinks. The first house was Germany which included pictures of Hasselhof and the Oktoberfest, pretzels, sausages, and a selection of German beers, Austria had Austrian beer and pin the eye on the Terminator, Norway had Viking sized gin tonic and Vikings horns and shields, Spain had Sangria and bull fighting out of the back of their car, and Cuba had Castro, Cuba Libras, Mojitos, the Buena Vista Social Club as well as a slide show of the groups NYE trip to Bend, OR which I was lucky enough to attend. But I think beyond any of the fun events and tourist activities my favorite part of the trip was reconnecting with old friends and seeing how wonderfully their lives were progressing. It is always interesting to see how a group of friends will diverge and explore the different opportunities that life creates. In this case they were room mates of mine from college who were once in love, decided to part ways, and after growth apart have merged back onto the same road towards happiness. It was great seeing them and even better to be able to say good bye knowing I would see them again back in Boulder for a college reunion 2 weeks from now.

But as I said I am on a flight home to Colorado. I am currently living in Avon, CO working as a snowboarding instructor. Sometime in the last few years I have made the commitment to myself to learn something new every year and to have atleast one adventure. This year I decided to go get a snowboarding teachers license and live the life of a snowbum. It is something I have thought about since college in Colorado. It seems a lot of people from Colorado decide to take that route while they debate what course their lives should take. I would definetly recommend it as a great distraction from the real world and responsibility and I mean that only in the best way possible. I actually went to work as a tour guide in Germany after college. Towards the end of my most recent season at Fat Tire in Berlin (3rd season) I decided to book a trip to South America and planned to eventually migrate north to Seattle and live and work up there to be with Drew and Emily. As I prepared for the trip I decided to submit an application to work as a snowboarding instructor as a fun winter activity. I didn’t necessarily expect to get hired because I lacked official certification and had no experience teaching snowboarding whatsoever. Other teaching experiences must have inspired them to take a chance, and I was hired by the Beavercreek Resort as a children’s instructor. I decided to put my SA adventures on hold and started searching for housing. The God’s of fate must have smiled down upon me when I found an add on Craigslist published by two stokesters from Pennsylvania who needed another room mate. Apparently my emails made an impression and my name promised countless hours of amusement so they chose my application and invited me into their fully furnished and centrally located condo. It was immediately clear that this would be an experience of growth when my response from Rob contained a variety of words I had never heard in their true uses before like: Stoked, mint, masterful, and crasterful. The ensuing months would contain a whole new vocabulary for me and a true emersion into the mountain culture. They actually remind of a book I had read during my Asian adventures called “On the Road Again” by Jack Kerouac. They had a passion for life much like Dean Moriarty. They quit their professional jobs to seek a life of adventure. Mac had been an actuary and Rob had worked as an environmental consultant.

Our place is right at the base of the Beavercreek resort and across the street from the Bear lot shuttle bus making our commute to “work” easy and practical. The heart of the Avon night life scene is within a fifteen minute walk along a charming path winding side by side with the River. Just across the parking lot from our condo is one of the more fun local clubs called Agave. Our location could not be better.

I remember the first evening arriving in Avon. My sister was kind enough to drive me up as I did not have a car, and my two massive bags and newly purchased snowboard would make the shuttle service from Denver not only a hassle but quite expensive as well.
By the way a huge factor in my decision to come to Colorado in the first place was that my younger sister Ashley lives in Denver. She is perhaps the closest person to me in the entire world having endured a childhood of constant relocation and having me as her and her as my only consistent companion. As it generally happens in life we took different paths after high school and hadn’t lived in the same region since forcing us to be content with 1-2 visits a year. This was a great opportunity to spend more time with her.
As we progressed along the winding I-70 highway I realized that I wasn’t really sure what to expect of Avon. I had been there once or twice before as a college student and had no recollection of the town itself. I did not know how big it was, how charming it might be, and its relation to the other resorts. Heading up I-70 we passed A-Basin, Winterpark, Breckenridge, and Keystone. Next came Copper Mtn and a slew of smaller resorts I had never even heard of. We passed the Las Vegas of the mountains;Vail and then plunged into darkness. It seemed so isolated up there in the mountains far from the sprawling metropolises I was used to. (I had lived in L.A., Melbourne, and Berlin previously) There were few intermissions in the lonely darkness as we drove towards my future home. Finally we saw lights again and started passing towns like Eagle and Minturn. I looked out the window and found myself imagining what it would be like to live in such a small sleepy place. There could not be more than a few thousand people living in the houses built so quaintly upon the hill side. I could not see any huge movie complexes or bowling alleys as shining beacons of life in the darkness. Hell I couldn’t even see a grocery store. I didn’t have a car and started imagining the isolation I was about to endure. I had not lived in a town smaller the 200,000 people since the age of four and was used to the amenities towns of that size could offer. But as we turned the bend we finally we saw the signs; Next 2 Exits Avon. We passed the first exit and turned off the second. The town was of a decent size and I could see grocery stores, and hotels, and banks, and life. You can only imagine the relief I felt when we pulled up to the condo to find that I would not have to live the life of a hermit after all.

Since then I have immersed myself into fully into the lifestyle of a snowboarding instructor. The experience started with a two week training session at Beavercreek where they taught us the basics of teaching, the Beavercreek lifestyle, and improved our riding. I needed a lot of improvement. I had ridden a snowboard once in three years when I went on a trip with an ex girlfriend. Needless to say I fell on the first run but I don’t think too many people saw it happen. I got back on track quickly and Mac, Rob and I completed our professional snowboarding AASI certifications. We have also tried to immerse ourselves into the existing bar scene. Monday nights are club night at Agave, Tuesdays are trivia night and Wednesdays are Karaoke night at Loaded Joe’s, Thursdays are our day of rest, etc.. Everyday is 1$ beer happy hour at the dusty boot so that is where we spend the majority of our time hanging out with other locals and ski/board instructors. But what excites me most about my experience in Avon/Beavercreek is not the intimacy of the bar scene but the people here. It is a little bubble of happiness in a world that has so many problems. Everybody here is happy, tourists and locals alike. I could not imagine what it would be like to be a dentist. Every day people come to see you that hate seeing you; in tourism we have the benefit that people are happy and excited to see us. The people I work with are full of passion and full of life. It creates a general feeling of comradery and compassion and it makes me excited to go to work everyday.

The Conviction

There is a question that seems to permeate most self-reflection about life and happiness; “If I died today, would I be happy with the life I have lived thus far or die with regret”? Despite being morbid, I find the question fascinating because it allows us to intermittently reflect on the path we are following and if our answer to the question would be one of dissatisfaction, make alterations to align ourselves of a life without regret or at least one with a hopeful conclusion.

It is probably safe to say that most, if not all, people would choose to change something about their past, but until some aspiring young scientist figures out how to invent a time machine that opportunity will sadly remain out of our grasp. We can instead look back at our mistakes with an eye on the future. We can seek to avoid making the same mistakes twice and come to a comfortable understanding that all past mistakes and actions somehow unfolded and brought us to the place we are here and now.

In my current reflection I feel that although ridden with plenty of mistakes, I have lived my life fairly well and in line with my sense of adventure. What lacks is a productive concrete outcome. Already the memories of yesterday are fading and the adventures of years ago become only a diluted ingredient in the person typing here today. So many ideas have been lost, so many of my dreams have been forgotten. My regret so to speak is not having a more detailed account of my life in written form and a severe lack of organization. I need to write more. Thank you by the way to a dear Greek friend of mine that has made me aware of this neglect. ;)

During the course of my life I have had the great fortune to meet a countless number of interesting people through school and tourism. Each of these people have their own stories, ambitions, dreams, and desires. It is overwhelming to think about how many of these conversations and ideas have been lost because they were not documented. Sadly the wind and walls do not take comprehendible notes for us and our future generations. As a wise woman once said “Every life needs a witness, everyone needs a Dr. Watson.” What better witness to have then yourself. You can insure that those ideas and interactions are not lost but recorded and saved. Journalists fascinate me. It is not that they are the only people with ideas but along with writers and bloggers they are the only ones that take the initiative to write them down. They understand the significance of the mundane and give importance to their existence. History is written by those who record it. They become the voice and spirit of the victors and our link to reality in the past, present, and future.

Back again

A lot has happened since I last wrote in this blog. I had the intention of writing weekly during my travels to Asia and never really got around to it. Even after the trip was over I wanted to go back and review all the amazing experiences and document them so that one day I could look back and smile at all those things that will surely be lost to memory.

I currently find myself a year older and on new adventures. I still refuse to accept a life of tradition and virtue as it has been laid out by our previous generations. Actually perhaps the reason I am writing this today is because I had the fortunate experience of stumbling upon the blog of a friend. She was writing about her struggle with pursuing the life of marriage and traditional success versus that of the modern nomad. It is a struggle that I too find myself in.

I think many people my age (26) find themselves at this great cross roads in life. What do we want to make of ourselves? Where do we want to live? Do we want to have children? What will we want to have accomplished when our lives are over and done? These questions are enormous. There is the emerging study of a phenomenon known as the quarter-life crisis that can attest to that. These questions are nothing new to our generation but I do think the questions have become a bit more overwhelming than they have been in the past. Our modern generation (at least in the USA) enjoys an unprecedented time of relative peace and luxury and endless opportunity. The internet has insured that even if we are from a small town somewhere we will find out about the big world beyond and all the different kind of lives therein. What life of all these lives is worth living?

In previous generations the road of life was often laid our for you. You would follow your father or mothers footsteps, you would till the fields or go into law, you would have a family, grow old, and die. There was not the time or opportunity that we have today to question that path and really ask ourselves “What is the purpose of life? And how do I want to live on a daily basis?” I ofcourse do not mean this in the moral sense but more in the grander sense. The conclusion each one of us draws for those questions is different and we can find comfort and solace that there is no wrong or right answer that applies to everyone. It is a question that we alone can answer.

I for example am content with living the life of a nomad. I do not make much money but I do things I love everyday. I have chosen to sacrifice wealth and stability for the sake of freedom. The other questions of retirement, family, etc. will have to wait.