The following entries are from a Google Spreadsheet I keep called “Life by Season.”
I find that three-month seasons are the easiest way for me to remember where I was and what I was doing. I’ve abbreviated the names of my friends and exes (who serve as excellent memory anchors).
The spreadsheet begins at the end of college—I graduated in December of 2004—and goes through the writing of this book.
Season | Location(s) | Notable Events |
---|---|---|
Winter 2004–5 | Berkeley and Idyllwild, CA | Graduated college. Started working at Astrocamp. |
Spring 2005 | Idyllwild and Pacific Crest Trail, CA | Quit Astrocamp a month early to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Quit the PCT after two weeks. Took a train to the East Coast. |
Summer 2005 | Pennsylvania and High Sierras, CA | Worked at Camp Cayuga with R. Partial John Muir. Trail hike with D. |
Fall 2005 | Tahoe, CA | Bought a Honda Civic. Got Craigslist room in Tahoe. Worked at Sprouts. Brief thing with HT. Quit Sprouts. Started teaching snowboarding at Heavenly. |
Winter 2005–6 | Tahoe and Banning, CA | Quit Heavenly, drove length of California. Quarterlife Crisis #1. Took job at Camp Highland. |
Spring 2006 | Banning | Worked at Camp Highland. |
Summer 2006 | High Sierras; Oregon | Worked as Deer Crossing Camp (DCC) assistant director and advisor at Not Back to School Camp (NBTSC). |
Fall 2006 | San Diego, Banning, Seattle, WA | Attempted to split time between Camp Highland and San Diego. Didn’t work; quit. Drove to Washington to stay with Aunt W. Failed to write a novel in a month. Quarterlife Crisis #2. |
Winter 2006–7 | Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina | Booked one-way flight to South America. Joined by M. & P. Returned three months later. Started writing first book manuscript. Met A. & J. |
Spring 2007 | California (all over) | Worked for Naturalists at Large: pinnacle of dirtbag outdoor educator lifestyle. |
Summer 2007 | High Sierras; Oregon | Worked as DCC assistant director. NBTSC. |
Fall 2007 | Palo Alto and Tahoe, CA; Ottawa, Canada | Lived with P. on the peninsula, took temp job as tutor. Failed trip to Canada to be with J. Took marketing research surveyor job at Heavenly and EMT course. |
Winter 2007–8 | Tahoe | Snowboarding every day and getting paid for it! Long-distance relationship with A. Finished first book. |
Spring 2008 | San Diego and all over, CA | Denied gap year trip leader position. Started Unschool Adventures (UA). Worked for Naturalists at Large again; quit early to be with A. before she left the U.S. |
Summer 2008 | High Sierras; Oregon; Vermont | Worked as DCC cook and interim director. Purchased ticket to be with A., then canceled it. NBTSC. |
Fall 2008 | Argentina | Led first UA trip, 6 weeks in Argentina. Secured contract for first book. |
Winter 2008–9 | Portland, OR | Spent all my Argentina earnings on moving to Portland. Failed new business venture. Lonely. |
Spring 2009 | New Hampshire | Ran out of money in Portland; took job as EMT medic with Nature’s Classroom. Didn’t quit. |
Summer 2009 | High Sierras; Oregon; and Vermont | Presented at first homeschooling conference. DCC guest instructor. Discovered trail running. Epic cross-country backpacking trip. NBTSC. |
Fall 2009 | Oregon Coast | First book published! Led UA Novel-Writing Retreat. |
Winter 2009–10 | Bend, OR; Australia; New Zealand | Searching for a west coast “home.” Led UA Australia trip. Running & exploring in NZ with E. First Couchsurfing experiences. |
Spring 2010 | Ashland, OR | Met B. at conference, flew to Cambridge to surprise her. Start of ~4 year-long relationship. Ran UA Spring Leadership Retreat. |
Summer 2010 | High Sierras, Palo Alto, and Oregon | DCC guest instructor realization: “I need to be my own director.” Crashed with P. NBTSC. |
Fall 2010 | Ashland and Asheville, NC | Led UA Fall Leadership Retreat. Ran 13 miles. Exploratory trip to Asheville to visit B. TEDx talk. |
Winter 2010/11 | Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, Peru | Guatemala tree climbing adventure. Led UA South America trip. |
Spring 2011 | India and Tahoe | Five weeks in India with B. Summering in Tahoe. |
Summer 2011 | Tahoe and Oregon | Glorious Tahoe summer of trail running and book-writing. NBTSC. |
Fall 2011 | High Sierras and Durango, CO | Backpacking with V. Led UA Writing Retreat. |
Winter 2011/12 | Asheville | Moved in temporarily with B.’s family, then Craigslist house (seven-month lease). Book-writing. |
Spring 2012 | Argentina and Asheville | Led UA Argentina trip. Book-writing. |
Summer 2012 | Asheville, Tahoe, Oregon, and Vermont | Self-published second book. Sweltering summer in the south. Ran 16 miles. Led Asheville Intensive program. Tahoe escape. NBTSC. |
Fall 2012 | Asheville and Massachusetts | Led UA Writing Retreat. |
Winter 2012–13 | Asheville and NZ | Led UA New Zealand trip. Published ZTC. |
Spring 2013 | Asheville and Peru | Peru trip with B. Sweet apartment in Asheville: first-ever 12-month lease. |
Summer 2013 | Asheville; Tahoe; and Oregon | Led Trailblazer Gathering. Tahoe escape. NBTSC. |
Fall 2013 | Maine and Asheville | Personal writing retreat for third book. UA Writing Retreat happened without me (sweet!). |
Winter 2013–14 | Amsterdam and Madrid | Breakup with B. Departed Asheville despite lease. Amsterdam adventure with M. Lonely in Madrid. |
Spring 2014 | Argentina and U.S. (all over) | Led UA Buenos Aires tango trip. Cross-country relocation road trip. Finished third book. |
Summer 2014 | San Francisco | Lived in downtown SF. Dated R. Recorded audiobook. NBTSC. |
Fall 2014 | Nepal and Santa Cruz | Self-published third book. Led UA Nepal trip. Met S. at monastery; broke up with R. Co-living in Santa Cruz. |
Winter 2014–15 | Boulder and Tahoe | Ran marathon. Debacle with S. Met Z. Housesitting in Tahoe. Podcasting. |
Spring 2015 | Boulder | Boulder living and then breakup with Z. |
Summer 2015 | Tahoe | A place to call my own in Tahoe. NBTSC. High Sierra Route backpacking. Epic trail runs. |
Fall 2015 | Colorado and East Coast | Led UA Adventure Semester. East coast road trip. |
Winter 2015–6 | Mexico, Guatemala, and New Zealand | Began writing the blog that would become this book. Adventures with D. Led UA Simply New Zealand. |
Spring 2016 | New Zealand, Australia, Argentina | Personal adventures in NZ + Aus. Running NZ’s Great Walks. Research and tango in Buenos Aires. |
The | Journey | Continues |