Rambling: The never ending Trip planning.
It's insane right, that I'm here in Australia surfing and living a dream trip that I've been planning for over a year previous. I've surfed Bali for a month and traveled japan for a month, now I'm living in a paradise of surf culture, biking ten minutes from my doorstep to the waves every other day, grinding a juice bar job and finding photo gigs whenever I can. And yet... I'm fantasizing and organizing a month-long bike trip down to the kilometer and clif bar back in Canada. Its fully insatiable. Even when I am living the experience I dreamed about before I stepped onto the plane, there's still...more. A next trip. Another experience on the list. Another pin on the world map. Another trail underfoot or Road pedaled. Anywhere I am currently not existing is so appealing. Not for the fact that I dislike where I am, it's never that, it's the lust of the unfamiliar that draws me.
Maybe I'm now realizing how addicting travel really is. Not only that, the combination of wanting to do a different sport, adventures in each place. Not only do I want to take a bike trip from my hometown to Haida Gwaii to camp and hike, but maybe surf too, or how good would a kayak trip be there? Maybe I'll go the other direction and head south to the states to hike out of an outfitted van, ticking off trails. But I'd like to get into (And better at) Rock climbing too. So I need to pick up some shoes...a harness...a helmet for my abused brain. Oh, some chalk. But I also want to bike the west coast. Patagonia is more or less on the west coast as well, just a little further south, Peru is on the way. Maybe I'll just drive there. But If I drive there I might as well cycle there, It would cost a whole lot less. Or maybe I'll fly to Patagonia to Hike, and then Fly to Iceland to cycle tour the country. If I'm already there wouldn't it just be easier to go to Nepal or Kathmandu from there? How would I be able to switch my cycling gear for backpacking equipment along the way without either hauling all of it or spending a fortune on shipping. Separate trips would cost more anyhow. Then again I'd probably need to work between all of this to afford any of it. But that's the thing I have the least amount of time to do between trips...
You probably see a general theme developing. The tumble weed rolling around my brain, made up of ideas and constantly picking up new additions. Anyone who is into outdoors adventure and sports can probably relate to the never-ending struggle of prioritizing their "Fantasy trips", Day jobs to fund "fantasy trips" and ability to fully gear themselves out to be able to achieve what they really want to do; Which is an adventure of trial and error itself.
So I sit at home, watching a collection of my favorite inspirational outdoors films. Frothing over the most abandoned places in Kyrzkstan to deserts in the neighbouring U-S-of America.
““Here’s what I believe: real adventure is not polished, it’s not the result of some workening budget, there’s no hashtag for it. It burns brightest on the maps’ edges, but it exists on all of us. It exists on the intersection between imagination and the ridiculous. You have to have faith, it will find you there. And when it does, remember: there’s just one question. In this life, when the road comes to an end, will you keep pedaling?””
“The routine is the enemy of time, it makes it fly by. when you’re a kid everything is astonishing everything is new. And so your brain is awake and turned on, so every passing second your brain is learning something new. Learning how the world works. And so, the muscle of your brain is activated. and as you get older, and your brain has figured out the patterns of how the world works. this is how you go to school, this is how you get a job... I want to be aware or every day I am alive. I want to make it to 85 and be exhausted... Once your adult you have a choice, you can choose adventure for your life...I want to choose a mind and a soul thats wide awake, so in a sense it turns your 100 years on this planet into 1,000.””
“I mean the thing about suffering is that you dont really need to train to do it, you just do it. And I think i’m getting better at it, its feeling more and more mellow.” “I dont think it will be that bad. No I mean its definitely going to be bad.””
“Dude, your ass is like, ripped open.”
Or browsing the creative works of...give or take a few heroes in my photography world...
And eventually, I start to wonder how the hell I am going to manage to do everything. The thought sends me reeling, Is this all too far fetched? Am I setting my mountain peak a little too high? When am I going to find the time to do it all?
Then I watch "The Thousand Year Journey". And I think about the next fifty or sixty-odd years of my life. How I'm twenty-two now and I've managed to squeeze in a fair few adventures in already. I've pursued a career in snowboarding, attended nationals, trained with a team in Colorado for three weeks at Breckenridge and keystone, Partied at the Dew Tour. I've lived in Whistler for two years, Snowboarding and Hiking. I've done solo multi-day hikes in awful weather and met awesome people doing it. I've surfed in Tofino with friends and navigated Vancouver on my bike. I've hiked through countless trails in northern BC and moved from my hometown by choice at sixteen. I've already changed careers to become a photographer. I've been to the North coast of BC and southern Alaska, Ive seen bears and wolves and caribou and Orcas. I've learned to Trail run and Road bike. Ive even done both in a day. I've had ups and downs. I've been to beautiful peaks for sunrise and gone diving in Maui. I've had concussions and I've had Bad hikes. Ive seen Sea turtles and Humpback whales. Flash floods and Blizzards. I've been a Snowboard coach and I've done forestry. I've spent more time alone in the woods working than a lot of people spend in their whole life. I've done two months of helicopter work in the Rocky mountains. I've had many more Miserable hiking experiences and many amazing ones. I've been to a few new countries. A month surfing in Bali, exploring little islands and chaotic streets. Ive spent a month in Japan, Visiting family and friends. Even travelling alone for a week with only basic Japanese language skills, from the south island of Beppu to Snowy and cold Nagano. I've been naked in onsens and hiked to temples. I've been to cat cafe's and seen Geishas in Kyoto. Ive moved to Australia and bought a surfboard.
Thats twenty two years that I have Chosen adventure. twenty two years that I've found time to do things, prioritized the things I wanted over the crap I didnt.
Of course, I don't mean this in a "bragging" type of way at all, Im just stating that there is SO MUCH time in a persons life to do things! All it takes is a little drive and organization. We choose every day what we want to do. We have the opportunity to choose our paths in life, thankfully, as many people do not. We can choose to put our time and money into things that seem crazy to a fair amount of other people, but hey if it seems like the right kind of crazy in your life, DO IT. I'm currently planning multiple bike tours from northern Canada to Iceland to the US west coast. Getting the little things organized so that given the chance and combination of money and time I can pack up and go. Be present in the moment and place your in, experience it as much as you can, but keep the future in mind. Keep the stoke going. Make choices that put you towards the goals you want to achieve and surely the rest will fall into place. Find places, books and people that inspire you. Big trips or little, they are all do-able. Write down a list of gear your going to need or a timeline of where you need to be when, Check out online articles for people who have done similar things. Be totally over the moon with being alive and enthusiastic about ALL your adventures, big or small. And remember; You don't have to have a group of friends to do these things with, You can do it by yourself and have an amazing experience. A majority of the adventures i've done have been done solo. And they have been the most rewarding, life changing epics (and blunders). But most of all, Don't take things too seriously, I mean...We adventure for fun after all right, for the stories? Regardless of which "type of fun" your having, if you like to rate things like most outdoor enthusiasts do ie; rock climbing, kayaking, skiing...etc.
So plan adventures while your adventuring. Hold onto those crazy trips and goals. Keep looking for that next awesome moment while enjoying the fact that your alive and doing things right now. And soon enough, all your moments will be awesome, because the entire process of adventures and planning them is awesome. And thats Awesome.
*Insert thumbs up emoji*