A Year on the Road (The Traveler’s Life)

For those of us in the United States September 11th has a fairly profound meaning, for me it also marks the date I started my year of unemployment (in 2016). I kept finding excuse after excuse of why I couldn’t or shouldn’t quit my job and take some time off, but finally after my failed attempt on the Colorado 14ers in 2016 I realized…there would never be a perfect time or situation, and sometimes you just need to take a leap into the deep end and see what the life takes you. Leaving a job where I enjoyed the work and the people was hard, but it was time for a change, and there was simply too much of the world out there which I had not experienced and explored.

It’s impossible to fully summarize everything that’s happened to me, all the people I’ve met or everything that I’ve experienced, but I can say that it’s far exceeded any expectations I could even have dreamed of. I’ve wandered the 1000year old temples of Angkor, swam with bioluminescent plankton, glimpsed the Milky Way shining above an 8000m peak (and watched an avalanche rage down it), climbed to 5416m altitude and was mistaken dozens of times for a Nepalese guide, volunteered in a Nepalese school, watched sunrise/sunsets from the temples of Bagan, was invited to dinner (3x) by Burmese people with whom I shared no common language, watched lava flow into the ocean, had all my identity/credit cards/cell phone stolen, spent six weeks running around Patagonia, got to live and work in Torres del Paine with the rangers and build trails, wandered the Atacama desert, played Tejo (look it up, its awesome), ran around the slot canyons, redwoods, Glaicer NP and Canada, watched a total solar eclipse (unreal) and visited many old friends and made countless new friends.

There are so many clichés that are applicable; YOLO, carpe diem, wanderlust, and on and on…I would not have traded this year off for anything, and hope that many of you out there have the chance to experience even a little piece of the journey I was so fortunate to have been on. Just remember, if you’re waiting for the perfect opportunity, it may never come, but if you put yourself out there into the unknown I highly doubt you’ll regret it. And for those asking, yes I’m back looking for jobs in the Boulder, CO area so if you know any immunology/cell biology labs hiring, hit me up. I’ll let the following collection of some of my favorite photos from the travels tell the rest of the story…and yes it was even more amazing than the photos.

Early morning kayak in Khao Sok NP, Thailand.

Temples of Ankor in Cambodia.

Sunrise on Koh Rong during a 4 nights stay at Suns of Beaches, amazing and unexpected island life in Cambodia.

Kyanjin Gompa and the quiet magnificence of the Langtang Valley, Nepal.

Roof top breakfast in Gyharu with views of Annapurna, Annapurna circuit Nepal.

Kicho Tal along the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal.

Thorung La Pass, 5416m, highest elevation I’ve ever been. Nepal.

Annapurna Basecamp with Steve, what a view. Nepal.

The Milky Way and Annapurna, Nepal.

Chatting with some of my students in Shishaghat, Nepal.

Enjoying sunrise over Bagan with new friends, Myanmar,

Making new friends, both fellow travelers and local. Inle Lake, Myanmar.m

Epic sunsets from Napili beach on Maui. It had been almost 10years, way too long.

Lava flowing into the ocean in Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii.

Marveling at the Torres, in Torres del Paine Nacional Parque, Chile.

Running around the trails of Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia, Argentina.

A week of trail running with Fitz Roy as the backdrop, not so bad. El Chalten, Argentina.

Sunrise over Paine Grande town, pinch me, because this can’t be real…. Torres del Paine, Chile.

Digging in the dirt and building trails in Torres del Paine with new friends, Chile.

Taking a moment to relax in the mountains outside Bariloche, Argentina.

Playing around in the salt flats of the Atacama desert, Chile.

Buckskin Gulch exploration, Utah desert.

Scrambling around Ding and Dang canyon with Ely and Kaytlyn, Utah desert.

Running around Redwood NP, finishing in the amazing Fern Canyon, California.

Romping around the wax palms in the Valle de Cocora. Salento, Colombia.

Looking down the North side of Piegan Pass, this place is pretty awesome. Glacier National Park, Montana.

Summit of Cirque Peak in the Canadian Rockies, Banff NP.

North American total eclipse 2017 from Borah Peak, Idaho.

Good to be back home for the regular Rocky Mountain Runners Monday run up Green Mountain, Boulder, CO. Photo courtesy of Guy Love.

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