The Plan...

...if you want to call it that is a loose one at best.  We are swamped with details of shutting down an entrenched life, both at work and home, and the idea of a set itinerary seems too stifling.  We will enter this adventure with a wispy idea of where we are headed and a willingness to explore new places.

New places is to be our motto as we travel.  I'm not sure I can explain why but new is what motivates me.  I come into new places with eyes wide open ready for anything and looking for every detail.  I like returning to old favorites but I overlook tiny changes because I've already been there before.  The risk of going back to an old favorite is that seems less exciting than the first visit and that can be disappointing.  New is an unread book, full of possibility, without expectation.  New rarely disappoints.

Both of us have explored a significant part of the West but there are many places we've had to bypass on the way.  Our goal on this trip is to get deeper into some of those out-of-the-way spots and give them the exploration they deserve.  Destination #1 is central BC.  My mental map has a huge blank space between the big parks (Jasper/Banff) and the Washington border.  I've driven through but never had the time to explore.  In late August we'll be moved out of the apartment and have our stuff stored (mostly in Hood River and some in Richland).  After visiting the family in HR, Richland and Spokane we'll swing about and follow the North Star until we find adventure, which I'm sure won't be too difficult.

The wildcard in all of this will be the weather.  We're getting a later start, early September, than I'd hoped for and exploration could easily be shut down with a cold snap.  So following the warmer weather south will need to factor into our plans.  When BC gets too cold we'll follow the turning leaves back into the States.

Our ultimate landing spot is Hood River.  There are limitless opportunities for fun in Hood River - kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, wind sports and so on.  The small town living is something we both crave after being in the city for many years. And most importantly we want to be closer to Alex and his family.  Even 4 hours away was too far and we didn't see them nearly enough.  We plan to make Hood River our home for the next several years but there's one more major stop along the way.

Hood River is not known for it's skiing and after last year's dismal NW season I would really like to spend some time surfing the white wave.  As fall progresses we will seek a wintry home with a good mountain where we can immerse ourselves in a healthy dose of the white stuff.  Our destination is very much in flux because there are a plethora of factors in play.  Obviously we will seek out a place with ample snow.  A strong El Nino forecast aims us toward southern Colorado or California.  We want a place that's not crowded.  The last thing I want is to jostle with people in a lift line all winter.  Available jobs will be a very important factor as our accounts will be a little thin by winter.  We both have some prospects but nothing is fixed.  A good job for either of us could shift the tide on where we drop anchor.   It's a little scary not knowing exactly what ahead but we are both prepared to explore the unknown.

We will spend the better part of October exploring mountain towns in Colorado, Northern New Mexico and perhaps California, searching for that perfect winter retreat.  Once we have some roots loosely in place, housing & jobs being the key factors, we'll continue following the warm weather south until the snow arrives at our winter home.  We always love exploring canyon country and the transition between fall & winter should be the perfect time to do some more exploring in pleasant weather.

By late November we should be back in our little ski town and ready to settle down for a epic winter of big pow days and lots of sunshine!

Packed & Ready

How much stuff you have is a function of two things;  how large your space is and how long you have inhabited this space.  Once upon a time there was a man who lived in an igloo  It was a modest igloo with one room and a nice entrance.  In the igloo the man had only the items he needed  A sleeping bag, some clothing and a small bit of food.

One day the man was motivated to expand his dwelling  He added several rooms.  Even a second story (if you believe a second story could be added to an igloo).  The amount of stuff in his igloo began to blossom.  With roughly 180 square feet of frozen dwelling he had room for a kitchen with lots of food, a stove, many more clothes and ground pads to insulate the icy floors.

A simple story but it illustrates the point.  When it came time to move out of our 1200 square foot apartment where we'd lived for 4 years the process was a little cumbersome.  Most of the time was spent sorting and debating - do I trash, donate or keep.  Over and over again for every little item.  After a tiring week of sorting & packing we were finally ready to load the truck.

I need to pause here and add a little of the trip plan.  Packing was not just a matter of throwing all our stuff into boxes.

Our plan has 3 stages - the road trip, the ski bum leg and the final settlement.  We'll spend 3 months on the road beginning in Canada and heading south through Montana, Wyoming & Colorado.  Along the way we'll select a landing spot for the ski bum leg.  A proper place to make some turns this winter.  We'll continue into the southwest until winter truly arrives then head back to the ski resort of our choice.  After the ski season we will finally settle in Hood River where my Brother lives.

If you can imagine the logistics it isn't easy.  Of all our stuff we had to sort out what we'd need for the road trip, the ski leg and everything else goes into long term storage.  Everything has to be packaged and accessible so we can get what we need when we need it.  It just wasn't a simple packing job.  We'll leave it at that.

And finally the shuttling of stuff.  Three cars and a moving van that need to go to two separate locations and only 2 people.  We drove the van to Hood River along with one car.  Loaded a storage unit.  Then picked up a willing driver (my Dad) and drove back to Issaquah to finalize the apartment and then shuttle the remaining cars to Richland where would live until winter.

It's finally done.  All excess stuff is donated or trashed.  Winter stuff is queued up in the storage unit.  Cars are safely stored with my folks.  And we have only one vehicle with a handful of necessary items for hiking backpacking and a little fishing.

We are both very relieved that this phase is finished!  And that we are finally liberated!

The Quandary

In the spring our talk of another Megamoon started to get serious.  I'm not sure of the exact date but we made the firm choice to leave.  This time for good.  The last trip we were unsure of where we'd end up.  Plans were open and flexible.  This time we know we won't be coming back.

So things feel different, much more polarizing.  For one, we both have really good jobs.  Laurel works with an amazing group of people at UW and they obviously value what she brings to the table.  I work for a leading company in the outdoor industry, a company that has a vision I can believe in. My team is awesome and I will miss them as much as they miss me.  We are also leaving a really core group of friends.  Of course we left friends the last time but everyone was younger and more flexible.  Coming and going seemed to be part of the normal cycle.  This time our friends are firmly rooted with jobs, houses and children.  This time it is more permanent.  We are leaving them and the normal cycles may not bring us back together soon.

So why the hell are we leaving?!  It comes to this; there are just too many people in our favorite places!  Muir said it this way, “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity”.  We are the tired, over-civilized people and need to find wildness. But so is everyone else and finding wildness among thousands of others is not wildness at all.  

In 2010 we chose to live in a sleepy town near Seattle to be away from the hustle of the city.  Now I can barely get across town in the afternoons without sitting in traffic.  Trailheads near our house overflow, even on weekdays.  Finding a spot to park at the local MTB trail can be difficult, not to mention the backup of cars just to get to the lot.  And soon, I fear, I will find people in my favorite fishing spots.  

 Everyday Seattle gets a little less green.

So this time when we go in search of necessary wildness it's with a greater sense of loss for everything we are leaving behind.

 

What is "Life on the Moon"?

We are all a little bit off, abnormal you might say.  That's what makes us unique and interesting.  Or screwed up depending on how you look at it.

Life on the moon really comes down to an abnormality that directs me in unique ways.  I have a deep seeded belief that people were not meant to sit in front of computers, drive cars all day or live in big fancy houses disconnected from the outside world.  We do these things but somewhere inside it goes against something deep in our core.  I don't know of anyone who comes away from a computer feeling the same way they do after a trip to the mountains.  We drive the electronic box because we must, but why?

Well, I'll admit that the box is a necessity.  I think you could only eliminate it entirely in a few rare cases but for the most part we all need to take some part in the electronic world.  So then the question becomes, how often?  This is where I start to diverge.

Our little worlds are driven by a series of choices that direct our time.  It comes down to three very simple steps - I want, I get, I pay.  The problem is that we have great difficulty digesting the real payment before the I get step.  For example; I want a house.  This is a wonderful dream and is beautiful in one's mind.  Then you get the house and it's time to pay.  Paying can make the dream seem very overrated.  The mortgage means being tied to job for a very long time - 40+ hours per week, 48 weeks a year for 30 years.  It's many many hours on the box not to mention endless hours of upkeep projects.  My time has just been reallocated.

What's worse is these choices compound - marriage, mortgage, kids & so on.  It doesn't take long to be locked into the cycle and feel like there is no free time left.

So your thinking, "Hey wait a minute, that's me!"  Or, "That's what I want!"  Well, remember, I'm not normal.  I'm very happy for you if that's what you want and I'm passing no judgement whatsoever.  I may want these things too someday but maybe not in the traditional way.

That brings me to the concept of the Megamoon.  Seven years ago I found myself on the path of marriage, house, kids, etc.  I knew that path would only lead me further from the outdoor places that are so important.  So a few years after our wedding we made the choice to break the normal cycle and hit the reset button.  We decided to step away from the electronic boxes of the world and reconnect with what we believe is fundamental.  Our hope was to regain perspective on what is truly important in life.

The reset button was a spin-off on a honeymoon.  Marriage is a major event and most people celebrate it with a vacation of sorts.  We took the normal 2 week holiday and stretched it out to 6 months in the hopes that that would be enough time to properly get to know one another and discover what life was really about.  Thus the term Megamoon.  

It's now been 7 years since our marriage and 5 since our first Megamoon.  The alignment of cosmic forces has once again prompted these feelings of abnormality and we have made the decision once again to step away from the world of humans and into the wild.

"Life on the Moon" is a collection of stories from our travels.