JOURNAL

Anyone who’s lived through a Michigan winter knows that the brutal temperatures, ice storms, lack of Vitamin D, and hermitting attitudes of the mitten’s population can take a toll on one’s motivation and zest for life. At nineteen, I had stuck around my home town for too long after high school and found myself slipping further and further into a dismal routine of work, school, and no play. A friend and I had had enough and decided it was time for us to plan a summer road trip. Thankfully, halfway through the planning phase I realized just how broke I was and somehow, after stumbling around the internet in search of an alternative adventure, found CoolWorks.

That was all it took. We left for some housekeeping jobs in the Tetons that April and I never looked back. Sure, I have a tendency to move back and forth from my good ol’ home state, but gypsying around in search of adventure has taken over as not only my favorite past time, but my passion. As seasonal work can be like summer camp for big kids, it introduced me to some incredible people and postcard-worthy experiences, and also a lifestyle that supports and encourages my penchant for day dreaming big and making those dreams into a reality. Plus, I am resolute that not much can beat the self-confidence, wonder, and fresh perspectives on life as a whole that only travel can bring about. Never will I be the one to say, “I wish I could have done that when I was younger,” because I’m doing it. From watching the moon rise over the Tetons, to haggling for sweet breads on a crowded market day in Guatemala, to taking in the scent of a Jeffrey pine in northern California (it smells just like butterscotch, I swear), I fall more and more in love with my life every day and as I get older, I realize more and more what a true gift that is.

My first seasonal job was just a spring board for a life of adventure that I’m free flying through. Sure “real life” responsibility comes into play, but I know that my experiences give me an edge in the everyday. Learning to take everything as it comes and being flexible is such a monumental lesson to learn, and what better way to learn it than from a day hike around the sandstone monoliths of Moab or from a chance encounter with a friendly stranger on the streets of London? Plus, now I no longer dread the fall color change signaling the end of summer and the impending winter. Working at a couple of ski resorts in Utah can change a person, and I now have a deep and abiding love for the snow.