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Aug 24

Outward Bound

I just finished instructing an awesome outward bound course with 9 awesome young adults and a great co-instructor.  I had 22 days to hike and paddle the mountains and lakes of Maine and while I felt really present in my time out there, I did spend some time thinking about my next expedition.

We spent some time talking about the history of Outward Bound – and how Kurt Hahn wanted to created a school that helped people realize their potential through challenge, both physically and mentally.  He believed that through adversity we learn what we were made of.

The name Outward Bound comes from the term used for ships heading out of the safety of their harbor into unknown waters.

I think that I am outward bound.

Jul 28

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what now?

really quick update….

I have moved out of my apartment, all of my stuff is either being used by the person subletting, in storage or in my car.  My car is full of clothes for course, clothes to bring on my trip and clothes and gear to be sent to Argentina for climbing.  And there are a lot guidebooks in the back.

I leave for my 22-day outward bound course on saturday.  out until august 20th.

then 8 days later, I get on a airplane.

hard to believe it is all happening…..

Jul 21

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Frequently Asked Questions

When I tell people about my plans, I usually get one of three responses:

1.  Aren’t you scared?

2.  Are you traveling by yourself?  (which is followed by question number 1)

3.  Is this an Eat-Pray-Love thing?

Yes.  Yes.  No.

Of course I am scared.  The list of what-ifs goes on and on….

what if i get malaria?  what if i run into a huge snake in southern india?  what if i get lonely?  what if I get really sick?  what if I get abducted?  what if I run out of money?  what if I get hurt and have to come home early?  what if I miss my mommy?  what if I get my head chopped off?  what if it turns out I don’t like traveling?

as you can see…..  the mind can run rampant with these what-if questions (and all of a sudden I am transported to my classroom and how my students love the what if questions and I can understand the 10th grade brain in a whole new way…..)

But, at the same time, I guess I don’t know what I would be missing if I don’t go.  I don’t know how lonely or how scary it will be — since right now, I am just imagining the possibilities.  But to live it and see it and experience it….  then I will know.  And sometimes, the idea of just staying is as scary and lonely as anything else I can imagine….

5 days until I move out of my apartment.  Just ask me if I am ready…. come on, just ask!  ok, I’ll tell you.  um, not ready.  nope, not packed.

and as for the eat-pray-love thing….  i mean, i guess because she traveled – there is that similarity.  But i am not a writer, not getting paid to travel and not-getting-a-divorce-rebounding-and-breaking-up.  So there is that.  Nor am I julia roberts.  just sayin’

Jul 11

Lists and gear and money and visas (or, in other words, it will all work out)

That is what my brain has been full of this past weekend – lists and gear and money and visas.

Now, don’t get me wrong — i love a good list as much as the next type-A-control-freak-who-is-not-all-that-organized, but currently I have about 10 lists all over the place.  The other day, I found one in my car.  Huh, a lot of good that one was doing for me.  Good thing I had most of the stuff written down somewhere else (most items seemed to be cross-referenced on about 75% of the lists).

But, let me give you a perspective on my day (yes, this day in which I had nothing really to do – except, you know, tackle THE LIST(s) — which, is coincidentally, just about the only day in the next two and half weeks when I did not have something else to do):

-wake-up; go exercise (while thinking about either the to-do list or what gear to bring with me or what I should do when I am in Vietnam); come home – get ready for my day; drink coffee while thinking about getting to my to-do list; spend two hours looking at gear online that I still need to get; make another list of gear to purchase; check online account; add up budget (AGAIN) – think about how much below budget I am – count up hours working this summer – do the math (again); read lonely planet (start with nepal, move to patagonia, then back to nepal, then to bolivia, then vietnam, back to nepal); and repeat (well, except for the wake-up part).

yes — you might notice that there is a lot of thinking and list making and more lists — but not a whole lotta action happening…  yeah, in fact — if you saw my room right now, you would not really believe that i am moving out in 16 days (I mean, how long does it really take to pack up everything?).

Two and half weeks…  at which point I will be out of my apartment and head to Maine for a 3 week OB course.  then back here for a week before I leave.  crazytown….

but tomorrow — tomorrow is going to be a new day.  I have promised myself that I am gong to make all my important (read:  scary) calls this week (insurance, loans, and more insurance).  I will mail out my passport for my Nepal visa (since I just got it back with my India visa).  I will get boxes to pack my stuff.  and, in the process, will learn to let go of all my lists….  that is my mantra these days – it will all work out….  

oh, and just for the record….. it is hard to come up with a gear list when you are going from trekking in the Himalayas to traveling through India to lounging on the beaches of vietnam to trekking and climbing in the Andes and Patagonia….. you try it – think about that gear list for a moment – it isn’t small.

Yup, here are all the clothes I am bringing.  Some of you might think this is not a lot, but this spread seems a lot bigger than my list seemed….  hmm….  guess I don’t need much more!

Jun 27

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A different identify

When I had a dog, I loved being a dog-owner.  Besides missing my hiking-traveling-frisbee-road-trip-backpacking companion, when I had to put my dog to sleep, it was strangest to get use to not being a ‘dog-owner’ any more.  For so long, I had a been a ‘dog-owner’.  That was who I was.  I was the person who went home to walk my dog.  I was the person who took their dog hiking.  I was a person with a dog.  And then… suddenly, I wasn’t.  I was a bit lost those first couple of weeks.  Who was I?  What was my new identity?

Right now, I kind of feel that way.  The school year is over.  No more teaching, no more grading, no more planning and rushing to the copier first thing in the morning to prep for class.  No more 5:15 runs going over the lesson plans in my head.  That has been my identity for the past 5 years.  Teacher.  Renaissance.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am quite alright to not have any more grading.  But, now the question is – what is my new identity?

traveler?  explorer?  itinerant?  vagabond?  wanderer?

Two months until departure.  Just sayin’…..

Jun 7

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Dedication

This blog is dedicated to my crew and all my students at the amazing Springfield Renaissance School!

Last night was our second graduation.  Second year of 100% college acceptance.  I am so proud of our accomplishments and so proud to be a founding teacher at this school.  As I tell my crew of my travels, I hope that they will travel with me next year.

Each day, I ask of my students to dig deep, think deep, question the world, each other and to push themselves.  Now it is time that I do the same.

In the letter I wrote to my crew, I included this Mark Twain quote which speaks to me and is what I hope my crew learns from my adventures next year!

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Jun 4

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Bucket Lists


This post is dedicated to Lindsay and Sarah.

When I was in India a few summers back on a summer-teacher-sabbatical with two friends who also happened to be colleagues, I remember sitting in our room during a home-stay trek we were on.  We were in the top floor of the one-house ‘village’, listening to the monk chant in the other room, and playing with the ‘village’ child.  From our room, we had a view of Stok Kangri, the highest mountain in Ladakh and later watched the moon rise above the mountain.  It was a crystal blue day, one of those high alpine days that make me love the mountains.

Not sure how or why we started, but we each started to make a life list.  You know, the things you jot down that you hope some day you will do.  The big dreams.  Now, 3 years later – I realize that all 3 of us have been able to manifest many of our dreams.  This upcoming year I will be living so much of my life list (trek in the andes, climb a 20,000 ft. peak, travel for 6 or more months, trek in the himalayas, learn Spanish by immersion).  And the really fun think about bucket lists?  There’s always more to dream.

What’s on your life list?

May 30

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So why go?

Why leave a job I love, salary, benefits, kids and co-workers that challenge me and keep me laughing?  Why leave a community of friends and a living space that I adore?  Why leave the safety of what I know and feel comfortable with?

I have never been one to choose the easiest path.  When I was a senior in high school I moved to France to be an exchange student with only about two years of weak high school French under my belt.  Twice I have moved across country to places where I knew only one or two people.  And most recently, I moved to western Massachusetts to help open a school, not knowing anyone but the person who hired me.

But this feels different.  Friends love to make fun of me and my endless list making.  If nothing else, I am practical and pragmatic.  I love making lists.  I love planning for the future.  But now, all I know is that I will be traveling for 9 months.  I know there is no way to plan out all of the trip.  I cannot foresee every change that will come my way, every bump in the road.  Or what exciting adventures I will find out there!

This adventure is going to be a challenge.  I anticipate that I will see and learn and grow in endless, countless ways.  But really…. so why go?  Here are my reasons – both big and small.

1.  because it’s there.  Like Mallory, I want to go for the sake of going – for the adventure.  I want to see what’s out there.  I want to climb and trek and hike all over the world.

2.  I want to learn spanish.

3.  I love my job, love my work – but there is a whole big world out there – ready for me.  I don’t want to be that disgruntled teacher, going through the motions year after year.  I hope to return after this year fresh and ready to jump back into the hard work of teaching.

4.  There is so much cool stuff out there — I need to see it!  Being a biology teacher, I am continuously in awe of the world and natural wonders.  I cannot wait to see the Himalayas, the Andes, the beaches of Vietnam, Thai temples and Patagonia.

May 29

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Introduction to Planet Aurora

I leave in 3 months.  There is so much to do in that time – bags to pack, shots and meds to be taken, bank accounts to be sorted out, sell my car, pack up my stuff.  Sometimes it is a little overwhelming pulling together all the details.  But then I think – oh yeah, in 6 months, I will be climbing Aconcagua.  Or maybe, in 3.5 months I will be trekking in Nepal.  And the stress and anxiety fades into the background just a little.

So, here are the details….

I leave on August 28th and fly to Nepal.  There I will meet up with my good friend Lisa from college who lives there and my good friend Katherine will be arriving the next day.  Katherine and I plan on trekking while in Nepal.  Right now, we are deciding between the Annapurna Circuit or the 3-passes trek.  Both sound amazing.  Maybe we can do them both….

Katherine is in Nepal for 6 weeks and I do not have a set itinerary other than flying out of Delhi, India on December 18th.  At some point, I will make my way to India.  After spending a month there a few years ago, I know I want to go back and explore more – though hard to choose where!  Varanasi, Calcutta, Rajasthan, Chandigarh…. the list goes on and on.

But, on Dec. 16th, I will fly to Thailand for a 5 day lay-over on my way to Vietnam.  I know it is super short – but I bet I can eat a lot of really good thai food in those 5 days.

Then I arrive in Vietnam for 2 weeks.  I plan on going to the Mekong Delta, Da Lat for the mountains, Nha Trang for the beaches, and Hoi An.  New Year’s on the beach?  sure, sounds good.

Jan. 6th I depart for Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I arrive on the 7th to meet up with friends in order to attempt a climb of Aconcagua (one of the 7 summits).   Between traveling to Mendoza for food, supplies and permits and then being on the mountain – our hope is to be back in Mendoza in late January/early February, drinking fabulous Argentinian wine, celebrating our successful and safe climb!

From there, I plan to head to Patagonia for some trekking and more climbing.  And here is where the plans start to get a little up in the air….  I know that I want to travel north up the Andes, eventually to Peru.  Somewhere in there I hope to volunteer and go to language school.  And lots more climbing and trekking.  And Salar de Uyuni.  Huayhuash Circuit.  Cordilla Real.  The list goes on and on….

I don’t have a return ticket yet, though I will be making that decision sometime in the next few months.  Most likely the end of May, beginning of June.  My budget is tight for next year and I will need to return for work (school?  Outward Bound?  World Challenge?)

So, there you have it friends….  that is the plan.

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