It was almost a year and a half ago I went into the office with the intent to quit my job at the end of the week so I could backpack Southeast Asia for an unknown amount of time. Little did I know, the same week the whole working world changed as businesses sent their employees home due to the pandemic. I remember feeling as if everything I had worked towards personally and financially had been swept out from under me. I remember not wanting to cancel my one way flight until the last possible moment in hopes something miraculous would happen and I could still go on the trip. But I didn’t, I kept my job and kept working in hopes that someday I would get the opportunity again to do what I had been dreaming of for the past year.
Since that day, I told myself 2 things.
Create experiences I will never forget as often as possible.
Try to inspire others to put themselves first and do the things they have always wanted to do.
Some of my favorite memories from the past year:
Shasta area with my best friend Nicole, my girlfriend Sonia and my mom.
These places are absolute gems of Northern California and I was so excited to share each of the different experiences with each of them.
Backpacking Big Pine Lakes (North and South Fork).
This was our first backcountry backpacking trip and it blew us all away. Living in Califronia my whole life, I had no idea places like this existed nearby. Both trips were my first encounters with glacial lakes and has sent me on a journey to find the most beautiful ones around the world.
The American Southwest.
Sonia and I went on a 2-week road trip in a newly converted campervan I bought. We went to Valley of Fire, Sedona, Zion, Moab, Bryce Canyon and made several other stops along the way. Visiting these parks in the winter was something I will never forget. The redrocks with white snow makes a contrast that is magical.
Fast forwards to now. Sonia and I are jobless, homeless and packed for a trip of a lifetime. We are both big believers in living life now rather than waiting till retirement. You never know what life will throw your way next, so might as well book that flight, make that roadtrip, check the places off the bucket list and make things happen. Like my good friend Tristian once said, you only live this life once, my friend.
More fun to come when we depart on our way to Peru on September 14th.
Until then,
Jason