This week will mark the celebration of my first month, my first month here in Ecuador, my first month of this incredible journey. I can’t believe I have already been here that long! It seems like I have both only been here a few days and been here forever! This month has been a big one! I spent the last day in the US with my boyfriend climbing up an amazing tower in the wilderness around Mt. Hood. We sat for a while on top gazing at the powerful outline of the mountain, talking about the past 6 months since I graduated and the unknown year to come. Then we drove to the airport, said our goodbyes, and I boarded a plane.
As the plane rolled down the tarmac and the wheels slowly left the ground, I realized that this was going to be the last time I would touch US soil for a year. I didn’t realize before how strong of an impact that would have on me; I think that is when it really hit me that this whole thing was real, not just a crazily amazing dream. I really was about to start a year long adventure to explore my passion around the world, what?!?!?! I had never dreamed that anyone would want to provide me with the funds to make this dream come true!
Well here I am four weeks later and so much has happened. I have run seven new rivers and met amazing new river friends. I have seen so much beauty from waterfalls to huge rapids to vibrant birds and butterflies to huge rainstorms to a colorful mosaic of houses.
I have seen my confidence in my own paddling and human skills grow. I have run new rivers with new people and been confident in my ability to take care of myself.
I have taken chances to meet new people and to interview people I have never met before. I have been able to talk with people from strangers on the street to business owners to government officials. I have had hard days where I am lonely, grumpy, and tired, but have had the patience and strength to get through them and to remember to take days off to rest and take care of myself. I have had amazing days where I wake up with a smile, paddle all day, shoot footage of river issues along the way, and do productive interviews (all in Spanish!) at the end of the day. I have written blogs and learned a ton about video editing and shooting footage.
I have been to meetings at the Ministry of Tourism and spoken and written well in a different language. I have stood up for myself and worked through personal issues towards important and significant personal growth. I have been able to find support and love from my loved ones back home when I need it. I have learned how to live comfortably in an unfamiliar place and cooked with ingredients totally new to me.
And ultimately I have always come back to focus on rivers. Really when I think about it, it is such an amazing opportunity to be on this journey to focus on my passion. It really makes the hard days so much easier because I know that even when it is hard, I always should be looking for a way to get to my happy place – the river. That is what is going to make this year possible. Even on the hard days when I feel anxious and lost, I know that today, tomorrow, and the next day all I have to do to be productive is to find a new way to connect with rivers in these new environments. Although the people will be unknown, the lifestyles different from my own, the transportation confusing, etc there will always be rivers to ground me and keep moving me forward.
That is the center point to this journey. Whenever I feel lost in the next 11 months, I hope I will remember to ask myself,
“What would the river do?”
