My Philosophy

"Work is how you settle your financial and emotional debts - so that your travels are not an escape from your real life, but a discovery of your real life."

Vagabonding - Rolf Potts

Charlie Russell Riders

A few weeks ago we hosted an incredibly unique group of guests called the Charlie Russell Riders. Basically, they are an old man fraternity/club who happen to be incredibly wealthy. About 75 of them stayed for the week and spent their time doing red-blooded manly things like shoot guns on horseback, smoke cigars, talk about how much money they have (at least ten of them were billionaires), flirt with all the young girls, and drink really expensive wine.

Though they could be a bit rowdy and conceited, we all had fun with this glorified boy scouts club. Part of the fun was created by the staff in the first annual Dish Pit Showdown. Normally, there is one person assigned to washing dishes for every meal shift. Because the CRR group was so large and enjoyed massive amounts of food (16 oz. lobster one night, filet of bison another, and giant veal chops another) two different dish pitters were assigned for every meal. This quickly evolved into a contest between the five dish pit teams. Scores were based on efficiency, cleanliness, assistance to wait staff, and of course costumes and music. Every night I helped judge each team. (Yes, if you can believe it, this is my job.) The very last night of the competition, the incredible intelligent competitors turned the dish pit into a bar, providing all of our favorite drinks. This quickly escalated into an all night party for staff and guests alike. Needless to say, they won the competition.

Visitors

Over the past month and a half, I've had three wonderful people come visit me! My two sisters, Tina and Kimmy, and my friend Casey who I've known since elementary school. Being so thoroughly occupied and distracted with my new job, new friends, and new surroundings, it was shockingly easy to be ignorant of how much I missed my family and friends. Sadly, having them here made me realize how homesick I am. Other than that, I loved every second of having them here. It's so hard to describe how great the ranch is, so being able to show it off firsthand was a valuable opportunity. I also got the chance to play tourist again and see some new sights.

Old Faithful erupting

West Thumb Geyers at Yellowstone Lake

Abyss Pool

Me and Casey at the Black Pool

My sisters at Yellowstone's Gate

At the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

My Temporary Lifestyle

It's an endless, stressful, invigorating, addictive yet freeing, stimulating cycle. My life is full of jam-packed, breathtaking, soul searching episodes, only they are never a continuous flow of events. Frustratingly, each are interrupted by the nagging question of "Well, what the heck are you going to do next?" I've come to expect this question, and I whole-heartedly welcome it as opposed to safely having my future all figured out. But I always endure a brief period of in all likelihood self-inflicted stress before I figure out the next step. I'm still employed in Montana, but am entering the confusing, desperate, scrambling interval of searching for new jobs or opportunities, filling out mass amounts of online applications, tracking people down via phone or email, and mainly just waiting.

These interludes offer a brief reality check to my usual carefree lifestyle. I am harshly forced to ask myself several weighty questions. What is my purpose? Am I really doing the things that I love? How am I ever going to pay back my student loans? Am I living up to my own life expectations? Am I abandoning my friends and family? How much longer can I live this way? Am I afraid of the security and comfort of being still?

To most of those questions, I still don't know the answer to. But I do know my heart is free, my legs are strong, and my curiosity is insatiable. So until one of those is gone, I guess I'll keep going.

“Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation. 

These two, your talents and the needs of the world, are the great wake-up calls to your true vocation in life. To ignore either is, in some sense, to lose your soul.”

Aristotle