A Whole New World

I’ve already written about how unordinary my life in Montana is, and how drastically different it is from my life at home and from most people’s perceptions of the norm. But that exact thing is what has always inspired me to travel. After I go through the turmoil of planning a trip, raising enough money to go, packing up my life, fighting through planes, trains, and buses, and finally arrive at my destination, I get to reward myself by transforming into an entirely new person. I can lose myself in my new environment; change my habits, adopt new customs, adorn myself in local clothing, subject my taste buds to new cuisine - simply, to live an alternate life. I have often compared it to the five year old’s desire to dress up and “play pretend.”

Some of the new things I have been fortunate enough to try thus far in Montana:

camped overnight in tent 

hiked mountains
went horseback riding

 ate a shrimp, lobster, crab cake, as well as other fine dining
purchased bear spray, which I previously didn’t know existed
wore overalls, flannel, hiking pants, cowboy and hiking boots
danced the two-step
shot a pistol
went fly-fishing

ate beets
built several raging fires
learned numerous fancy napkin folds
hung out in a teepee
saw multiple animals: mountain lions, bears, mountain goats, buffalo
went to Yellowstone Park
saw snow in June

drank PBR

ate dinner cooked entirely over a fire

And I’m sure there’s more that I forgot and more that will come. My favorite thing about Montana, and any big trip I’ve done so far, is the opportunity to try out life in someone else’s shoes, and inevitably making those shoes mine, even for a short time. 

“Perhaps I might go off to Africa and offer my services to Albert Schweitzer or, decked in my coonskin cap and powder horn, I might defend the people like Davy Crockett. I could scale the Himalayas and live in a cave spinning a prayer wheel, keeping the earth turning.”

Just Kids, Patti Smith