Mi Querido Abuelito

Being a child is an interesting time...sometimes you tell stories. Stories that may be true, or a bit embellished, or maybe a straight up lie. I'm about to admit a lie I told, a lie that after meeting my paternal grandfather I didn't need to tell anymore.

I distinctly remember being at school after my first trip to Mexico at the age of 6. I remember returning and telling kids all about my grandfather. You see, when I was a kid I used to lie about my Grandpas.

Before that trip I hadn't remembered meeting my Abuelito Leonidez, and I didn't have much a relationship with my maternal grandpa that lived near by... so I lied.

I told kids I had two epic grandpas Grandpa Roger and Abuelito Leonidez. Of course my stories with Grandpa Roger involved the Crayola factory, his pet fish, his cool mail man, his singing, and his toy trolly train. (If you don't know who that fake Grandpa was based off, you should really Google Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.)

After returning from Mexico I couldn't stop talking about my Abuelito Leonidez. This sweet, funny, story telling ranch man. I didn't have to lie about Grandpa Roger anymore because I had a grandpa I loved and admired. He was so sweet and patient with my brothers and I, quite and observant, or laughed when were were like armed banditos with our newly made sling shots. As I aged my love and respect for both him and my Grandmother only grew stronger. I saw the love they had for each other and how much pride they put in the work they did. 

It's been over a month since his passing, a pain that was hard for me to face. I think the tears I'm currently fighting off are the reason it took time to write about him. 

The pain I saw in my Grandmother, father, brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins was hard. However the love I saw and felt us all share filled me with happiness and pride. They raised loving and caring children. (funny too) The love and respect my grandparents shared will now be carried for generations. Typed words could never do that grand man justice, he was a gentleman of epic proportions, a man who worked hard for his wife and family. He worked until he couldn't, and we just got pine nuts given to us just last month by my grandmother from his last harvest. My aunt shared with me that he was even trying to herd cattle with his sheet as he lay sick. I'm so glad I got to see him shortly before his passing, to hold hands and tell him how I love him and as tears ran down our faces, to hear him tell me that he loves me too. 

"Grandparents are both our past and our future. In some ways they are what has gone before, and in others they are what we will become." -Fred Rogers

May the stories of your life live on forever, and love you have for us fill us with warmth, forever.

Siempre estara en mi corazon, mi viejito chulo, mi lindo y querido Abuelito Leonidez.

A Day at Camp With Us

After arriving from South America in late August we hit the road traveling in a big loop from California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and back around eventually to Bishop before a trip to Baja then the holidays.

My favorite part of being on the road is the variation of views we get from our "front door". However I also dislike having to constantly move locations, so it has been nice to travel without a serious timeline. If we like a place we stay longer, if the weather isn't ideal we move along. The key to easy travel is developing a set up that works for you. It has taken Bryan and I some time to perfect our set up, but now can pick up and go in a matter or minutes.

People's ideas of how we camp can sometimes be comical so I thought it would be great to document it and share with you all.

How we Travel: By car
Where we Sleep: In a tent (Tommy sleeps outside), or the luxury of a bed if visiting family or friends.
Where we camp: BLM Land (free) or established campgrounds
Showers: Public showers (when available)
Water: Fill up at ranger stations or buy some
Favorite Fast Meal: Quesadillas
Favorite Meals: Steak and Potatoes or Dutch oven pizza
Can't Camp Without: Coffee
Biggest Annoyance: Other people's litter
Greatest Reward: The climbing and being outdoors
        (write any additional questions below)

Enjoy a look into our camp life....

City Of Rocks, Idaho (Home for 14 days)

Set up is key, and we are dialed!

The view is equally as important.

Laundry day: Best addition to our gear both abroad and on the road!!! (Thanks Heather and Kurt!!)

Shaving Hacks  (doesn't really apply to us gals, sorry)

City Of Rocks (1st camp)

A home is where you make it

Our meals on the road are as gourmet as anything we would make in a regular kitchen. (Italian sausage Gnocchi)

BLM land near Grand Teton National Park

Our trusty CRV

Lander, Wyoming

Nacimiento Road, Big Sur

Tommy is often a better co-pilot than I am

Unicorn Ridge, Utah

The Good the Bad and the...well, the Truth

While traveling friends have sent me articles written and featured on sources from Vogue  to Buzzfeed. The articles are partially related to what Bryan and I have been doing the past 8 months. Articles about people who drop everything and traveled, or the secrets of how to quit your job and live out of a suitcase seeing the world before you're 30.

People are so curious about the good, the bad, and mostly the truth about traveling with your partner.
Today I hope to share that with you.
The thought of it is all so romantic right?
For Bryan and I well: we had this dream, we planned, worked hard, had a beautiful wedding...Then pulled wildcard of leaving the comfort of our jobs and homes to live out of a backpack while traveling through parts of South America then back here to live out of our Honda CRV with our Australian Shepperd to climb and camp through parts of the States.

Ok, ok, yeah I guess that does sound pretty romantic...

There is a lot of good to this long Honeymoon: the places we saw, treks we did, people we met, unforgettable sunsets, and most of all the bond between us grow stronger. We just discussed the other day that even though we love sharing out stories with other people that this experience will always just be his and mine.
Forever ours will be the sights we stared at in silence, the sounds we enjoyed together, the tastes of different foods, the hitchhiking, the awkward Micro rides, the hike to greet the new year in Copacabana, and the friendships we made along the way.
No matter how many stories, videos, or pictures we share. Those experiences will always be unique to us.

Lets not fool ourselves though, to every rad journey it's unavoidable to have some bad moments. Like the struggles of a language barrier, or shit water pressure, cold water showers, illnesses like a 12 day long fever, or a chill inducing belly ache after a free meal on the mountain. Or how about foggy conditions at two of probably the most sought out sights on our trip. In all honesty though, all those bad moments were overshadowed by epic times. I mean life wouldn't be fun if you dwell on the negatives anyways, right?
We worked through almost not getting on our flight at LAX, we worked through translation issues, we worked through a never ending fever (sweat it out B!) and we laughed through others.
Good or bad, there isn't anyone I would have rather shared those moments with.

The truth is I didn't discover some sort of secret to life or a magical marriage trick. I feel like that part is always a bit disappointing to people, but lets be realistic, that doesn't actually exist. There isn't a secret or anything magical, its just called being real. Be real to who you are, what you want, and who you want to love. At the end of it all that is the truth to the good and the bad.

Life is what you make of it and it only happens once, appreciate it now, be happy now, love now, do the things you want NOW!

Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine, Chile

That time we had a National Park to ourselves: Parque Nacional Queulat, Chile

That time we Hitchedhiked in a dump truck

Salt Flats Train Graveyard

Salt Flats, Bolivia

Santa Cruz Trek, Peru

Mucho Gusto: Americo

While traveling I found that the people I enjoyed talking to the most were the locals: shop owners, food vendors, cab drivers, weavers, farmers and restaurant owners. All gladly answered questions, joked with me and asked me just as curious questions. I loved getting to know the history of dishes they made, struggles as farmers, and their take of the influence on the younger generations.

On July 30th 2015 we had the pleasure of meeting Americo. A Huaraz, Peru native that was our cab driver from the town to the mountains.  Through my conversation with him, he opened up about his family life. I learned his parents were farm workers for a wealthy family, and through hard work they gave their children a better life. Americo like most of his siblings were able to buy their own land and work for himself. The financial independence his parents had dreamed of for their children. He is a land owner, a farmer, and drove a cab for extra money to help his children with their cost for college.  Driving a cab pays well in that part of Peru as we learned cab drivers are unreliable. Therefore if you are someone people could count on, you will always have a job. 

As our conversation continued we found that he shared a lot of similarities with my parents. I briefly shared the struggles my parents had as immigrants to the U.S. My parents similar to Americo and his wife worked hard to give their family a better future just like their parents did for them. Americo like my parents didn't finish a high school education, work and helping his family was made priority. He expressed his sense of embarrassment as he wasn't able to help his children with homework which was a frustration I had seen with my own parents. Americo and his wife relied on his community to get his kids help with homework and always made sure they didn't fall behind. He now has two college graduates and a son that will soon be going to college. As we sat in his car having this conversation I had a realization. I realized that like my parents although he couldn't help his kids with school homework he taught his children things you can't learn elsewhere. He taught his kids how to grow their own food, be independent, and the rewards of hard work. Life lessons that I told him his children probably value more than anything. 

It was great to get to talk so openly with him. To get to see the constant glow from the pride in his family. When people ask what my favorite part was about our travels, I always say it was the people we met. We saw so many beautiful sights, both breathtaking and tear jerking from beauty. But there is just something so beautiful about meeting and sharing moments like this with people. 

Below is a photo of Bryan and I in the tree net at the hostel Americo drove us to. A permaculture hostel  that was home base for a few nights.

A Celebration of Life

I'm not clear as to when it was that I met Joan for the first time, mostly because from the start, this beautiful soul was so loving and welcoming that I instantly felt like part of the family. I loved to hear her tell stories of when she met the love of her life, her time in California, her time as a tailor, and mostly the memories she shared from when Bryan was just a boy. I loved the way she used her hands to gesture little details. The way she smiled when just seeing and enjoying her family together. I loved seeing photos of her wearing the clothes she wore and the elegance she always carried. 

On June 1st we got news that Grandma Woodward had been hospitalized. After watching what had to be the most spectacular sunset on Bryan's birthday our moods were saddened but mostly shocked. With family rushing to see her and us far away in Chile, it all felt like a terrible nightmare. We had just seen her at our wedding, called and followed up her hip surgery, she had just bought a map of Peru to continue following our travels. It felt unreal to hear that she had gotten I'll and passed to reasons unrelated to the surgery.

Her life was a beautiful one, filled with so much love. I'm so honored to  call her Grandma, to have shared sewing tricks, played cards and many games, and spent time in her home.

Cheers to a beautiful life, a beautiful woman, a wonderful soul. May your warmth live on forever in the hearts of those who love you!!

Honeymoonin'

Saludos de Cochrane, Chile!!

Before I ramble about all we've seen and done in the last month I'll explain a bit of what Bryan and I are up to out here in South America and how this idea of travel came about.

So here it is...

Did you leave you jobs? 
Yes we left our jobs, but Bryan and I are hard ass workers and have no fear of finding jobs whenever it is we return.

How this idea came about:
Many years ago when Bryan and I were still dating, we wanted to be able to take an extended time off work and travel. We both lusted over the Patagonian region, and here we are. We knew we would have to be smart about spendings and planing. So we were.

How?

In life we all set goals; better jobs, houses, cars, travel, etc. 

For Bryan and I, being able to do this trip and dirtbag climbing when back home was important ifor us. That is how, we set the goals, we worked hard to see them through.

Where?
We started our travels in Southern Chile,  a bit of Argentina, with Bolivia and Peru in the months to come.(maybe Ecuador) Plans may change and have already changed but we are having a blast.

How long?
Right now we say 3-4 months. We could stay longer we could stay less.

How we travel:
Mostly by bus from town to town, hitch hiking when possible but due to the low season it has been a bit more infrequent.  We also scored on off season priced tickets on a "cruise", totally unplanned and a very unexpected trip. So we are traveling in any way we find to be worth it or cheapest.

What we packed:
Bryan and I both have only one backpack each, we carry those everywhere.
Clothes, food, cook gear. You soon realize the little you need in life.

I hope this somewhat explains our "honeymoon"
I'm hoping to post photo filed post soon!
For now follow the fun on Instagram.

¡Ciao!

Stop, pause, disfruta la vida

Cheers from rainy and windy El Chaltén, Argentina!!
Today marks the second week for Bryan and I in South America.
We've already seen so much and given information on so much more to see.
I think our very first lesson has been to sloooow down!
You can't rush the Patagonia region, Mother Nature has a plan of her own and we are simply here to enjoy it. You rush it by quickly visiting places you might hit bad weather and not get to see much. However bad weather too has been a way for us to observe and be part of the culture.
They know how to take life easy and siestas in the towns here are a time for you to slow down enjoy your life, family or friends.
Siestas are hours long and Sundays is a time the whole town shuts down.
Looking back on the hours Bryan worked, and the time that took from getting to do what we love, is in a way making us really think about what we want from life when we return.
Sure our jobs gave us the means that have allowed us to do the extended honeymoon were on, but I guess a work/life balance needs to happen.
As we've found out sooo many other people are doing this, taking a break between high school/ college, or Bachelors/Masters degrees.
In my opinion I think as an American culture we overwork ourselves and forget to pause and enjoy the simple things. (Generally speaking)
Like my uncle once said,  "Toma el día de descanso, el trabajo y el dinero siempre se gana. La vida solo se disfruta una vez." (If you didn't catch that: Take the day off, money and work can always be obtained but life is only enjoyed once.)
Even if that's simply a latte with a loved one, sunrise workout, or a after work hike.

Stop,pause, disfruta la vida!