I haven’t been blogging or vlogging in quite a while. I put a pause on this while my friend was supposed to update my website, but since my website still hasn’t been updated, and while my Quest inches closer to completion, it is time to bring you a compelling story of… well, okay, it’s just an update on things that I’ve been up to. Super provocative stuff here, guys!
Prelude
I am down to the last couple weeks of alcohol-free living. I feel fantastic overall, and had an incredible summer full of camping, hiking, peak scrambling, biking, backpacking, a wedding, but mainly, working. Much of my time in the last few months has been dedicated to growing my real estate business, maintaining my fitness, staying consistent with my Quest objectives, and some hiking/adventures when they could be squeezed in.
The Last Little Bit
So, let’s rewind a month when I was in the Enchantments for five days and then came home, grabbed my pre-packed bag of wedding garments and jumped on a plane to Cincinnati to celebrate my friends, Zach and Meghan, tying a knot. I stood beside Zach as his (co-) best man and had a wonderful time meeting his friends and family. Also that week, I saw my friend, Steve, who I had not seen in years. It’s odd how with certain people it doesn’t matter the duration of time that passes between visits, when you get back together with those people, it’s as if nothing has changed. Zach and Steve are two people in my life that that applies to.
Going back about nine years to when I met them, I was not too keen on Mister Zach. I determined he was a pompous know-it-all ass before I properly got to know him. I figured out, however, that he was just socially inept and had a pretty tough initial guard up. However, once I broke through that guard we became great friends. We even ended up all living in the same apartment building. During that period I was their “Kramer,” not because I used the n-word on stage like some raving lunatic, but because on a daily basis I would just open their door and walk into their abode without so much as a door knock. Much has changed in our lives since I had last saw them… especially with Steve who now has a toddler. Together, in a group again, it was as if it no time had passed at all… with the exception of Zach’s ability to grow a beard, my inability to retain my hair, and Steve getting … errr… a little rounder. Ha.
After Zach’s beautiful vows, and my appropriately hilarious and oh-so touching speech that shattered the expectations of everyone involved, but most importantly, the bride and groom 🧐, Steven and I woke up the next morning and drove my bishhh to the airport. We proceeded to kick her wiggity-wack ass out the car and then drove to Cincinnati’s very own King’s Island. King’s Island is a theme park. I’m 34. Steve is like 38 or some shit?… Basically, two full grown adult males had a date going on all the rollercoasters and rides that a midwestern theme park had to offer, and it was the best day ever!
But let’s not so quickly leap over the Enchantments, as it was an incredible trip through a beautiful, albeit smokey, region of the Cascades. During our stay we visited all the different alpine lakes, swam in a few of them, climbed Little Annapurna, night hiked up Prusik Pass to watch a very unimpressive meteor shower, slept next to mountain goats with their rambunctious kids in my hammock, and did some other miscellaneous scrambles. We were very lucky to get permits, and although the smoke was a hinderance, it could have been much worse.
Full Enchantments Post coming soon with video footage.
So, that was a month back. This past week Brandi and I attended a double header baby shower (one after the other) for two of my dudes. I, then, packed up and went camping near Winthrop, WA, on Monday with my good friend, Adam. We hadn’t spent any time together this summer so we had planned a couple days in the North Cascades. The weather decided to be a cranky biotch, so we shifted our trip to the eastern side of the park where it is not quite as rain prone. We hiked along the PCT and spent a couple days eating, as Adam likes to say, some “good food” in the woods along a creek. With the weather starting to change, it’s probably the last multi-night camping trip for a while, but I was able to not miss much work at all. It’s somewhat convenient taking most of your days off in the middle of the week.
During one of those weekends in there we went camping with our friends Jon and Bre. On this camping trip we found an amazing riverside camp spot that was completely isolated from other passer-byers. Jon was generous enough to bring along some delicious stogies he had picked up in the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, I had Open Houses to attend on both Saturday and Sunday that weekend so I had to drive back into civilization both mornings and didn’t get to disconnect on this particular trip like I normally would. It was a very long and deliberate route that I wish had been avoidable on Saturday morning… but, hey, when duty calls. Clearly getting outside hasn’t been much of an issue for me lately, so no harm no foul.
Beyond that… work + gym + plus a random weekday outing here and there is what my life currently consists of, and I a pretty okay with that.
The Quest
As for the Quest… As I had stated earlier, and as of today, I am two weeks out from completion. That’s a huge benchmark and I am getting pretty excited to, again, be able to drink a cold and delicious beer. Although, I am admittedly still wrestling with the idea of continuing with the absence of alcohol, that is seemingly a wrestling match I will lose. Not because of some innate need to drink, but instead, because I do like having beer and a certain amount of alcohol is probably beneficial to things like my career and social life.
What has changed?
There is more that has changed than that I recognize, but, simultaneously, not enough has changed for me to give up and go back to my post-Quest life. Many of my new habits will stay with my for the remainder of years I have left. Especially meditation, journaling, consistent exercise, hot and cold therapy, writing, and reading. In fact, a couple weeks ago I realized that I am a completely different person than when I started this a year ago. I, also, found out what doesn’t work and what I was just doing to say I did it. Having some crazy journaling schedule… yeah, that did not come close to sticking. Reading a ton of books a month became more of a chore and hindered performance in other areas. Not watching TV sounds fun until you get bored out of your mind.
I am, however, in drastically better shape, I feel smarter, better read, more consistent with my mood, less anxious, less depression, I have started a completely new career where I work for my self, and I am better fit to deal with adversities that I face.
I do have a few new Quest concepts that I will further define and start once this one comes to fruition. My next quest will focus on my shortcomings and areas of my life I wish to further improve. Unfortunately, my current quest will not be 100% completed quite yet, as I still have some saving to do until I will be able to afford to make it to Patagonia. That is still going to happen, however, and hopefully at some point in 2019 I’ll make it a reality. Of course, it has to work out seasonally as well. Stay tuned.
Summer is out, Fall is in
The seasons changed rather quickly this year, going from incredibly hot to rather cold overnight. Summer is officially over this coming Saturday, and I am stoked to see some yellow and orange leaves and have some cooler weather to go hike in. I used to call the fall shoulder season, now I just look at it as the cooler time of year to go hiking.
Lastly, congrats to my sister and her boyfriend on their engagement. Ditto to my friends Jake and Jen!
IT’S ALMOST SKI SEASON!!!!
Cheers 🤙 ,
~Dane
aLifetoSummit 