Hakuna Matata

Well, I'm on the eve of my departure for Alaska. I've said my goodbyes, and I'm about to take, perhaps, the biggest step of my life thus far. I've spent all this time preparing for this moment, and now it's finally happening. It's kind of surreal - like my life is moving in fast forward and slow motion all at the same time.

A few months ago, I was wondering to myself why I decided to put myself through this. After all, I was laying in the hammock in perfect 75 degree weather reading a book and drinking wine I didn't even buy because I live at home. While living at home had its trifles, I had finally become content with being in Oregon. And here I was uprooting myself again to start over in a place I honestly don't know much about.

The moments leading up to this moment are mostly based on a gut feeling. That's why when people ask me why I'm going to Alaska, I never have a concrete answer for them. Yeah, sure I could have gone to school in Oregon or Texas. It would have been cheaper and a lot easier move. School is part of what this is about, yes. The other big one is the deep desire for adventure. (Which, if I'm being honest, that's the major thing I've lacked and become complacent with here in Oregon. That's another story though.) In the end, my going to Alaska comes down to this gut feeling I had the moment I found the school, and then the way it was confirmed by all the things that came after that.

There was this moment a little over a year ago when I was on a road trip with Leslie. We had just spent 4 days in Big Bend National Park having our minds blown by the epicness of the scenery. We were sweaty, coated in a layer of red dirt so thick we could have written our names in it. It was the best spring break of my life. Hiking, lots and lots of Lone Star beer, hotdogs cooked and uncooked, and some unbelievable stories in an amphitheater that only Leslie would understand. As we were leaving and driving through south Texas in some dusty border ghost town in the desert, and we finally appeared on the grid again, I had Leslie turn down the music and I checked my voicemail.

It was a professor in Alaska telling me personally that I'd gotten in to the school. I listened to it twice. Leslie and I screamed, and I giggled and yelled "Oh my god, I'm moving to Alaska!" And then she turned the music back up, and "Hakuna Matata" from the Lion King started blaring through her car. It was like this colliding of colossal forces coming together to tell me that my gut feeling was correct. It was just the combination of all the factors.

So, yeah, that's my real reason for moving to Alaska. Not the only reason, but that's the one that makes the most sense to me and the least sense to everybody else. It all comes down to a gut feeling and the adoption of a "no worries" lifestyle. So, in 6 hours, I ship out and begin my newest adventure. Stay tuned. It's about to get a lot more interesting.