It was 2008, that American recession thing was going on, and I was just about to graduate from the University of Wisconsin. At the same time my father's 25 year old advertising agency that seemed like a decent job option went bottom up. It was, though not seemingly so, a pivotal time. I've always wanted more, yearned for the novel, the journey into the depths of self through the exploration of the unknown. So given the circumstances and an innate drive to explore, I decided to sell just about everything I owned, put my student loans on forbearance, and buy a one way ticket to somewhere far, far away. And so I did: New Zealand. It wasn't about the height of the peaks or waves that I wanted to explore there, it was about the search itself. The interconnectedness of outward exploration and the finding of the self: the essence of adventure. That search, the raison d'être of exploration, was fully ignited with that flight across the Pacific. Through skiing, photography, human factors, and anthropology, I've been able to work and live in places like NZ, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Tahoe, Breckenridge, Park City, and Norway. There is a lot to be said about moving to a place, living and working there, learning the language and customs, and embracing parts of that culture's habitus as your own. It stretches us, makes us question what is right, what is wrong, what is optimal, what is certain. And so I do what I do because of that search, because of the depth of self that can only be found in the throes of exploration. Human comfort is an illusion that softens the mind and dampens the spirit. Our brains weren't wired to sit in offices and stare at screens- they were made for so much more: to build, to love, to live, to search, and search some more. Happiness, who you need to become, all of that, is only found at the edge of your comfort zone. It's that edge that you need to find and look out upon, because only from there does the route to the horizon make sense. And with every horizon, there's another, and another. And that's the beauty of it all. #neverstopsearching #neverstopdreaming #tnflocals (📷 by @taleklingsheim of me on the edge of Trolltunga, Norway)
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