Hard conversations and Big decisions : ⠀⠀ On my Colorado trip to see the boyfriend, we had a lot of conversations about what’s next. Whether he would or could accept a permanent park job somewhere and what that would mean for me and my career path (whatever that is now). And where we would live. ⠀⠀ Or if he should take another 6 month season elsewhere before “choosing” a permanent park. I put quotes because in the park service, you don’t really get to choose, necessarily. ⠀⠀ Permanent positions are competitive and hard to come by. Seasonal positions are the same, and you can only really go to whatever’s open and wants you. Most LE rangers need to live in park housing or be within a certain # of miles away, so if anything happens, they can get to the park in a good call-response time. ⠀⠀ This means we might live in a National Park in the future, or right near one! But it also means there won’t be much for me to do, job-wise, in the usually-small gateway towns into the parks. And limited transportation. And limited everything, really. DEPENDING ON the park. ⠀⠀ This conversation has been one that we’ve been putting off for a while now because we simply have no idea how to answer it, since the outcome IS so dependent on which parks are available. ⠀⠀ We have zero clue what’s next for us and it might be another year or two or so before any moving or transitioning happens... ⠀⠀ And as nerve-wracking and stressful as it all is to think about, I’m happy I’ve got him by my side, as my rock, to both lean in to with my fears and to get excited with possibilities. ⠀⠀ I think it’s really important to be transparent, especially on social media so I thought I’d share these thoughts. ⠀⠀ It’s not always adventures and puppies and laughter. Sometimes it’s also being scared and not ready and overwhelmed. And that’s ok. . . . . . Sidenote : I’m not asking for advice with this post. But if you do long distance or work in parks or moved for your partners job, leave your story below! #longdistancerelationship #ldrproblems #longdistancesucks #longdistancecouple #visitcos #gardenofthegods (at Garden of the Gods Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0UXk_ih0N7/?igshid=129od3h30ye8b
