#tikitouringlife

I know things have been a bit quiet from me of the last month or so, no excuse just one of those things I guess. Anyhow, this is what’s been going on since my last post … in this order …

I finished up the winter in the US.

I travelled to Canada for 10 days to see a friend and visit just a few of the sights - Niagra falls is awesome by the way!

I spent 6 weeks in the UK visiting friends and family.

And that brings me to the here and now.

New Zealand!

Winter is just around the corner and I start work in 10 days time. A new mountain with new trails. Let’s see what winter 2017 has in store eh?

I honestly believe you can achieve anything you want to if you put your mind to it. It won’t always be easy and sometimes you might not succeed first time round but if you want to do it you can.

I think sometimes people have the perception that I just swan around having the time of my life, that my life is easy with no stress. Basically, like I am on a permanent holiday. Don’t get me wrong, I have a great time and have had some amazing experiences but I am only human and even though I might not be living the 9-5 lifestyle I can still have the same worries, question my choices and direction and generally wonder ‘what the hell am I doing?!’.

As far as I am concerned life is about being happy. If you are in a situation, whether it be home, work or otherwise that makes you unhappy then you need to take a look at the bigger picture and do something. Make a change. There have been times when I have literally resorted to making a list of positives and things that I enjoy and what it is that makes me happy. Alongside the current things which are making me unhappy. If you are not happy why? What do you want/need from your life to make you happy? What needs to change in order to move closer to a happier place?

After a great couple of weeks travelling the U.K. visiting people, then a month of sleeping on a put up bed at my parents in my Dads computer room it was finally time for me to get going again and back to the mountains. After a delay at Gatwick due to fog resulting in a near missed connection in Iceland I made it to Boston with all of my bags in tow which is always a winner.

As I talked about in my last post work for the winter is at The Hermitage Club. A private members only club in West Dover, Vermont. It really is the height of luxury to ski your own private ski hill that is not open to the public and definitely feels like a case of ‘how the other half live’!

I am living in a 16 person staff house with other instructors which is like a large chalet. It's pretty comfy with a huge living area and lots of space so although we are 16 it doesn’t feel like you are living on top of each other which is cool.

After a couple of days chilling out, getting my bearings and sorting out a bank account ect it was time for the first days of work. There are quite a lot of returning staff which is great as they know the ropes already and are a font of knowledge for any questions.

I will be spending the season teaching snowboarding within the seasonal kids program at the club. Every weekend the families come to stay and many of the children are enrolled in the seasonal program, being in ski school all day Saturday and Sunday as well as during the holiday periods. I have a group of snowboard kids that can already ride so it’s gonna be really good riding with them all winter and progressing their riding.

On our days off we can ride at Mount Snow which is the local public hill and 5 mins from the house on a free shuttle bus called the ‘Moover’ and yes - it is painted like a cow! It’s a fun cruisy mountain and always seems quite as we work weekends so are up there mid week. Result!

Needless to say it been a bit of a whirl wind first week. Throw into the mix that it was my birthday as well and it’s all been pretty sweet. My birthday was spent shredding at Mount Snow followed by a party at the house … the guys even made me a cake which was amazing of them.

After being in New Zealand for the best part of a year and a half getting back to the UK was great to see family and friends up and down the length of the country but the overwhelming feeling I have got is that there are so many people, too many people. The roads are busy at all hours of the day and night, the streets are crammed with people shopping with bag upon bag of useless crap that they neither want or need but feel compelled to buy none the less. Also something that has struck me is the amount of homeless people, it seems that in every town you go to there are homeless people. This is not only confined to the big cities but regular towns as well. Something has to give, this country is only so big. What will it be like in 10 years time? No one knows I guess but I hope that it will be a better place than it seems to me right now.

Rant over, it’s just how I feel!