Manhattan to Moab

Just a little over a year ago, I was a college graduate. It seemed like most of my friends were either set in what they were doing, or a larger portions of them had no idea what was next. I seemed to have it all figured out. Early that spring before graduating I had landed a pretty sweet job with Sony Music, working in the corporate building doing copyright clearance for the custom marketing label. The was an unpaid internship, and I had every intention of making it a paid job. I hit the ground running at Sony and was really into it. After while though it seemed to wear on me, and about halfway through the summer I wasn't sure how long I would last. In some ways it wasn't so much the job I didn't like... it was the city. I found Manhattan to be a very lonely detached place. So many people, so many people, so many people who could care less about one another. Riding the subway it was as if no one existed except for the person within themselves. A little perspective on this. You get on the subway; A) you get needless dirty looks, b) everyone has an ipod on and face into a book or newspaper, c) its near silent. Friendliness was rare, and I really welcomed it when it arose. Still however, I would dread leaving work everyday. To weave in and out of working people and mass amounts of tourists, taking me 1.5 hours to get home to a place maybe 8 miles away total. By the time I arrived home I was exhausted and frustrated. Food, t.v, and isolation ensued. There was never a quiet moment in the city, and everything began to break me down, slowly, I felt like I was drowning.

Soon I found the air however. I began to spend as much time on the weekend taking the train upstate and mountain biking with friends. I would look forward to it all week at work... that chance to escape, ride, and be happy. Every time I took the train back into the city I realized how much more unhappy I was becoming.

Some random Friday night in July I went on an internet job seeking rampage. I just wanted to get out. I searched for bike jobs and was applying to anything out west. I had ridden in Sedona AZ the past February and fallen in love. I just wanted to get out of the city. By chance I found a job doing wilderness therapy, working 8 days out in the wilderness with kids, and getting 6 days off. Something in my gut said this was it. So I went for it, was hired, and the first week of September I packed up everything I needed into the back of my truck, gave my mother a hug, held back tears, and drove across the country.

The job I had chosen was in central Utah, the middle of nowhere. So my living options boiled down to Moab or Salt Lake City. Just the word CITY gave me anxiety, and being a mountain biker, Moab sounded just right. I must say though, coming out I was a little naive. I thought I could waltz into town and find a place; no problem... WRONG. There was nothing for rent when I got here, rather what was for rent I had no intention of living in. I wasn't prepared for that. So I headed to SLC to look North in Ogden, a place outside Mag had said was an up and coming outdoors town. Again I was naive and ended up in a disgusting hotel on the verge of breaking down, giving up, and driving home. It was late at night, I called a very close friend and she said to get a refund, find a better hotel, and give it a shot before I come home. So I listened.

A few days later I headed to where I was working, still ready to go straight home, but I stuck it out, and 8 days later after my first shift, I knew I would be working Wilderness for awhile. I stuck it out in Moab, spent a month living outdoors, and finally found the perfect place to live. Since then I've really discovered myself, was happy with who I was, with what I was doing, and where I was headed... and only I had influence over that. My Job taught me a lot about people, and most importantly about myself. I continued to learn about myself on my bike as well. I grew as a person, and a rider.

Recently I became a mountain bike guide in Moab. A dream come true... but a dream that seemed unimaginable years ago. Everyone dreams about riding Moab. I ride it, I guide it, and I live it. I write this only because it seems everyone these days is falling into the mold, forgetting the best years of their life, and becoming miserable in doing it. I think the world as a whole would be better if people acted on passion rather than what they're made to believe. Many people tell me they feel stuck. I've never been able to except that answer. Everyone can do anything, they just have to find out how to do it and commit to that desire. Then you find your true self.