Well first off id like to start by saying thanks to ryan for continuing this blog thing for our big trips. Not only do I like the tradition of doing this writing thing, but the fact that Southeast Asia was not a one time thing. This is my lifestyle. I live, work, and strive for things like this trip we are about to embark on in one short month from now. We had been talking about this trip for months and months now, but it has only been a recent development for me, that it is a reality. Work had been slow and money (which I usually do not stress about) had become an issue that put the thoughts into my head that I would not be a part of this amazing trip. However, things in my life have a way of working out. And thru the love and support of those around me, and a humble mind towards figuring the details out later, I am on the trip list yet again. I guess I really do believe that you get back from life what you put into it. There are moments in all of our lives where you face some fears and you have a choice. For me, there is no other option than to just go for it. I guess I've always been the person that never liked the limits that are put on people, or more specifically, put on me. If I want something in my life, I will go for it. I will fight and go against the odds to have what I feel is something important to me. This is a trait I am grateful to have, and one that is a factor in making this trip possible.
There are many differences in this trip for me then there was the last time we left the country. When I went to Asia I had just left my job, a job I loved, but one I was done with. The people that were important in my life were the ones that we on the trip with me. I had packed up all my belongings, not even knowing if I would return to Utah. I was 100% invested into being present in this trip. And sure enough it was fulfilling. It was the trip of a lifetime, and I could not have asked for a better experience... Now its onto Greece, and things have changed for me. I work for the same amazing company, but now my life around it has changed. I actually have a house... with a bed I might add! I come home every night, and do not disappear into the woods for a week on end. I have really laid down roots here in Utah. It is my home and I love it. I have become more involved with my community of climbers here in town. They are the best a climber like me could ask for. Its the small things, like tonight meeting up for some drinks and chatting about the trip and just bullshitting about different stuff in our lives. Knowing what is going on in our community and trying to give back where I can. Since we have been back, a big thing has been route development and giving something back to the climbing world that I will swear forever, saved my life and continues to do so. Also I have found in the past for me over the 8+ years I have been climbing, that my climbing partners have been just that... climbing partners. However, one thing I have really begun to hold so valuable in my life is that my climbing partners are not just that. They are my closest friends. The people that understand me, and the ones who I can count on to support me not just as a climbing partner or a belayer, but as a person. It is so strengthening to have this more well rounded relationship with the people that I share my passion with. It brings so much more to the climbing, to the memories made, and the strength in the roots I have allowed to grow in this time. And while we are on the subject of how things are different, how I have allowed my heart to be more open, and to embrace the things in my life with more conviction. I also feel blessed to have another aspect to my life that is so valuable. Opening myself to having new things in my life and opening myself to new possibilities has allowed the love of a woman into my life. I could not talk about how much things have changed without sharing what for me is a significant shift in my life. Being able to have the support and love of Jesi Girl is a gift that I know I have to fight for and lucky to have. Its not for everyone to have someone like me just running around all over playing on rocks and even flying to the other side of the world to play on new ones. I guess what I am really trying to say in this part is that this trip is way different that Asia. I have things back home in Utah that ground me in a positive way. Something to look forward to when I return. To have a community to come back to, a house to come home to. And a relationship to embrace fully upon my return. It is a very different trip in that sense. I have the support to go do what I need to fulfill my desire to explore. And the new feeling of missing things and people while I am gone. I thought originally that I did not want to have both sides of it. But with fresh eyes I see the potential. I realize how fortunate I am to have ALL these things in my life. In some ways I do not even think I deserve them. I know that my stubbornness to have my mind set and make it happen can allow me to embrace all these aspects in my life.
I am so excited to have this opportunity to climb in such an amazing place, and the fact that I get to do it with my best friends... well what more could I ask for?! I guess I am just one lucky S.O.B. So I guess as this trip goes forward I want to share my thoughts and experiences. Perhaps it will awaken something in the reader, or inspire a change or reinforcement in aspects amongst others lives.
Ryan, Cass, and Amber... I can not wait to see what happens on this trip. And excited to see the energy that comes back home with each of us and how it spreads to our lives back in Utah.
Jesse
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