I’m not sure what a typical life looks like, but I’m pretty confident I haven’t lived one. I love to travel, of course, but it’s not just the new places I enjoy so much. I love new experiences all around. New places, new jobs, new skills… It doesn’t matter much to me. So what makes me so different than other people? A question for the ages indeed, but I think my past is a good place to start the journey.
The Past:
Where most kids had some sort of childhood house or apartment, I had a travel trailer and a fishing bank. Duke (my dad) was retired and loved to fish, so we moved where the fishing was good. My sister, who is only a few years older than I am, was born clear across the country from me. She was an East Coast kid, and I hail from the wilds of California.
Childhood of Travel
I can’t say I’m really from there, though. We moved to Mexico shortly after, so it’s not like I ever grew any roots. That’s Mexico, the country, not New Mexico, the state. I find that’s a common wrong assumption. Why Mexico? The fishing was good, and it was closer than Canada, I guess. I remember living out in the middle of the desert on a little ranchita for a while before moving into a small town when I started school.
I grew up speaking English, but quickly became fluent in Spanish, often translating for my parents. We usually spent the summers in the States simply because it got far too hot, but we moved back permanently after it became clear I could speak both English and Spanish like a native, but I could only read and write in Spanish.
The Young and Crazy Years
We lived in Wyoming for many years, where I learned to read and write in my native tongue, but again, I never really felt like I was from there. First chance I got, I hopped a plane and finished high school in Charleston, South Carolina. I lived there for quite a while, too, but the wanderlust always nibbled at me. When I had the opportunity to work on a cruise ship, I threw my hat in the ring and, surprisingly, got the call.
It was a short career, lasting only a few months, but I got to see Baltimore, Miami, the Panama Canal, San Francisco, and all the islands of Hawaii in that little time. I have some stories from those days for sure, but that’s a tale for another day. One pesky inner ear infection got me medically discharged and on a flight back to Charleston.
Adult Life
I spent a few more years there, but the wanderlust only grew. I left for upstate South Carolina with my eyes set on fresh horizons, but the temporary situation dragged on, and before I knew it, years had passed. For a while, I considered giving up on traveling, but the urge never went away. It would just go dormant for a time.
I don’t mean to make it sound like my stationary times were all bad or depressing, far from it! I’ve had some crazy adventures in my longer stays and have met some incredible people. I’ve worked some great jobs and awful jobs. One job was both at the same time! I’ll always treasure those memories, but I can feel in my bones that my future lies on the road in some form or another.
The Present:
That’s where I came from, but who am I now? Well, for starters, I’ve worked in more fields than I can count, but most of my experience has come from the food and beverage industry. Mostly front of the house (Hosting, waiting tables, and bartending) but some odd kitchen work here and there too. I’ve also worked for a major telecom company, a movie theater, a cab company, a hotel, and a nursing home, among many others.
Outside of work, I also hold certifications in computer science and massage therapy, an associate’s in business, and am (at the time of this writing) two semesters short of a bachelor’s in graphic design. I do plan on finishing that up someday, and who knows, maybe I’ll do it in person! That’s just my formal education, by the way. I am teaching myself photography, portraiture, painting, drawing, and website coding right now as well.
Above all else, though, I’m a writer. It’s a hobby, a passion, and a career for me. I like to write just about anything, but fiction is my real interest. There is one short novella published (Forging Halcyon), and a much longer work (The Legend of War: Death of Mercy), which I talk about more in depth in the post “About the Name” if you’re interested. I only have about 15 other books planned, I think… I feel like there are a few missing ones.
The Travel Ahead
For more on this, check out the post on “About the Dream,” where I cover this in detail. Long story short, I hope to hit the road and live on the road full time, seeing as much of the country as I can, living each day in the moment. That’s the dream anyway. Whatever shape or form this adventure takes, it’ll all be in service of finding Austrasia.
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