Out the door at 6 am, I step into the foggy morning and feel a stare. A buck.
He is directly in my path, a beautiful image, body straight and head turned towards me. Antler’s proudly reaching towards the sky.
I live in a national park, this is a common occurrence.
Most of my friends have no idea that I have moved to the coast of Northern California. I got a job which is my dream perfect job. Apparently tons of people apply and I feel so blessed to be the one chosen.
My entire life I have wanted to live close to nature and own or run a bed and breakfast. I moved to Chicago to learn a skill that would bring in the big bucks so I could buy a bed and breakfast (web design), there was also the pull of family, a nice outdoorsman I had been dating nearby and good old friends.
I was attending an Ad school. I laugh just thinking about it. I have always been a hippie, I suppose, but disguised in stylish clothes. Making ads, is so the opposite of my world. Sometimes being in lifestyles you don’t want make you work harder to be where you do want to be.
My classmates were awesome kids, though, and I am glad to have worked with them. It was an experience but city life has never been my thing.
California suites me. The people, the food, the outdoors.
There is no phone signal or wifi here. I have to climb uphill for 40 minutes to get service. I love this. There are so many hours in a day when you are not surfing the web! Each morning before work, I am able to hike for 4 hours. I walk down to the roaring waves of the pacific ocean, up through shrubs and ranch lands and even higher to aromatic Mediterranean trees.
I didn’t take this job for the money but I bet you I can save more here than a high paying job in Chicago as I won’t be going to Starbucks everyday or the hair salon every month or dining out.
We don’t have entertainment, shops, or restaurants but we do have horses, elk, birds, mushrooms, hills, beaches and people from all over the world to meet. And if I miss the rush, it doesn’t take long to get to San Francisco.
You know you are in the right place when you feel at home in your shoes. I immediately felt like myself here with my co-workers. They are all awesome. I work for an organization where all the staff are just like me–world travelers, culture enthusiasts, health conscious and nature loving.
If I were to give a young kid advice, I have now learned, it would be to find your niche. It’s so much more pleasant to swim with the current than against it.