Fulfilling My Dreams Through the Pandemic

It has been a strange and fantastic year since COVID-19 hit the country hard back in March.

There I was… living what I thought was my dream life. I had a great job as a hiking guide in Malibu, my relationship with my boyfriend and climbing partner was getting better and better, and I lived in a beautiful home with my family.

Hiking in Malibu on Christmas morning “at work”

But there had still always been a longing to have total freedom and live life as a nomad. I used to read books about hobos when I was young because I thought they had the most glamorous lives of all. Hopping trains, traveling all across the country, having all sorts of adventures. Isn’t that what life is about…the adventures??

Then in March, the talk about the virus and its implications got louder and louder. I remember I was at the climbing gym with my partner (as I was every other day usually) when the staff said we would be the last climbers in there for a while. They informed us of the countrywide shutdown and told us to take our time in the gym and enjoy our last session for who knows how long. They even let us do the “king swing” from a rope that was in a position that allowed you to swing like Tarzan across the entire length of the gym. :)