Travel and adventure are passions that were instilled in me at a very young age. I grew up with access to two hundred acres of pastures land, most of it wooded, where my sister, my cousins and I would disappear for hours on end. We learned how to tell direction and time from where the position of the sun. Never was there a meal missed! We spent our time digging in the mud, raking piles of leaves in to blueprints for houses (although we didn't know that's what it was called), played hide seek in the dark, went on long 'excursions' during the day to explore, and built hideouts in the trees.

As I grew older my love for adventure grew as well. And it changed. No longer was two hundred acres enough. I wanted the world! In college, or thereabout, while I was working part-time retail, I began to plan out how I could intertwine my love of travel with the need for money. I didn't want a job that required me to travel. I wanted a job I can take with me while I travel. So, one day after nearly eight years in retail I straight up quit with this silly notion I would, should I put my mind to it, find a remote position with a company that will let me take my job with me.

Exactly one year later, to the very week I quite retail after a year of jobless disappointments and frustrations, I got an interview with a local health insurance claims processing company. I was hired on the spot! Thank the Lord! Except it was only part-time and it was not a remote position. I thought to myself, surely after a year or two I can ask if they would consider letting me work remote. I put my nose to the grid stone. I worked all hours I was given and then some, all the while squirreling my money away. And lo and behold, seven months into working with this company they announced the installment of a remote system. Hallelujah!

I began to work from home. At the same time I began to make preparation for a dream road trip I started planning back when I worked in retail. A few months into this new job I bought myself a little used truck, since the car I was previously driving died while I was coming home from the start of the last week working retail. Borrowed my dad's car for that last week. Meanwhile I found a shell for my truck, recalled those hideout building skills to buildout the bed into a camper with a platform bed, storage, a mini frig, and a 100w solar panel system to power it. It far exceeded a house made out of a pile of leaves, I can assure you.

The original road trip was supposed to be across the southwestern states from Texas, where I live, and up the Pacific Coast Highway to the Canadian border. I would then cut across to visit Yellowstone NP and some friends in CO on my way back. But, every summer for the past few years, my dad would fly to Alaska with his brother to visit their friends for a few weeks. So I decided, why not drive through Canada and meet them? And you know what? I did.

In the summer of 20017, six month after going remote, it was just me, my truck and the dog I had at the time. We were rubber warriors cast adrift of the every day normal routine. I worked in the mornings. Darby, the little black and white pup, would take a nap. In the early afternoons we would go for walks and explore wherever it was we parked to make home for the night. But the rest of the day, if we did not stay in the same place more than one night, we traveled onward, slowly inching our way west and then north across the continent. And, you know what? We visited Jasper NP and Banff NP on the way back, as well as Yellowstone NP!

Darby was 13 on that trip. A dog is never too old for adventure, but her age did have to be considered. Certain precautions were made to insure she was comfortable and happy. She loved every second and I saw a change in her. It was subtle, something only I would notice. I adopted her from a friend when she was 6 yrs old. She had abandonment issues, so it took us some time to really click but when we did, it was more solid than with any other pet I've had. I think, on this trip, she truly came to understand that I would never leave her, never abandon her and would always protect her, and when the time came I would walk her to the very end of her life. We were closer than ever before by time we returned to our Texas home. Sadly little Darby dog passed away in Feb 2020, a year ago this month, at the wise old age of 16 from acute liver failure. I stayed with her, walked her to the finish line just like I promised. For at least the last 5 years of her life, when I began working remote, we were together all day, every day, and my heart aches when I look around and she isn't there. I miss her, and still think about her every day. If I can find another dog that loves adventure as much as that little pup did, I will be the luckiest girl in the world.

To end on a more joyous note, four months of living on the road, making home where I park for the night, cooking meals on a gas stove and driving for hours through pristine landscapes, and making awesome new travel friends, got me hooked for life. Unfortunately I have yet to do something like this again, although I have taken a few other shorter trips. By 'short' I mean one month long. But that trip to Alaska and back cemented in my soul an unwavering craving for adventure. And I hope it never leaves.