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Sḵwx̱wú7mesh [Squamish] from the sky
Hi friends, I hope you all had as good of a summer as I did, though it is coming to an end. After coming back from Europe, I was supposed to spend two weeks in Squamish with Lisa, Felipe, and Matt before road-tripping through Washington and Oregon for the summer. I was craving the ocean, the sound of waves, and the feeling of surfing. However, Squamish is a vortex filled with beauty and adventures that is really hard to leave. I am writing this post after spending the last three months surrounded by the mountains, rivers, forests, and seas of the Squamish Nation. I was extremely lucky to meet Lisa…
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Catch up on Utah – Winter 2024
Good morning friends, It has been a very long while since I last reported on my life. Good news: I did end up finding a job ! I arrived in Utah on December 5th and started working in Alta on December 11th. Alta is a ski town of about 225 inhabitants, but many more in the winter, about 20 minutes from Salt Lake City. It is at an elevation of 8,530ft (2,600m) at its base. It was my first time living at such an elevation and it takes some adapting. For the first two weeks, I had a hard time sleeping, was always dying of thirst, was panting every time…
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Veut, Veut Pas, I Say Goodbye
Hey friends, I hope you are well. It has been an emotional roller-coaster for me. First, I visited my mum and her family in Washington DC. My sisters and Michael, my brother-in-law, surprised me by coming as well. While revisiting some of the big institutions of the country, we also reconnected with family members we never really knew. We got very lucky to spend time with some wonderful women who shaped who my mum has become and impacted our lives without us knowing. Spending time in this country, with people who had met my grandparents and who loved my mum as their daughter, was a very intense identity reconstruction for…
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Eileen does not like the Canadian West Coast
Hey friend, Lisa and I have gone on quite a few adventures since the National Parks. We traveled through Revelstoke and sipped on delicious maple syrup gin while bathing in natural deserted hot springs. Tall pines and waterfalls were just the cherry on top! Exhausted by all the traveling, I stayed back in Whistler for a few days. There, I enjoyed some wonderfully sunny days and a lively ski town with loads of tourists. I don’t know if it’s the 9 months of living in somewhat remote places, but I did really enjoy seeing crowds of people strolling through shops and pedestrian streets. I also met three Australian guys who…
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The Alaska to Canada Convoy – 2,500 miles
Howdy howdy friend, I left Alaska a month ago today and have travelled over 3,000 miles since. The Athletes Convoy and I drove from Palmer to Valdez through the Matanuska Valley and its beautiful mountains and blue rivers. Addie, Brock, Ryan, Ben, Slava, and I bought talkie-walkies, tested them on Fred Meyers’ parking lot, interrupted a serious cross-country race parental follow-up, and used them throughout our trip to organize our undecided group and take part in endless, probably useless debates. Our jumping-around at construction halts got a flagger to name us the Athletes and my slow-moving Eileen was nicknamed Mama Duck for leading the herd. After a little detour by…
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General Comments on my Visit to Him in a Correctional Facility
General observations Visiting Him, we had to sign up 30 min before the visiting time slot. We got in the queue 2 minutes before the cut off with one person in front of us. By the time we were in front of the officer, it was 1 minute after the cut-off. We were denied and had to wait another hour until the next slot. His experience Lights are on all night; they are dimmed just a tiny bit for ‘lights off’. It throws off “our” natural clock. There are 5 mandatory hours in cell per day. They are separated into slots of 1 hour. Supposed to get 1 hour outside…
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Goodbye Alaska
Hey friend, I’ve said goodbye to the lake. I’ve waved to my friends. Went back to the beginning and hugged the mountains. The road was foggy and sunny. And so was my heart. Parting with Alaska is hard. I have beautiful memories, made great friends, and still stumble upon good opportunities for the future. But as the fireweed turns landscapes red, it is time for me to head South. The last few weeks have been very busy. My season ended at the beginning of August. I cleaned my last few cabins, guided a few more hikes, went fishing for the first (and let’s be honest, probably the last time), and…
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Alaska 2.0: A Summer on Skilak Lake
Hey friend, Let’s talk about my summer. Well… To be honest, summer is a big word. We got about 10 days of sunshine. Total. After doing the winter in Girdwood, I moved to the Kenai Backcountry Lodge on Skilak Lake. I worked there as a hospitality agent and natural history guide for Alaska Wildland Adventures. Morning dishes in music, dinner dishes in debate. Is a straw a hole? Is it creepy to say a 17-year old person is cute? Is the bed corner better folded from the bottom or the top? Does emo just mean emotional or is it a specific style of clothing and music? Are the Lumineers really…
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Alaska 1.0: A Winter in Girdwood
Hey friend, As I mentioned in my previous post, I arrived in Alaska when the nights are long, and the roads are white. January 3rd, 2023. Girdwood, situated at the northernmost point of the Earth’s rainforest, is about a 45-minute drive south of Anchorage. It is home to about 2,200 people and hosts the only ski resort in the state. This is where I was headed, on the road from the airport, along the Turnagain Arm. The sky was grey above the mountains surrounding us. Where the water usually lies, dusty black blocks of ice were moving with the tide. And when I finally got to Girdwood, the town was…
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My Get to Alaska Challenge
Hello friends ! I am starting this blog to keep everyone updated on my projects and adventures. It’s been quite a journey so far and I’m excited to share it with you. In this first post, I’ll be recapping my preparation process, some of the challenges I faced, and how the first few months of my adventure went. I plan to share photos, videos, articles about my learnings, interviews, and anything that I find interesting later on! Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to sharing more with you soon. I am so excited to share that I have finally embarked on my Alaska…