An End to Wandering

An End to Wandering (Perhaps?)

As I sit in a Coffee shop in a suburb of Portland, Oregon I ponder the passage of time and chance that has led me here. Reflecting on my heritage in the city, my Great-Grandparents are buried here in the Happy Valley and my previous time in the city. This is a place I would not expect to drift back to after having a low experience here in October of 2021 when a motorcycle I rented was stolen from me while passing through (I did recover it) and my dog, Sadie died when I was away. It is a place where I would not expect to be yet here I am. Such a moment has allowed me to reflect on the transience of time and place that I have experienced over the past 2 years. It has allowed me to reflect on the catalysts and desires that started the wandering. What started in 2021 has led to varying seasons of work, travel and restlessness. So what follows is a letter that allows some more thought on the nature of transience and a synopsis of the wandering.

It started in 2021, I returned to work in Rural Eastern Oregon and here providential events took place in the Late Summer/Fall that led me to pursue employment in Antarctica. I only had a tentative position that would have led to serving the United States as a Private Contractor for the National Science Foundation’s research base. Working through the cold, dark winter on a ranch Eastern Oregon was good exercise for what lay ahead. In the middle of March 2022, I was eventually deployed to Antarctica at the Southern End of the World. Here is was stationed working through the dark, polar winter. After I left the Ice in October, I had a lot to be grateful for. Spending the Fall/Winter with friends and family was good after being gone for 6 and half months. I also had accomplished what I had considered to be the pinnacle of a career in my line of work. But the seeds were planted and the opportunity grew to serve our country in another capacity. I would go the Bahamas.

Starting 2023 in this paradise was yet another blessing. I was working on a Naval Base serving the country I was born in was another role that could be considered a pinnacle of my career. However, as I was living a very, comfortable life here several earthquakes struck Turkey and woke me up to a different reality. They helped me realize my own selfish ambition. I decided to move on from my position in the Bahamas and started to pursue work with an organization that is more faith-based and does work in areas of international disaster and humanitarian work. The 3 weeks, I was in Thailand and transited through Southeast Asia. Here I took the motorcycle trip around Northern Thailand that was very transformative. After this, I had some work lined up for a Seasonal Position in a  National Park serving the USA in a capacity yet again. However, I was mainly focused on saving enough money to be able to help serve in a faith-based role in Serbia. Spending June through October of 2023 in Montana was filled with some of the deepest highs and lowest lows I had ever experienced. That month I spent in Europe allowed me to pursue work and see things that were on my bucket list since I was young.

After that period of time, I also went after a calling on my life to visit Africa and in the spring of 2024, I spent 6 weeks in Tanzania. Here in the inferno of Africa, I had more time to reflect on the nature of work, poverty and my privilege to be born an American. After this I really did not have a solid plan and applied for several different work opportunities with the aim to build more funds for the intent of pursuing more of the humanitarian and faith-filled work that interests me. The same Ranch Position I worked for in 2021 was available and I gravitated there after spending some more time with friends and family. Living and working in the Isolation of Eastern Oregon for the past month allowed more space to reflect, think and then a very good work opportunity presented itself in Portland.

When I was a child I always wanted to work with Doctors without Borders. As young boy, I had hoped to be involved in the medical profession in some capacity, but was turned away by the cost of commitment and education. Now after my travels and wanderings, I have a clear vision to pursue work with them or another similar organization. As they are based out of France and do a lot of work in French speaking countries having fluency will be a definite asset in my application. Portland, Oregon will provide the opportunity to grow myself in this area as well as save money for the time needed to immerse myself in France if the door opens. This is the plan, at least for now. So the wandering, has stopped at least momentarily.