The decade of my 30's were rich with new experiences. I still had a well of youthful energy and was able to capitalize on that potential. During my 30's I carried out three notable thru-hikes on long distance trails (The AT, the PCT, and CT). I spent over a cumulative year of my life working at remote field camps in Antarctica (over six deployments). I became an active runner, and completed dozens of well-known ultramarathons, including the infamous Barkley Marathons. I spent nearly all of my thirties as a graduate student at Penn State, earning both Masters and Doctoral degrees in the geosciences. I published academic papers, I traveled as much as I could, and I explored countless new places. I embraced my fascination with obscure geographic oddities, and always made an effort to seek out remote or peculiar places. I married my partner and began sharing my life in earnest, and we moved together to the northeast as we both started into our new careers. My thirties were a seemingly constant whirlwind of new and exciting experiences....cramming in as much as I could with whatever time I could find. I tried my best to live to the fullest, and suck that proverbial marrow out of life. When I look back through my digital photo collection, I have tens-of-thousands of images over that decade. I realize just how fortunate I have been. The last thing I wrote in that post was this:
"If I could go back and talk that 30-year old version of me now...I'm sure that version of me would love to ask 'So how have I done?' Well 30 year-old John, this is the 40-year old version of you telling you that you did good kid. You took risks, and you came out so much more fulfilled that you could have possibly imagined."
...Well here we are now...ten more years later. About to turn 50. How have we done over the past decade?
As I sit here and reflect on my 40's, the most notable thing I am acutely aware of, is that I have eased up a bit, and slowed down. I have learned to be more patient with my goals, and recognize that as important as new experiences are, it's not all just about cramming in as much as I can. I think I have become more deliberate with my exploits. I still spend way too much time geeking out about planning adventures, and I still have a "checkbox" mentality where I like to tackle specific challenges, but there are new things to consider now. My health and safety being one. I've been so incredibly fortunate to have had good health over the years, but as I reach 50 years of age, I've also become very aware that my body is not what it used to be. Things hurt more on adventures and I don't heal as quickly. I have mild arthritis in my back, and my joints can't take the punishment that they used to. My speed has waned, and my physical efforts are also not what they used to be. And while I can still take on a 100-mile race, I most certainly don't do the volume I used to. I am lucky now to get in a single 100-miler in a year. These days, I find much more joy running the mountain masochist 50-miler for fun with my friends, than I do trying to be competitive at something like Western States.
I have also settled down notably with respect to my career and life situation. C and I moved out to Flagstaff in 2019 and have been here ever since. Working as a faculty member at the university here will soon be my longest stretch at any one place in my entire life (except for my childhood years). I've gotten comfortable and the truth is...it's been nice. We have a home that we love, a doggo that brings us joy, and we take time to go on adventures together. Now...with that said, this doesn't mean I've given up on my adventurous spirit. It just means that I'm a little bit less reckless and spontaneous now...but rest assured, I will never be able to turn off that inquisitive and curious switch. I will always have that inherent need to explore.
I could wax poetic for hours about what I've learned, and lessons that I've taken from this past decade, but I won't do that. Something else that I've also learned over the last ten years is that it's ok to sit with my thoughts, and to just "steep" in my experiences. It's not necessary to spew out some verbose wall of text in an effort to try to sound witty or profound. While I have always been thrilled to learn that my experiences may have inspired others, the basic truth is that my adventures...the ones that actually bring me a sense of purpose and fulfillment...are just that: mine. I don't need to always share them in gross detail with the world.
With all this said, I think I will end this post with a few picture highlights from the last ten years. There have been hundreds of other experiences that are not included, but many of those can be found on this journal in other individual posts, or more likely, in my consistent year-end posts. I've kept this site alive and running now for twenty years and it's been a wonderful place for me to spill my thoughts, ideas, and experiences. I will do my best to keep it going for another ten years...and hopefully I'll be sitting again at some coffee shop, opining about the "thirty years since I changed my life direction"...and about how my retirement is just around the corner and I start my 60's ;-) I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
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