I had originally titled this post to be more about running, but running wasn't a thing for me most of the summer. And then I just started to get back into in North Carolina when - bam! - major injury number three for the year that has me grounded yet again. I'd give up permanently … Continue reading The Next 100, In Record Time
Category: Moving
Sixteen Things for Sixteen Years
Did you know that Montenegro (tied with Serbia) is the world's third most recent sovereign nation? Montenegro split off by a referendum in which 55.5 percent of people voted for independence. The threshold to approve was 55 percent. As you might imagine, people still hold many strong feelings about this decision on both sides of … Continue reading Sixteen Things for Sixteen Years
Wild Beauty
Wild Beauty is the official hashtag of Montenegro, and yes to both of those words. If you want someplace to go for an adventure vacation, this is it. This small country is in the process of building itself up into a desirable, modern European vacation destination and wild nature is its huge selling point. It's … Continue reading Wild Beauty
Cards and Tests and Masks, Oh Yes!
Since the saying is "thank god for...", it's tempting to start this post with "thank god for vaccines." But "thank science for vaccines" is the more logical statement, even though it doesn't roll off the tongue naturally. In any case, yay, vaccines! Thanks to science, I recently took my first international holiday since the start … Continue reading Cards and Tests and Masks, Oh Yes!
Peaks Twenty-Four Through Twenty-Eight
Even though I wanted to get out of Colorado for so long and finally did with my new nomad life, I had to come back for a month in the summer to reach the summit of more 14ers. My target was the San Juan Mountains, nearly the most beautiful mountains on earth. So I booked … Continue reading Peaks Twenty-Four Through Twenty-Eight
Return to The Top of The World
I've had a pretty rough spring/early summer. As long-expected as it was, the death of my dog affected me more than I wanted it to. Lingering in bad feelings is not my thing. I'm very much a "life is too short, buck up and move on" kind of person. But my subconscious fought me on … Continue reading Return to The Top of The World
And I Would Hike 500 More
When I started tracking my unique hikes a few years ago, Trotsky and I took 107 weeks to do 100 of them. This time, we really put ourselves to the task and crushed the goal in 91 weeks. And that's despite a six-month period when we did almost none. I reached a kind of hiking … Continue reading And I Would Hike 500 More
Time to Move On
For more than a decade, I tried to leave Colorado. When I arrived in August 2008, I planned to get my graduate degree and immediately head back overseas to work in international development. Yet somehow, that never happened. Jobs, romantic relationships, friends, the writing community, athletic aspirations, and financial goals all conspired against my inner … Continue reading Time to Move On
The Final Days
Yes, I know that summer technically ends September 22, but considering that it already snowed in Boulder yesterday, I'm going to say we're well into the final days. And that wasn't even the first time I got snowed on during this summer. This obscenely early snowstorm, coupled with the record-setting storm we had in April … Continue reading The Final Days
Mountains, Mountains, Mountains!
July has been a mountainous month for me. Colorado is a popular state in any season and mountain rentals are expensive, so when friends have one, you don't pass up the opportunity. After coming back from Glacier, I spent three weekends in a row rallying down to the geographical center of this state for all … Continue reading Mountains, Mountains, Mountains!
Jennifer A Swallow 