"Are you counting how many times you've changed
addresses? The only reason why my address book fills up is because I have
to keep crossing out and adding your address!"
This was Rachel’s reply after I sent her my new
address…again. I had to laugh as I read it as I realized my new move would make
it my third move in the last 12 months. It would also be my fourth move in two
years, or 6 moves if you count the times I decided to camp for 1-2 months to
make a home outside.
This move will be a little different though. For
the first time in my entire life, I signed a 1 year lease, of course with Sage
by my side. It will also be the first place since I moved to Colorado that
has a population of over 5, 000.
With each move comes a lot of excitement, a
little fear, and a little sadness for what I’m leaving behind. Each move also
comes with a lot of learning on what it takes for me to feel like I fit in a
town. I've learned a lot as some towns definitely threw me for a
loop as I really got to experience them on a new level once living there.
The first official town (this came after 6 weeks
of camping) I lived in once I moved to Colorado was Salida. The first time I
went to Salida I actually really didn’t think much of it as it looked a little
too much like the desert for me and I had just come from 120 degree temps in Arizona where I didn’t have the best experience. Funny enough, I absolutely love Salida
now. The trails, even in winter, were a blast to run on as the ones close to town barely get any snow. I also really enjoyed being decently close to all
kinds of great trails in Colorado. Salida also offers lots of art, music, and positive energy that makes a great community. I also found some great, really talented, people to run with. It's got my vote for best, not very well known, trail town in Colorado.
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| Salida |
(1 month of camping in between)
Then there was Buena Vista, rightly named with
beautiful views of 14ers from town. The summer/fall trails there are
spectacular. I will always miss my runs in the fall there where I often had the
Colorado Trail or other high alpine trails to myself for hours at a time. It
was quite magical to have so much beauty to myself. However, in the winter the
town changes quite a bit with the lack of tourists, the best trails get packed
with snow, and the wind can get brutal. My opinion may be altered of Buena
Vista as I hated living/ working at a motel there as one of my two jobs at the
time, but I really hated the winter there.
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| Buena Vista |
After Buena Vista, of course came Nederland,
possibly the most interesting place I will have ever lived in terms of both the
town and the cabin/ trailer Sage and I were renting. The views again, were
beautiful, the wildlife was sweet (complete with a “pet” fox and moose) and the
trails were pretty good. However, one thing I didn’t realize before moving
there is the town culture. While it has a good variety of people, I just didn’t
feel like I fit in, and it never really felt like home. It probably didn’t help
that Sage and I once came home to our toilet in the kitchen and it smelled like
shit….really, really bad!
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| Nederland |
Now, I’m in Boulder for at least one year. One
year ago, I would have never of thought I’d be living in Boulder. I didn’t want
to live in a running “mecca” or have to drive through the crazy crowded
streets. I was set on living “in”, not besides, the mountains. Yet, this time
last year I already knew I was getting a little lonely. While I had a blast in
the mountains, solo or with friends, I’d finish a run only to be alone again. I
have to admit, I am probably more comfortable to be alone than most people, but
day after day with no one I loved around, I grew a little too lonely. Though I already miss the summer and fall trail access
from Salida and Buena Vista, Boulder has it’s perks too. Like it’s one of the
easiest towns in the U.S. to be a vegetarian and eat gluten-free. I’m also less
than 10 minutes away from a Target, which was a HUGE inconvenience (not at all
really but I do like Target) living in the mountains. Probably the biggest perk
to me is that Boulder will most likely be the warmest place I have ever lived
in for the winter. I should still be able to hit up my favorite mountain in
Boulder, Bear Peak (that thankfully isn’t very traveled via Bear Canyon trail),
in the colder months. No complaints there. While a warmer winter is the biggest
perk (town wise), Sage is the only reason Boulder will feel like a place I can
call home. In the grand scheme of things, it’s much better to have someone to
come home to, rather than have a nice few hours in the mountains and come home
to no one. Already, our apartment, though small, feels comfortable. For this
first time, I can actually really settle into an apartment, and make it feel
like a place Sage and I can call our own.
I’m not sure when I will find a place and think “this
is the town I want to grow old in.” Maybe I’ll never get that feeling and perhaps
the only way to truly enjoy the place that I’m living in, is to simply focus my
energy on everything positive about a place and not worry about its downfalls
(though I will never live in a town far from trails as that downfall would be
too much!).
Right before I moved to Colorado I read Into the
Wild. The book is part of the reason I
quit a job to go on a month long solo adventure. While reflecting on the places
I have lived, I remember Alex Supertramp’s (Chris McCandless) thoughts:
"Upon finishing reading Tolstoy's "Family Happiness" McCandless
marked passages including:
"He
was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for
others...."
