Plotting & Planning
Got rejected from grad school? No Prob.
Feeling back to my good old self: happy, positive & excited for what’s to come. I am going to spend the next month living in Santa Cruz, California doing lots of yoga, rock climbing & thinking about what I want to do with this year now that my freedom remains.
In typical Lily fashion, the list is all over the place but thats the way I like it. Always open to possibility & adventure.
What to do in 2020…
birthwise Midwifery School - mAINE
I still want to work as a midwife, but after UCSF am thinking more about pursuing qualification to become a home birth midwife.
I came across this course outside Portland, Maine. The location is rural, the program is holistic and costs $45000 for three years - so reasonable. I think I will apply, and I also looked into land for sale in the area which seems maybe possible?
However, I am also thinking that I am not quite ready for the responsibility of being a midwife.
So, I might apply this year, or in a few years.
Image from NOLS Blog // By Eric Page
national outdoor leadership school
since hearing about my dad’s NOLS expedition back in the 70’s I regularly check their job postings & global expedition programs.
I would love to develop my outdoor skill set & maybe eventually work in the outdoors as a guide or in wilderness medicine, for a national park service or conservation.
I’ve been doing all sorts of research into their courses. They are expensive ranging from $4000 - $30,000 but there are scholarships that offer income driven discounts.
Right now I am considering these courses:
North Cascades mountaineering
Wilderness medicine & rescue semester
Himalaya mountaineering
Alaska mountaineering / summer semester
Year in Patagonia
…have thought about Patagonia in a long time. I would be very happy to go back there!
DOING SOME WWOOFING
Another long time interest of mine is growing food, keeping animals, plant medicine, fermentation, homesteading…the whole enchilada.
A great way to learn more about all this is through wwoofing - world wide opportunities on organic farms or willing workers for organic farms.
THE herb pharm
herbaculture internship program fall season
sept 3rd - nov 12th
Inspired by Leslie Bish (on the gram) who completed this internship last year, I would love to learn more about plant medicine & herbalism.
I’m not sure I am eligible to apply just yet, but perhaps after some volunteer experience I will be able to put together an application for their fall season.
And if not this year, maybe next year.
Leslie Bish - medicinal gardener, herbalist, podcaster & artist
Image from Luke Konarzewski @lukekonarzewski
Alaska
After Norway I am super keen to spend some time in Alaska: for the snow, for the mountains, for the ice, for the hiking, for vast landscapes, for the quite.
At first I thought I could just go up there for a month and then started thinking, maybe a year? So, I have been checking out summer jobs, work away opportunities, an epic road trip from California to Alaska.
Then I found this guy, Luke Konarzewski, who’s images of the mountains up there are so epic. I want to be in that yellow tent pitch by mountains and a freezing lake filled with floating sheets of ice.
If I went to alaska I would want to see:
Denali National Park & Preserve
Kenali Fjord National Park
Anchorage + Homer
see humpback whales & orca
see a grizzly bear from very far away
hike the Kenali River Trail
hike to Exit Glacier
hike Crow Pass
…hike, hike, & hike some more
Nepal
last summer i checked out flights from Oslo > Kathmandu often. I found out November, when my job ended in Norway, is a really clear time of year to visit.
I didn’t end up going since I lacked the gear - I didn’t even have a pair of hiking books with me and was wearing wool socks & tevas to walk around the Norwegian island I was living on, even through the first dustings of snow.
but Nepal remains on my mind for one main reason: mountains
Having all the time in the world means I could spend a month or longer there, an opportunity to acclimate to the insane altitude & maybe have an awesome time for it.
While i have been looking at a mountaineering course in the Himalaya, I had also thought…i could just take myself there, figure out permits & hike.
and then, while researching I discovered there is a trail traversing the entire Himalayan range called, The Great Himalayan Trail.
There are actually two parallelling trails, one at a lower elevation, the other is higher up. Both take Approximately 4 months….
That is seriously hardcore and seriously intriguing. Anyone want to sponsor amateur me to do this trail? Anyone want to join?
Image from wanderlust.co.uk
Image from alextreadway.co.uk
Image From Outside Magazine
Toyota Tacoma Adventure home
This rig is was out of my budget but I have also been scouering the web, aka craigslist, for older Tacoma.
I was seriously considering a van for a while, but realized I would need something reliable & trusty on a mountain road.
So, if you see one, preferably in white or red, let me know!
Im not sure where I would go in it, maybe across country, maybe drive to Alaska? But it would be an adventure for sure!