Every year when people start digging in their cover crops and planting their seedlings, I end up packing my bags and cleaning out my room.  It never fails, every year I do this and have been doing it for over five years consecutively.  There has been only one place that I truly felt at home and wanted to stay, and that was Bishop, California.

My car looks like this several times a year when I move all my belongings to another location.

Living out of my car was ideal on the East Side.  There is so much open land that you can park for a couple of weeks at a time.  One of my favorite spots, I called “Girl’s Camp”, where I stayed over the summer.  It was located on the way to the Buttermilks (first road on the right if your driving down Buttermilk Rd.) and was one of the only places that still had trees (after someone else burned down all the other trees with their campfire at the other popular bivy location) and running water, a little Oasis. It was lovely, except for a few nights when drunk locals would meet out there for a bonfire.  But, my home is mobile and on those nights, I’d just throw my stuff in my car and relocate to the tablelands.  My existence in my car would have been a lot harder off if it weren’t for Paul and his house, call the Zoo.

The Zoo is a lovely place that Paul has opened up to the climbing community.  Come hang out, take a shower, cook a meal, or watch a movie.  Paul is very accepting of all breeds of life (cats and dogs alike).  The only price you had to pay is to participate in “Family Night” by either cooking, cleaning or just being there.  To those who dont know, Family Night is dinner night.  Someone volunteers to cook a massive meal that all is invited to.  Its a good way for climbers to socialize and talk about climbing…

I cannot tell if my urge to be a nomad is a curse or a blessing. On one hand, I am so lucky to not have any strings attached, but is it really luck?  I’ve planned my life to be like this, there’s no luck about it. I work during the winter months in areas that have good climbing and then move on in the summer.  I don’t have any pets, I cannot maintain a long term relationships (and if I did, it’d probably be with a guy who’d also like to hit the road in the summertime), I don’t buy houses or sign any leases/contracts.  I dream, I plan, and then I execute.  Simple.

People who don’t live like me don’t seem to understand, or at least very few do. I am not sure exactly what “they” think of me, probably that I am crazy or lonely. Sometimes I do feel like I an outsider, looking in and not quite fitting.  But, when I feel like this, I know that this isn’t the place for me. Although, sometimes the people are so nice, its hard to tell that I don’t fit here.  Most of my generation lives nomadic though, or at least we have all been transplanted.  It can be hard keeping in contact with good friends, but anytime I am in their area, we will do our best to meet up again.  Talking on the phone is hard when you have time zones to cross, so facebook and email is a good substitute.  Its not the same, but its something.  When I see my friends again, it always feels as though no time had passed.

I manage to connect with a few people everywhere I go, and now I have friends all over the country.  I think the toughest part about moving to a new spot, is weeding out the false friends.  I can normally tell right off the bat if someone is compatible with me or not… but the degree of compatibility is unknown and often I am wrong at first meeting.  Most of my very best friends, I was standoffish at first and some of my very false friends were at first best friends.  But that’s life. Everyone experiences this, its just I experience it more often.

The most difficult parts about living a life like this is #1 filtering through people to find my true friends. #2 Saying goodbye and #3 trying to explain to new people where I am from. As most things that go with my lifestyle, its worth it.  There are certain people I reach out to in order to keep myself grounded (my father), but other than that, I take life by the horns and say bring it.

The Zoo Crew 2011