2018
goals
In reflection, a pretty good year! We spent the winter living on a beach (literally! Like, sleeping on the sand!) in Mexico, I took my first travel assignment, climbed my first technical, glaciated peak, flew to Tahiti where we spent over a month practicing desert island survival, and then ended in Chile, celebrating New Year's during the chilly austral summer. Wouldn't have changed a thing!
Personal Goals
-500 pages of books per month. Nonfiction, relevant, informative and stimulating. -MET
-January: Building a Bridge to the 18th Century, An African in Greenland
-February: Lonely Planet Central America, The Empty Boat
-March: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k
-April: 12 Rules for Life
-May: The Old North Trail
-June: Alone Against the North
-July: Grand Adventures, How to Get to the North Pole
-August: To Timbuktu, The Freediving Manual, The Spearfishing Manual
-September: Crime and Punishment
-October: Deep, Lonely Planet Tahiti and French Polynesia
-November: Green Was the Earth on the Seventh Day
-December: Kon-Tiki, Lonely Planet Chile, Let My People Go Surfing
-Write life reflections in journal once per month. -MET
-Role models. Watch video of at least one role model per week to analyze how they present self, operate and execute goals.
-PARTIALLY MET. Ample time reading of people I look up to - backgrounds, beginnings, problems, photos, but only some videos. Could've watched more videos.
-Minimum one podcast per week on current, relevant topic
-PARTIALLY MET. Did not make an effort to find stimulating podcasts.
-Stop useless social media browsing. Share but don't scroll. No more than 30 minutes per day.
-MET. Most of the year spent without reliable wifi. Social media used primarily for uploading only.
-Use this website at least once per week to track and update goals progress
-MET
Adventure Goals
-Learn ten kiteboarding tricks.
-1. Slide to toeside
-2. Pop to Toeside
-3. Sliding transition
-4. Jibe Heel to Toe
-5. Jibe Toe to Heel
-NOT MET. The wind in Mexico sucks, the locations are difficult to reach, and I broke the kite.
-Dive a total of at least five cenotes
-1. Casa Cenote
-2. Dos Ojos Cenote
-3. Cenote Yax Chen
-4. Cenote Angelita:
By far the most intense. Deep, dark, murky, inhospitable, unreal. A world of hazy green with dead trees poking through an underwater cloud of hydrogen sulfide. Nothing to touch. Nothing for reference. Nothing to orient. The diver, isolated, alone, brave and in awe, is left in a near-featureless, terrifyingly extraterrestrial void.
-5. Cenote Carwash
-6. Cenote Calavera
-MET
-Advanced Diver certification
-attained 10 March, 2018
-MET
-Join a Caving Grotto and go on at least three trips
-Joined the Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto
1. Unnamed cave
2. Connecting Systema Mooch with Peter Sprouse
3. NEW CAVE DISCOVERY!
4. Lick Creek Cave, Montana
5. Poia Cave, Montana
-MET. Pestered the cavers in Mexico until they let me come. Joined the grotto in MT. Went to the convention to network, learn, practice and do a cave. The grotto never did trips, however, nor were any members interested in trips. So I led my own trip, with my dad and girlfriend, to Poia Cave. It turned out to be one of the best adventures of the year.
-One state high point
-Granite Peak, Montana, July 27
-MET
-Take a mountaineering/alpinism course
-Intro to Mountaineering, July 7-12, Alberta
-MET
-Descend 12 canyons
1. Punch Bowl Canyon, Arizona, 3B IV
-NOT MET. Did not make enough time to get to the Southwest. Friends not available. Wanted to spend more time in mountains this year. Wish we could've, but the canyons will always be there .
-Independent kayak expedition
-Tikehau, French Polynesia, November 2018
-MET. Highlight of the year.
-Climb a technical peak with a friend
-NOT MET. Had the opportunity to do Ojibwe Peak in Montana with Jack. However, we were short on time. Will improve climbing skills until I'm competent enough to lead easy alpine climbs next year.
-Complete a multi-day backpacking trip in a national park
-Glacier National Park, June 28-July 1
-MET
-Hold breath for 90 seconds underwater
-MET
Relationship Goals
Relationships are probably the best part of being human. Although they require constant effort, I believe that in a healthy relationship it shouldn't feel like effort; you should be excited to have/use the relationship. There are three categories: Girlfriend, Family and Friends
Girlfriend
-Continue to be dirtbags/beach bums/adventurers together
-MET, every day, every place
-Surprise her and dress up nice and go to a nice restaurant
-MET, Puerto Varas, Chile
-Tell secrets under the stars on remote beaches
-MET, many, many times and places
-Push and support girlfriend to achieve her goals
-MET, largely through education and guidance and support of environmental educations and initiates
Family
-Three family visits, at least one abroad
-1. Mexico
-2. Colorado
-3. Montana
-MET
-Maintain weekly phone calls to my grandmother and my mother
-MET
-Visit Aunt in Wyoming
-April 2018
-MET, twice
Friends
-Make a new friend
-Achieved. Friend, defined as sharing all sorts of stories, laughing together, similar viewpoints, constructive conversations. .
-MET
-Reconnect with an old friend:
-Victoria, BC, October
-MET. Perhaps the most disappointing and anticlimactic achievement of the year.
-Rock climb with Jack
-Bitteroot Mountains, August 9-12
-MET. Not much rock climbing due to Montana's lack of accurate route info. Lots of bonding. One of the highlights of the year.
-Do something big, adventure-wise, with D
-PARTIALLY MET. We both set aside several days in Arizona in the spring to drop a pretty significant canyon. I nearly passed out due to exhaustion at the end of the day, and we were too tired to drive home.
-Continue to maintain contact with friends via email/social media
-MET. I converse at least every few weeks via the internet.
Health Goals
-Continue to deadlift 200 kgs, squat 315 lbs, bench 120 kgs and press 75 kgs at least once, each, per week
-MET. It was difficult to maintain these numbers continuously, as there are sometimes periods with no gyms due to remoteness. However, gym was, and will continue to be, a priority in my lifestyle choices. And my bench is now 125 kgs, and my deadlift is now 205 kgs!
-Consume 180 grams of protein per day, in at least three separate servings
-MET
-Achieve better sleep patterns, minimum six hours, uninterrupted, per night
-MET. It takes a lot to prioritize sleep - eating early, no late electronics, getting everything down meticulously on time, finding quiet locations to bed down, planning the week in advance - but I have more energy than any 29-year old I know. Sleep is a worthwhile priority.
-Get a radical haircut, if only briefly, such as a mohawk/mullet
-MET. Although it could've been more extreme...
-Go to a dentist, and go to a family doctor, for the first time in years, for general bloodwork
-MET
-Reach and maintain 80 kg (177 lbs) continuously
-MET
Career Goals
-Get TNCC certification
-MET
-Two separate travel assignments
-1. Indian Health Services in Browning, MT
-2. Renewed contract in Browning
-PARTIALLY MET. In hindsight, it is easier and largely more beneficial to stay in one place for several contracts: it takes a while to gain competency in any new hospital. For my second contract, I became charge nurse (!), trained incoming travelers, and even had a med student shadow me. They wanted me to stay longer, but I left for French Polynesia with my girlfriend.
-California license
-obtained January 2018
-MET. Never used. Useless.
-Also, start a side hustle: Airbnb, AdventureNetwork website, etc.
-NOT MET. And do not regret ignoring. Made enough money in nursing. Chose to spend time on adventure and relationship. No interest in putting dozens of hours on a computer for a side hustle.
-Update resume every ~three months
-MET
Travel Goals
-Visit at least five new countries
1. Honduras
2. Nicaragua
3. French Polynesia
4. Easter Island
5. Chile
-MET
-High-style travel through one, and only one, expensive country
-Moorea, November 2018 (one night only)
-MET
-Budget travel through an expensive destination
-French Polynesia, October/November (we paid for three nights, out of 35, and hitchhiked)
-Kiteboard in a remote lagoon
-Isla Blanca, Quintana Roo, January
-MET. Incredible when conditions are good. Yet due to the fickle nature of wind, I have no interest in pursuing kitesurfing unless it is a place where the wind is consistent.
-Climb a country high point
-NOT MET. Although, in all fairness I did believe Mt Aorai was the highest point in French Polynesia until we had already decided to go and I began to research it further...