Well here I am- on another airplane, another trans-continental flight, another bout of packing up 2 weeks worth of personal goods and medical supplies, another obsession over what is going to be the most comfortable thing to wear for 40 hours straight, another realization that I forgot to get that one item that I keep writing down from one trip to the next, another melancholy farewell to my incredibly supportive boyfriend, another willful avoidance of getting into that conversation that is one step beyond small talk with the slightly weird stranger beside on the airplane, another American holiday spent at 30,000 feet, another knot of excitement and anticipation and trepidation in my guts, another pre-travel day spent putting my favorite snacks in mini ziploc baggies and charging every device known to man…. but most importantly, another adventure! Another chance to step outside of the status quo and get to pursue something fun and exotic and challenging rather than accepting a 9 to 5 existence. I was not built for routine or permanence. And I am so freaking lucky to not only get to call myself an Emergency Medicine physician but a WILDERNESS AND EXPEDITION doctor. How cool is that? Going to crazy places and using all of my training to think on my feet is actually my paying job.  

When I return from Cambodia (that’s where I’m headed now by the way, for the annual Global Limits race – Ancient Khmer path), I will be done with my wilderness medicine fellowship! And I just got a big time job promotion/opportunity – I have been invited to be the new Medical Director for the Global Limits series of races. Meaning that I am now in charge of three international races per year. Despite other stressors in my life, I am pumped. I was so unhappy with some aspects of my last job. But then I took that discontent and turned it into the impetus to create a career (and big life) that is all my own. I don’t know if I will be able to make a living out of being a wilderness medicine doctor but I’m sure as hell going to try. And I’m a lot closer to it now than I was a year and a half ago.  Stay tuned for my documented attempts at living the dream. And there will also be full coverage of this race coming your way.

On a less thoughtful note, here are some amusing photos from my travels thus far.

World’s smallest beef jerky pack from the airport in China (I feel silly for wasting so much money on packages of it for this race – if I had only known…..)

  
Guangzhou Airport terminal and lounge:

   
 
And I thought that I wouldn’t be able to get decent pizza until I get back to the States in 2 weeks: