Core values in action

@MevetS we were at Phantom Ranch on Friday April 15.

Hope you enjoyed your backpack!

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The very best of luck. What a brilliant move.

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Congrats @ChrisUpchurch! Sounds like a fun new adventure :slight_smile: Really cool to hear how the core values exercise helped you, thanks for sharing.

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My forum worlds may have just melded together. A similar story popped up on another forum I follow. Congrats!

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Will be interesting to know how your Tech requirements change for this new challenge, I bet you can’t get 3 studio displays on a raft :wink:

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Funny you should mention that…

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I have to ask, @ChrisUpchurch, is being a river guide something you have experience with? As in, have you been an outdoors type guy for a while in such environments? Only asking out of interest and to applaud the change.

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Congratulations Chris, best of luck to you in this new career! Sounds good for the soul. Of course you will probably need some good gear to be safe and comfortable :slightly_smiling_face:

I have heard people describe the river like a Leonard Cohen album, as in “it’s the same on both sides”. Personally, I’ve always found Cohen both relaxing and educational too.

Enjoy!

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I’ve always been a pretty outdoorsy guy. Done lots of hiking and backpacking, including over 300 miles in Grand Canyon. It’s specifically the river rafting part of this that’s new.

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This is inspiring, Chris! Please keep sharing in this thread as you progress.

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Wonderful!!! I hope you chronicle this journey on your blog as you did for your rafting trip (linked above). Or maybe there is a book in the future?

Cheers. :tumbler_glass:

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Definitely planning on blogging my experiences (that’s how I plan to fulfill the “writer” part of my core values).

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This is so cool. May I ask what your current profession is/was?

I Look forward to hearing more about the change. Good reminder also to get my personal retreat on the calendar!

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The 10-day river guide school I took finished last Thursday. I wrote a very lengthy blog post about my experience. Tomorrow I start Wilderness First Responder training.

I was a transportation planner for a Metropolitan Planning Organization.

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Last week the Wilderness First Responder course finished up last week. There’s another (much shorter) blog post about that. Currently in the middle of a swiftwater rescue class. The class is great so far, but man does it wear you out.

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One of my goals. I am a “water person”, already have my qualifications as rescue swimmer (teacher), licensed swimming trainer,… It’s very difficult to get a place in those courses (and several were cancelled), but I set my goal on the swift and whitewater rescue courses.

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I learned a ton in the swiftwater rescue course. The biggest benefit was probably getting a lot more comfortable swimming in whitewater. I didn’t expect that I’d have a chance to put that skill to the test so soon, but after the class, I rafted down Royal Gorge with some of the students, got dumped out, and had to swim a fairly big rapid. It’s all in the blog post.

Now I’m done with all the initial training it’s time to look for work. Wish me luck.

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That sounds great! That sounds like the kind of thing I would do if I didn’t have a mortgage or college age kids. Good luck!

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I was able to find a gig as a guide on the Rogue River for the rest of the summer (despite starting my job search in June, rather than back around January when most guide positions get filled). Today was my first day, I rode along on the day trip section that this company does a couple of times to start getting to know the river.

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Congratulations on your journey. I admire your courage and willingness to “jump”. I don’t know much, but I do know that life is about growth, and one way to grow is by experiencing new adventures. I’ll certainly be following along. Congratulations again!

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